Friday, June 13, 2014

Opening of King Stutz Tomb: a short story about A.K. Miller

Alexander Kennedy Miller was an eccentric recluse who operated Miller’s Flying Service in 1930 out of Montclair, New Jersey.  He provided mail and other delivery services by means of an autogyro as well as listing “Expert Automobile Repairing” and “Aeroplanes Rebuilt and Overhauled” on his business card.

After retiring from the Air Force in 1946, Miller and his wife moved to a large farm in East Orange, Vermont.  His house had no central heating, antiquated plumbing and limited electricity and hot water was created by metal coils inside the wood stove.  The neighbors often worried that the Millers were poor, and sometimes made offers of charity.
Alex and Imogene Miller eked out an existence on a small farm. Alex would scrounge rusty nails from burnt buildings to repair his roof. At times, to raise cash, Miller would sell "spare parts" to other Stutz owners for their repair/restoration projects. However, rather than selling the actual parts (which he owned a large quantity of), he would painstakingly fabricate them himself from scrap metal, using his own cars and spare parts as templates. He was known to other Stutz aficionados as a shrewd but cheap businessman.  He drove a ratty VW Beetle, and when it died, he found another even more ratty, and another...the rusting carcasses littered his yard. Alex died in 1993, and Imogene died in 1996. The local church took up a collection so they could be buried in the churchyard, and as no heirs were found, the IRS moved in to assess the value of the estate (taking a particular interest in collecting the years of back taxes the Millers had owed).   That would have been the end of a sad story, except there is so much more to this interesting story.

While preparing the estate for auction, the sheriff discovered a cache of bearer bonds taped to the back of a mirror. That triggered a comprehensive search of the house and outbuildings. The estate auction would eventually be handled by Christie’s, and it would bring out collectors from all over the world.  The following are pictures of the hidden treasures found on his farm.

Pictured: a '28 Franklin ($4500 US) and a '23 HCS ($14,500 US) lurk inside.

It seems that Alex Miller was a Rutgers grad, son of a wealthy financier. He lived in Montclair, NJ, where he founded Miller's Flying Service in 1930. He operated a gyrocopter (look it up, it's too much of a digression) for mail and delivery service through the 30's. But the Millers had a secret, and they moved from Montclair when they needed room for it.
1913 Stutz Bearcat went for just $105,000 US.
Choosing to live low profile, and paranoid about tax collectors, Miller moved to the farm in Vermont, and took his collections with him. Most of his cash had been exchanged for gold and silver bars and coins, which he buried in various locations around the farm. He carefully disassembled his gyrocopter, and stored it in an old one-room schoolhouse on his property. He then built a couple of dozen sheds and barns out of scrap lumber and recycled nails. In the sheds he put his collection.

1916 Stutz Bearcat ($155,000 US).

In one of the sheds, authorities found a 1920 Bearcat in excellent condition.  ($50,000 US).

Alex Miller had an obsession with cars. Not just any cars, but Stutz cars. Blackhawks, Bearcats, Super Bearcats, DV16's and 32's. He had been buying them since the 1920's. When Stutz went out of business, he bought a huge pile of spare parts, which was also carefully stored away in his sheds.
A Springfield Rolls Piccadilly Roadster ($115,000 US), made in Illinois.

Sometimes he would stray, and buy other "special cars", including Locomobiles, a Stanley, and a Springfield Rolls Royce. He never drove them. He'd simply move them into his storage sheds in the middle of the night, each car wrapped in burlap to protect it from any prying eyes. Over the years, the farm appeared to grow more and more forlorn, even as the collection was growing.
A snappy car: 1921 Stutz Bearcat ($58,000 US).

Occasionally he would sell some parts to raise cash. Rather than dipping into his cache, he would labor for hours making copies of the original parts by hand.
Stutz factory spares. Cylinders and pistons from a brass era Stutz in foreground.

Collectors knew him as a sharp trader, who had good merchandise but was prone to cheating. His neighbors had no clue at all, they thought Alex and Imogene were paupers, and often helped out with charity.
Wheelbarrow blocks a '28 Stutz Blackhawk Boattail Speedster ($78,000 US).

