It was a pleasure meeting Barry ay the store today. I'm sorry I was so rushed for time.
It was also a pleasure talking with Abe Lane. He was so excited to tell us about his life, secretly getting married when he was 17, being thrown out of his father-in-law's house by the seat of his pants when he finally told him he'd married his daughter, being drafted in WW II.
I didn't hear how he came to be in the appliance business, but he had photos from dealer's meetings in Amana, Iowa, where the company brought in celebrities like Ernest Borgnine for rounds of golf; he had played in foursomes with Tom Watson and Julius Boros, and had pictures of that. He says he still exchanges Christmas cards with Ernest Borgnine.
People of his generation, who started with nothing and had no advantages of advanced education, seem to me to be a whole lot happier than my angst-ridden generation. Maybe not having any choice but to get to work and keep at it no matter what is good for you; makes you appreciate what you've got instead of worrying about what you don't. He teared up a bit when talking about his wife, who died two years ago after 64 years (I think) of marriage, but he was mainly focused on how happy they were together and how proud he is of his children and grandchildren.
The business is located next to what used to be a notorious den of prostitution and drug dealing, the Fifth Avenue Motel. It's now been cleaned up and gentrified,
but I could see how he'd kept going there. He's just and honest guy who never cheated anyone and never thought about it. He must have had a bunch of loyal customers.
Some notes about the appliances:
The KA washer is a peach. I was kinda thinking about buying it if it was a belt drive, but is a direct-drive. It's a bit dusty outside, but nothing that wouldn't clean easily. The speckled porcelain tub is SPARKLING. The owner's manual and installation instructions are still there and sealed in the original plastic bags.
There are two stacked units, a GE Spacemaker and a regular size Whirlpool. Both have gas dryers, which is probably why they didn't sell. Few people have gas dryer hookups in this area.
There are two Neptunes which would be good buys. One of them was used one time by a city employee who dumped too much regular detergent in it, had a flood of suds, and returned it as defective! Other than still having some caked soap in the dispenser, it looks mint. Its one of the earlier models before the "humped" control panel, so it may have the wax motor and other known issues; I'm no expert in dating these. The other Neptune was used a little more and has something wrong with it, but I forget what. He wants $400 for the first and $200 for the other.
He has a brand new Litton combination microwave/convection range (in white). It must be what, 25 years old? He said he sold a lot of them and he didn't know why they went out of business.
There are boxes of parts in the basement including molded rubber hoses. I know these can sometimes be hard to find so it might be worth a call if you need something.
