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Violin/FiddleAdolin Viola by Neil Douglas AdamsSte. Genevieve, Missouri Wood, metal, ebony
Although, Douglas Adams started with a simple eighth grade education, throughout his life, he had a very resourceful and inventive mind. In music, he could play guitar, violin and mandolin and was in a group of 2 that were slated to sing on the radio, but WWII broke out and he joined the Navy. Following World War II, the Adams family lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Then in 1953, Douglas was transferred to work in St. Louis for Cargrill Carriers, a company at that time, that owned tow boats. Douglas's responsibility was to work on their diesel engines. Then in 1968, the company transferred him to Baton Rouge, L.A. Later, he moved to Ste Genevieve to set up his own shop on the river for the riverboats as the chief engineer. He could machine and custom make parts for the diesel engines on tow boats, when there were no parts to be found. Nevertheless, he had a passion for photography and music that would never leave him and his ingenious mind would transfer from time to time to inventions that continued to serve these art forms. He invented metal rings to attach to the newspaper cameraman's equipment, to help stabilize the camera. And then invented a ring for a camera to see over a mile for bomb sites. He designed a camera gun, before video cameras were invented, that would attach the camera to your shoulder (for which he did receive a US Patent). Douglas also created and built a one-man fisherman Swamp Boat, that could be used in the Everglades of Florida. At one time, using his knowledge of engineering, he designed a new airplane and started making a flying saucer. His daughter recalls of her father (a tall man of 6'4") as being extremely honest with a dry sense of humor. She told of him making 3 or 4 violins, of which she had 2 and passed on to a girl friend, whom she felt would appreciate them. She said he also designed and made this one viola, which is shown here, and is now in the Hartenberger World Music Collection. Douglas died at the age of 83, in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, and was buried in Dittmer, Missouri
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