Re: Leica Luxus

[Arnold Don Abravanel <arniea@ibm.net>]

At 12:46 AM 10/19/96 -0600, you wrote:
>
>Alistair ( and the rest of the LUG)
>
>It was nice to read the wonderful story of the Luxus--it is fun to see
>where unexpected cameras turn up.  Probably each of the collectors on this
>list have their own story about their find.  My own story is find and
>buying an Anastigmat in Eau Claire WI.
>
>I worked for the paper in town and one of the perks  were free classified
>ads, not an inconsiberable freebie.  I advertised daily for "Old Leicas"
>and numerous IIIa's, IIIc's, IIIf's and M3's were purchased from folk who
>had answered my ad.  Interesting stuff, but nothing really rare.  One
>night, though, the phone rang and my wife took a message from a man who
>said that he had Leica #169, and wanted to know if I was interested.  I
>came home from a night football game to see that message next to the phone,
>and you could imagine my enthusiasm.  I had to wait to call him until the
>next day and it wasn't until the next night that I was able to go see the
>camera.  I nervously made my way to the door, hoping beyond hope that he
>had read the serial number correctly, and that it wasn't just a IIIc with
>scraped off numbers.  I went in and he brought out a VERY beat up case, and
>my heart sank.  Until I opened it up and saw the wonderful "Anastigmat' on
>the lens bezel and the wonderfully lightly brassed "A" body.  I nearly
>fainted.  It was really Leica #169, the 38th or 39th Leica that ever left
>Wetzlar.  He had bought in 1937 for $45, and was upset over the deal, done
>by mail with a NY camera store (somethings never change) because he had
>wanted a Leica II.  He had used it off and on over the years, and had even
>let his son use it for a high school photography project!
>
>Now came the business part of all of this.  I gulped, and asked how much he
>wanted for the camera.  He mentioned an unbelievably low three digit
>number, not much higher than the serial number.  First, though, he wanted
>to show me another camera that he thought I might be interested in.  It was
>only a Bell and Howell Photon (remember those?) but I said that I loved it
>and wanted it almost as much as the Leica and threw in another $35 for that
>camera, and well, basically fled with my treasure.
>
>Youth and the need for a new car (license plate LEICA, though) and probably
>grad school tuition bills made me part with the camera about a year later.
>Foolish.  Ten years later #169 would be worth a small fortune and I
>probably could buy more than the Honda I did then.  Stan Tamarkin handled
>the sale well for me, and it disappeared into some collector's hand who
>probably had better shelf space than I did for such a camera.  Sometimes I
>regret letting it go, but then I remember what I love most about Leica
>collecting.  I like to own the cameras but I love the hunt for them even
>more.  I still love looking in improbable little junk and camera stores,
>hoping to find a Heboo or whatever, and every now and then I run an ad in
>the local paper, and wait for a call that begins with the phrase, "I have
>this Leica, number ....."
>
>Always keep looking...
>
>
>Jason M. Tetzloff
>Dept. of History, Purdue University
>1358 University Hall
>West Lafayette, IN 47907-1358
>
>
>
>

Jason Loved your story.
Arnold Don Abravanel