Anyone Remember "House of Duddy"?

His overhead wire system always comes to mind. Didn't he sell O scale track as well?

I'm old enough....but don't think I ever ordered....just looked at neat stuff.

Not sure if they made track Jim. I'll have to find my old catalog. Like Dave I loved looking through it and dream of having working electrics. Don

As you surmised, he is no longer in business.  I believe he is in an assisted living facility at the present time.

I've had many long talks with Ed, but it has been a few years.  I always enjoyed our conversations. A true pioneer.

When I was first getting back into trains as an adult (?) in the late 1980s I remember seeing his ads for the scale GG1. Having grown up in the deep south I was not familiar with the real GG1 except for Lionel's model which as a kid I never cared for. The scale model was entirely different however!  The info in the House of Dudy brochure created an appreciation for the handsome beast and when Weaver eventually introduced their brass Samhongsa model I was all over them!

I saw a collection of his hit an auction last week in Illinois.    Some great 2R items from Pecos River Brass...

I knew Ed....sort of. I bought one of his GG1s.....it was a basket case. I bought pantographs and other detail parts from 'The House of Duddy". We spoke on the phone regarding fixing old trains......but when I mentioned that one of my sons was in  the Navy....Ed told me about his time in the Marines. Ed served in Korea.....'nuff said. Semper Fi, Ed.

Tom in PGH

When did he close shop?  It seems like he ran ads for years in O scale magazines, and

it seems like not that long ago...but...time flies...

I remember him whan I purchased my first PRR dwarf Signals. After that it was shiloh and now Custom Signal systems.

I don't know if there's any relationship to House of Duddy or not, but I bought a sample lot of Milwaukee road style poles from a guy named Brian Weisman who does business as Brian's Brass Poles. Looks like a decent enough product. Some of his other things reminded me of House of Duddy items and I wonder if he has taken on some of the product line. 

Here's Brian's Milwaukee Road pole.

There prices were way to high.

Ed is in a military nursing home. He called me about a year ago. I made some storage tank models for him to sell as part of his line and I always bought his electric insulators when I made transformer models.

Alan Graziano

I think Ed has passed away. Here's the obit.

Mark

I will reveal a brief moment of geezer-ness,but back when Mr.Myron B.owned this magazine,each issue featured a House of Duddy advertisement. I believe that either Fred D.or Bill C.( of the old traction column) even reviewed the GG 1 when Mr. Duddy introduced that item. Mr.Duddy seemed to have had a long association with OGR as an advertiser. Long time readers will remember with fondness and the best kind of nostalgia, the above named personalities.

I emember those ads and the personalities.

RIP Ed

The memories shared by our Forum members who knew or did business with this

gentleman are in themselves a touching remainder of his life.

yes, Semper Fi, Mr. Ed, Semper Fi.

Brian has been around for at least 10 years.  I bought some poles from him in my first model traction fling.

No I don't remember it.

Yep, I remember Ed's House of Duddy's advertisements well, including back in the Myron Biggar days.

Gee...scary, when I think how long I read those ads and the fact it seems like yesterday.  My job used to send me to St. Louis on one project,  and when there, if I had any free time I'd try to hit the hobby shops, and once I called House of Duddy to get a location, but, I was hurried and I could not find it.  So I was never there, but tried.

It was some time ago, still remember the House of Duddy adds and my friend Myron Bigger talking about the Black River and Western in the hobby shop at Turntable Junction in Flemington, NJ and at York at his booth in the back of the Yellow hall.

Jack

My position light dwarf signals came from House of Duddy; built in resistors, good looking, --simply wonderful....

I still have my copy of his catalog.  A lot of neat stuff in it.