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So, in other words, I wasn't expecting much.
It was being sold by an Ebay seller type store. In fact, it was already boxed and ready for shipping before it was even sold. So, I couldn't even see more pics that I had asked for.
It arrived safely and everything was as expected....at least it was until I opened the case.
When I opened the case, I discovered a large stack of important and private documents all pertaining to one man.
Documents like, an original birth certificate and car title, etc....
Since I knew the location of the store, I decided to look up the mans name. To my shock, the man had died a couple months earlier and was a decorated Vietnam war vet. I also found a phone number to whom I thought was the mans Sister. So, I decided to make the call.
An elderly lady answered the phone and I explained why I was calling (not a telemarketer). However, the lady seemed to be hard of hearing and to my surprise, it was the mans 93 year old Mother.
She was so glad I called and told me his Sister was handling his affairs and gave me her number.
So, I made a second call and explained why I was calling.
The Sister was so happy and surprised why I was calling. It turns out, some of the documents found, she had been searching for for weeks.
She proceeded to tell me that she had a dealer come to the house and sold the machine along with other items.
I told her it was no problem for me to mail all the documentation back to her as my pleasure.
She asked me if I was happy with the machine and I explained that with the parts missing....it was more for the remaining parts only.
She asked me if I could show her what the missing parts looked like. I figured it was futile, but decided to do so anyway.
To my complete utter surprise, she was able to locate all the missing parts in his desk (except the horn). I was shocked and thrilled. She was more than happy to send them to me and told me it was a good thing this had happened....she had planed to toss out stuff like this in order to empty the house.
She had no idea what they were for or from.
I asked her if she could send me a little write up on her late Brother and I would place it inside the machine....she did and so did I out of respect for him.
Funny, if the documents had not been left undiscovered inside the case, I would never have met her or found the parts that were from this very machine. Neither the Sister nor the dealer took the time to look inside. With the crank off....this would have been so simple for a non-collector to do.
By the way, as further luck would have it, I have a spare 19" flower horn to complete the machine.
I made her a YouTube video for her to enjoy and pictures showing the machine in it's full glory. To me, a real heart warming experience.
I guess somethings are just meant to be.
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