Some would call it nautical nonsense.
But not many people can find the stuff that Bradley Mitchell has found. And to Mitchell, it’s not just stuff – it’s antiques.
“I’m really well-connected cause nobody else will find this stuff – they just wouldn’t,” Mitchell said on a recent afternoon in his garage, pointing to a 1933 bronze shallow water diving pump. “If you talk to the biggest antique dealer, they’ll say, ‘US Navy diving gear – all in private hands.’ You’ll never see it.”
But Mitchell sees antique US Navy diving gear all over his house: in his garage, living room and office. This weekend, he will bring part of his collection to the Seattle Aquarium, where folks can also stop by the exhibit and take a look during Father’s Day weekend.
They will also have the chance to turn the old Navy pumps and try on diving gear, including four helmets that each weigh about 60 pounds.
For the past several years, Mitchell has done the exhibit at the Seattle Aquarium, but this will most likely be his last year, he says.
A Seattle native, Mitchell grew up near Green Lake and said he’s always had a thing for nautical antiques.
In his living room, he points to what he considers his pride and joy – an 1893 Navy diving pump that weighs 550 pounds.
“You’ve never seen anything like it,” he said, showing how two hoses that connect into a diving helmet provide air that is pumped by two men turning the wheels. He got the pump from a Bellevue resident, and it took him seven years to finally acquire it.
But Mitchell is always persistent.
He scours e-Bay, looking for how much people are selling their equipment for, though he never buys from e-Bay. He said you’ve got to be well-connected to find the pieces he does.
“This is me at 20 feet heading down in Lake Stevens,” he said, pointing to a picture of himself all suited up in his diving gear, including diving shoes that each weigh 25 pounds, a diving helmet and a rubber suit manufactured in 1945. “She’s tight. It suits up.”
He also shows off a diving helmet that was manufactured during World War II.
“I know people who would kill me for that,” he says, adding that a year or so ago before the economy turned sour, he could’ve gotten $20,000 for the helmet.
To the average person, it doesn’t mean much, he said. But to Mitchell – who can recite every Navy salvage job from 1901 to 1945 – it means a lot more.
“Historical value. It moves me, it takes me back to a time we cared about what we manufactured, quality. That’s what it means to me.”
The exhibit
Visit Mitchell’s old diving gear exhibit at the Seattle Aquarium this Father’s Day weekend at 1483 Alaskan Way, Seattle. For information, call 206-386-4320.
