Photo by Ellen Ferrera
Pat Cribbet is displaying one of Huntsburger’s books on Hood Ornaments.

A Collector who Shared

By Ellen Ferrera
for the News Progress

At a recent meeting in a Titus Library conference room in Sullivan I noticed a large collection of car hood ornaments along one wall. The benefactor of this collection was Lynn R. Huntsburger.
Huntsburger was born on the last day in December, 1913 in a little frontier town in North Dakota. His mother was from Lovington, and when she died, he was sent to live with relatives in Kansas and then to others in Cadwell.
He grew up with a love of machinery and cars and in 1946, with a little seed money, he started O.K. Jobbers in his basement to sell auto parts and industrial supplies. In 1974 he bought his first antique car – a 1949 Kaiser, and by 1990 he had 14 antique cars which he loved to restore.
While restoring his cars he began collecting hood ornaments, mascots and other car trim. By 2004 he had more than 2,000 hood ornaments and was known world-wide as a premier collector of hood ornaments. He was interviewed by PBS TV, and his collection had been widely exhibited including at the Burke’s Museum at Millikin University.     Login or Subscribe to read the rest of this story.