Josephine from Utah with a Jacobs to sell or?

[Wind Charger Mike]

The Jacobs Little America story is pretty interesting. Here’s a sequence of photos from 1929-1955. (Reverse order)
1929—1st camp—Three 70 ft towers erected for radio transmission
1934–2nd camp—Jacobs mounted to one of the radio towers.
1947–Admiral Byrd’s son visits Little America
1954—Bud Waite dismantles the Jacobs he helped put up in 1934.
1955–Admiral Byrd returns to Antarctic for reunion.

[MsJo]

Thank you so much for doing all of that work for us, Mike! We are stunned. You are absolutely right about not selling it to someone who just wants a windmill. I am way out of my league here. I am not sure how to proceed, shall I get in touch with Craig or Mike, or are there museums I should contact? If so any idea of which ones might be able to best make use of it? Do you think a museum might have a couple thousand dollars to purchase it, or is that dreaming? Because it clearly needs to be in one, And I know most museums are a labor of love by the people who run them, I doubt any of them actually make money. I am so glad that you took the time to read and respond to my original post and that the folks on this forum are here for the community. It would have been so sad to have sold it on Craigs list, and have it disappear into someone’s backyard. Our thanks to all of you here!

[Wind Charger Mike]

I recommend the American Windmill Museum in Lubbock. I know they need a Jacobs like yours in their wind electric collection. If you want to give me a call or email ( my number is in my bio) I can tell you who to talk to and contact info. I don’t like to put that info in the public domain.
Mike

[mtblah]

good job Mike , congratulations Josephine on the musuem piece ,,, as you have read on this site that quality of 100 year old technology is few and far between

[PaulV]

I hope this Jake makes it to the museum in Lubbock. Looking forward to seeing it on a future visit!

[hwy8]

WOW!
I've owned and restored a fair number of 32volt Jacobs machines, and I'd agree that this is a pretty special wind-generator!

That tail is really something! The lettering is SO stylized that it makes me wonder if it is an early "display or demonstrator machine". It's interesting that the type font is so flamboyant/informal especially when compared to the early production tails I've seen. It's unusual that it doesn't say "Minnesota" or "USA" like all of the others. At that time, manufacturers were rightly proud of their products and how and where they were made so the "Made in USA" attitude was strong. The Minnesota State Fair was a HUGE opportunity to show off and I can't help thinking that this might have been a very early example of the machine mounted on the stub tower in the back of a highly polished pick-up. There are photos of later models but nothing with a tail painted like this!

Another thing that is very different is the "saddle"/mounting casting. It is almost like it is "shop made" in that it is very simple and designed to be only functional. Jacobs production castings were intentionally overbuilt, but they are designed with a very nice "elegance" too. I have one of their pattern boards to make the bronze swivel used when pulling the tail and machine out of the wind. It has hung on my workshop wall since the early 1980's. When I first bought it, I looked up the company whose name was on the pattern and discovered that the original Jacobs pattern maker was alive and well! He was 90+ years old and extremely sharp and he invited me over for coffee and for the next few years, we were great friends! I learned a terrific amount of Jacobs history from a very different perspective. (At the same time, I had been M.L. Jacobs assistant for about three years beginning in the late 1970's. It was a great privilege and M.L. was very generous sharing his knowledge and experiences with me. There were many, many lunches and suppers that I was able to ask questions of an eye witness to wind generator history)

Josephine: I looked at the photos and wasn't able to see if there is a Jacobs info. plate riveted onto the main assembly. It's aluminum and roughly 2" x 3". If there is one, a bit of historical/manufacturing info. is there. Most often, there is a matching plate on the control panel and occasionally, there are number-stamped marks on prop. shafts on the governor that can provide info. too.

All of you might give this link a try and check out the Jacobs photos!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/jacobswind/

Burt

[Wayne]

Thanks for the info.

[mtblah]

Burt , all this electric information makes me a bit more interested air electric . I have been watching one for several years more but will get more involved in getting it .

Mike B
New Braunfels TX

[MsJo]

Hi Burt, Thank you for sharing all those photos! I have had a difficult time finding good pictures of Jacobs windmills, and nothing that shows the parts broken down as in some of your pictures. There is a lot of literature out there about every windmill / wind turbine except for the Jacobs. I originally took the pictures I put up in order to let people identify the basic machine. I have now brought the tail piece home, and I will ~very gently~ clean it and take better pictures of it. It does say "Minneapolis" on one side of the tail.

[MsJo]

I have just added some better pictures of the tail to my BIL site, but I also realized that it defaulted to paying for downloads. I am seeing if there is a way to make them free. If not, I will be happy to email requested pictures to anyone here. I will update the forum on the download situation. If it is not possible, I would be happy to have someone here host the pictures. The pictures are NOT meant to be a moneymaker on a forum dedicated to sharing freely! https://buzzkuhnsphotography.smugmug.co ... s-Windmill