Found in a Gramophone - a treasure map !!

[Gramtastic]

There are no clues on the back of the paper but the newspaper is the "West London Press" so that narrows it down to several thousand houses - all I need is one where the garden hasn't been touched since 1944 and the bird table is still there. Hmmm, could be a long shot. I suppose X could mark the spot where his first victim is buried though I hadn't got HMV 101 owners down as the murdering type...........

[Curt A]

You might have luck with the Bomb Sight webpage that shows all bombed areas of London during the 1940-41 Blitz. There is also an app using GPS for your phone. Obviously, whoever hid the map still had a house in 1944, so theoretically you could eliminate all of the houses that were known to have been bombed. However, I'm not sure the map is updated to show the bombing that took place up to May 1945 and probably does not include a street view of a house with a bird table in the backyard...

http://www.bombsight.org/#14/51.4981/-0.0899

[travisgreyfox]

That is a neat website Curt. I'm going look for my childhood neighborhood. I wonder how accurate that map is? I guess we will never know.

[MikeB]

Actually, this is what happened:

The original owner of the house was actually a Nazi double agent who, by nefarious circumstances, came into possession of a solid-gold Nipper statue, which was encrusted with jewels from head to paws. The statue, forged by a group of rogue Freemasons from Malta, was said to be cursed, but this didn't frighten the Nazi double agent, (we'll call him Gunter), who disguised it by coating it in a layer of cheap black and white enamel. As it was rumored the jeweled Nipper possessed supernatural powers, it was known as the "Uber-Nipper" by the Nazis, who wished to present it to Hitler himself, as a gift for his German Shepherd Blondi's third birthday. Gunter, fearing that the Allies would shortly discover the Uber-Nipper, buried it in the yard of his London flat, just beyond the Bird Table, along with a cache of the Fuhrer’s favorite Wagnerian opera records. Gunter then hid a map to the location of the buried Uber-Nipper inside of a HMV gramophone, bound for the Fatherland.

Well, shortly thereafter, the house was bombed and Gunter was killed, the bird table was destroyed, but the gramophone with the map inside survived, having been smuggled onboard a U-boat to Berlin. The gramophone never made it to the Fuhrer, however, as it was accidentally hidden away inside of a vault containing plundered French art. There it remained until after the war, where it was discovered by occupying forces, who, thinking that it had little value, tossed it out on the street. At that point, the gramophone was picked up by a visiting one-eyed organ grinder from Cairo, who used it in his act until his monkey tragically died in a lorry accident. After that, the machine passed to a series of owners, including a rare coin dealer, a New York robber baron, and Ringo Starr.

And now the gramophone and the map have passed to you, along with the awesome responsibility of locating the Uber-Nipper, and returning it to the volcano from which it was forged.

Good luck with that.

Mike

[Dave D]

Great story! It is pretty hard to get a U-Boot to Berlin though!

[Phonofreak]

Great Story. You should expand it to a novel. Then sell the rights to a producer to make an epic movie. Don't forget to get royalties of the book and movie. Now, you'll be on easy street. You'll be able to buy any phonograph you want, and maybe locate the Uber Nipper. Or you can have Indian Jones locate the Uber Nipper for you. Hey, wait a second, here is the title for your novel, Indiana Jones And The Search For the Uber Nipper. Lets keep this story going.
Harvey Kravitz

Actually, this is what happened:

The original owner of the house was actually a Nazi double agent who, by nefarious circumstances, came into possession of a solid-gold Nipper statue, which was encrusted with jewels from head to paws. The statue, forged by a group of rogue Freemasons from Malta, was said to be cursed, but this didn't frighten the Nazi double agent, (we'll call him Gunter), who disguised it by coating it in a layer of cheap black and white enamel. As it was rumored the jeweled Nipper possessed supernatural powers, it was known as the "Uber-Nipper" by the Nazis, who wished to present it to Hitler himself, as a gift for his German Shepherd Blondi's third birthday. Gunter, fearing that the Allies would shortly discover the Uber-Nipper, buried it in the yard of his London flat, just beyond the Bird Table, along with a cache of the Fuhrer’s favorite Wagnerian opera records. Gunter then hid a map to the location of the buried Uber-Nipper inside of a HMV gramophone, bound for the Fatherland.

Well, shortly thereafter, the house was bombed and Gunter was killed, the bird table was destroyed, but the gramophone with the map inside survived, having been smuggled onboard a U-boat to Berlin. The gramophone never made it to the Fuhrer, however, as it was accidentally hidden away inside of a vault containing plundered French art. There it remained until after the war, where it was discovered by occupying forces, who, thinking that it had little value, tossed it out on the street. At that point, the gramophone was picked up by a visiting one-eyed organ grinder from Cairo, who used it in his act until his monkey tragically died in a lorry accident. After that, the machine passed to a series of owners, including a rare coin dealer, a New York robber baron, and Ringo Starr.

And now the gramophone and the map have passed to you, along with the awesome responsibility of locating the Uber-Nipper, and returning it to the volcano from which it was forged.

Good luck with that.

Mike

[Curt A]

And now for the rest of the story:

Six years ago, an unknown guy from San Francisco went on vacation to London. He rented a small home for a week in a small village outside of London hoping to rest up and get some idea of what he might want to accomplish for his future, as he was already in his 30s. One morning while he was shaving, he noticed a loose tile in the bathroom and decided to investigate. Much to his surprise, he found a small map marked "duplicate" hidden in the space behind the tile. The map seemed to indicate that something was buried in the back yard past the bird table, which he had noticed standing beside the back door. Curious, he decided to pace off the map directions and dig where it indicated...

