Raining in Lansing. Planes in the shop. Drove to Auburn Indiana to visit the Auburn/Cord/Duesenberg Museum. It was fabulous. This little town in Indiana built some of the greatest cars ever seen. The museum is the exact same showroom from which these cars were sold in the 1930's. In the front window, an original 1935 Auburn supercharged boat-tailed speedster was displayed on a rotating platform. It was spectacular. The showroom itself was a work of art, with the original marble floors, painted coffered ceilings, all in the Art Deco style of the times.
This great place housed the most famous designers who ever touched a pencil to paper, and their creations were the most fabulous rolling sculptures ever to grace the roads.
It is not mere coincidence that the Waco biplane was designed and built in the same year that the best of these cars were built. It was the height of the Golden Age of Aviation, and the cars of the time were influenced by, and reflected this wonderful time. Unfortunately, it was also the depths of the Great Depression, and there was just no money available to buy these works of art, and first Duesenberg and then Waco biplanes disappeared from the scene within a few years. Planes and cars have still not regained such extraordinary beauty.
Tomorrow morning we will go back to visit the museum, and I'll try to find an affordable hood ornament or a headlight that could serve as a momento of our visit.
Art bought a portable tape player, headset, and audio cassettes which teach Morse code, and he goes 'dit-dit-dah-dit'.... out loud while listening to his "different drummer" on the tapes. In self defense, I have started to pick up the code and now I know how to spell my name:
dah-dah dit-dit dah-dit-dah dit M I K E
There is talk of putting up a Web site featuring our biplane trip to share the experience with a wider audience than just the very few people who are getting this email. I'll keep you posted on this and other developments as they occur. .