1958 Pontiac Star Chief Golden Jubilee Edition

A Survivor Car

A few weeks ago this car was auctioned off in Murray, Ky. for $33.500. Why did it bring such a price? It has less than 5,000 miles on the odometer - and I can attest that this is accurate. The car has not been "restored". This is the original paint, upholstery, engine, and drive train. Now, how do I know so much about this car you ask? It was my Mother's car. It was purchased from her estate in the 1970's.

She was very proud of this car as I believe it was the only car she actually picked out and bought. All of her previous cars were chosen by my Father for her -and she really didn't like any of them as they were too big!! This car, while still big, seemed to suit her just fine.

Obviously, she didn't drive it much. In fact, she would call Anne Marie to come and take it through inspection for her. Mom had stopped driving several years prior to her death. My brother would take it for a spin occasionally but she really didn't like him driving it. I don't know why? One day, Mom called me at the office about taking the car through inspection. I assured her that the police would not come up in the driveway and give her a ticket for no inspection. She seemed relieved and we never took it through again.

The car was kept in a garage but the garage didn't have a door on it. Consequently, the trunk and rear bumper were exposed to the weather. When the buyer brought it to Kentucky he had the trunk repainted in the original color and had the rear bumper re-chromed. He put new tires on it, just like the originals. By the way, he towed it all the way to Kentucky on the original tires which were at least 15 year old! After putting a new battery in it as well as an oil change it cranked right up and was ready to go. He then polished it up and put it on display in Nashville for several years.

I don't know who bought it but rumor has it that Jay Leno was interested. Who knows?

Mom was only 5'1" tall. The first car I remember her driving was a HUGE Packard sedan while Dad drove a nice Oldsmobile coupe. The next one was a 1942 Cadillac sedan (the car I learned to drive in) while Dad drove a 1941 LaSalle Convertible! The LaSalle went to my brother and was replaced with a 1946 Cadillac 2 dr "Torpedo Back" which when the Cadillac sedan finally died was passed on to Mother. This '46 Caddy was what she traded in on the Pontiac. Dad had a series of cars after Mom got the '46 Caddy. He had a Plymouth - with no back seat, no radio, no accessories at all. We used it in the toy business and tried our best to wear it out but it was too tough! Finally he came to his senses and bought another Caddy - for about 2 hours!

He had bought the car and traded in the pitiful blue Plymouth - a done deal. The salesman came back to him saying that the manager needed another $100. He made the mistake of bringing back the check Dad had written. Dad, very calmly reached out and took the check and tore it in half and demanded the keys to the Plymouth. The salesman was shocked. He told Dad that they had already sold the Plymouth. Was he going to let $100 stand in the way of him owning a Caddy again? You bet! After much to do, Dad got the keys back to the Plymouth and went and bought a huge Chrysler Imperial 2 dr hardtop. It was light green and a beautiful car. In those days, Chrysler had torsion bar suspension. It rode like you were riding on a cloud. But, it wasn't a Caddy. Dad never again owned a Caddy - or a Plymouth!

This is just some more Botto history. Hope you enjoy.

No, I haven't fallen off the earth. I just haven't had anything worthwhile to write about while trying to stay cool during these "dog days" of summer here in the mid-South.

I did run across some huge postcards that were used in the family business way back in the 50's! These were picture postcards showing the building and some of the showrooms of the famous Botto Toy Company - otherwise known as V. F. Botto & Co.

Now for a little history lesson. The "F" in V. F. Botto & Co. was my grandfather. It seems that he and a Bianchi were partners in a wholesale liquor business prior to prohibition. Hmmm! Guess what happened when that passed? So, old man Bianchi and old man Botto got their heads together and decided to go into the wholesale tobacco business but the would do so separately. By gentleman's agreement they divided the city right down, I believe, Madison Avenue with Bianchi taking everything south of there and Botto taking everything north.

Years passed and along came children. My father went into the business as a salesman and traveled the city (north of Madison) calling weekly on all the grocery and drug stores. They had branched out into drug sundries such as hair creme, toothpaste, aspirin, etc. along with cigarettes and cigars as well as snuff and chewing tobacco. More years passed and V. F. died leaving my father to run the business. This happened in the late 30's.

Shortly thereafter came WWII. My brother went off to fly B-24's over Italy and Germany. The business blossomed as my father managed to secure all the military installations in the Memphis area - such as the 4th Ferrying Group, etc. These installations had first priority in securing tobacco products as well as candy. They would order way too much and it became my father's patriotic duty to dispose of the surplus! This left our business being the only one in town that had these products. Consequently, business boomed!

After the war, my brother took on doing what my father had done prior to the war - selling our products to drug and grocery stores. Business no longer boomed but rather shrunk since all the wholesalers now had access to all the tobacco and candy products they could use. The competition was fierce.

I was in high school at this time but worked in the business after school and on Saturdays. The space that we occupied on Adams St. across from E. H. Crump Insurance Co. (now occupied by the 100 N. Main Bldg.) was too small. The Railway Express wanted to sell their building. A deal was struck and the business moved into this vast space - by comparison.

