National Geographic: Treasures from the Past (1987)

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National Geographic: Treasures from the Past (1987)

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Skilled hands bring

the faded past to life

and reach back to rescue treasures

lost in the wake of time.

Snatched from oblivion,

aglow once more with original splendor

priceless treasures from the past

now live again.

The paths that lead to treasure

are often found

by those who follow a dream.

As a child,

Ken Hyde's dream was to fly.

Today he is an airline pilot.

Ken Hyde lives in rural Virginia.

Here, with his wife and daughter

he pursues a larger dream

and each day that dream

comes closer to fulfillment.

Nestled safely in its hangar

an aeronautical wonder from

another time is coming to life.

Bearing the colors of

the U.S. Army Signal Corps,

it is a Curtiss JN-4D,

one of the famous Jennys

that first took to the skies

after the United States

plunged into World w*r I.

With advanced designs,

to train young American fliers.

Though she never fought in combat

the Jenny helped redefine

the rules of w*r...

she taught a generation of pilots

the principles of air power.

After the w*r in the roaring 20th

heats turned to the sky

cause the b*mb stormer

roar across America

Surplus Jennys were expendable prompts

in the area Vaudevilles

which sometimes ended in tragedy.

Today, only fragments remain.

From such meager clues

Ken Hyde has learned

how the plane was built.

It basically was a

hand-built airplane.

They had some automation but

most everything was done by hand.

I didn't see any reason why

I couldn't do that

if I followed the old procedures

and did it pretty much as they did.

And it was a test.

Ken Hyde is returning his Jennys

to the way she was

when this man put her together

in the Curtis Factory

To recover a lost technology

he's become a student of History

Searching through manuals

blueprints and old parts

Here, he finds evidence

hidden in a photograph

to help him reconstruct a wild-shield

Fifteen years ago, Ken Hyde found

the pieces of a Jenny

in a building set for demolition.

Before long

he found the parts of two more.

And there was a time when we had

three airplanes in the basement

of this little 1500-square-foot

house in a subdivision.

I just remember things everywhere

and I didn't know...

I knew it was an airplane but

you know, when you're that small,

you don't realize

that all these little parts and pieces are

really going to go into something that

fantastic.

It almost seems like a dream.

J just remember it being a

very slow process...

something that you looked at.

You didn't touch.

You wanted to help,

and you were politely told

to go do something else.

Out of Ken Hyde's dream,

the shape of a Jenny slowly emerged.

He has spent months on small details

to ensure the historic accuracy of

every nut and bolt,

for the Jenny must be authentic

to be true to his dream.

When I started the airplane

a lot of the workmanship at that time

was geared to just being airworthy.

And over the years

the antique movement has changed;

it's getting more into museum quality

And the value of the airplane is

based on being as authentic

as you possibly can make it.

It's very easy and it's a lot

faster to do it

with modern materials and modern techniques

But more than anything else,

if it's going to be preserved

as a museum piece,

it ought to be just the way

it came from the factory.

Fifteen years of work now

show in every detail.

To cover just one wing

it took days to stitch

the Irish linen by hand.

The family spent endless nights

fraying the cloth tapes

that cover the seams.

Even the varnish formula

took months to develop.

All clear.

Okay, it's coming off the lip now.

To be authentic

the Jenny must be airworthy.

Before she can fly,

her engine has to be tested.

Real easy as it comes off.

Kenny, it's turning.

Okay, choke on.

Choke on.

The principle behind flying,

and a lot of people say well,

we shouldn't fly the airplane,

because if you damage it,

then all that work is for nothing.

But we've been fortunate in that

we have most of the parts and pieces,

and we can manufacture anything

on the airplane with the

exception of the engine, possibly.

So hopefully, knock on wood,

we won't damage the airplane,

but if we do, we can restore that.

So that's why we want to fly

the airplane.

Contact.

Contact.

Choke off.

Choke off.

Contact.

Contact.

Throttle closed.

Throttle closed.

Way to go, baby!

