The Nazca people, who lived 1500 years ago, in the pre-Columbian period of Peruvian history, constructed the Cantalloc Aqueducts. More than 40 were built, 32 of them still in use today, carrying water to farmers relying on them to water crops in the arid region just west of Nazca, Peru.
That may be the only design that lasted as well as the Raymond Lowey team’s design of the ’53 Starliner. If Brooks Stevens had been around Peru 500 years after the Cantalloc Aqueducts first appeared, he probably could have spearheaded a redesign that would have turned them into the first profitable waterpark in South America.
It was that time-proven Studebaker style that attracted Deuce Braxton to the white over red ’62 Gran Turismo Hawk 4-speed when he was looking at used cars for his Guatemalan housekeeper over at Manny’s Motor Mart. He passed right by the offerings from the General, the Blue Oval, and the Pentastar as soon as he spied it on the lot.
Manny told him he’d purchased the Hawk out of the estate of a professor of history who’d taught at Pecos County Junior College and had the means and methods to keep it as close to perfect as possible. The red leather pleated seats looked brand new. The checked trunk lining looked as though nothing had ever been stored in there, and the tire cover was never off the original spare. The professor had been meticulous. Of course, the owner’s manual was in the glove box, looking as though it’d only been thumbed through once or twice.
It was that level of perfection that caused Deuce to look again at a piece of paper stuck in the booklet, as though it was marking the spot for some reason. He almost tossed it in the trash as he and the housekeeper and Delgado, her son, admired the car once it was in his driveway, back at the ranch. But then he looked closely at the thick piece of paper and noticed how old it seemed. The script looked like it was of a hand from long ago, the letters loopy, yet tight. It appeared to be an IOU. Deuce took it into the house and laid it on top of his desk, to be researched at another time.
A few Sundays later, while the housekeeper and Delgado were hitting the backroads of Fort Stockton seeing what the 289 V8 could do on the open road, Deuce made a few calls asking about the signature on the IOU, one ‘Button Gwinnett’. The information he gained sent him on a journey that lasted months, but paid off.
Turns out Button Gwinnett was one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence. That’s about his only claim to fame, except the amount of debt he racked up. He died four years later, relatively unknown and nearly destitute. What makes him so similar to this ’62 Studebaker is the level of rarity associated with him.
Seems there were only around fifty of his signatures left behind, most of them in permanent collections, only 10 of them ever having reached the open market. Just like a Hawk on the lot with Thunderbirds and Firebirds, a Button Gwinnett is much more valuable than a Jefferson or Hancock. There is always something to be said for exclusivity, in addition to pedigree.
Deuce sold the slip of parchment for over half a million bucks. He tipped Manny a couple grand. Put a good bit in trust for his housekeeper and Delgato’s education and bought the neighboring ranch.
Sometimes the most valuable Buttons aren’t on the dash.
12 responses to “HAWKING HISTORY”
And Obliviously ol Margie Traitor Greene couldn’t name ol Gwinnett as one of the signers even though Gwinnett County in Georgia, her state, was named for Ol Button. (Google it) So she is a failure at US history & Civics, but Georgia history & civics too. She spent most of her life in Fulton County, which spoons Gwinnett County . . .
Like Buttons signature, this anecdote is smoothly penned and rare. A veritable pleasure for the fortunate reader.
If Deuce “Put a good bit in trust for his housekeeper and Delgato’s education”, what happened to the money? Unless I missed it, I don’t think Delgado went to college. I assume he would have went to his father’s alma mater. (Wasn’t that Rice?) He’s a short order cook at the GFD, which doesn’t require a college degree. He was gifted the white with a red interior 63 Buick Electra convertible. We know he did purchase a 2020 Airstream Flying Cloud that probably cost a few bucks. Maybe all the money Deuce left was spent at casinos by his mother. Hopefully the money didn’t go up in smoke investing in a marijuana growing farm close to the border. Maybe it’s tied up in stocks, bonds and real estate. If Delgado is loaded, I wonder if Lucinda knows?
Working in close proximity to Lucinda and sharing time in the Flying Cloud has its own rewards.
And then there is the Airstream.
Delgado is rich indeed just by working in close proximity to Lucinda . . .
Could it be that Delgado secretly owns, or is silent partner in the GFD, has other substantial investments, and simply enjoys both honest labor AND working closely with Lucinda?
Seems ol’ Button met his demise from injuries received in a duel, no charges were filed against the victor. With the USA regressing in so many ways I’d like to see a return to duels added to the regression. That’d be better than a golf match.
Duels are underrated. They may need to be revisited.
If duels are good enough for Ol’ Honest Abe Lincoln, they’re, by God, good enough for me!
Signing the Declaration of Independence was no piece of cake. Some signatories went on to fame; some, like Mr. Gwinnett, went on to obscurity; some went into British prisons after the Redcoats seized their assets. None became rich because of it.
Strange the way government has changed since 1776.
1776. The good old days.
One can only assume that with his obvious complete lack of fiscal and budgetary constraint and the IOU being found in the Fort Stockton region, that Button Gwinnett could be an ancestor of Mayor Goodman.
And that being the case, it has to be that there were at least a few forebears to the Scuttlebutt in the Potomac region during the Revolutionary period—after all, Lord knows there is a plethora of them today.