Mel Birnkrant

I was sitting in my home, doing nothing really, when the telephone suddenly rang. Little did I know what was in store for me by picking up that phone? At first it seemed innocent enough, some guy had found my number and needed help with his computer. Being a computer consultant, I was glad to help. It seems that his computer had crashed and all his information and images had been lost. Having called manufacturer of his computer for support and after many hours of trying this and that, he was finally told to reformat his hard drive, fortunately he asked one simple question; will I lose anything. Yes, of course you will, but this is the only way. Probably from the support persons point of view this was true. You see they are typically just following a set of instructions given to them. Before doing this, he felt that he’d try to find someone locally to see what could be done. This is when I picked up my phone.

To make a long story short, he brought the computer to my place and we sat together just about the entire day while the information was being recovered from his computer. During this time we talked, we ate, we laughed and just formed a friendship. Well, as the information and images were extracted from his computer it became apparent to me that this was no small number of family pictures. It was in fact, a lifelong collection. You see Mel (Mel Birnkrant) has the largest collection of Mickey Mouse and Comic Character memorabilia there is. He has amassed this collection and now his entire house is literally a museum. Not one that you can go and tour though. After all, this is his home where he lovingly cares for each and every item and is very protective of it all and rightfully so.

You can view some of his collection on-line at this web site address: http://www.melbirnkrant.com/.

Additionally, if you do a Google search for Mel Birnkrant, you will find all sorts of information on Mel himself and his collection.

Who is Mel?

To read about Mel’s life see his Recollections, as written by himself.

For me to describe Mel, is like trying to describe how to sing soprano opera to a linebacker on a football team. Mel is unique. One of a kind. They broke the mold after forming Mel. But, Mel is a friend, indeed, that has the following traits and probable lots more:

• Artistic
• Story telling
• Attention to detail
• Writer
• Imagination
• Creative
• Humble
• Sense of Humor
• Friendly
• Conscious of historical significance or a caretaker
• Loyal
• Tall
• Quirky
• Big feet
• Loves animals, specially cats
• Was the fattest skinny dipper at Pratt
• A child at heart