On a summer afternoon, family and

friends gather to see her fly.

Okay, contact.

I did have stage fright that day

with all those people

because Murphy's Law says that

if it's going to happen,

it's going to happen right there

in front of 230 people.

But it's really exciting

to see it all come together.

It's just great when things

start all flowing together.

It's been a long time,

and it's been a lot of fun.

A lot of frustration sometimes,

but it's been an awful lot of fun.

It really lifts off in a hurry, too.

There it goes!

Isn't it beautiful?

It's gotta be exciting.

It is really exciting for him.

It is really exciting for him.

At 65 miles an hour, she soars again,

one of four airworthy Jennys

in the world today.

Forgotten skills have been relearned,

and in the skies over

the Virginia countryside,

a priceless treasure from

our past now lives again.

In Auburn, Indiana,

another treasure is up for sale,

its value to be determined by

the highest bidder.

You now have one of the rarest

opportunities ever available

in your lifetime to purchase

one of the finest restored Duesenbergs

in the history of the world...

One of the greatest Duesenbergs

ever created

and one of the finest restoration

ever sampled on the Duesenberg automobile

right here in Auburn, Indiana.

How much do you want to bid?

Who will give one million

five hundred thousand?

Who will give...

A model J Duesenberg glitters on

the auction block,

and wealthy collectors who wish to

possess it must pay the price.

I got 500,

and now 750?

Anybody wants to bid

from 500 to now 750?

I got 500 now,

anybody wants to get 750?

I got 600, and now 700.

Anybody wants to bid in?

I got 600,

anybody wants to bid 700?

Lorance, you want to

bid with the same two bidders?

And 700. Now we 800.

Anybody wants to bid in?

Now 900. There. 900.

Yes. He.

And 900. You'd better bid

one million dollars. Anybody else?

And 900. You'd better bid

one million dollars to get you bid in.

And 900.

Anybody else?

Would you get 950?

maybe you can help me get the million

Going once, 950.

going twice, 950,000.

Anybody else? At 950,

I close the bidding right

here at 900,000 dollars.

In the presence of a Model J,

people tend to get stirred up.

It's part of a legacy left by

Fred and August Duesenberg,

who grew up on a farm

near Rockford, Iowa,

just before the turn of the century.

Mechanically minded as young boys,

they became innovators

of engine technology.

But their first love was racing,

the Indianapolis Speedway

was the crucible

where new designs were put to the test.

In the 1920s,

their engineering genius brought

the checkered flat tree times.

In 1928, at their Indianapolis plant,

they created the ultimate

passenger car.

The owner of a super-charged Model J

could cruise in luxury

at 115 miles an hour.

In Hollywood, the Duesenberg became

the mark of a star.

Clark Gable owned two.

Gary Cooper's was goldenrod yellow

with pale green fenders.

James Cagney smiled behind the wheel.

But the Depression finally caught up

with the Duesenberg.

Less than 500 had been built when the

assembly line shut down for good.

Duesenberg owners form

an exclusive club.

In Auburn, Indiana,

they gather every Labor Day weekend

to parade their restored Model Js

before an admiring crowd

of automotive enthusiasts.

Owners love their Duesenbergs

were further than enthusiasm.

Many obsessed to perfections.

Others simply enjoyed

the status to come with ownership.

And pride, the showing off their

treasures to the thousands who come to look.

Some restored their Duesenbergs

not to drive them, but to compete.

Auburn native Phil Allison judges

a restoration.

Growing up around classic cars,

he restores them today

for wealthy collectors.

One of the best descriptive terms

I've ever heard,

and it's not mine

I get it from Gordon Buehrig's book.

And the title of his book is

Rolling Sculptures.

Morning, Ron. Have they brought the

Murphy convertible in yet?

Yes.

And I think that it so neatly defines

the work on these cars,

whether it be the Duesenberg

or the Cord.

They were such unique cars,

and they are truly works of art.

I know for years I was always hoping

for the opportunity to

get to do a Duesenberg.

Now we have three in our shop.

