Hy Goldenberg

Some people collect stamps; others collect coins. Hy Goldenberg of Huntington collects outhouses. Yessiree, he has 13 of them, to be precise. This one, a bit more elegant than the others because it is round and sports a weather vane, cost Goldenberg $17 at an auction. He usually pays $2 to $3 for discarded outhouses, but in this instance, someone was bidding against him. Goldenberg recalls what prompted him to buy an outhouse in the first place. Workmen were building a new house for him in the country, and he needed to find a toilet facility for them. Several were available for sale because a dam project was going to flood part of the land in that vicinity. He offered $2 to the man in charge of disposing of the displaced outhouses, but when he went to collect it, it was a different one. The man reckoned Goldenberg wouldn't want the first one, saying "That was a dreadful one." Goldenberg got two for the price of one, and thus began his hobby. The exhibit, "Local Collectors: Modern Hunters and Gatherers," continues through December 1998 at the Mathers Museum at IUB (Indiana University at Bloomington).

Hy Goldenberg ז"ל passed away on 09 February 2000; he was 81 years old. Mr. Goldenberg was a Past President of the Huntington (IN) Jaycees (1953-54). Here is a memorial link for him.