THE FAMOUS WOLF COLLECTION

Ok, this is how the Ser#21 of 50 Victor Kooler Grill was found. There was a man in Harpers Farry WV, a contractor, older man. Now this man is not a collector of machines or Coca Cola. He had an indoor pool at his house and one day he had asked a worker, if you ever see an old Coke chest around, let me know, I would like to put one around the pool so the kids can get some drinks out of. Not more than a ouple of days had passed and his worker had came to him and said he found an old Coke cooler but it was in prety bad shape. They drove not more than 10 miles from his house. A church had it and wanted to get rid of this old rusted Junk. They loaded it up and drove it home. Now when he asked how much for this rusted up cooler, the Church said to just give them a donation. Not knowing what he had because he is not a collector, he gave the church a $50 donation, Yes a $50 dollar donation. Drove home with this very heavy piece, wondering what to do next. I was sitting at home one day and STEVE EBNER of FUNTRONICS INC. calls and said what are you doing Sat. Now Steve and I are very good friends and live 20 min. apart. He said a man has found a Coke Cooler and wants to know what it's worth. Steve said he thinks this man has stumbled across the holly grail (of Coca Cola) Steve and I drove over to this mans house on a early fall morning in I beleave 1998 or 1999, a chill in the air and Cameras in hand we steped out of the car and got our first glance of what most people will never have the privlege to see in person. There it was,The Holly Grail of Coca Cola, The Victor Kooler Grill, AKA- The Hot Dog Griller! The first thing we started doing was looking for the Ser. plate and as we looked at it in all it's rust, we saw it was still intact. #21 We took many photos that day and the man had asked me about Restoring it, at the time I was so backed up, I turned it down and sent him in another direction. He called me a year or so later, upset with how his restoration turned out by another company. He asked me to come over and look at this and give him some ideas on fixing this. Please don't ask, as I won't mention any names of who worked on this first, but there were alot of nice things done, but it had it's problems too. One day in 2006 my friend Jeff Wolf called and said, can you contact the man with the Victor Kooler Grill near you and see if he wants to sell it. I made contact and went to see it again and as it was in 2000, in the same condition I last saw it, we started talking price??? I paid him the next day and loaded it up. As I drove back to Hagerstown, MD to my Garage, I couldn't help but think that I'm now going to get to restore a piece there is only 8 in the world known and I have #21 of 50. As I took the Kooler apart, another thing crossed my mind. This Victor Kooler Grill was built, Wright here in Hagerstown, MD in 1954 not more than 5 miles from my house. Spent it's life in Harpers ferry, Charlestown area and has made it's way back home. The rest is History. Thanks everyone for taking the time to read the History of #21 of 50 Victor Kooler Grill. Curtis Kauffman, Memory Lane Restorations Yes that is the Famous Steve Ebner from Funtronics, bent over taking a photo that fall day. memorylane@myactv.net.

	Author	Topic: THE FAMOUS WOLF COLLECTION (Read 27021 times)
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.