Fanaticism and Little Luck...

To further illustrate my immediate family’s commitment to this project, on one occasion we set up a time to visit the Oklahoma Trucking Association (OTA) to see if they had any information on Lyle or Hugh Breeding there.   After all, Lyle Breeding was the President of the OTA in 1961 and Hugh Breeding is in the OTA Hall of Fame.   

When we arrived at the Oklahoma Trucking Association in OKC, the Director brought us four large boxes filled with photographs and magazine articles.  I busily got through the first big box but found nothing of interest.   However, when I tackled that second box there were materials from the 1940’s that had lots of photos and references to both Hugh and Lyle Breeding.  

At that point, I called my wife (who was out eating lunch with Daughter) to come back and help me sift through the boxes.   The third and fourth boxes yielded even more as we ran into all the Oklahoma Motor Carrier Journals from 1960 and 1961 when Lyle Breeding was the President of the organization.  

All told, when we left that day, we had uncovered some thirty photos and magazine articles on the Hugh Breeding Trucking firm.   What was intended to be a simple one or two-hour visit had turned into a 5-hour session that had left the skin on all of our fingers damaged from all chemicals found in the old photos and magazines – but it was well worth it.

Looking back today - some four years later – we were so lucky because no one carries the Oklahoma Motor Carrier magazine going back to the 1940’s.  Several times over the past few years, I’ve checked out WorldCat and there’s only a few libraries who have this journal but their holdings only go back to the early 1970’s.  At that time, had we not been so crazy to go through all those boxes and look at each of those journals at the Oklahoma Trucking Association, we never would have uncovered so much rare and valuable information.  In short, family involvement, understanding and support is critical to this research but luck is also vitally important.  

I do keep telling my wife (and myself) that at some point I anticipate the project will be reaching a natural conclusion, but she keeps telling me this thing will live on for a long time.  She’s probably right about that.