Despite his thousands of books, hundreds of cameras, and dozens of silent movies, his grandchildren loved his magic garage most! He had various sets up in the rafters that depicted different holidays or scenes of Americana. It was all controlled by a box with about two dozen plugs and switches wired into a framework that was about 12 inches by 18 inches and built from 2X4s. It worked, and also probably frightened any electrician who ever saw it!
He had a fan rigged up that he could plug in to put a breeze on an American flag that was front and center in the garage. A rheostat started the turntable on an otherwise broken record player, and controlled its speed with a maximum of 78 RPM. The turntable had small American flags on it to symbolize the 4th of July. Still another plug lit the lights around the old church scene on the side of the garage, and the turkeys and Pilgrims were lit by throwing the switch next to it.
The parrots roosted in the corner were set up with a fan and a light wired into a single switch so they would be highlighted with their slight sway with one flip! He had Christmas and Easter up there. I think he even had scenes for Valentine's and President's Days.
Though Dad loved building and showing off his magic garage, he never really expanded it past its original design. I remember it being fascinating at first, but more like a novelty as it got older and older. Instead of pursuing it further, Dad did other things, like spray painting small engines and old station wagons, and finishing them off with stickers and decals. He would still light it all up for people to enjoy, but that became less common - except for his grandchildren! They loved it! It may be the thing some of them best remember about their grandfather!
I imagine he even let the older ones flip the switches for the younger ones, though I don't have any personal recollections of that! To them, it was like Disneyland at Grandpa's!
Some of Dad's things were able to be passed on as family relics. The painted engines have been disbursed, his cameras been collected, and his books have been boxed, but the magic garage is nothing more than a thing of family lore. I presume other people in the family have their special memories of the magic garage, and I presume every person who does drew some inspiration that keeps Dad's creative spirit alive to this day.
However, as with most lore, the magic garage was more significant in its totality than its mere components. If we are honest with ourselves, it was really made from pieces of paneling, a broken record player, some cheap decorations, some dime flags, and one American flag that blew slightly when one of the two Goodwill fans created the breeze that Dad imagined when he put it front and center in the magic garage.
It was all imagination, and that was the most magical part about Dad's garage.
It undoubtedly also had a Marine Corps emblem up in that breezy flag, but that would be dozens of other stories more than his magic garage. However, since I am writing this story in honor of his 88th birthday, he would want it known that "once a Marine always a Marine" and "semper fi" were up there in that part of the display.
Then he'd probably crack a joke about me having been an airman! That was just Dad!
* * * * *
Here are other stories about remembering Dad:
Remembering Dad: He Always had a List
Remembering Dad: He Loved Trivia, But Not Trivial Pursuit
Remembering Dad: His Magic Garage
Remembering Dad: His Newsletter Obituary
Remembering Dad: His System of Cycling Junk
Remembering Dad: Lunches with Ron MacDonald
Remembering Dad: The Day May Got Him
Remembering Dad: The Newspaper Beating
Remembering Dad: The Rice Salad Standoff
Remembering Dad: Was it a Prank?
