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15 – Purebred PIGEON
By Lynn Watson
There are a myriad of things to collect in the
pigeon world. Among those that I collect are pigeon
business cards. My very first pigeon business card
came from the famous Los Angeles Pigeon Club
President George Neuerburg of North Hollywood,
California.
My introduction to George came quite by
chance. A teenage buddy of mine from San Clem-
ente went to the Pomona Fair one September. The
Los Angeles Pigeon Club had a booth there. My
friend picked up a brochure on joining the LAPC and
then shared that with me. I decided to join the LAPC
and soon I began receiving club bulletins where I
read about the famous Andrews Hardware Store.
Since I couldn’t drive as I was only 15 years old I de-
cided that I would take a bus to Los Angeles – quite
a trip for such a young boy. That day at Andrews
Hardware I was fortunate to meet Mr. Andrews, I. W.
Metcalf and Ray Peel. There I was able to purchase
several of the world famous Pageant of Pigeons
marked catalogs. In the club bulletins and catalogs I
noticed that George Neuerburg had Scandaroons – a
breed I wanted desperately.
The same day as my trip to Andrews Hardware
MyStartWithCollectingPigeonBusinessCards
I continued on by bus to North Hollywood where
I was greeted by the goateed Neuerburg. When I
left Chandler Boulevard that day I not only had a
pair of Scandaroons but a treasured business card
from George. To this day, over 50 years later, I still
have that card. This was the very beginning of my
collecting pigeon business cards.
C
ollection
H
as
G
rown
to
O
ver
200
Once I could drive to shows my collecting
took off. By the 1970s I was able to add more
cards to my collection. Among the early famous
fancier’s card I was able to accumulate belonged
to: Bill Hague, Dean Heisel, Jerry Fussells, Paul
Platz, Johnny Blaine, and Bob Nolan. Along the
way during my many years of collecting, I treasure
ones from Karlheinz Sollfrank, Sieglinde Tate,
Dick Krueger, Art Carte, and Jim Moyer the most.
As the years pass away these cards have
become more sentimental to me as so many of
these people have died. These cards bring back
fond memories of these famous fanciers. Hope you
enjoy looking at the cards and perhaps they will
bring back fond memories of these people for you.•
(To see more of Lynn Watson’s collection of business
cards, see our Sep/October 2022 issue, page 30)