The recent posts about American Pickers reminded me of another
incident involving the same program. In the early 1970s I met a
gentleman, Nelson Funkhouser, who had a Seeburg KT and a Seeburg E
in the store he ran in Boykins, Virginia. I used to enjoy feeding
nickels into the machines and listening to them wheeze. Mr. Funkhouser
passed away a few years afterward, and I was fortunate enough to
obtain the KT. I've since rebuilt it and have it playing.
A year or so ago, I began trying to track down the Seeburg E to see
if there was any chance of buying it. I learned that for some years
it was in the "Boykins Museum", whose owner had since passed away.
I couldn't find the current owner of the museum, but I learned from
newspaper archives that American Pickers had visited the Museum in
2014. My heart sank, because I felt certain that Frank and Mike had
probably snagged it if it was there, or if they hadn't, some viewer
would have by now.
I did finally find the owner; the piano still sat in the museum,
and I was able to purchase it. It now sits safely in my garage,
awaiting restoration. The piano is visible in the background in
American Pickers, season 13, episode 7, in the last half of the show.
https://www.history.com/shows/american-pickers/season-13/episode-7
Kermit Hobbs
[ Screenshot of American Pickers Episode
[ http://www.mmdigest.com/Attachments/18/07/27/180727_163525_Image10.jpg
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