And so...

Now we have arrived.

Today, let's get started on

dismantling this car.

Once owned by movie actor

Tyrone Power, Model J Number 391

has just been purchased for $610,000.

Spruced up for the cheap coat of paint

by its most recent owner

No.391 will now be restored to

original condition of the grown up.

We will probably spend around

two years on the car.

Maybe not quite that long,

but it will be close.

And there is a lot of things

uh... restoration.

but unsuggested can be hurried

duro on that car

Several missing parts

and it don't go in logo-parts orderly.

go to find them and there be several

lighten on the difficulty come up with.

and we can find them have to be fabricative.

and it all take times.

To do a total restoration,

we're talking about

dismantling the car completely.

Then the rear end,

or differential-rear-axle assembly,

will be totally gone through.

The engine and transmission will

be totally rebuilt.

The exhaust manifolds will

be reporcelained.

The Duesenberg engine has an

excessive amount of aluminum on it,

which has to be highly polished.

There's a lot of hours of just

polishing and cleaning.

The chroming itself is a

major process.

It's a triple plating.

You first cover it with copper and

then it's buffed,

then it's nickled, then it's buffed,

Then it's chromed,

and then it's chrome-buffed.

A lot of times

we like to have a car sit

for four to six weeks just in primer.

Then it's blocked.

Then we put on maybe four to five

coast of lacquer

and let it set for another

four to six weeks.

Once it's totally cured,

then we'll sand off maybe

three of four of those coats of paint

and blocking it out.

And then we'll put on another

four to five coats,

let it set for another

four to six weeks,

and we'll probably end up sanding

off two or three of those coats.

And that's how we get the

high luster-high depth finish.

It takes obviously a fair amount of

money to fund a project like this,

and a lot of people are not in a

financial position to do this

until they're on in years.

And some customers express concern

that they're not going to live long

enough to see the finished product.

I think in most cases they are being

a little facetious,

but I can appreciate that when you

look at a long-term project

in your later years,

it could be a concern.

Restored for the pleasure of those

very few who can afford it,

the Duesenberg lives on

in Auburn, Indiana.

But in a city for away,

heroic endeavors are recovering

the treasures of a nation

for all the world to see.

Through the heart of Leningrad

flows the Neva River.

Along these banks nearly

three centuries ago,

one man created a great city

St. Petersburg

which became the capital of imperial Russia.

Today, Peter the Great still

looks out over his city.

With watchful eye he gazes

on wondrous visions...

...grand and exuberant visions

of a tsar

who like his country, was strong and proud

...fairy-tale places sprung up

as if by magic...

...country playgrounds for the

imperial court of Peter

and his successors...

...designed by the great

architects of Europe,

created from exquisite materials

by a multitude of craftsmen

summoned from afar.

On long winter nights,

these rooms were made brilliant

by candlelight reflected a

thousand fold in crystal mirrors.

Light danced on paintings overhead

and set the walls ablaze with color.

Light b*rned in gilded faces,

as costumed nobility

danced into the night.

They waltzed on parquet floors of

wood from the forests

of Europe and Asia, designed

in astonishing patterns.

Surrounded by their treasures,

the stars and their court waltzed

on into the 20th century.

The dance ended with the

Russian Revolution in 1917,

but the palaces lived on as museums.

Then distant rumblings in Europe

suddenly exploded on their doorstep.

In 1941 n*zi forces

surrounded Leningrad.

h*tler planned to level the city,

but the Soviet Army would not yield.

During the siege, the Nazis occupied

four palaces on the city outskirts.

After 900 days they withdrew,

burning the palaces as they left.

When the fires d*ed,

a nation's treasures lay in ruin.

At the Catherine Palace,

chimneys protruded from a roofless skeleton.

Statues-victims of bombshells

and g*nf*re.

Stillness filled the Great Hall.

Parquet floors lay charred

under a blanket of winter snow.

A soldier in the Soviet Army,

Alexander Kedrinsky

remembers the siege.

