Serial Numbers

I have fallen heir to the 9,000 card index file of Richard Branum, one of the premier "trapdoor" researchers of our generation. For those who might have known him, Dick is still alive at 91, but has retired from the hobby. I have not yet had a chance to properly house the 4x6 cards (am looking for a cabinet) and they are still in the packing boxes. Within a month I hope to be able to get at them to assist in answering questions. While not "official" like SRS they will still be a useful complement to same, since the data was obtained by a man who KNEW what he was looking at and called a spade a spade.

Thank you!

Good luck and thanks for being the caretaker!

It couldn't have landed in better hands Dick!

Thanks, Paul.

He also had, at one time, about 200 three-ring binders of research notes, whose future is in doubt. An undetermined number of them were ruined by hurricane Harvey and have already gone to the landfill, so there will be voids, perhaps substantial ones, in the data. He had plans for a book that would have covered the trapdoor from one end to the other, in excruciating detail, but apparently lost a lot of his passion when the Frasca/Hill and Waite/Ernst books came out, believing that there was not room for another. Was he right - who knows? He also delayed publishing because he wanted to have everything "right" which can be the kiss of death.

Stay tuned.

As far as the cabinet, check with your local libraries, They may have one or more wood card holders cabinets available.

Contact a university library and see if they can make archival electronic files?? OR maybe the Cody / NRA museum might help??

What a goldmine of information, any idea of the "Custer trapdoors" file size??

The remaining binders have been given to other parties, whom I do not know - the housecleaning went much faster than expected.

What use, if any, may or may not be made of them I do not know, but it is now completely out of my hands.

I am thankful to have rescued the card file. So far have found one nice old steel 4-drawer cabinet, which holds better than 3/4 of them, but too tightly to have convenient access. If I can find a mate, it will allow easy-access to all.

Looking forward to hearing what you find in them Dick Hosmer