Note: This feature is in the July TT&C 2022 issue.
Kenny Bartl, of Gwinner, N.D., is not your average scale model collector. To begin with, he is 90 years old, and, according to Pat Olofson, curator of the Sargent County Museum in Forman, N.D., “Kenny still goes out looking and hunting for more die-cast toys to buy.” In 1960, Kenny and his wife, Mona, were looking for a hobby they could share, so they began collecting together. Bartl has been an active collector for over 60 years. Their goal was simply to buy “old things.” They enjoyed looking for hard-to-find old things that others had once owned and found useful in some way. “It didn’t matter what the item was, as long as it was old,” Kenny said. “If it was old, we bought it.” Kenny and Mona attended auctions and garage sales, and loved making all-day antique trips to surrounding towns. At most antique shops, they agreed on something to buy. |