After the n*zi retreat,

he entered the Catherine Palace.

On this spot in the Great Hall,

he looked up through broken rafters

at the winter sky.

Inside the palace, the interiors

that were not b*rned were looted.

Pictures had been viciously

slashed out of their frames;

only the outer edges remained.

Doors were broken away.

Paintings were on the floor, cut to pieces.

That's one thing.

The other thing is that there were

land mines hidden everywhere,

and the palace itself

was set to blow up.

Beneath it was a series of

one-ton bombs wired together

to go up in a single blast.

It's a miracle that the first

soldiers to enter the palace gates

after the German retreat

discovered this system and disarmed it.

The park around the palace

was dug up everywhere

with trenches and g*n emplacements.

And in the middle lay the

charred hulk of the palace.

The palace decorations were strewn

about the park in pieces.

Sculpture marms, head, torsos

lay all about.

The picture was so terrible

and depressing

that one's first impression was

that resurrecting it would be impossible.

On the other hand,

people could not reconcile themselves

to blotting out a page of history,

the glorious history

of these monuments.

And so we decided

to undertake the restoration.

Pieces of the ruined palaces were

scattered everywhere,

hastily hidden before the siege.

From fields, from secret vaults,

from the hands of retreating Nazis,

even from the Neva River,

the missing pieces were returned.

Restoration could now begin.

A painter and engineer,

Kedrinsky directed work

at the Catherine Palace.

We long to re-create these monuments,

he said at the time,

but do we have the guts to do it?

Under his direction,

scores of artists and craftsmen

began to rebuild the palace.

Today Alexander Kedrinsky works with

a new generation of artisans

who use original architectural drawings

and prewar photographs

that miraculously survived

the destruction.

From an old black-and-white

photograph,

a painted ceiling comes to life.

The design is rendered in color,

and figures are drawn to scale

by artists trained in period

styles and techniques.

Designs are modified and approved

before the painting begins.

For hours at a time they

reach overhead.

Standing so close to the ceiling,

these artists are unable

to see the entire painting at once.

Skill and planning guide them

where their eyes cannot.

After three years of work,

the ceiling is almost finished.

Parts of a statue were retrieved

from the palace grounds.

From these shattered limbs

a body is reformed.

A wood carver creates anew

what fire and shrapnel destroyed.

With clay, he models a missing twin

that he will later replicate in wood.

On the statue's chest,

a fracture is mended,

and a wound is healed.

Once again,

carvings are adorned with gold.

Though each leaf weighs

almost nothing,

nearly 20 pounds of gold were needed

to refurbish the Great Hall.

Guided into place by human breath

and held there by rabbit-skin glue,

the gold is burnished

with an amber rod.

Gilded faces blaze again.

The palaces are reborn.

The glory that was imperial Russia

radiates from every quarter once again

but today it shines

with new brilliance.

Reflected in the symmetry of

crystal mirrors is the labor of

modern craftsmen who have saved

the treasures of a nation.

In 1944, Peter's portrait was found

in shredded fragments,

scattered in the snow.

Today, the scars are almost invisible.

We rebuild these palaces to celebrate

those who built them long ago,

says Kedrinsky,

but we need another 20 years

before our work is finished.

Today, from atop his horse,

Peter the Great gazes on a miracle.

Through heroic endeavors

his vision lives on.

The farming country of eastern

Colorado is far from Leningrad,

but the passion to save a treasure

can be found here as well.

Compared to the Russian court,

life in Burlington, Colorado, is basic

but on the county fairground stands

a treasure that might well

have delighted the Russian nobility.

How you doing?

All right.

Local citizens brought this treasure

here some 60 years ago,

and today it is the pride of

Kit Carson County.

In the morning light,

fantastic animals awake on

what many herald as the

"Jewel of American Carousels."

Because it was the sixth machine built

by the Philadelphia Toboggan Company,

it is known as PTC #6.

Caring for this

unusual menagerie is

an art conservator named Will Morton.

In recent years,

he restored the animals

from decades of deterioration

and unveiled whimsical piece

of American history.

