Scam in Kansas City

The City of Kansas City, MO warns of a scam targeting lodging establishments, including B&Bs. The telephone-based scam attempts to extort money from a business owner under the guise of fees for forms from the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. The scam artist tells the establishment that he/she needs to send $200 for a form that must be displayed in the business under new state regulations that went into effect Aug. 1. The caller says the form and fee are part of that new state law. A second call may follow, telling the business owner the form and an invoice have been mailed. The phone call may be blocked by caller ID or show a number from Montreal, Canada.

No such law has been passed and state employees from the Department of Health and Senior Services have not been making such calls soliciting a fee or form connected to this fictitious law.

If you have received such a call or have questions, call 816-513-6313.

Crime in Hutchinson

Johanna Johnson, owner of Bear Blessings in Hutchinson, KS, fell victim to a robbery on Aug. 1. According to Johnson, two women and man entered the store. One woman had a baby, and perhaps using the baby as a distraction, another man entered the the store the men, and either two or three men stole a flat metal showcase, 1 1/2 ft. by 2 ft., containing items including bulls-eye red and white marble gear shift knob, sterling silver spoons, pocket watches, old coins, straight-edge razors, advertising eversharps and pens, and pocket knives. Also taken were 5 silver-plated bracelets made from spoon and fork handles with magnetic closures, and rhinestone jewelry including a long rhinestone necklace with over 300 blue stones. Total lost, said Johnson, is estimated at over $3,000.

A police report has been filed. If you have any information on the crime or the lost items listed, call 620-669-8997.

Mulvane show in Topeka ending?

Bill Ansley, coordinator for the high-quality Mulvane Antique Show & Sale, told me that the show may be ending. This past July was the show's eighth year, featuring 40-45 very quality-minded dealers, held on the campus of Washburn University in Topeka, KS. The show is a fund raiser for the Mulvane Art Museum also on the Washburn campus. Bill is looking for someone to take over the show but that person must have or decide to have an affiliation with MWB, the fundraising arm of the museum. It would be a shame to have this show end.

If you're interested or know of someone who may be, contact Discovery Publications at 800-899-9730. Ask for Bruce.

Cookbook & recipe contest

Nebraska-based Roberts Dairy has re-released it's online version of Robert Cookbook and announced a web-based recipe contest. All 1,250 recipes can be found at www.robertsdairy.com while the contest runs through Aug. 25.

Five winners — selected at random — will have their recipes added to Roberts' online recipe collection and win $50 worth or free dairy products.

Some 'Dirigible Airline' pieces fall into place

In my January 2008 column, I wrote about Kansas City’s Dirigible Airline. A doomed enterprise of the Commercial Airship Syndicate, the 1919 airline would have been America’s first, and certainly its first dirigible airline.

From Kansas City, the route would include twice-weekly service to Coffeyville, KS, Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Ardmore, OK. The Syndicate’s pilot airship was a Goodyear Pony Blimp, which the company was preparing to fly to Fort Worth, TX, to “complete arrangements at the stations en route for proper landing facilities.” The regular “airliner” would be a “monster dirigible” having a cruising radius “equal to a trip across the Atlantic, with a capacity for 144 passengers.”

Chief pilot was Frederick Karl Gampper, Jr., a licensed airship pilot and engineer for Goodyear. Gampper’s credentials were impressive, with more than seven years’ experience. He supervised Goodyear’s airship operations and was the pilot for the Wingfoot Lake blimp.

Things were looking bright for the fledgling Syndicate, but mother nature would intervene. The night before the pilot trip, a windstorm destroyed the Syndicate’s Pony Blimp and its hangar. The company quickly disbanded.

But what became of Gampper? I checked all my sources, including the Smithsonian, Googled all the names I could think of, but came up blank.

Then, on July 13, an email arrived from Fred Gampper IV, grandson of the airship pilot and a resident of Arizona. He had seen the article and wrote that it had “provided additional information that I had not been aware of.”

After an exchange of emails, Fred Gampper told me that after the demise of blimp and hangar in Kansas City, his grandfather had been approached by Charles Ora, manager of the defunct Syndicate to help him start a similar dirigible airline in Denver. Apparently the remains of the Pony Blimp had been hauled to Denver, and Goodyear had agreed to repair the craft. In the same correspondence, Ora told Gampper “just as soon as we get started here, I will send the balance we owe you.”

According to Fred Gampper, his grandfather declined, and went to work as a wholesale salesman for H. D. Lee. “Over the next few years (he) settled down in Hiawatha, KS, his home town, got married, raised a family, and retired.”

Fred Gampper said that his grandfather had been approached by several airship entrepreneurs to work with them, including a company in Germany, but there is no evidence he took any of them up on their offers.

-- Ken Weyand

Update into July

On the street and in the shop is the July 08 issue of Discover Mid-America.

Check out the feature "Putting on the antique show." It's not the usual "antique publication" feel-good, ignore-the-problems-in-the-trade stuff. The three antique show promoters interviewed come across as real.

For August, look for a cover piece on vintage baseball gloves and for September a cover feature on Fronkoma Pottery.

Meanwhile, ad executive Al Hedrick is healing and thanks everyone for their good wishes and get-well cards. Al is coming into the office though only staying 2 to 4 hours a day. Writer and author Mike Walker is now part of the Discover Mid-America staff. Mike and his wife Vicki authored Cinemental Journeys: An Uncommon Guide to Classic Movie Theaters Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa. Good book. Call the DMA office, 800-899-9730, to order.

Myspace for antiquers

A fellow named Scott Liscomb has created a Myspace site for antiquers, both dealers and collectors, called I Antique Online. Check it out at www.iantiqueonline.com