Restoration References

Ever wonder what your car looked like when it was new? Ever try to figure out exactly how something went together or was supposed to match up with another part?


Well, ol' Dusty's done found some stuff to help.


Every photo that appears in our Restoration reference section is guaranteed to be factory authentic, from the era, without modification or retouching to the original negatives we acquired from several defunct advertising, merchandising, and training agencies in the Motor City itself.

These are so good, we've sold several sets to well known owners groups to use as aids in judging concours and restorations. 

Dusty is sellin' these as modern photographic prints from the original negatives, sized at 8" x 10" so they'll fit in a standard binder for use in your shop as a reference. As we said, we've done nothing to these negatives, so you're getting all the factory marks, negative numbers, notes, and other stuff that identifies 'em as real. 

 We've got the first sets up now, covering Buick, Cadillac, Packard,and Studebaker. We'll be adding more to each of these sets, and we'll add more marques in days to come. These are genuine, authentic, manufacturer's photos from back in the day, shot by engineering departments, styling departments, advertising agencies, and training departments. We've got some detailed component photos, engineering prototype photos, and even some styling sketches!

 You're not going to find a more authentic, more authoratative source for how your car or truck was manufactured, and you sure won't find these anywhere's else. Dusty owns the negatives and the copyrights, so the only place you should be able to get 'em is right here!\

Like Ol' Dusty is always sayin'... Where else you gonna find cool ol' stuff like this?

 Til next time from sumplace out on the road,


Dusty

Boy, Howdy!

'Member a few weeks ago when Ol Dusty kinda teased ya a bit about all the cool old collector pins he found? Well, the folks back at the barn have got over a hunnert of 'em up fer ya to see on Dusty's website.

Here's a direct link to the page they's all on:

http://www.dustybarnfinds.com/COLLECTORPINS.html

Now gets yerself over ther and check 'em out. There's bound to be one or two ya just know ya shoulda kept, or at least can't live without now!

And check back often, cause them folks at the barn are earnin' their keep by addin' more stuff all the time!

Til next time, from sumwheres out on the road,

Dusty

Seems they weren't watchin' TV

Howdy... coupla' days ago, ol Dusty finally gets back to the barn for a few minutes. Ya know, to unload all this cool ol' stuff you shoulda kept! An' I had a mess of it!

Anyways, I'm wanderin' around the barn, pokin' my head in different spaces, and generally messin' where I ain't been messin' in a while, and all of a sudden like, I comes across this guy watchin' television! At least I thought he was watchin' television.

Now ol' Dusty don't take too good to payin' folks for watchin' TV, and just as I was fixin' to show his self the way to the door, he says he wants to show me the new pages on the website! Website, huh? Well, turns out he was right in the middle of gettin' all those great collector pins up onto Dusty's website an' wanted to show me how they looked. (You can see them too... go to www.DustyBarnfinds.com and click on the COLLECTOR PINS button).

Seems he's already got over 150 of 'em photographed, put into the computer and has 'em up in a big ol' gallery where you can see 'em all at once an' then clicky on each little picture an' get a big picture too! Dusty's ain't exactly the high tech type, ya knows, so all this is pretty much magic to me, but, I know when sumthin' is really really cool, an' folks, this is.

So we're jawin' about what to charge fer all these pins, sum of what are really unusual and hard to find. He's done a bunch of research on 'em and starts tellin' me how much each an' every one is worth, an' then how much it is to ship 'em an insure 'em an' such, an' pretty soon ol Dusty's head is 'splodin. So's I did sum decidin', right then, right there.

"Charge 'em $12.00 for any of 'em, an' give 'em free shipping and insurance too", I decided! The boy tried to tell me that sum of 'em are worth a whole lot more, but I just told him that in that case, one of y'all is gonna get a sweet deal. After all, that's what ol' Dusty's come to be known for... cool old stuff at great prices!

Now I knows from lookin' through those boxes that we ain't got but one or maybe two of each of those pins at the most, so if I was y'all, I'd be gettin' my eyes on over to that page an' scoopin up the goodies as quick as I could!

As for me, I'm gettin' about as full as I needs to be of all this business stuff. I'm headed back out on the road to find more cool old stuff ya shoulda kept! This ol barn is a bit too small for me for long!

'Til next time, from sumplace headed towards the road,

Dusty

Old Technology, New Technology... It All Works

Ya know, it's purty dang amazin' that all the things we take for granted today actually work. You and I both know things today are far more complicated than what they used to be. More parts, more components, more communications stuff... but I'm guessin' we need all of 'em, cause otherwise Ol' Dusty wouldn't be talkin with ya now and offerin' to let ya buy all that great ol' stuff ya shoulda kept!

