mawkie
C&R Whisperer
I dabble in collecting German binoculars, primarily military but occasionally pre-war commercial. I found this pair of pre-WWI Hensoldt Dialyt 6x binoculars at auction. Not in the best condition but what blew me away were the engraved names on it! EG Budd was one of the most influential engineers in the transportation industry starting before the Great War. His Budd Mfg. Company introduced stamped steel bodies to the automotive industry. Later Budd Mfg discovered a method of electric arc welding stainless steel while still maintaining it's anti-corrosion properties. And in the late 30's Budd developed the stainless steel bodied Zephyr streamliner trains. He lived in the Philadelphia area and is buried in Germantown just outside of Philly.
This pair of binoculars was a gift to him from his sales manager Hugh Adams. The original leather carry case is gold engraved with Mr Budds initials. I suspect that later on he made a gift of this set to his son Archie as the engraving is slightly different. Had to be expensive in the day as Abercrombie and Fitch was the Hensoldt distributor in the US. As sale manager Mr Adams would have been traveling through Europe quite a bit as Budd sold their technology to many European auto manufacturers like Citroen. I believe that on one of these trips he purchased these Hensoldts as a gift as they don't have the A&F logo I see on most found in the US. Just speculation but it works for me!
If you're an engineer or lover of all things transportation related this article in Coachbilt.com is a good read on Budd and his accomplishments.
This pair of binoculars was a gift to him from his sales manager Hugh Adams. The original leather carry case is gold engraved with Mr Budds initials. I suspect that later on he made a gift of this set to his son Archie as the engraving is slightly different. Had to be expensive in the day as Abercrombie and Fitch was the Hensoldt distributor in the US. As sale manager Mr Adams would have been traveling through Europe quite a bit as Budd sold their technology to many European auto manufacturers like Citroen. I believe that on one of these trips he purchased these Hensoldts as a gift as they don't have the A&F logo I see on most found in the US. Just speculation but it works for me!
If you're an engineer or lover of all things transportation related this article in Coachbilt.com is a good read on Budd and his accomplishments.