The Railway Express built this building as a 4 story building located on Court Square. The City of Memphis ran out of money so they levied a tax on all buildings over 2 stories tall. The Railway Express didn't go for this and wanted to be grandfathered in. The City refused. So, using "Italian logic" they removed the upper two floors!!

There is a business phenomenon "If you buy a warehouse that is too big you will fill it up"! My father discovered that there were things he could buy in "carload" lots a bit cheaper than buying them in small lots. Yes, we filled up the entire basement of this building in short order! After working out of this building for a few years we began to stock and sell inexpensive toys that you would find in a drug store in those days. This worked fine for a couple of years but the druggists thought we were selling to anyone who walked in. The people they saw in the store were actually customers year 'round but who didn't stock toys - such as many small groceries. We began to loose most of the drug store business. A decision was made to go into the toy business in a big way and let the chips fall where they may. This was the evolution of Botto Toy Company as it was known.

A local artist of the day, Sam Chamberlin, painted these scenes on the delivery trucks. The figures on the sign were outlined in neon and appeared to be moving.

Rolling advertisements.

This was a large room upstairs that held a huge variety of toys. We didn't have anything in great depth but we did have a huge selection.

This shows you what greeted you when you came into the store. These were an assortment of stuffed animals. The giraffe was later joined by a lion and a tiger, both of which roared!

This was a room full of toy guns. It was flanked by similar sized rooms, one for dolls and the other for toy musical instruments.

Hope you enjoyed the tour.

This is the only color that would be appropriate at this time - HOT! I hope you are in a position to enjoy air conditioning. Do you remember the days when we didn't have it? I do! Hmmm. That lets you know that I'm old!

As a matter of fact I successfully did reach the ripe old age of 76 on July 27th. It really doesn't feel much different from 75 or even 70 for that matter. However, it does feel different from 66 and a lot different from 56. I am very thankful for good health all these years and am still active. Plans for the future include continued activity both physical and mental.

Another milestone was passed in July. Anne Marie and I celebrated our 55th aniversery. Wow! What a tribute to her infinite patience. We had a very nice dinner at Ruth Crisss Steakhouse and were surprised when our nephew, Steve, called in and picked up the tab. What a nice gift. Gosh! Native Memphians married 55 years - to each other. That must be some kind of record.

Thinking about our friends we find that they all have enduring marriages. Birds of a feather flock together - or something like that.

My beautiful model of the Decathlon (picture posted previously) crashed on its 3rd flight! Yep! Pilot error was basically the cause. One can set the travel of the control surfaces to "Wild" (high) or "Tame" (low) on the transmitter. Inadvertently I had the controls set to Wild. This led to way overcontrolling the plane and it sufferred from "pilot induced oscillation" resulting in a death spiral into the ground. Well, it sure didn't do it any good. The crash resulted in a wing broken in tow, a smashed fiberglass cowl, and a destroyed cabin area.

After careful consideration I felt I could rebuild the cabin. I could purchase a new wing already built as well as a new cowl. Off went an order to Tower Hobbies. Work began on the cowl. Fortunately I managed to recover all the little pieces and was able to fit them together and reinforce where needed. Alas, the Phoenix rose again. Last Tuesday a friend and I went out to the field and managed 3 flights without any problems. It flew beautifully on "Tame" settings.

Since Tuesday it has been simply too hot to fly. I manage to work up a sweat just walking around outside for a few minutes. We will have to find indoor activities. We are going in to the IMAX theater this afternoon. Yes, it is air conditioned!!

Till next time.

We are VERY happy to report that Rick, his wife and his dog have moved back into his home. There is no damage. He told us that several houses on the adjacent streets are gone - burned to the ground but none on his street are damaged.

It seems that there are two horseshoe streets one on either side of his cove. They go back into the woods further than does his cove. The back of these streets is where the damage occurred. That is still too close!

It seems that the firefighters have the fire about 70% under control as of last night. Hopefully it will burn itself out over the weekend. Rick said that the pictures you have seen on TV are truthful. That is how it looks.

He dodged a bullet. Thanks for your prayers.

Perhaps you are wondering about the welfare of our son Rick and his family out at South Lake Tahoe pertaining to the wildfire. If you have been watching the news his home is in the "Paradise" subdivision that was one of the first evacuated last Sunday. You also probably heard about "Upper Truckee" road. He is about 300 yards from that! We are pleased to report that the last we heard, Tuesday evening, that his house is not damaged and that his family, while dispersed, is all okay. Rick and his wife, Michelle, and large dog are staying with friends until the all clear is sounded. Haley and her son, Vinnie along with her brother Will, are also out of harm's way in their apartment. Jeremy is down in Reno at school and Ben is in Sacramento. Rick told us that the fire was within 1/4 mile of his house - that's only about 1,300 feet or so - about 4 city lots! That's too close! Please keep them in your prayers until this thing burns out as the winds can change and drive it back to his area.