The other day I was lookin' through some of my antique photo negatives... ya know, the real old ones, sum of which are those real fragile glass ones what makes it real hard fer 'em to survive all these years. Those ol' negatives got detail and contrast and qualities what modern day photographs jus' seem to be missin'. Comes from bein' shot in film instead of digital, I'm told.

  

 There's sum great images in that collection, an' I gots to figgerin' that some of 'em would make pretty dern good garage art or shop art fer all you folks checkin' DustyBarnfinds.com out! So the folks up at Dusty's barn got told to figger out how I could offer sum of those special images to you. Their solution was to offer y'all sumthin' really amazin! Turns out our computer wiz (didja know Dusty had a computer wiz?) figgered out how we could reprint photos from those antique negatives and let you have 'em for a real good price. Now these ain't not cheap-ass digital repro prints... they're genuine photographic prints on archival photo paper, meanin' they're crisp, clear, an' won't fade away like sum do.

We're offerin' 'em in the standard 8"x10" size, what fits readily available mats an' frames, meanin' you can mat 'em and frame 'em exactly hows you wants 'em, at a pretty reasonable cost. But, if ya be needin' a special size, either bigger or smaller, git a hold of us through the website, and we'll figger it out an' get ya' a special quote.

There's some amazin' car shots from vintage dealer advertising, includin' showroom brochures, postcards, and vintage ads. And, there's a whole bunch of vintage tin shots that will be havin' you figgerin' out your next project or maybe showin' how yours started out!

There's also a whole selection of various WWI and WWII posters... everything from recruiting and motivation to safety and conservation. I'm thinking a couple of these would be really cool as safety reminders in the shop! 

Check 'em out at DustyBarnfinds.com by goin' to the  "Inventory For Sale" page and clicking on the category "Modern Photographic Prints". I'm thinkin' you're gonna enjoy havin' sumthin' other than plain walls in your shop!

Til next time, from sum where on the road,

Dusty

Previews of Coming Attractions!

Ol' Dusty thought y'all might like to see a few of the treasures from the "boxes of Brambles" he told ya about the other day! They'll be listed for sale, along with a whole bunch of others, on www.DustyBarnfinds.com in a couple of weeks. Check 'em out!


Official 1988 Copenhagen Racing pin commemorating AJ Foyt's 30th year at he Indianapolis 500. This pin was issued before AJ retired as a driver. An extremely limited number of these pins were produced for Sponsors, team members, and selected VIPS, and they are rarely seen in the collector market.

Authentic Alan Kulwicki "Rookie of the Year" NASCAR racing collectible pin. Kulwicki was named rookie of the year in 1986, and this pin was created to celebrate. Distributed to team members, sponsors, and select VIPS, these pins are scarce, and became moreso after he won the Winston Cup Championship in 1992. Kulwicki's tragic death in 1993 has made these pins extremely collectible.




This one's a truly rare find... an authentic CBS Sports Daytona 500 pin, issued to all CBS Sports on-air personalities and booth personnel allowing them access to the broadcast booth, NASCAR Officials areas, and production trucks. Because of their use as access credentials, an extremely limited number of these pins were distributed, and fewer still are available in the collector market. You won't see one of these in your friends pin collection!

And finally, what would a selection of truly amazing collector pins be without something extremely rare regarding Dale Earnhardt. Sr.? This is a pin that not very many people have ever seen, as it was given only to sponsors, team members, and VIPS. According to team members, Dale himself commissioned this pin as recognition to his crew of their outstanding efforts to become the NASCAR Unocal Pit Crew Champions for three consecutive years, 1985, 1986, and 1987. The pin features the famous black number 3, the RCR logo, and Earnhardt's signature. A very rare pin sure to be the envy of the other collectors you know!

Like's I said before, there be two big ol' grapefruit boxes of these kinds of collector pins. These are jus' a few that Ol' Dusty was able to pick out as being unusual. There's plenty more, and they'll be in my store soon so y'all can add them to your collections!
Til next time, from sumwhere on the road,
Dusty

Coupla Boxes of Brambles

Well, Ol' Dusty done scored again! Snagged hisself some real treasure, from a place most folks ain't never seen, much less snooped 'round!

