Comedy lives on: The Three Stooges
By Becky Barclay
Published in News on March 11, 2018 7:43 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Tom Tipton talks about some of The Three Stooges collectibles on display at his business, Tipton's Complete Auto Care, and how he started collecting.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
An airman on temporary duty at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base had his mother send a case and a six-pack of Three Stooges beer to him to give to Tipton. The case of beer sits on a CD case that resembles a golf bag with The Three Stooges heads on top. Next to that is a set of Three Stooges movies in a white box.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Many of the Three Stooges collectibles are modeled after the 1935 short film "Three Little Beers," where the three play golf. On the right is a Three Stooges cookie jar, a gift from Tipton's son.
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Tipton's collection ranges from cardboard cutouts and figurines to recordings and T-Shirts, all gifted to him.
Tom Tipton opens the door to his office and is immediately confronted by three people staring back at him. His heart races just a little.
Then he realizes it's just the lifesize poster of The Three Stooges that his son bought him for his birthday.
"When you come in here at night alone, it looks like somebody's looking at you," Tipton said. "It has scared me a bunch of times, even though I know it's there. But still, it scares me just about every time I come in. They're just standing there looking at me."
The lifesize poster is just one of the many Three Stooges items -- 1,000 to be precise -- that Tipton, 57, has at his business, Tipton's Complete Auto Care.
Tipton's collection of all things Three Stooges began when he opened the garage business with two other men.
"My wife came up with the idea of the three stooges," he said. "The three of us had fun working together. We had a big time. That's how it started."
Tipton's wife commemorated the opening of the business by buying and hanging a picture of The Three Stooges, which she bought that very first day.
That was 32 years ago, and one of the two other men is dead now, but that hasn't stopped The Three Stooges collection from growing, now taking up most of the space in Tipton's office.
Like a lot of children of his time, Tipton grew up watching The Three Stooges, but said he didn't have any fascination with them.
"That's something that my wife started, and I kind of was adopted into it," he said.
Just about every Three Stooges item in the office has a story behind it.
Like the two lunch boxes sitting on a shelf behind the counter that are more than 50 years old.
"A customer brought them in," Tipton said. "He was going to sell them to me, and I said, 'What do you want for them?' He said, 'Here, take them.' He had seen all my other Three Stooges stuff."
There's the big CD case that looks like a golf bag with the Three Stooges heads at the top.
"It's to hold all those Three Stooges CDs right beside it," Tipton said. "But the space in the case doesn't match the CDs. My wife got it for me as a Christmas present about 20 years ago."
Sometimes items come to Tipton's collection in odd ways.
Like through an airman who was on temporary duty assignment at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base. Tipton worked on his car.
After seeing all of the Three Stooges items in the office, the airman called his mother in Ohio right then and asked if she would go outside the apartment and around the corner. He told her to pick up some Three Stooges beer -- a case and a six pack -- and send it to him.
"I had no idea there was Three Stooges beer," Tipton said. "I don't drink, so I've never tried it. But it's in my shop with the rest of my Three Stooges stuff."
That same airman had a friend with him who just happened to have a Three Stooges bottle opener and added it to Tipton's collection.
Hanging in the front window of the office is a black T-Shirt with The Three Stooges on it, a gift from a Wayne County deputy sheriff. Next to it is a white Three Stooges T-Shirt, a gift from a state trooper.
"They're customers," Tipton said. "They handed them to me and said, 'Here, put these up in your collection.'"
One item holds a special memory. It's a collection of Three Stooges CDs in a box.
"These were given to me by a man, and he passed away the next day," Tipton said. "Is that weird or what? He had been a longtime customer, about 30 years or so. When I found out he died, it was a goosebump moment. I still get that funny feeling when I think about it."
Then there is a Three Stooges thermometer, a license plate, an afghan that hangs on a chair, a clock, metal collector's signs, a game, a cookie jar, mug, tie and even talking Three Stooges golf head covers.
Tipton is a golf enthusiast, too. He used to coach golf at Rosewood High School many years ago.
He also has a Three Stooges album that tells their whole story and how the concept of the stooges came about. It sits next to The Three Stooges' Knucklehead Garage Album, a perfect fit for Tipton's garage.
"I don't know if there is anything Three Stooges that I don't have," Tipton said.
As the collection has grown over the years, Tipton has watched every episode of The Three Stooges -- mainly because he has a collection of every episode that was ever recorded. And he's watched all their movies, too.
Tipton often just stands in the waiting room, looking at all the Three Stooges items -- and reminiscing.
"They're all gifts from people, not just family, but customers, too," he said. "I feel good because of the thought that went behind each item. It's special that customers thought enough of me, other than working for them, that they thought above and beyond what I can do for their cars. Obviously I've done something personally for them. And that makes me feel very, very happy that I've touched their lives for them to think about me when they see anything Three Stooges.
"It's just the thought of the people thinking, 'Hey, a part of me goes to Tom, and it's going to be in his office and lounge area.'"