Some of you have seen some of the guns I've picked up over the last few months from one of our local shops. Today I was asking about vintage paperwork,tool kits,etc. The son of the original owner told me that they had so much stuff to go through that they had just THROWN A LOT OF THAT STUFF IN THE TRASH and BURNED IT!!!!!! I felt physically ill and must have looked it because he asked what was wrong with me since my face turned white. I was speechless for a few minutes,just shaking my head. Parts manuals? Yep. "Old wax paper"? You bet. I'm sure that some "Helpful Hints" brochures (he didn't know what those were) must have been included. Posters too. Winchester,Remington,etc,etc. I'm going to lie down for a while.
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

sometimes an education can come in handy 4 some folks

This is a classic example of the dominate male of the clan not communicating to his brood the importance of everything that came in the box, including the box but I will not place all blame on him since the offspring of the subsequent generations usually exhibit disdain for things from their parents era. Sick On Your Stomach would have been a breeze as compared to the anguish this may have caused. Condolences and best wishes for a quick recovery.

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Sam
S&WHF 333 S&WCA 2198

That stuff just makes you wonder. I wasn't there and I think I'll have a beer.

could be worse.
Did you know that the inventor of the fire hydrant cannot be definitively determined because the patent was lost in a fire?

Makes your head hurt a little, but somehow seemed topic appropriate

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it just needs more voltage

My dog says just piss on it.

Bobby, don't ya be getting a case of the vapors over something as silly as that.

I was at my LGS one day and needed a pistol box for carrying a new addition home. We went "in the back" and it was stacked 6 feet high on a set of racks with more gun boxes than I have ever seen.

A lot of FFLs are merchants, not collectors.

Maybe an urban legend but I heard the guy that invented the kill switch on outboard motors was killed by a boat prop.

That ignorant kid probably likes money. I believe I'd have to let him know how much he threw away and laugh and point.

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God spelled backwards is dog.

To some its money to others its cardboard and wax paper. Some collect sports cards others collect coins.

When I was little I collected comics. My mom never understood and still doesn't despite me pointing out the value of some of them

I have a relative with a large gun collection -- about 40 each handguns, rifles, and shotguns -- but not a single box. He threw away every box his guns came in over the years...

That "kid" is 66 years old. And he didn't laugh at all when I told him what he had done. In fact,he seemed totally unfazed. He was well-heeled before he inherited the shop and the collection. As far as the money goes,who don't like it?
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

It's not surprising. You see this a lot with militaria. Some families don't want it, don't care about it and don't know what to do with it. I see this with widows, and kids/grandkids (mainly women) who don't like "war stuff."

I'll take it!

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Thread Killer.

"turned white" and "speechless for a few minutes"------now that's drama!

The OP said that 'they' had tossed and burned a lot of stuff. Who is 'they'? Did 'they' include the owner??? It might not have been the son's fault.

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"He was kinda funny lookin'"

Creekside gun shop used to throw all S&W boxes away. This shop was opened for years and was one of the larger in upstate NY. Makes me sick just thinking about it.

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George Jamison

One man's trash is another man's treasure.

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Isaiah 41:10

Should be more of these around

He has two sisters. He didn't say,but their involvement is entirely possible.
f.t.

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South Carolina-God's country

Back when, way back when we didn't think anything of the blue cardboard boxes with the metal clipped ends.

I'd give away some so the LGS had something to throw a gun into on a sale; didn't matter if the end flap info didn't corresponded.

As for the wooden presentation cases, the linings often were broken down and best torn out of the boxes.

Also had a drawer full of the little screw drivers and the bore brushes. Again didn't think anything about them.

Now the other side of the coin, Colt brown boxes, they seemed to scar up and start falling apart just sitting on the shelves and the end flaps were always torn. And the styrofoam insides were terrible almost from the day they left the factory.

Such were the good old days.

Lots of Tiffany lamps were tossed out during the war drives of the 40s and to the curb in the 50s. Now they're worth as much as a new car. Think about how many put a nice, new finish on an old piece of furniture, and were proud of what they did. We won't talk about what I did to my 1917.

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Wayne
Torn & Frayed

Nothing lasts, we're all headed there, too -- no point sweating it.

Bobby,
If you really want to make him cry, show him what the Registered Magnum boxes or K22 Outdoorsman red boxes are selling for on ebay!!

Instead, I would just ask him to give them to me for disposal from now on!!!!!!

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Miss My Buddy crsides!!

Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Till it's gone

Joni Mitchell Big Yellow Taxi

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Back to back World War Champs.

You know, just as point of interest, I can kinda relate to the LGS owner.

My father-in-law was an avid golfer back in his day. Played in some professional tournaments and all. When he passed away about 20 years ago I ended up having to deal with a lot of golf gear that absolutely meant nothing to me. I hate golf, and I know very little about the clubs and gear or it's value.