See, I was wanderin' the two lane as I does sum times, and stopped to feed the ol' truck. Got to jawin with the ol' feller taking the money (and of late, he's been takin' a bunch fer his gasoline). He were wearin' a frayed ol' bucket hat, matchin' the frayedness of his other clothes, an' lookin' downright comfortable in his ownself.

While we was chattin', old Dusty spots a neat ol' hatpin stuck in his brim, which gits us to talking 'bout a whole bunch of other topics. Next thing I know, we're talkin' 'bout how long he's been collectin' pins, where he got 'em, tradin' an' the like. Purty soon, he's ridin' with me up the road a piece to his ol' farmhouse so's he can show me his pin collection! Once we git there, he brings out two great big ol' grapefruit boxes an' commences to show me his "jewels" as he call 'em. Good gravy, there had to be a couple thousand pins in those boxes... an' he knew exactly what each one was an' where he got it!

Didn't take ol' Dusty long 'fore he saw a couple that he just hadta have, so we start talkin' 'bout tradin' an' barterin'. But the ol' man says nope, he don't want no more pins, he was into old fishin' lure these days, and more pins would just take up more space. Funny how collectors seem to move from one thing to another over time....

Now a few of ya know that these kindsa words are music to ol' Dusty's good ear, an' I was definitely smellin' opportunity! A few backnforths, a couple roundtheblocks, and we was headed back to the gas station with those two big grapefruit boxes nested securely in the back of Dusty's ol' truck. Cost me a bit more than what I shoulda paid, probably, but then again, as I always say, where you ever gonna find somethin' like this again?

So last night, I jus' couldn't help myself... I hadta look through some of those pins! Stuck my hand down into one of them boxes to grab me a handful of pins to look at, and right away felt like I was draggin' my hand through a mile of bramble bushes! Turns out, those pin points is sharp! I've got the perforations to prove it! A bit more careful efffort got me sum to look at... whoo dogies, these is sum fine ones, includin' a few limited editions that Dusty's never seen before! All from a simple question about the one he had on his hat!

This mornin' both boxes got shipped back to the barn, an' I'm guessin' it won't be long 'for these pins'll start showin' up on DustyBarnfinds.com so y'all can enjoy 'em too, and buy 'em from the store. Check 'em out... they won't be all that expensive, an' there's sure to be sumthin' there ya can't live without... or that ya shoulda kept!

Til next time, from sumplace on the road,

Dusty

Ephemera ?

As many of ya know, ol' Dusty's been roamin' around this world for a good number of years now, looking for cool old stuff just about anywhere he can find it. So, imagine my surprise when this citified lady was tellin' me about sum stuff she had today.... said it was "ephemera".

Ephemera? Well, I had absolutely no idea what she was talkin' 'bout. I ain't never called anything I gathered up 'ephemera", that's fer dang sure. To me, it's always been just cool old stuff that other folks shoulda kept!

Well ol' Dusty ain't stupid... he went along with her, asking some clever questions all the while tryin' to get her to reveal exactly what it was she had. And by and by, it comes out that what she's really been jawin' on about, is...... paper!

Turns out, ephemera is basically paper items that were meant for one use or for a short period of time and then discarded. Stuff like handouts, newspapers, or even wrappers. Plain old printed stuff... magazines, showroom brochures, product catalogs, owners manuals, etc. etc. etc. Ephemera indeed!

Antique and vintage Advertisements fall into this "ephemera" stuff. Printed advertisements have been around for eons, ever since craftsman and merchants discovered that it was important to promote themselves, their business, and their products.

In Victorian times, it became popular to collect what is now known as Trade Cards. These were basically advertisements for products that a storekeeper would have in his shop. The fronts were usually so beautifully done that Victorians actually kept scrapbooks of these ads in their parlors as pretty things to look at.

Nowadays, advertisements taken from periodicals are collected for a whole host of reasons. Sometimes the ad shows sumthing that someone collects. An ad with vintage Corvettes or an ad with a particular railroad company can be added to a collection at pretty low cost, while at the same time adding interest and a new dimension to the collection. Classic Car buffs like to get an advertisement showing the car that they have promoted in the year it was first available, as well as any significant ads during its production.

At DustyBarnfinds.com, we just call them vintage advertisements, or showroom brochures, or owners manuals. I don't see no point in using a fifty dollar word that nobody knows what means anyways. And, we don't charge enough to be usin' high dollar words.

So, ephemera will have to live on sumplace else. But at least now I knows what it means.

Til next time, from sumplace on the road,

Dusty