Charles Phoenix Travels

Destination Time Capsule: The Winner is Dead…

Charles Phoenix — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 15:55:03 +0000

Heirs of the late Raymond Humberton have come forward to claim their crispy crunchy classic car. At 384,743, Mr. Humbertson’s 1957 entry to guess Tulsa’s population in 2007 came closest to the actual number of 382,457. It was approx 250,000 in 1957. Mr. Humbertson died in 1979 at the age of 57. His wife, Margaret Humbertson, died in 1988. They had no children. Two elderly sisters in Maryland as his closest living relatives. Humbertson, a Washington, D.C.-area educator career Marine and a Korean War veteran spent the last few years of his life as an administrator at Northern Virginia Community College.

Stay tuned to see what happens now…

Destination Time Capsule: Deep-Fried Plymouth

Charles Phoenix — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 21:14:44 +0000

So Tulsa’s legendary buried car emerged extra crispy and golden brown like it was battered and deep-fried like a piece of chicken. It was shocking. People gasped. Some cried. How could this happen? How could the vault it was buried in have leaked? Why didn’t they do a better job? So many questions…so few answers. The whole thing was really just a big publicity stunt that morphed into a bizarre science experiment gone wrong. Oh well, a petrified Plymouth makes for a much more interesting story than a pristine one.

The saga of the soggy car continues. On Friday, June 21, 2007 Mr. R.E. Humbertson, was announced as the winner. He is the one, who in 1957, guessed closest to what Tulsa’s population would be in 2007. If he is still among us in the land of the living he’s 85 years young. He, or his heirs, have five years to claim the prized Plymouth before ownership goes to the Tulsa Historical Society. Earth to Mr. Humbertson…are you out there? Stay tuned!

Destination Time Capsule: On Display in Tulsa’s Convention Center

Charles Phoenix — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 23:06:33 +0000

On Saturday, June 16, the day after the dramatic reveal, thousands of curiosity seekers gather ’round the belle of the ball for close inspection. The body panels are as straight as an arrow but the metal is very rough. The interior is, for lack of a better way to put it, soup. Clearly the car is unrestorable and should be dispayed until it finally crumbles.

A pic form the TULSA WORLD newspaper shows off the interior soup!

I first learned about this buried car eighteen years ago reading a tiny article in a classic car magazine. There was no way I wasn’t going to be there. And there I am!

Arifacts sealed in an air and water tight metal tank alongside the car in the same leaky cement tomb survived the fifty year ordeal perfectly.

And by-the-way, I want to know who’s the creative design genuis that came up that that two-toned TULSARAMA font. It’s brilliant!!!.

Among the array of artifacts found in perfect condition were postcards recording the guesses of what Tulsan’s thought the population of thier city would be in 2007. Whoever guessed the closest number will win the car. According to event orgnizers, the winner, or thier next of kin, of this “priceless antique in 2007″ as they called it, will be notified next week at a news conference. That person has five years to come forward and claim the car. I’ll keep you posted.

Destination Time Capsule: Showtime!

Charles Phoenix — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 16:23:27 +0000

The rusty, musty and oh-so soggy remains of the 1957 Plymouth Belvedere sits center stage at Tulsa’s biggest indoor arena for all the world to see. The highly anticipated reveal was SHOCKING to say the least! The car clearly spent most of its life underwater. They should’ve buried a submarine. A jumbo screen projection screen is what you see in the background. Pics of the contents of the actual time capsule to come….stay tuned!