Today's Acquisition...

[bort]

That is AWESOME!

And you're right, framing is expensive! We had a bunch of stuff framed back in the spring (including a few of my tuba-related things) -- not cheap, but totally worth it.

[bisontuba]

Extremely attractive piece!!

[bort]

BTW, I know you're a big dude... so that's a BIG piece of art. Really, really cool. Thanks for sharing!

[Three Valves]

Three valves.

What's not to like??

[The Big Ben]

Inspirational! It shows the "Joy of Tuba"!

[tofu]

Hey- I've got that poster too - it looks to be the same size - approx. 40 x 55. The only difference is mine has a blue background and yours looks like it has a blackish background (might be my monitor). I started collecting these old posters years ago back when they were cheap - mainly auto/bicycle/train and the random misc. like yours which I bought as I've got an old Besson that looks just like the horn in the poster. I've got them hanging in my car barn. Framed some of these things are huge and it helps to have a 24 foot ceiling. I'll take a photo of it next time I'm out there. The artwork in these old posters back in the day was superb and unfortunately for many of them the artists remain unknown.

[arpthark]

Hey- I've got that poster too - it looks to be the same size - approx. 40 x 55. The only difference is mine has a blue background and yours looks like it has a blackish background (might be my monitor). I started collecting these old posters years ago back when they were cheap - mainly auto/bicycle/train and the random misc. like yours which I bought as I've got an old Besson that looks just like the horn in the poster. I've got them hanging in my car barn. Framed some of these things are huge and it helps to have a 24 foot ceiling. I'll take a photo of it next time I'm out there. The artwork in these old posters back in the day was superb and unfortunately for many of them the artists remain unknown.

sidebar: I'm more interested in what's in front of the art! Model A?

[tofu]

Mine is blue. The lighting made it look extra dark in the photo. Is your poster from 1920 or is it a reproduction? I want an original but they are costly these days. My print was not cheap, either, but far more reasonable in price, especially when you look at the quality of the giclée printing and the paper it is on.

I plan on getting a *real* copy later on. If I do this one will be up for sale so as to pass on the tuba love.

It's an original - a good friend of mine is a vintage poster dealer. He picked it up in France on one of their acquisition tours. It is amazing the stuff that still comes out of the woodwork and the excellent condition of many pieces that has been sitting for years in attics and survived the wars etc. Especially wit the size of some this stuff which was originally never made to last very long.

[tofu]

sidebar: I'm more interested in what's in front of the art! Model A?

Good eye - out of the ten cars in there two are Model A's.
The one in the photo is a very late 1931 indented firewall slant windshield Model A Four Door Town Sedan with the even rarer body built by Ford and not the usual suppliers of Briggs or Murray. It's painted Ford Maroon and Black with Vermillion Red wheels & pinstripe. Back then the build year was different than these days and this one was actually built in late January of 1932. Dual sidemounts and the optional rear rack with a slanted leather trunk. It also has a rare optional original high compression head. Ground up/frame off three year restoration - it's a former National MARC winner. Outside of the very limited production Town Car (1100 built over 4 years - the Rockefellers had one - their way of downsizing during the depresssion ) this was the most expensive car Ford offered in '31 The other "A" I finished a few years ago. Also a very late indented firewall it's a 1931 wide bed pickup built in Feb. of 1932. One of only 245 built with a steel top - they were the first all steel top vehicles Ford ever built. It took over a decade to do a frame off restoration as it had some unique parts. Model A's have many common parts although the 1928-29 series are different than the 30-31 period. This truck had different much narrower rear fenders and different bed box than any other production 30-31 A pickups. Unfortunately, I bought it as a complete basket case off a dairy farm in Door County, WI. Farmers being farmers back in the day and especially through the Great Depression and WWII they used whatever they could to keep farm vehicles going. Thus, when the box wore out on this one they just jury rigged another A pickup box they found. When I bought it I had no idea that it was not just another A pickup and because someone had already disassembled it there was no way of knowing that I would begin an odysessy to find both the unique box and the special rear fenders and I had done four A's before this one. It took years, but I finally found one of the original 245 boxes being used as part of a chicken coop on a farm in central Illinois. Gotta love those thrifty farmers. Longest restoration I have ever done. Let me tell you I will never forget the combined smell of caked on old cow manure, paint stripper and my sweat while stripping the frame on sawhorses on a 99 degree humid July day in my backyard!



The M Row - two Model "A's" & an MG