When Bradley “Mitch” Mitchell moved to Vancouver from Kirkland in January, he brought an unusual — and weighty — collection with him.
It includes a 450-pound pump built in 1893 by A.J. Morse and Son, antique diving boots weighing 25 pounds each, and two 58-pound Mark V helmets.
The Seattle Aquarium displayed his collection several times over the years, and now he hopes people here will appreciate his antique diving gear. He will display it during the Clark County Fair, Aug. 5-14.
“The men and the companies that made this equipment, they were really into quality,” he said. “When I look at the pump and helmets, it’s like a canvas for me. It’s like I’m looking at a painting by Leonardo da Vinci or Picasso. It emotionally moves me.”
Although he has tried out his equipment in Lake Stevens, he’s not a diver. He retired three years ago from a career running excavators and heavy equipment as a member of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 302.
“I’m more of a history buff,” Mitchell said. “This is my hobby. I was born and raised in Seattle. From the time I was 5 or 6 years old, I liked nautical decor and nautical antiques.”
He went from reading Jules Verne’s “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” as a kid to spending thousands of dollars on artifacts as an adult. Mitchell, now 68, said he started buying antique gear when he was about 40.
His first acquisition was a ship’s telegraph, which relayed orders from the bridge (stop, slow, full speed, etc.) to the engine room. Then he plunged into diving equipment. The history of salvage diving fascinates Mitchell, who can list every U.S. Navy salvage job from 1915 to 1939.
At his home in the Minnehaha area north of Vancouver city limits, he pointed to a 1912 diving helmet built by A. Schrader’s Son Inc.
“That’s a real prize,” he said.
Although Schrader was a forerunner in diving equipment, almost everyone has encountered the company’s technology. In 1893, Schrader patented the pneumatic tire valve found on bicycle and car tires.
In addition to the Schrader helmet, Mitchell also has two U.S. Navy Mark V diving helmets, one from 1943 and another from 1972. The Navy used Mark V helmets for salvage operations into the 1980s.
Mitchell liquidated about half of his collection during the Great Recession, but he still has 13 pieces of various gear, he said.
For exhibits at the Seattle Aquarium, Mitchell would spend hours polishing the equipment to ready it for display and then welcome children to touch it and try it on.
“I don’t know what was more fun — watching Mitch talking to the kids or the kids talking to Mitch,” said Tim Kuniholm, the Seattle Aquarium’s public affairs director. “He is a wonderful, unique, eclectic guy who has a passion for military dive gear unlike anything I’ve seen before. He’s such an interesting character — a little gruff around the edges but with a heart of gold.”
Mitchell’s wife, Debbie, not only tolerates his niche hobby; she encourages it.
“It makes him really happy,” she said. “When he gets to do shows, it’s very exciting. The gear is beautiful. The people who come see him get excited by the gear too.”
Now that Mitchell is retired, he’s turning his full attention to collecting and exhibiting antique diving gear. He encourages people to email him at Navy1954markv@gmail.com about his hobby.
Mitchell hopes his exhibit at the fair (look for him at booth 1306 in the main exhibition hall) will be just the first around here.
“It’s my passion,” he said. “It’s a Jules Verne thing — the guy on the ocean floor wrestling the octopus.”
