FRED HOLABIRD ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT

I was talking with my buddies yesterday and reminiscing about our running days. The hundreds (or more) long, unforgettable runs through the Sierra Nevada trails, the races – Western States 100, Silver State 50-miler, and all those marathons, including Boston 5 times. Now we're all much older, but still out there in our 70s and 80s doing our stuff together. It was a helluva run. Age and injuries caught up to us… but it was, truly, a helluva run.

Today, another "helluva run" is coming to an end.

It is time for me to retire while I still have some gas in the tank and hopefully the wheels can stay on.

Time takes its toll, and my body has paid the price. I simply can't do what I used to do. The back is shot, the feet won't go where they are supposed to go, and all my reconstructed and reassembled parts from years of "being the guy" make me – force me – to back off.

Yes, it's been a helluva run.

I finished my geology degree in 1975 at Humboldt State University, determined, since I was a little kid, to go into mining. I got lucky before I had any answers from applications for a master's degree ever came and got a job with Cities Service Minerals, who had several producing mines worldwide. Frank Kilmer, an industry guy turned Geology professor at Humboldt, told me to take the job no matter what. "They are simply too hard to get," he said, and he was right.

Back then, there were no scholarships like today. We all had to find a way to pay our way through school. It was never an argument – it was a simple, accepted fact of life. Classes did not allow time for a scheduled job, so I (we) had to get creative. I searched for and found beautiful rocks and sliced and sold them at flea markets. I rebuilt refrigerators and stoves. I cleaned fossils. I helped at rock shows. I sold doughnuts in the hallways. Entrepreneurial 101? You bet!

I had to continue this entrepreneurial trend working as a beginning geologist, who only made $800/month. I had discovered old bottles while on the Humboldt summer field class in the White Mountains of Inyo County. They soon became part of the weekend sales excursions, as did refereeing for city league and small college basketball games.

With great bosses to learn from, and an unforgettable group of advanced geologists I met during Society of Economic Geology meetings in the 1970s who all became my mentors through life, I advanced in an abnormal, quick manner from mining research to exploration to mine development to production. A special "shout-out" here is in order – John Livermore, Neil Prenn, Gene McClelland, John Schilling, Dick Thomssen, Peter Vickre, Neil Upchurch, among many others played prominent, yet perhaps unknown parts in the development of my career.

My mining career blossomed over the years. I had unknown talents in field work that led to many "discoveries," both in mine production and in mine cleanup methodology. The Gold Bar Mine was my first, with more to come – arguably at least five. One of those, the Flowery, led to new advanced work and methods of mine cleanups that led me to work closely with various state and federal environmental agencies in Nevada and Colorado, including two branches of the EPA. I cherish my memories of those cleanups and the unsung professionals involved. We all made history doing the right thing.

Back in the 1970s, the AIME (American Institute of Mining Engineers) held fantastic international Mining Economics seminars. These were an incredible, advanced, world-class education like no other. I attended several on my own nickel, and hit the jackpot. With speakers like John Macnamara, World Bank Chairman, and a field of mining industry icons, some of whom took special interest in this young, nearly 6'5" Nevada geologist, I became immersed into the inner workings of the "business side" of mining.

A key element of those seminars, held just as then-President Nixon had repealed the Gold Reserve Act of 1933, was that it was strongly suggested to have a second business because of the unpredictable nature of metal commodity markets at the time.

So began a separate business in Americana. It had its start during those years at Humboldt, I just didn't know it at the time. As I became immersed in mining history, and by osmosis because of my family history and my geology jobs, I dove into Nevada and California history. As a kid, I had been reading all the wonderful history books left behind by my grandfather. It became addictive, and that addiction has never left me. So, this "second business" was a natural outflow of my life and career.

"Two careers, you say?" Heck no – there have been four! I was a die-hard athlete and never stopped. I briefly mentioned this in the opening paragraph. And I met Robin at Humboldt – another "Type A" personality, exceptionally smart, a real go-getter, and fun as all get-out. I call this another career because together, we have forged two great careers. Hers in movies, and me in my stuff. You can still listen to her movie reviews every Friday at 9am on KUNR, like you have for about 45 years if you live in Nevada, and on subscribing NPR stations around the country, or read them on KUNR's website, or read them on Rotten Tomatoes, an international movie review website.

The Americana biz got a natural slow start. I found, discovered, and sold lots of stuff no one had ever thought about collecting, or even knew existed. These things led to discovering great stories about elements of history that few had thought of. That led to catalogs… then books… then more catalogs… then auctions.

There was a need to tell stories through the eyes of these items. They became my window to the past, unleashing hundreds of stories that I never dreamed I'd write. The discovery of documents, items, and archives proved to be a remarkable teaching tool, one that has helped uncover various yet-unknown aspects of history.

In some cases, we needed to bring science to the table, and I enlisted the help of many friends deep within the scientific communities. The stories that resulted have helped teach readers about various elements of science, and in some cases helped collectors understand the "real" from "fantasy." This world is not without controversy, and if time in life allows, I hope to write about much of this.

All of this quite varied work led to being asked to work on many world-class projects. Some you know about. Others, you don't – but maybe so in the future. The SS Central America and the SS Republic treasures stand at or near the top of the list of these projects. And even for these, my story has never been fully told.

The sum of all this? I was asked by an attorney on a consulting case to present all of my articles, papers, and published works of over 1,000 words. He thought it might be a page or two. It took a week to unravel a list (which is still not complete), fully more than 250 titles long. I'll leave out his comments…

Our big auctions started in the late 1990s. We held many mail-bid auctions prior to that, but the development of the Internet changed everything. Overall, we may have held close to a thousand auctions if you include daily sections. We've sold hundreds of thousands of lots of Americana – many millions of pieces - probably far more than anyone – yet this still will never approach the massive demand for numismatics, which overshadows all other collecting categories. Separately, we've sold hundreds of collections benefiting elderly Americans in their twilight years who needed extra income to "get by" in today's world. These are the "average Joe" collections – not the ones you read about in the press – yet they are equally important. This is an element of our business that we are all proud of.

There is also a ton of "stuff" that we invented, but that discussion remains for another day.

We built a great company. We've had a great team over the years. I don't call them employees, because we really are a true team – one part doesn't work without the other.

Now it's time for the next generation.

We intend to have several more sales of varying nature. Our last consignment call is September 1, 2025. We will be paying consignors 30 days after the sales, and likewise cancelling all sales not paid for in 20 days after a sale. Starting on November 1, we will be offering the internal fixtures of the business at cheap (I'm not supposed to use that word!) prices.

It's Time. Thank You to all for everything.

For the remaining sales, see:
https://www.holabirdamericana.com/

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