I did go ahead and inventory what I had on hand, and this being a little before eBay, I just wanted the stuff gone. I had a few buddies that golfed and after they came and looked at it they advised me it was some pretty good high dollar gear. I told them to make me an offer . . . they hem-hawed around and said this stuff was worth thousands of dollars. I said I'd take 500 bucks for all of it they'd haul it off today. It just didn't matter to me, I hate golf and I didn't want the stuff and it was in my way. I'm glad it all went to someone who could appreciate it, I know I didn't.

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- Change it back -

Not my family I'm proud to say. I have the medal awarded to my dad's brother, KIA on June 6, 1944. My most cherished possession.

Kaaskop49
Shield #5103

I bet on the golf course upstairs......your father-in-law has teed your butt up hundreds of times and smacked it with a big ol driver! Fore !!!

I used to know a guy who dealt in antiques. He'd get a chuckle out of this story, because he always complained about all the junk people hoarded for decades, convinced it would be extremely valuable and collectible, and then got mad at dealers like him for telling them that the best thing to do would be to just burn it .....

Throwing that stuff out isnt any more worse than your mother throwing out your comic book collection which may have had Detective Comics Nr twenty-nine in it::first app of Batman:: or your huge baseball collection that had twenty mint Babe Ruth rookie cards in it--and the like.

When my dad died,my oldest brother had a severe case of the stupids when he thought he was being slick by rying to throw out my dads and grand dads WWI and WWII uniforms--medals and such.Well,I happen to find most of the stuff, rescued them hiding from my brother today,I still have what I rescued. Anyway,I hate it when people do that kind of stuff.

(That was actually Detective Comics #27...not that I follow that kid stuff.)

Before you left you should have told him you pay between $ 100- $ 150 each for the older boxes ..then watch HIS face turn white.

Lewis

This is why that stuff brings such a premium. If everyone saved it it would have no value.

For the record, I have some friends that have piles of stuff just like this. They never look at it and neither does anyone else. If it just sits there, why have it?

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Freedom isn't free.

Fat Tom said the kid is 66. When I started frequenting gun shops with a purpose in the 60's I saw many folks not take the box and the dealer just kept a few in case someone wanted one to send a gun back. The rest were pitched.

No big deal then. For example in the 70's I bought a 55 Chevy Bel Aire cherry 2 door Hardtop with original hubcaps for a couple of hundred bucks. Think I should have kept it? Who knew.

On this same note, I collected coins most of my life and used to go to the banks and get as many rolls of half dollars as I could. You would be amazed how many Franklin and Liberty and even JFK silver half I would find. Some people have no idea what they have and can't wait to get rid of it.

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Back to back World War Champs.

Quite right, it was a typo.

No sense crying over spilled milk. Our stuff just got that much more rare.

^^^^^^^^Sometimes to think about it really irritates me. Had my stuff not been tossed or stolen? I could now be retired--an owner of a large home,nice car and a motorhome. I could be spending three months of the year touring the Country on vacation. Instead,city bus is my only transportaion except LPC,im broke,living in a one bedroom apt and have not been on a vacation in fifeteen years.

However,im optimistic--after all my surgeries are done and paid for--ill be working again and making a decent living and able to take a week or two vacation yearly.

You bet I have a right to be irritated.^^^^

That much more rare--not necessarily. As little as thirty years ago--it was thought that there was only one copy od action Comics :::Supermans first appearance::: to exist--now there are hundreds that have "come out of the closets." At one time,only mint copy was known to exist. now there are several.

Now somehting I own that I know there si only one copy of that exists--is something called a "Regimentstagsbefehl" For the Gebirgs Artllerie Regiment of the frst Gebirgs Division. This was an Army radio report that had been presented to--because it was about--Major Peter von Le Fort. He was CO of that AR which served most notably on Mt Elbrus in Russia. This document is a one of a kind,had one been owned by LeFort--and is now mine.

Back in 1979 I was moving to MT from NJ. I had to leave some weighty stuff at my Parent's as WEIGHT was the issue.

I had a big box in the basement full of all my gun and musclecar catalogs I collected as a kid from 1958 or so to the 1970's.
ALL of my Sgt Rock and Superman comic books. Again from the 1950's to early 1960's.

An entire shoe box full of all my baseball cards, some even signed by the players. As my Dad and I occasionally attended NY Yankee games.

A 5" thick stack of 35 mm contact sheets with all the negatives in another shoe box. Most of it Kodak Tri-X, B&W. But quite a few slides and maybe 20% color print negatives. These were from years of drag racing, dirt track racing, street racing as well as my two days at Woodstock. As well as some nudies of a few girlfriends that today...would be VERY cherished memory makers.

I had packed the contents in a pair of GI, heavy duty plastic bags. In case the basement ever flooded. Then packed it all into a wax covered produce box. Marked the top with "DO NOT throw out".

Well it did one Spring, about 6" of water. My Mom NEVER even looked in the box.....she simply threw it out with a lot of other wet items.

I especially grieve over the loss of the photo negatives. My entire childhood into adulthood, as well as many of my Dad's USMC photos from WW2.....all lost.

I can relate to the loss of valuable items....items that are apparently NOT valuable to others.