In 1968, I was on a short vacation from the Army hospital, where I was working. My parents and my wife Danielle had joined me. We were in our old Volvo, as we drove by the outskirts of Vienna.
I spotted a huge pile of scrap iron in the center of a yard. I made a sharp U turn, entered the yard and climbed on to the 15-foot mound and started pulling these pieces from the pile.
The pieces included laundry irons and many ancient door hinges and ancient locks. As payment, I gave a carton of cigarettes to the grateful proprietor.
Austria was in the process of post-war modernization, and no one had need of laundry irons that required putting coals inside to heat them.
(Editor’s note: Palisades resident Howard Yonet has an interesting collection of curios from around the world and with his permission, Circling the News is publishing one a week. About the collector: Dr. Howard Yonet was born in Brooklyn in 1934 and attended Brooklyn College. He went to Baylor Medical School and then returned to do an internship at Bellevue Hospital. Yonet completed his residency at the Manhattan V.A. and the Montefiore Hospital. During this time he went skiing in Vermont and the Catskills, and while traveling found barns filled with early American pieces. This led to his interest in American Antiques.
In 1965, he married Daniele, who was originally from Nancy, France. During the Vietnam War, Yonet was drafted as a medical officer and stationed in Landstuhl, Germany (1966-1969). This was close to the French border, which meant he and Daniele and could visit her family.
While abroad, the Yonets took weekend trips through France and Italy, purchasing many interesting pieces at flea markets.
The family settled in Pacific Palisades in 1970 and Yonet practiced general radiology until 2006. He continued to acquire antiques and collectables at estate and garage sales and the Salvation Army Store. He also enjoyed looking for collectibles while traveling in Montana, Idaho, Colorado and Massachusetts. Daniele’s family helped add to his collection.)
LOVELY……You never know where you may find a ‘treasure’. That is the fun of it!