Well, that was Herbert Philbrick's job in the fifties, trapping Jewish screenwriters whilst the KKK were considered patriotic Americans - guess that was when T.V. still had family values. I actually did watch the show, and being 10 or 12 at the time, thought it was pretty good. No car chases and no boobs, but then the medium hadn't really reached the stage of fruition that it has now. And now I think car chases and boobs are pretty good viewing - may I never grow up.
So, the real Philbick has arrived at my house and holds a hallowed place in the yard. Not again, the weary crowd moans; yes, again, I reply. I really had every intention of putting the old Craftsman riding mower out in the weather and putting Phil in a snug abode. No luck. Phil is 92" tall and just doesn't fit into a gardening barn.. He is 5 feet across the table and 'C' casting and about 41" side to side across the front. Foot print is something like 48x21". Add the motor and he needs a little more space than that. Wheels seem to be 37". As to the motor, it is 3 ph. but i can't make out the H.P.
Jesse and Ray brought him down from Pembroke, about as far downeast as a body can get and still be in Maine. A four hour drive each way and they delivered him for $75. Nice guys. They had him on a 16' car hauler trailer and said they might just as well bring him over. They got him out of a barn last week; a 90something guy was selling off all his tools, and he probably hadn't bought any new ones since the Great War. He ran Philbrick for them before he was disconnected. Used him for making pig boards, and no, I did not find out what a pig board is. Guy before the 90 year old had use Phil for making lobster traps; that was about the time of the Spanish American War.
Phil comes to me without the 3 ph. converter, but the old guy still had it and Ray and Jesse will see if they can get it for me. He was running a big lathe, a metal shaper and several other old tools on it. The lathe, and you will see it a bit in the pics, went for $500 to a local. Phil has fairly new tires and a pretty new 1" ripping band. Only thing I can find missing is one brass grease cup; old guy kept an oil can nearby and keep the babbitt lubed by hand. Lots of brass on Phil. He's gonna shine real nice.
Have a couple of leads already on the company, Webber and Philbrick, Waterville, Maine, that made him. I will follow this up at the libraby and such up there. It's about an hour north of here. Pretty exciting to find a machine that didn't come from Cincy, Cleveland or Greater Boston. I had never even heard of this outfit until I saw Phil online. R & J wanted a thousand for Phil. I wrote them and told them I thought that was a fair price and hoped they got it.....but, if they didn't.... And they had several full amount offers, even though the Ebay auction only went to $133 officially, but no one could arrange shipping and they wanted it off their only trailer. Ain't I the lucky one? Oh, we came to terms at $600 - guess my bottom feeding days are officially over with a confession like that. Love is the real killer, not small opportunistic creatures running riot in the bloodstream.
Jesse has a place in Las Cruces, N.M., only an hour from where we live when cold comes to the great north, and he spends winters there. I think their big involvement is with the hit-and-miss movement. I will have to find out about the shows they spoke of. Ok, all the chatter. The pics are, for the moment, just the ones they put up on Ebay.