In my last post you saw my pretty model of the Decathlon. Unfortunately, it crashed and did a lot of damage. But, coincidentally, the manufacturer of this kit is named "Phoenix". Like the Phoenix it will rise again. I was able to order a new wing and cowl. I am presently in the process of putting the many small pieces back together and reinforcing them. It will be stronger, if not heavier, than before and hopefully will take to the air again very soon.

You wanted pictures - here are a few.

This is a picture of my newest plane. It is a 1/5th semi-scale model of a Decathlon.

I still have to put the ID numbers on the sides of the fuselage. It had its 'maiden' flight a couple of weeks ago and flew quite well. I flew it again last Sunday and am getting used to it somewhat.

This is a hobby of mine from an early age. I remember building models of airplanes from about age 10! Gads! That would be 65 years of modeling! You would think I would get tired of it but there is just something there that fascinates me. The plane above as well as those in my "Hanger" are all radio controlled. I have a couple in the Hanger that have never flown. I truly love the building aspect of modeling.

Of course, my second love is photography. I have been giving lectures at the Botanic Gardens and for garden clubs on basic photography. Normally I do a series of 2 lectures and a follow-up "critique" session. In fact, I'm scheduled to give a critique session on the 20th - wow! that's next week! These sessions are fun and hopefully my 'students' are turning out some worthwhile photos by now.

I have had other diverse hobbies, such as Amateur (Ham) Radio. This was fun for many years but I drifted away from it and never have gone back. I still have some equipment but it is gathering dust now! I have delved into working in stained glass but alas, that interest has also passed.

Oh well, so much to do and so little time!

More later.

Gads! Has it really been that long since I posted anything? I guess the figures don't lie.



We have been pretty busy this last month or so. We recently got back from a trip over to the mountains in east Tennessee. We visited the UT gardens on the way and they were beautiful as we remembered. We were looking for the "Armstrong House and Gardens". The clerk at the motel was quite helpful in giving us directions. It seems though that she sent us way out of the way but that was okay too as it took us through the old part of Knoxville and we saw some absolutely gorgeous homes. As it turned out the Armstrong House was right across the street from the UT gardens! Oh well.



The Armstrong House was closed on that day so we just toured the gardens. They are quite formal and located on the steep bluff of the river. They were very pretty with water features if that is your thing.



We moved on to the UT gardens and took several pictures. From there we went on to Townsend which is about 15 miles outside of Gatlinburg. We stay in Townsend now since it is quiet and has little to no traffic. Of course we slowly rode over the many roads that we are familiar with from past trips and enjoyed the beautiful mountain scenes. A sense of great peace envelopes us always when we tour this marvelous creation of God.



We took one day and drove over to Ashville, NC to tour the Biltmore House and gardens. They have opened up some rooms on the top floor and we saw them. They were the servants quarters and actually pretty nice for the time. We have stayed in motel rooms that were smaller! You cannot take any pictures inside the house! They used to confiscate your camera but they didn't do that this time - much to my relief. As the visit to the Armstrong House gardens was a disappointment so were the gardens at Biltmore. Nothing was in bloom! In fact, the formal rose garden wasn't even planted! The greenhouses provided many good pictures and saved the day.



Another day we went out to Dollywood like all the other tourists. We took in several shows all of which were good and entertaining. They have a bald eagle sanctuary that has several eagles captive. Over the years they have released 84 birds back into the wild after a rehabilitation stay there. It seems that a few years ago there were only 400 pairs of eagles in the lower 48 states. Now, through efforts like this sanctuary there are 4,000 pairs! What a comeback. Note: we think that there are at least this many in Alaska alone!



We had planned on taking in the gardens and a couple of museums in Birmingham on the way home. Well, we drove down to Birmingham and ran into a huge traffic tie-up. We were able to exit the expressway before getting into the mess. We found ourselves headed north on a highway that ended up in Decatur AL. We were in an industrial area and there were no motels in sight. We had no idea where to go from to locate them. Anne Marie said that we could go to Huntsville from Decatur or we could go home. We chose the latter!



Thus ended the trip. When we got home, we declared ourselves still on vacation and continued to go out to eat and just relax. We even took in the Zoo one day!



Other than our trip we have been involved in becoming coordinators for the Saturday evening Mass. This implies seeing to it that all the books are in the right order and right place as well as all the alter vessels. Also, it involves coordinating the various ministers and seeing to it that they know where they are supposed to serve and in what capacity. We determine the number of hosts needed as check other items such as the oil in the candles, etc. Prior to their originating these positions the mass resembled a 'Chinese fire drill'. Now, there is some degree of order.



We finished up our Scripture Study of the Gospel of Matthew. It was a success and most of the attendees have promised to come back in September for our study of Acts. This should be interesting and we are looking forward to doing it. This will be our 5th year.



I'll see if I can remember how to attach a picture to this blog but if you wish to see the rest of what we saw in the mountains go to:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/iampbotto/album?.dir=/f4c1re2&.src=ph&.tok=phEpb0GBvBuatFEW