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
<http://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
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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