PTC #6 was built in 1905

when carousels spun their

magic the world over.

In 1928, it was bought second-hand

for $1,250 by Kit Carson County.

At the fair that year,

citizens paid five cents

for a five-minute ride,

but this frivolous purchase

would cost the county

commissioners their jobs.

Dust storms and the Depression

brought hard times

to Kit Carson County.

Homeless families lived

on the fairground.

The carousel building was used to

store feed

and became infested with rats and snakes.

There was talk of burning it down.

Somehow PTC #6 survived,

but it was never quite the same.

Its magic vanished,

and as each year passed,

neglect moved it ever closer

to the edge of ruin.

In 1979 a group of concerned citizens

brought Will Morton from Denver

to preserve and restore it.

A lot of carousels have been

refurbished,

but this is the first one

to my knowledge that was

conserved and restored as a work

of art might be;

that is, Where we have made

every possible effort to

preserve the original material

that we found here

and to protect it

as you would with a piece of fine art.

As he lifts the veil of time,

Morton finds traces of

Victorian artisans

whose pencil marks look as though

they were drawn only moments ago.

Surrounded by their creations,

will senses the spirit of

those craftsmen lurking nearby.

I spend days here alone

just working on the carousel.

Your mind is going a mile a minute

even though your hand

may not be or the project

doesn't seem to be going all that fast.

Nevertheless,

your mind is going.

And so you're picturing the people

who made this carousel,

what they were thinking.

I think part of doing a good job

in restoration

is discovering the people

that made the thing

trying to put yourself in their place.

And that's why I insist on doing

things the way they did them.

Will Morton has preserved more than

Now he restores

what has been worn away.

The Wallitzer monster m*llitary band organ

is the heart and soul of the PTC #6

Over the year

Water damage, heat, humidity

and hungry rats all play habit

of this vital parts.

After 1200 hours of restoration

the monster gets to check up.

Good afternoon and welcome to our

third performance of the 1986

Kit Carson County Fair and Rodeo.

Every year in early August,

people come from all over

Kit Carson County

to ride PTC #6 once again.

Today a ride costs 25 cents,

but it lasts a full seven minutes.

I would like to look down from

some place beyond 50 years from now

and feel that I'm being complimented

by the restorer who's then at work,

saying that the man who did this

in the first place did a good job,

and I'm pleased with what he did.

On the plains of eastern Colorado

another year passes.

On a summer night,

the carousel spins dream

that will not be forgotten in years to come

The Age of Sail reached

its height in the 19th century

when global voyages

were made in tall ships.

The forces of nature were

harnessed by experienced hands,

but when canvas was replaced by steam,

the tall ships and a maritime

tradition quietly vanished.

In the port of Athens

the rusted hull of a once tall ship

is destined for the scrapyard.

In her hundred-year life-span,

she sailed under many names

and many flags.

Now Elissa will be reborn.

She was launched in Aberdeen,

Scotland, in 1877.

In 1979,

her hull is made sound

and she is towed across the Atlantic

to the port city of Galveston, Texas,

which has adopted Elissa

to symbolize the heyday

of its maritime past.

Long ago she sailed into Galveston,

and it is here on

Galveston's waterfront

that Elissa's reconstruction begins.

And a course of America people

come to rebuild her

Since about 19 century commode life

the absolutely skills are learned again.

A new deck is caulked with hemp

and sealed with pitch.

Self-taught riveters add plates

to her hull.

Tree trunks are turned into masts.

Costs rise into the millions,

but funds are raised.

With a iron and wood renewed

Ellisa will sail again.

and carried in her figure-head

the spirit of those ever new her.

In 1986, Elissa is bound for New York

to once again become a part of history

Galveston's mayor being the group farewell.

terrigenous Ellisa project, David Brink.

and all of you to be vault with Ellisa.

your dream has truly grown to a miracle.

broaching the yellow rose to Texas.

Ellisa's figure head points away

a prowl to go to Mexico.

she was manned by 8 deckhands.

