Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

It has become something of a tradition here to recap the year just before taking a Christmas break. And with this year marking the 10th anniversary of 30 Squares, I thought I'd continue the tradition with a little post before taking my leave.

The 10th anniversary was celebrated in a series of posts called From the Time Machine's Glovebox, and to get the year started there was a series of Hot Wheels diecast posts.

Essays, both one-shot and extended, had a hold on my mind in 2019:

The Moore Way

 A 'Miniature Building Construction in the 20th Century' Reading List

Gil Melle, via the Vinyl Detective, caught my interest this year

The Sgt. Rock School of Management Studies

The Dictionary of Non-Existent Model Railroad Terms

There were many posts made to the Legendary Model Railroaders tag

as there were to the E L Moore tag

I made a start on a new layout, the Ocean Park Loop, which replaced the Alta Vista TC well before it neared completion. Although, reorganization and renovation of the workshop helped slow work on the OPL to a stop.

The OCTranspo's Confederation Line went into service in the fall, and your 30 Squares reporter was there at the inaugural ride. That lead to a number of posts about Ottawa's new LRT system. The LRT got off to a good start, but as the weeks 'rolled on', many operational problems arose that adversely impacted its on-time performance and reliability. 

Fewer than usual model building projects were undertaken in 2019, and most of them were in plastic. Included were,

Bert's Garage 

(although posted a couple of days before the end of 2018, this was the most popular series published in 2019 by a long shot, and the associated videos were the most popular of any of the videos posted here -

the second most popular post, but far behind Bert's, was the miniature building construction reading list)

The Natural History Museum

Moore's Balsa Products

The Elevator Building

Variation No. 3 on a Moon Scope

(this project had special significance for me as it connected the here-and-now of my life today with that of my boyhood and brought today's world into stark contrast with day-to-day life back then)

and, a start on A&A Records

Like in many years passed, I continue to think about ending the blog. Apparently it's a recurring affliction, like cold and flu season :-) This year the pull to stop was stronger than usual as I look at changing a number of aspects of my life in the coming year. Strangely though, giving serious thought to quitting prompted me to write far more posts than usual as I work this through. I think I'm looking for a new spin, or aspect to blogging as I feel I still haven't written the stories I need to write, or pursued all the ideas I still have. The E. L. Moore series over the last 5 (!) years - it's frightening how time flies - has been my magnum opus here at the blog. It's been fun and fulfilling, although a proper paper book hasn't materialized due to copyright and financial issues. There're other stories I'm looking to write, although I'm not sure what form they'll take. It looks like I'll be blogging for the foreseeable future as I work it out :-)

I can't wrap-up without wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Thanks for dropping by throughout the year and spending some time here. I'll meet up with you again sometime after Christmas. 

Other inspirations for Moore & Company?

Paul suggested that Life-Like's Proto 2000 Series kit Moore & Company Warehouse might have been inspired by some E. L. Moore projects other than his Novelty Factory. These other projects might have had elements that were referenced, possibly adjusted, and then stitched together into a composite building that was an homage to E. L. Moore's projects.

Let's look at the other sources he recommended having a look at.

The Cract and Dentit Manufacturing Co. that appeared in the December 1972 issue of Model Railroader in the story, The chair and desk factory.

H. Hoople & Sons that appeared in the September 1965 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman in the story, Major Hoople's Brick Warehouse.

This building is a favourite of mine, and I hope to build it in the future. And I think it would have made a great AHM kit.

The Schlegel Brewery that appeared in the October 1970 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman in the story, A Brewery in Stone. (Image sourced from RMC Oct '70)

And, for completeness, the initial contender, Novelty Creators Inc. that appeared in the July 1970 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman in the story, Novelty Factory.









I agree that Paul's suggestions give a better and more complete idea of what might have inspired and formed Moore & Company. But, as with my speculations on the Novelty Factory as a source, it might all be just coincidence. I guess it's another of those questions where we may never find out what actually went on, but it's fun to speculate :-)

Moore Math: Ramsey Journal + Machine Shop = Grusom Casket

The Grusom Casket kit is two, two, two kits in one ! There's a one-storey building up front, which would later be marketed separately as the Machine Shop, and a two-storey building in the back, which is the Ramsey Journal Building with some windows bricked in.

