serves as co-chair of the Eppley Club and just completed six years on the Legion board. He also is a part-time chaperone at Beason Hall and The Shack.
In the 1990s, Culver items of all kinds were prevalent on ebay, but not so much today. “There are still a lot of uniforms,” Githens said, “but we don’t need uniforms.”
Githens and Ney have been collecting since the mid-’90s, competing on ebay against each other and the likes of Culver collectors Jim Dicke W’59, ’64, Alan Bunge ’68, and Culver parent Mike Sheskey.
The wish list is simply “everything,” Ney said. “We can always sell the duplicates,” which generates the money for the ebay Fund.
Jerry Ney
Among other things, Githens is “into souvenir china” made in Germany by the Wheelock Co. at the turn of the century through 1940. He has about 40 pieces consisting of vases, ashtrays, plates, and beer steins bearing iconic Culver images.
Ney was “collecting absolutely everything,” but was most interested in building his Culver postcard collection, a passion shared by Dean of Faculty Kathy Lintner and longtime track coach Mike Chastain, among others. Postcards “are a great visual way to see the history of the Academies,” Ney said. What really changed the game was when the pair discovered five early Roll Calls – including the first Culver yearbook from 1905 — in the basement of Eppley Auditorium, the repository for much of the collection in the absence of a museum. A ’05 Roll Call duplicate was sold in 2010 for $2,500 to a private collector. That became the seed money for the museum’s perpetuating ebay Fund for the future purchases. “We’re buying and selling for the museum with the ebay Fund to build it up,” Githens said. The duo have purchased two Southern Calendar Fashion clocks with ebay money that were later sold at Culver Parents Association auctions. The auction proceeds reimbursed the fund, with the balance going to The Culver Fund. In 2012, they acquired “an immaculate” Southern Calendar Fashion Clock No. 2. Trustee Craig Duchossois ’62 bid over $9,000 for it at the CPA auction and then donated the clock to the White-DeVries Rowing Center in honor of George DeVries ’77. Talk about win-win. (For more on Southern Calendar Fashion clocks, see the story on page 28.)
Curator Jeff Kenney said the museum’s wish includes “anything that tells the story of Culver in a unique way,” like a jersey from the first state hockey championship. The museum would like more items representing CAG and CGA (especially with the golden anniversary coming in 2021-22), Summer Camps, Summer Troop, the aviation program, home movies, and boxing equipment. The museum lost out on a pair of $300 Culver boxing gloves on ebay, but is hoping there is more boxing memorabilia out there. “And we are always looking for old china from the mess hall,” Ney said. A popular commodity, the most desirable Culver china sets are the twelve 1932 authorized limited edition plates made in New Castle, Pennsylvania, by the Shenango China Company, and the eight-piece set of 1960 dinnerware made in Staffordshire, England, by JonRoth China. The limited edition 1932 plates came in green, red, black, and blue. Each plate had a different Culver building on it. Two full sets of Shenango plates have been sold by the museum for $6,000 each, but can bring twice as much at the biennial parents’ auction.
Bill Githens
(Interestingly, there are Culver connections to both companies. James M. Smith ’21 is considered Shenango’s founder. And JonRoth China is owned by the family of Charles ’58, John III ’60, and Bill Roth ’63, who is retired from the Academies. )
Other acquisitions have included:
Several items in the museum, of course, have walked right through the door with someone, or have resulted from a letter or phone call. Fortunately, there are people in the community who recognize items at auctions and sales for their connection and value to the museum and to Culver history, Githens said.
• two shakos, circa 1920, with hat boxes purchased on ebay. (Like toys and other antique items, anything with an original box has a higher value.)
The average person “isn’t looking for Culver memorabilia,” Githens added, so the local prices are not artificially inflated.
• a 1904 milk pitcher bought on ebay. Githens and Ney were bidding against Bunge, who dropped out so the museum could buy it. Instead of a bidding war, Githens and Ney bought it for $100 with their own money and donated the pitcher to the museum. • the transom of the Fowler (see story on page 25), which was purchased with ebay Fund money.
If you have Culver memorabilia or historical items that you’re interested in donating or selling, call the museum at (574) 842-8842. To see what kind of Culver items are listed on ebay, simply go to ebay.com and type in Culver Military Academy.
CULVER ALUMNI MAGAZINE
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