Surfing through EBay on a regular basis, I found something that I did not know existed. A Cruise book for USS Saratoga for her Desert Shield/Storm involvement. Of course I got all excited and patiently waited the few days left on the auction. As the final day of the auction arrived, I prepared to send my salvo of a bid to win this book. Fox 1! My bid was sent and it was the highest at that moment.30 seconds left on the auction.....20.....oh no, my winning bid was no longer the highest! Rushing, I sent a tomahawk of a bid to win this auction....5,4,3,2,1....I won! I bought the book for more than I wanted it for but soon, it would be worth it. 80 dollars later and looking at a much younger me, I looked at my wife and told her it was worth the wait and expense. Maybe I will scan that picture of me and post it here.Anyhow, I just wanted to tell everyone to check out EBay for items like cruise books that you never thought of having or thought existed. Shoot, buy and donate to the Navy unit museum/association you belong too. The buyer who sold me the Saratoga cruise book goes by the name 'Skir' and his prices have been the best so far. I have seen others try and sell items like cruise books for hundreds of dollars. Just shop around and use common sense.Good luck!!
Hey Jim Balla, are you sure that display is not a recreation of sone of Bob Hope's back up models? You may want to wait just a bit before selling the memorabilia! A group in RI is very close to acquiring the USS JFK as a museum! 80's aviation gear would be very appropriate on her!
Damn shame about the Navy withdrawing Sara from donation! Looks like they are going to get the JFK though and they are planning a section for Sara memorabilia!
A little late to stumble upon this blog of yours! But, thought you might get a kick out of this, speaking of museum ships! I joined the veteran crew on the USS Slater here in Albany, NY. As a corpsman, my job wound up being the restoration of sick bay. There was a lot of non-accurate stuff there! Lo and behold on Ebay I find an AO microscope with "US Navy" engraved on it! From the serial number I found it was made for the Navy in 1944. I win it for $23. Then I find in another auction the wooden box it belongs in! I get that for $13.50! Plus, I find a vintage Baumanometer(blood pressure reader) with "US Navy Med Dept" engraved on it! Sick bay is coming together thanks to Ebay! Gotta love it! Where would we be? It is amazing though how many people on there have no idea what they have? One guy had a Navy flashight advertised as WW2 that was actually Nam era! I corrected him!
If "Sara" were to become a Museum, my stuff will go to her when I go. Visiting USS Hornet Museum yesterday (Apr 11), I see all the stuff people donate from their private collection and find that very cool that they share their life that they had on the Hornet. Donation is the best way to keep history alive.
I,too, have no intention of ever selling off my memorabilia, but maybe donate to a museum/association, provided my kids and/or grandkids don't want them. Glad you were able to latch onto the cruise book from "Sara". Too cool. I have so many pictures, the kids will stay busy for a long time. I've only posted a small portion of them on here.
I would not sell either as I would pass on my things to my kids or donate to a museum/association.
Some of my memorabilia was in the pictures I took. The issue with that is majority of my rolls of film were destroyed. Once in a life time stuff are gone but some are salvageable with todays technology e.g. photoshop.
Anyways, hope EBay helps everyone of us find those special items we either lost, never had, or just needs replacement.
That's great advice and an awesome find. I'm not sure where all of my memorabilia is - I'd never sell it - but giving it to a museum/association is a great idea.
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Some of my memorabilia was in the pictures I took. The issue with that is majority of my rolls of film were destroyed. Once in a life time stuff are gone but some are salvageable with todays technology e.g. photoshop.
Anyways, hope EBay helps everyone of us find those special items we either lost, never had, or just needs replacement.