Today she is sailed by

hard-working volunteers.

Let's go, guys. Let's go to the sails.

Their footing is less sure,

but perhaps more eager

because they have helped to

restore and maintain her.

Executive secretary and grandmother,

Judy Peters became

a volunteer six years ago.

And I didn't know anything

but I sure that I could help it

so they like to teach me

what I need to know.

I came down literally scared to death

but I knew I wanted to help

and I knew that they needed help.

And I was willing and I was able.

Some of the job that could be hard

to do and I wouldn't.

but I'll do for free for cause of Ellisa

for the future.

Steady it on 115.

OK. That was sided to the left.

Fine, uh...

Pier, what we do is that you always

take it slight inside the long braces.

Overseeing Elissa's restoration

has been the responsibility

of Walter Rybka.

Why don't you always help Pierre

with the slacking side of the braces.

I think the key idea of

this restoration is that

this ship is not so much an artifact

as it is a process.

We're not so much concerned with her past

as we are with our future.

What we're interested in is

the values and the crafts

and the skills and everything

that gave the world this beauty.

We'd like to be a part of our lives

now and carry it forward in the future.

So the Elissa is as much a process

as it is a product.

Under gray skies,

Elissa sails north along

the Atlantic coast.

Go as far as you can till you get

where you want to stop.

John Elder, a business executive,

summons the courage to go aloft

with project director, David Brink.

Big step over to that little

crane line there.

Grab the chain with your right hand.

Swing over.

That's it. Good.

Now before you hit the foot ropes,

say "laying on" just for practice.

All the way over to the yard.

Great.

Okay, I did it.

Okay. It would help if I came over,

wouldn't it?

Just let that fall.

Okay.

Now pass that under.

Double back over.

No, no, don't pull.

No, no, don't pull

it all the way through.

As she approaches New York,

Elissa is not alone.

From all over the world,

tall ships are coming to

celebrate the restoration

of the Statue of Liberty

on her 100th birthday.

We've got the battleship Iowa

overtaking us on the port.

Traffic.

Cars.

An urban world emerges through

fog and mist.

The sight brings mixed emotions.

I think there is

a sense of possibly

letting go for the crew.

The crew thinks of Elissa as their own

and rightfully so.

We're the folks that have maintained

her and sailed her up till now.

We don't mind sharing her

with everyone else,

but there is a little bit of a

feeling of letting her go.

After the rest of this weekend,

particularly Friday,

she's not going to belong to

just us anymore.

She's going to belong to the world.

Elissa last entered New York Harbor

in 1884,

just two years before

the Statue of Liberty was unveiled.

Today a crew of volunteers has

brought her here once again,

and after a century,

two ladies greet each other

for the very first time.

The moment is savored by the crew,

but the celebration is about to begin.

The spectacle unfolds,

and Elissa takes her place.

She is the oldest of the large square

riggers in the parade.

Not long ago,

Liberty welcomed tall ships

from around the world

to a flourishing America.

Today, one by one,

tall ships return to salute her,

as America renews her past.

Elissa has earned

her place in history,

and now her moment has come.

It's amazing just to think how it

all comes down to one moment.

Here you are.

Everybody knows.

It's a great, great feeling.

She passes the reviewing stands

that line the shore.

Everybody was so proud of her

that she was there,

she was volunteers had done it.

And it made everybody see that

anybody can be a part of restoration.

You don't have to be a somebody.

It takes all the

little people to do it.

Volunteers have brought life to a

dying ship

and have restored the knowledge

that can renew her again and again.

Revived with the human spirit,

fragments of our past

become our treasures.

They mirror who we are.

They become living monuments

to the achievements of out past

and living testaments

to our hopes for the future.

Passing though the hands of

one crew to the next,

a tall ship is on a

journey through time.

Perhaps in years to come

the sight of her sails will

inspire others to voyage forth...

to fulfill their destinies...

to cherish their treasures

as they cross new horizons to places

that live today only in our dreams.
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