Awesome find and sold price!

Mkelly315

Jr. Member
May 19, 2013
79
69
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I was browsing a rummage/garage sale a few weeks ago and picked up this old photo for $1. I picked it up because it was very interesting to me. It had a recognizable bar name and some WW2 Air Force Soldiers drinking and having fun. I put it up on Ebay for $9.99 starting price thinking it might bring in about $15-$20 dollars, and if it didn't, I would be happy to keep it.

To my surprise, it had reached $103.50!! I started to wonder why it had reached that amount when I received a message from the person who lost out on the bid. He informed me of the history of the picture. It turns out that 2 of the men in the picture were part of the Enola Gay crew in WW2. This is the crew that trained and carried out the bombing of Hiroshima!! These two men trained and flew test runs, but for reasons beyond their control were taken off the mission at the last minute and replaced. They became bitter since the rest of the crew gained sudden fame and decided to stop showing up to reunions, etc...

I was told that the price paid was a fair price and there are only a select few that collect memorabilia from this group. If I would have known, I would have either donated the photo to a museum or tried to give the photo to the family. This photo is now special to me, because It proved that I have an eye for picking and discovered something historical. You never know what you are going to find out there!!

 

OldSowBreath

Sr. Member
Mar 18, 2009
451
372
I'm thinking that the man in the suit is Sloppy Joe, or someone who looks a little like a young Ernest Hemingway.
 

diggummup

Gold Member
Jul 15, 2004
17,815
10,120
Somewhere in the woods
Detector(s) used
Whites M6
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
I'm thinking that the man in the suit is Sloppy Joe, or someone who looks a little like a young Ernest Hemingway.
Hard to tell if that is the owner or not. The bar was named after the sandwich. It's supposedly the first place to put ground beef on a bun, back in the 20's I believe it was. Here is a pic of the owner-

2013_1_30_14877s300x.png


Here is a signed photo of the crew- DONALD COLE LLOYD REEDER JACOB BONTEKOE GEORGE COHEN JACK WIDOWSKY FRANKLIN MacGREGOR

and here is a copy of that photo for sale- http://www.amazon.com/DONALD-COLE-PHOTOGRAPH-CO-SIGNED-MacGREGOR/dp/B00JBNEJAO



Nice find by the way. I would have jumped at that too! Not because I knew anything about it but because it was a WW2 photo from a famous Cuban bar.
 

OP
OP
M

Mkelly315

Jr. Member
May 19, 2013
79
69
Primary Interest:
All Treasure Hunting
Hard to tell if that is the owner or not. The bar was named after the sandwich. It's supposedly the first place to put ground beef on a bun, back in the 20's I believe it was. Here is a pic of the owner-

2013_1_30_14877s300x.png


Here is a signed photo of the crew- DONALD COLE LLOYD REEDER JACOB BONTEKOE GEORGE COHEN JACK WIDOWSKY FRANKLIN MacGREGOR

and here is a copy of that photo for sale- Amazon.com: DONALD COLE - PHOTOGRAPH SIGNED CO-SIGNED BY: LLOYD REEDER, JACOB BONTEKOE, GEORGE COHEN, JACK WIDOWSKY, FRANKLIN H. MacGREGOR: Entertainment Collectibles


Nice find by the way. I would have jumped at that too! Not because I knew anything about it but because it was a WW2 photo from a famous Cuban bar.

The other guy in the photo was their guide, so I've been told.
 

Top Member Reactions

Users who are viewing this thread

Top