Most treasured, most precious thing

[Private_collector]

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This "Ford 1939-1949, Service Bulletin, Mechanical" manual is my most treasured find to date. It has an embossed, multicolor hard cover with a sturdy metal border around front & back covers. The whole manual is held together by a system of threaded contraptions that are best described as bolts, though you don't see much of this mechanism. Front cover is held to the book by a strong metal hinge. The manual contains hundreds of pages, and the seperate heading pages feel as if they are a form of linen. The heading tabs on each of those pages is an imprinted thick plastic label, and they are actually RIVETED onto the page. Seriously! This level of detail and craftsmanship is just bizarre.

On the first page of the manual there is a number (410) which may be a sequential number of the total manuals made, though I have no way of knowing this for sure.

This manual came from ebay, and sat without bid for 9 days. It was advertised in a rather bland way, and the wording used must have escaped all other buyer searches. This was a while ago now, and I cannot remember if the winning (sole) bid was $40 or $45AUD.

I have recently met a guy who has one similar to this, which was given to him as payment for a substantial amount of work he did on a hot rod restoration. Someone offered me $400 for this manual months ago. I told him (politely) to go to buggery!

Every now & then, I read something new in this book, just for the fun of it.

My wife calls it the 'Harry Potter book of spells', and it does kind of have that appearance.



P.S: Keith, you sick little monkey! Do you have to keep showing that gear boot? It's not bloody fair!