The auction was a three day circus, billed as the "Opening of King Stutz Tomb." It attracted celebrity collectors, as well as thousands of curiosity seekers. The proceeds were in the millions, some items went for far more than their value in the frenzy. In the end, the IRS took a hefty chunk of the cash for back taxes, which proves the old adage about the only two sure things in life.
A vanilla '31 SV16 Stutz Sedan ($10,000)
Bargain of the show: a '29 Stutz Blackhawk sedan for $7000 US
A beautiful Stutz DV32 Sedan ($27,500)
Anyone need a new Stutz engine? Still factory fresh.
A'23 HCS ($12,000 US) lurks in the darkness of the barn.
A Lebaron dual-cowl Stutz from 1929 ($68,000 US)
A '27 Stutz AA Sedan for $6500 US
1925 Stutz Speedway Six ($9000 US)
T-Head engine in a '21 Bearcat
Build a '22 Stutz touring car from this pile of parts for just $10,000 US 

The final tally of the Miller’s loot!  The auction earned $2.18 million with $1 million in gold, $75,000 in silver, $400,000 in stocks totaling over $3,655,000. 

And they never got to enjoy it!  Or did they while they were laughing up above?

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Woman Football Player Welter To Play In Revolution’s Season Finale In The Allen Event Center on June 14

ALLEN, Texas – The Texas Revolution will be playing female running back against playoff contender Nebraska at their home finale inside the Allen Event Center on June 14.

The 5 foot 2 inch, one hundred thirty pound running back made national headlines once making it through the indoor football team’s training camp and has appeared in 3 games including one against the IFL’s reigning champion the Sioux Falls Storm. The Revolution marked Welter on short term injured reserve for a part of the season; battling back, she maintained her position on the practice squad and played in some key match ups for the Revolution.
Encouraging young women of all ages and taking a strong hold in the community, Welter has inspired, and been someone that any athlete can admire. “I like the way she comes to work every day, always ready to go.” Said Revolution Head Coach, Chris Williams.

Dr. Jen Welter played Rugby for Boston College, 13 years in women’s professional football having played for team USA twice and now has been the first female to carry the ball in a men’s professional team in a highly competitive league. Featured on several major entertainment and media outlets through the season becoming the darling of professional football.

The Texas Revolution are members of the United Conference in the Indoor Football League and play all home games inside the Allen Event Center in Allen, Texas. The Revs take on the Nebraska Danger (9-4) on Saturday, June 14 at 7PM inside the Allen Event Center. 

Friday, May 16, 2014

Phone App changes how Businesses Share their Story

DeliveryMaxx announces additional enhancement to their smartphone app. Already the leader in digital content management; their clients will have an even stronger competitive advantage in the digital playground on the internet.

May 16, 2014 - DALLAS -- Every organization and company has to understand the importance the internet plays in the way they conduct their business.  No longer are the days a website is self-sufficient in sharing their story.  As a matter of fact Social Media Marketing and Online Reputation Managerment are two of the most important pieces when it comes to companies trying to sell, advertise, or promote products and services on the web.  There is a true science to these efforts and if not strategically planned correctly organizations will be left behind.
Almost five years ago, Josh Deaton and James Schaefer formed DeliveryMaxx where they envisioned would change the way businesses would brand, sell and communicate with potential customers on the web.  Their core business focused on helpig the automotive industry.  It started out as a simple idea where the automotive dealerships' customer were enabled to share their great experience via social media and online review sites for the world to see.  DeliveryMaxx would create a digital network for the automotive dealership and then utilzing the DeliveryMaxx Smartphone App and Review portal be able to encourage the customer to share this experience with all of their friends and family.  As long as the automotive dealership provided a great product and customer service; their praises were shared ten times as much as if the dealership just relied on old business practices.  "Our dealership has increased sales by 70% because we use DeliveryMaxx's services and our CSI scores have never been better" states, Jim Proctor, General Manager of Chrsyler Jeep Dodge City of McKinney.