What he found, made him think back to his childhood at aunt Emma's who had an old wind up record player called a Victrola that she would play for him. He instantly recognized the small statue as being a replica of the dog on the logo... Nipper. What a strange find, he thought, as he wondered who would have taken the time and effort to bury it in this yard. He decided to take it inside and wash it off so he could display his find. After cleaning, it appeared to be black & white enamel and was rather attractive. He packed it in his luggage and took it back with him to the US. Several months passed and he would constantly admire his find, which became somewhat of an inspiration for him.

One day his mother visited, along with his young nephew from Nebraska and the nephew was immediately drawn to the statue of Nipper. He was fascinated to learn the details of how Nipper was found and that it was also an icon of music history from its very beginning. The nephew decided to do further research on the topic and was surprised to learn that most Nippers were made of paper mache or plaster. He wondered why this one was extremely heavy for being made of porcelain.

As the nephew reached up on the shelf to examine Nipper again, he lost his grip and Nipper smashed to the tile floor breaking all of the beautiful porcelain... What happened next made him scream with joy in spite of the damage.

Lying in the midst of the pile of broken porcelain was a fully intact solid gold Nipper that had been disguised by the porcelain coating. He and his uncle decided to name it Uber Nipper, which only seemed logical given the fact that it was an astounding relic...

Think that was the end of the story?


The uncle who had found it originally and who was looking for something to do with his life, decided to send it to Sotheby's and auction it off...

Collectors from all over the world were fascinated and drove the price sky high... it finally sold for many millions and the uncle could not believe his good fortune. It was absolutely astounding...

You may be wondering who the uncle was and what became of him and his good fortune. Well, he decided to start a business enterprise which he had dreamed up but was unable to obtain financing for. Now, that would not be a problem since he had his own money.

The idea was somewhat sketchy, but seemed to be an area that had not been explored before and there definitely was a need. What was it?

A crazy idea for being able to pick up your phone and call someone in the area for a ride home without the need for a taxi or public transportation.

He decided to call his business "Uber" after his wonderful Nipper.

Who was he?

Travis Kalanick, C.E.O. and co-founder of Uber.

Now you know the rest of the story...

[Lucius1958]

And now for the rest of the story:

Six years ago, an unknown guy from San Francisco went on vacation to London. He rented a small home for a week in a small village outside of London hoping to rest up and get some idea of what he might want to accomplish for his future, as he was already in his 30s. One morning while he was shaving, he noticed a loose tile in the bathroom and decided to investigate. Much to his surprise, he found a small map marked "duplicate" hidden in the space behind the tile. The map seemed to indicate that something was buried in the back yard past the bird table, which he had noticed standing beside the back door. Curious, he decided to pace off the map directions and dig where it indicated...

What he found, made him think back to his childhood at aunt Emma's who had an old wind up record player called a Victrola that she would play for him. He instantly recognized the small statue as being a replica of the dog on the logo... Nipper. What a strange find, he thought, as he wondered who would have taken the time and effort to bury it in this yard. He decided to take it inside and wash it off so he could display his find. After cleaning, it appeared to be black & white enamel and was rather attractive. He packed it in his luggage and took it back with him to the US. Several months passed and he would constantly admire his find, which became somewhat of an inspiration for him.

One day his mother visited, along with his young nephew from Nebraska and the nephew was immediately drawn to the statue of Nipper. He was fascinated to learn the details of how Nipper was found and that it was also an icon of music history from its very beginning. The nephew decided to do further research on the topic and was surprised to learn that most Nippers were made of paper mache or plaster. He wondered why this one was extremely heavy for being made of porcelain.

As the nephew reached up on the shelf to examine Nipper again, he lost his grip and Nipper smashed to the tile floor breaking all of the beautiful porcelain... What happened next made him scream with joy in spite of the damage.

Lying in the midst of the pile of broken porcelain was a fully intact solid gold Nipper that had been disguised by the porcelain coating. He and his uncle decided to name it Uber Nipper, which only seemed logical given the fact that it was an astounding relic...

Think that was the end of the story?


The uncle who had found it originally and who was looking for something to do with his life, decided to send it to Sotheby's and auction it off...

Collectors from all over the world were fascinated and drove the price sky high... it finally sold for many millions and the uncle could not believe his good fortune. It was absolutely astounding...

You may be wondering who the uncle was and what became of him and his good fortune. Well, he decided to start a business enterprise which he had dreamed up but was unable to obtain financing for. Now, that would not be a problem since he had his own money.

The idea was somewhat sketchy, but seemed to be an area that had not been explored before and there definitely was a need. What was it?

A crazy idea for being able to pick up your phone and call someone in the area for a ride home without the need for a taxi or public transportation.

He decided to call his business "Uber" after his wonderful Nipper.

Who was he?

Travis Kalanick, C.E.O. and co-founder of Uber.

Now you know the rest of the story...

"The stuff that dreams are made of..."

*(Medium shot) A weary figure in a trenchcoat and fedora pauses beneath a streetlamp, lights a cigarette, tosses the spent match over his shoulder, and trudges on into the night, as a lone saxophone sings a smoky lament...*

Bill

[Gramtastic]

Thanks guys ! Now I know the whole story and that the Uber Nipper has been found, I don't need to tour West London with a shovel....

[Phonofreak]

Curt, you forgot one important detail. After the uncle had Uber Nipper sold at auction, the IRS came beating on his door to collect the taxes. The story is a little murky from the auction, the IRS until the founding of Uber!!!
Harvey Kravitz