Maybe this needs to be in parts wanted?

I don't remember the person selling these a few years ago, but hoping someone here might be able to help. I am looking for 2 Oldsmobile script bricks to give a gifts for a couple of buddies.

Let me know if anyone has a couple of these they would part with.
w442309@aol.com

Thanks, tim

 

Tim, I never heard of these things. Are they like real bricks shaped like the script that says Olds?

 

I was given one of those as a gift a few years ago. They were bricks from the Oldsmobile Administration building in Lansing. Someone had the foresight to think a momento of the building might be desirable for Olds enthusiasts; good call! The Olds name and dates were engraved in the brick and came with a "Certificate of Authenticity", dated 2008 signed by Willis Dennis. I might be able to find out who was selling them. I'm sure someone on here probably will have an answer for you.

 

You can try Willis, I don't know if there are any left that are available.
thedoctor@droldmobile.com
http://www.drolthedoctor@droldmobile.comdmobile.com

 

bud on ROP was selling them

 

Some one was selling them at oldsgooglegroups a few years ago, I expressed an interest, but never heard back.

 

Those things went fast several years ago. I was barely able to get one (and had no cert). I remember asking for two but only could get one. Therefore they might only be available from other members now who had previously bought them and be willing to part with them.
I only wish more were saved, but from what I heard, only certain marble could be saved due to asbestos. Union workers took some but could not get all.
I found an old email from the order. Dennis Willis sold me mine for $50 back in Sept. 2008. I originally inquired in August, but he was bombarded with orders. The original ad was on the oldsgoogle group.
Here is a little history of the bricks that he sent me also...

Hi Rob:

The bricks were made from marble that was taken from the court yard at the main entrance to bld. #70 the Oldsmobile administration building. (commonly referred to as the Ivory Tower).This is the building that had the 5ft. tall O-L-D-S-M-O-B-I-L-E letters on the roof and a black glass and marble exterior. When this building was built in1964, the infrastructure was sprayed with an insulation and fireproofing material containing asbestos. Great for the time but a death knell for it's preservation. It will cost 4.3 mil $ now to demo the structure. Only exterior marble could be salvaged and that was removed by members of the local union at no cost to the salvage company. That is why the union has control of the bricks and not management.even though the union didn't own the building. The green staining is indeed from vegetation. My brick has the same stain. Your brick is also the last of the middle size bricks. The last edition is 2" smaller to get more from the pieces of marble.

I am working with a photographer to get some 8x10 pictures of the building in its heyday to offer to those that got bricks but have never seen the building that they were taken from.

Rob a union member is doing the engraving on the smaller pieces removed from the courtyard. The huge panels on the building proper and the stairs leading up to the building from Towsend street are still intact. The museum is working to receive some of that material especially the piece that has the words "Oldsmobile Administration building" engraved in it. The problem is the thickness of the material and it's sheer weight. Supporting a masonry saw to cut the pieces is more difficult that just breaking them up with an air hammer.
I'll try my best to keep the list up to date on the fate of the building.

That's all the news that's fit to print for now,
Willis

 

You should turn that cert into a pdf and post it for those of us who didn't get one with their bricks. I hadn't seen that before, it's a cool piece.

I got mine from Bud on ROP.

 

I know this is an old thread but have I checked with Local 652 and they said the bricks were never sold with a certificate, I also have checked with Willis and he doesn't have a certificate either. I don't think the certificate is real, Willis was salary and it's unlikely his name would be on the certificate.....if any name would appear on the certificate it would be the president of local 652 at the time the bricks were sold. Just my opinion.

 

I worked for willis a while at fisher body,,great guy to work for

 

I bought 3 Oldsmobile bricks and a brick from Fisher Body and did not receive and sort of certificate purchasing from Bud at ROP.

 

Here's some of my exchange with Willis " Al I am sorry but I have never seen the marble brick certificate. I got some marble bricks when they were first made available but didn't receive a certificate.. If Willis has never seen the certificate that bears his name then how can it be real?

 

I agree,the certificate must be a fake.

 

When I had been selling those bricks a few years ago, I got them from LAFCU which is the credit union for Oldsmobile employees and family. No certificate!

Pat

 

I've heard from other people that say they're confused if the certificate is real or not.
The certificate bears the name of Wills Dennis, yet Willis has never seen one of these certificates.....seems simple enough to me if they are real or not.

 

I got some from Bud some years ago. The Union Local was actually producing them. There was no such thing as a certificate back then. It is a George Orwell thing: he who controls the present controls the past.

 

I bought a good 6 or so. No certifcate.

 

I'll sell my NOS brick $$$$ + shipping pics later if needed. Look in the parts for sale.

 

Hi group. I have been away for some time. I was contacted by a member about a certificate for a marble Oldsmobile brick from Bld.#70 (The Ivory Tower) I have never seen such a certificate even though I own several size marble bricks. I am a member of the R.E.O. Transportation museum in Lansing, Mi. The late Jim Walkinshaw asked me to help salvage some of the bricks (not marble) from the demo of bld. #16, the last remaining building of the original Olds Motor Works. We saved 744 bricks. Some of those to be used as part of a curved dash display at the museum. Any remaining bricks could be sold to raise funds for the museum. I had certificates of authenticity printed for the bld. #16 bricks and the parquet floor tile that was removed from the Oldsmobile engineering auditorium. I sat at Jim's kitchen table while he signed a limited number of certificates. Some of you have purchased one or both in the past. That may have led to the misunderstanding. They were never intended for the marble bricks that were "mined" from the Oldsmobile Administration Bld. #70. by the local U.A.W. Hope this brings some clarity to this issue.

Thanx,
Willis Dennis
a.k.a. Dr. Oldmobile

 

While I have one, I do not recall the cost, it did not come with a cert and is not for sale.