Because DeliveryMaxx stayed true to simple business practices and common sense utilizing today's technology; they have expanded into helping clients such as hotels, employment agencies, youth organizations, churches, non-profits and CPA's.  "There is no limit to the businesses or organizations we can help.  If a company or organization has a story to tell; DeliveryMaxx can customize a program that will help them help their customer share their great experience with the world" expresses Schaefer, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder of DeliveryMaxx.

The process is very simple.  A customer of a business has their picture taken with the DeliveryMaxx phone app (which is available for both iOS and Android with Windows coming soon).  The customer is then provided an opportunity to share their testimony on the DeliveryMaxx review portal.  With DeliveryMaxx's Patent Pending Program; both the testimony and the picture are combined and shared throughout the company's digital network driving business back to the client's website or through the doors of their location.

Today, DeliveryMaxx has announced an update to the smartphone app.  Organizations will be able to include a video testimony or their customer as well as a video walk around that will also be shared throughout the clients' digital network.  The walk around video for automotive clients is very important because they will be able to share their new and used inventory to all of their sites instantaneously.  However, this same function will be important to DeliveryMaxx's non-auto clients too.  They will be able to communicate to potential customers with any message they desire very efficiently.  Deaton, Chief Executive Officer states, "Our program produced phenomenal results already for our clients, but now with the video enhancement they will dominate the web even faster.  Content is key to any businesses digital success.  The search engines loves words, pictures, and videos.  DeliveryMaxx is able to provide all three creating unlimited content for our clients enabling them to become the most relevant search on the web."

DeliveryMaxx is a Cinderella story.  Financed by both Deaton and Schaefer; DeliveryMaxx has fast become the talk of the digital world.  "We have created patent-pending technology that actually provides opportunities for customers to share their experiences with future potential customers.  We do this utilizing social media and online reputation working together to produce these measurable results" states Schaefer.  Other companies have tried to mimic DeliveryMaxx, but fall short of the mark because they do not have real people doing real work for their clients.  "Those companies are all automated, and fail to uses simple business practices that make sense for their clients" he adds.

In addition to the phone app; DeliveryMaxx also includes an Online Review program that helps customers give reviews to all of the major social media sites.  "Not only do we build great original content for dealerships, help them obtain online reviews; but we also monitor the review sites and help respond to each review.  This has worked very well for our automotive dealerships, but we are finding that almost any company who depends on online reviews and content is able to utilize our services" comments Deaton.  DeliveryMaxx also writes blogs and press releases for their clients as well which adds even more content to their clients digital network.

The app can be downloaded by anyone, but will only be able to be utilized by DeliveryMaxx customers.

"DeliveryMaxx was created methodically filling the gaps that dealerships were unable, or did not know how to fill to complete the circle of attracting a new customer, providing great service or products, and having them share their experience immediately with friends and family" explains Schaefer, thus providing automotive dealerships and other organizations with a unique ability to increase CSI Scores, Sales, Customer Loyalty, Service Revenue, Online Reputation, Search Engine Optimization, and Branding.

DeliveryMaxx is a privately held company providing social media marketing, web-based solutions, customer retention, and other advertising services and is based in Rockwall, Texas.  DeliveryMaxx is the preferred provider for companies needing to improve their web presence, online reputation, customer satisfaction, sales, and innovative strategies that enables them to confidently deploy their mission-critical products and services in today's competitive environment for market share.

Clients of DeliveryMaxx include automotive dealerships, hotels, surgeons, insurance agencies, marketing agencies, chruches, educational institutes, non-profits, sports teams, attorneys, employment agencies, and politicians.

For additional information about the company or its products and services, visit http://www.deliverymaxx.com.

Friday, May 2, 2014

DeliveryMaxx Client Review Video - Jane Primeaux - Primeaux KIA Tulsa, Oklahoma

A few words about the DeliveryMaxx Program from Jane Primeaux, Owner / Operations Director at Primeaux Kia Tulsa Oklahoma. Thank you Jane for the kind words.

The DeliveryMaxx program is so Unique that we will be able to Produce Digital customer Referrals, Create Dealership Branding using backlinks, Citations and Mentions, Create Digital Word of Mouth and Maximize your Dealerships Positive Digital Exposure every time that you get a Review.