[78-L] Extraordinary Public Auction Sale (RUSSELL BARNES)

[Dennis Flannigan]

Did not know, or know about Russell Barnes. My sympathies to his family and
friends.

Without Mr. Barnes determination, most of the hoard he amassed would
probably have been lost - dumped by the identifiers of trash as anything
prior to their birth. At the same time, I've noticed we worry where our own
collections will wind up. Stuff we love will go -- somewhere. Yesterday,
while getting a car serviced, my mechanic said he'd been to three recent car
shows. He observed, there were no young people there. He said, these show
cars will soon be dirt cheap -- the collectors are an arthritic lot. I said,
"I can't imagine collecting newer cars, I can't tell new cars apart". He
said, "We can't either. They all look like a bar of soap."

With expensive (Lamborghini), or inexpensive (Smart Car) exceptions, cars
look alike. In the America of my youth, you were a Ford "man" or a Chevy
man, and a few renegades spoke highly of their Plymouth. Fathers, uncles,
and sons took sides, checked showrooms for annual model changes, and most
changed their own oil. A weekend under the hood, or changing a transmission
was a rite of passage.
Here in Tacoma, Washington a many million dollar car museum is under
construction. This LeMay Auto Museum will be first rate and house a
remarkable, and rotating collection of over 1,000 cars from the Harold LeMay
collection and subsequent purchases. Now, I wonder who will come a few years
from now?

A couple of times a year, list members ask, "Will young people take up the
cudgels?" A few Bryan Wrights offer hope. Still in our hope is the clear cry
of our despair. At record shows I see 45 collectors, a few LP collectors,
very few 78 collectors and CD collectors are mp3 downloaders now.

There are no young collectors. The "cloud" can hold all of our music
collections combined. We can access the music with more ease than getting a
glass of water. Is there any future in what we do? I think, "Where is the
best repository for my music - with family, university collections, museums
or with fellow collectors?" Years ago, before entering WWII, a friend
donated his complete collection of Bing Crosby records to the local library.
Bing was, as you know, born in Tacoma. When my friend returned from the war,
the collection was already gone. Not a record remained.

Dennis