Like Hunting For Easter Eggs

I don’t know why, but 1920 Flying Eagles are getting harder to find.   Finding them for a decent price is even more challenging.  I sold out before Christmas and many of my sources have dried up.  I occasionally see a few on Ebay, but the prices bidders are paying for them is a little insane.  Maybe this is the new norm for the Flying Eagles, but demand and scarcity is driving the price up for these doors.  It’s almost like a Easter egg hunt as I constantly search and haggle with people to get these doors.

I think all the vintage P.O. Box door styles are beautiful.  They are ornate, American made, and represent a significant piece of Americana.  Some are more ornate than others, some have the letters U.S. cast in the door, and some have different size eagles on the front.  The Flying Eagle is the most dramatic in my opinion.  It screams with a large eagle right in your face, and the brass versions look almost like gold when thoroughly cleaned.

I was fortunate to recently acquire a few more and should have some available for sale online by this weekend.  These were apparently in storage for a long time and were very dirty and tarnished.  It use to take me about an hour per door to clean them using Brasso, but I have recently switched to soaking them in a solution of equal parts ammonia and Coca-Cola.  Yep, it sounds weird, but I can soak the doors for about 30 minutes and the tarnish and grime almost falls right off.  I rinse each door off under hot water and do a little light scrubbing with a soft wire brush, and they are done.

This is a couple of the Flying Eagles soaking in a pan.

The one on the left is before, and the one on the right is after soaking and rinsing.