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Found this in a small collection of red-bordered Kodachrome slides from a local antique store. No date, no location, but I found a reference to an article with the same title from The Saturday Evening Post of January 16, 1954. Have at it, Shorpy sleuths! View full size.
$15,000 at 1954 value. $455,400 in current value.
The man on the left is named Ben Gillette, whose claim to fame is that he'd been living as a prospector in Nome, Alaska since 1900. At the time of the article, he'd been working his claims for over fifty-three years, and had even melted down $15,000 worth of gold in a single cleanup!
How's that for a bit of amateur sleuthing Dave?
The article recounts the life of Ben Gillette, one of the thousands of prospectors who came to Nome, Alaska at the height of the gold fever in the early summer of 1900. Gillette has worked his claims for fifty-three years, and has melted down $15,000 worth of gold in a single cleanup. Between mining seasons, Gillette spends his time with his pioneer friends, all Alaska residents for thirty years.
by Sally Carrighar
Saturday Evening Post;1/16/1954, Vol. 226 Issue 29, p32
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