The Bergen Trunk

In Hollywood one of the ways you create value is by celebrity association. I once knew a guy who paid a little more for a car than he should because it once belonged to William Shatner. There was no way to prove it belonged to William Shatner, he didn't buy it from William Shatner, someone else had owned it after Captain Kirk. It seemed a rip off to me.

So a couple of years after Edgar Bergen died, when someone told me that Bergen's steamer trunk was for sale at a junk shop on Santa Monica Blvd., I was skeptical. Not so skeptical that I didn't follow through, however. I made my way over to the shop wondering how one could prove that an old piece of luggage belonged to anyone, much less Bergen. The most one could hope for was a name tag that could have been taken off anything. Or the junk store owner might say, "See that scratch? That was caused by Charlie McCarthy's monocle when they played the Palace. " Yeah right.

I am not a good haggler so I didn't want to go into the shop looking for a celebrity trunk. I wondered around the store for a while, but didn't see any old luggage. Finally the proprietor came up to me and asked if I needed help. I said I was sort of looking for old trunks. He said he had one steamer trunk in the back and he led me to it.

There were boxes stacked all over it and it was covered in dust. You really couldn't tell much about it because it was so dusty. It looked to have been in that corner for years. We moved the junk from off the top. It was definitely a steamer trunk like the one I had been told belonged to Edgar Bergen. It had black edges riveted onto dark burgundy panels and rounded corners. It was obviously built for a purpose and not just for wardrobe. It was rectangular not a camel back steamer trunk and opened from the top instead of the side. There was a panel that unlatched from the front and folded down to allow complete access to the bottom of the trunk. I was still wondering how it could be proven that it belonged to Bergen.

The owner was beside me but was taking no interest in helping me get the trunk out so I could really see it. I took the rag and wiped the top of the trunk. As I removed the dust, three inch high gold letters painted professionally on the top appeared. The letters spelled the name Edgar Bergen. As I wiped some more dust I found Bergen's logo professionally painted on the top with the address of his old office on Sunset Blvd. The logo is a profile of Charlie in silhouette inside a cameo circle. I knew that logo instantly from seeing it many times on other Bergen memorabilia. There was no doubt that this trunk belonged to Edgar Bergen and that it was a road case. As I dusted it some more there were railway shipping labels still attached.

I tried not to gasp, but kept my cool with the owner. I asked if he knew anything about this trunk? He said, "I got it at an estate sale a couple years ago. Used to belong to a radio actor named Bergreen." He actually mispronounced the name of Bergen and never said ventriloquist. I was sure he didn't know who Ber Green was. He went on to say that the trunk was filled with valuable papers about the actors life who was dead now. He said there was a contract, a receipt for a wig, and some pictures of a puppet inside. He told me that the papers were very valuable.

We opened the trunk and I looked at all the papers. What they appeared to be was an old cache of income tax related receipts. The kind of stuff we all keep for five years and then toss away when the IRS hasn't ask for them. There were a couple of places that Bergen had signed his name, the contact was interesting. It was for a one night engagement at some club in the early 40's.

The pictures of Charlie were not Charlie at all but a midget dressed up like Charlie, monocle and all. It looked to me like the pictures of either a double or stand in for a film shoot. All the time the man is telling me that the papers should be in a museum and were very valuable.

To me the papers were not valuable at all. Other than an autograph here and there it wasn't of much interest. I already had Bergen's signature on a picture he signed to me and a letter or two I had received from him. However, I agreed with the owner that the papers were indeed as valuable as he said.

"I guess the papers go with the trunk? Its a package deal?" I said. "What do you mean?", he replied. "Well," I said, "I don't think I can afford the papers, documents are really collectible these days. But I do have a use for an old trunk. Would you be willing to hang on to the papers and just sell me the old trunk." He thought about is for a second or two. I could see the words forming on his lips and he said, "Well, I might be willing to sell them separately." I couldn't believe it. I didn't want to seem too eager but cautiously said, "Well, how much do you want for the old trunk by itself then?" I had no idea what kind of a price he would ask. I was certain he thought he was keeping the most valuable part of the deal.

I had three hundred dollars in my pocket and that was my budget. He thought and thought and said, "Well, an old trunk like that is worth about $200 dollars." I remember at the time thinking he might say $500 and I would have to work him down. Before I could check my emotions I blurted out, "Two-hundred dollars?".

Quickly he said, "Okay, make it $150. It's got all those old stickers on it." It was the days before cell phones but I gave him cash and called a friend with a van, and we had the trunk out of that store in about 30 minutes before he could change his mind.

One of those old stickers is from a trans-Atlantic crossing on the Queen Mary in 1952, and Bergen signed it before it was stuck on, which actually documented the entire piece.

I never went back to that shop. I never knew if he made a killing with the documents, and never knew if he regretted selling the trunk. Sometime the cosmos just picks people to become stewards of items, to keep them safe and repeat the story that gives them value. I was picked that day.

As you were,
Jay

Tomorrow - "Politics and Religion"