June 22,
2007
Media
Contacts:
Barby Jobe
(918) 582-9151
bjobe@xxxxxxxxx
BURIED BELVEDERE WINNER ANNOUNCED
After
being removed from its underground vault after 50 years and subsequently
unveiled to a crowd of thousands last week, the 1957 Plymouth “Miss Belvedere” finally
has its first owner.
With a
guess of 384,743, R.E. Humbertson was declared the winner of the car at a news
conference held earlier this afternoon at East Tulsa Dodge. Born in July of
1921, Humbertson (or his or her closest living relative) will have five years
to claim the vehicle before it becomes the property of the Tulsa Historical
Society.
Tulsarama
co-chair Sharon King Davis said she is excited to fulfill the vision of the
original Tulsarama organizers.
“Now
that Miss Belvedere finally has her owner, the vision that started in 1957 has
officially reached its completion,” King Davis said. “We know that
the owner will treat her with the respect she deserves, as she stands as a
symbol of the spirit of Tulsa.”
The
process of awarding the car to a lucky Tulsan was started in 1957, when
citizens were asked to guess what the population of Tulsa would be in 2007, with the person who
guessed the closest being given ownership.
The guesses were found written on postcards in the time capsule buried with the
Belvedere, rather than on microfilm as originally thought. The population
guesses ranged from zero (4 guesses) to 1-2 Billion (5 guesses). The
dates of birth of the entrants ranged from 1885 to 1957. Two entries even
listed their birthplace as Indian Territory.
Humbertson
will also receive a $100 savings bond which was buried with the car. The
bond is estimated to have matured to $700 over the past 50 years.
The full
list of guesses can be found at www.buriedcar.com
###
Population
Guesses Facts
·
Several people listed their birth
place as "Indian territory"
·
One person typed a short sci-fi essay
and listed their address as Jupiter Excursions, Inc.
·
Several guesses, including the
winner, had comma separators in wrong places
·
The low estimate was zero (4
guesses), the highest was 1-2 billion (5 guesses). A lot of people were
reasonably in the ballpark.
·
Handwriting was sometimes difficult
to read and the vast majority of people used it instead of printing in block
letters
·
96 entries used names beginning with
"Mrs." followed by the husband's name
·
Tulsa did not have its current zip
codes, but instead the addressed used Tulsa 5, Tulsa 6, etc.
·
There were several family entries;
some guesses designated up to 3 heirs
·
There was an entry by the editor of
Tulsa County News
·
There was a page with guesses by
school-age children (12-13 years old)
·
The dates of birth range from 1888 to
1957
·
The state of birth had 398 Oklahoma, 2 Canada,
1 Latvia,
302 from 32 other states, 109 not available
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