In celebration of Garmin’s 20-year anniversary in 2009, we’re reaching back to the past to bring you stories from our younger years. Today you’ll get a peek inside a garage-turned-Garmin museum. The caretaker and archivist is Frank, a long-time Garmin employee who “likes to collect history he can hold in his hands.” He started collecting antique radios in the mid-70s. Before he started his job in aviation engineering for Garmin in October 1995, Frank worked for another avionics manufacturer where he shared a lab with Garmin co-founders Gary Burrell, Min Kao and two of their business partners.

Frank’s passion for preservation sent him digging through dumpsters in his early days at Garmin.  “When we moved from Lenexa, there was a lot of stuff thrown away and my collecting instincts just took over. Over the years, people have given me stuff that they wanted to get rid of, so I had a lot of help,” Frank said.

From prototype units to tradeshow displays, signs, photos, employee cards and even a couple of interoffice mail envelopes with the co-founders’ signatures — Frank has a lot of little pieces of Garmin history. All artfully displayed and carefully catalogued in a climate-controlled room, which used to serve as an attached garage for his home. Frank doesn’t know exactly how much time he puts into maintaining his Garmin collection and library, but he did say he spends a lot of time in this 525 square-foot room. As you step into the space, it’s obvious this guy has been doing what he loves for nearly 14 years. He probably doesn’t even call Garmin his “job” or “work.” More like the means to the end he ultimately enjoys — creating products that improve customers’ lives today and then become history he can hold in his hands later.

If you didn’t get a chance to see the first story and video in our 20-year anniversary series, check out this piece, “Garmin goes to the Gulf.”