So, even though the Grusom Casket kit is one of the Original 9, one might argue that it's actually the first of the derivative kits. 

Here's my case.

Take a look at this letter dated 17 January 1968 from Peter Van Dore, then AHM's kit development guy, to E. L. Moore.

At that time, AHM had already produced the Schaefer Brewing Company, and I guess sales were good, because now they're interested in adding Ma's Place, The Ramsey Journal Building, and the Gruesome [sic] Casket Company. 

I speculate that AHM decided to do Ramsey and Grusom at the same time because they realized Ramsey's size and shape was a close approximation to Grusom's two-storey building, thereby reducing tooling costs on Grusom.

Here's what E. L. Moore had to say in response:

19 January '68

Pete Van Dore,
Associated Hobby Manufacturers,
Philadelphia, Penn.

Dear Mr. Van Dore . . . 

I suppose you know just what you want but damned if you didn't pick three that are scattered. I have the Grusom Casket Company model here but #1 Ma's Place is on display in a hobby shop up in Raleigh and #2 (didn't Carstens tell you) I gave him that model and he has it. So you'd have to get that one from him.

I can have Mr. Collier of North Hills Hobby Shop in Raleigh send you Ma's Place and can ship the one I have which can do soon as I hear from you.

Only thing I'd like would be a kit of each one you produce -- including the one you've already produced -- the Schaefer Brewery. I never like to build a second model but built three of Schaefer's and still don't have one for myself.

Here's two, three photos from countless ones I have lying around.

alleyoop . . . . 

signed E. L. Moore

E. L. Moore
525 Oakland Ave., Apt 3
Charlotte, N. C.

I don't have copies of the photos he's referring to, but I did at one time see his Ma's Place model.

So, maybe Grusom's is the first in a long line of derivatives to follow, but it's clearly more than a simple re-boxing with some minor details changed.

A novel coincidence?

Moore & Co. image sourced from internet | Novelty Factory image scanned from July '70 RMC

I've had my suspicions about Life-Like's Moore & Company kit in their Proto 2000 Series for some time. The tower on one end with the pointy roof, the layout of the complex in a single line, and of course the name, remind me of E. L. Moore's Novelty Factory that appeared in the July 1970 issue of Railroad Model Craftsman. While searching online I came across a build-up of the kit by Mr. Richard Wegner where he turned the tower sideways so the entry was along the building's long side, which puts the entrance in the same orientation as the Novelty Factory's. These likely are all coincidences, but ones that make me scratch my head and wonder about the source of inspiration* :-)
---
* The Novelty Factory itself might have been inspired by St. Luke's church in Smithfield, Virginia.

Holy exploding molasses!

Image sourced from here.

While I was searching for Machine Shop box variations I came across this version of the Molasses Mine kit. The so-called Kaboom Powder Factory version by AHM doesn't look like it has had any modifications done to it other than a name change and re-boxing.

What made this box particularly interesting to me was this P.S. I found in a letter dated July 13, 1971 from E. L. Moore to Denis Dunning, the managing editor of Railroad Modeler magazine: 

Peter Van Dore of AHM sayn [sic] they're working on another model of mine -- they have three now listed -- and asked me to make one specifically for them. A dynamite plant with one side blown off.

That's the only reference E. L. Moore made to creating an exclusive model for AHM. And there are no other references to him making an AHM Dynamite Plant. But, maybe the idea of a kabooming dynamite plant stuck with Mr. van Dore, or someone else at AHM, and simply renaming the already weird Molasses Mine was the way to produce such a plant on the cheap and easy.

E. L. Moore didn't let the idea of a dynamite plant sink. His article, The Cannonball & Safety Powder Works, where he infamously blew up the finished model at the end of the story, was submitted to Model Railroader on 10 April 1974, and was published there in the April 1977 issue.

When was AHM's Kaboom Powder Factory first released? I have no idea, but I can see many happy hours of investigation ahead :-)