PM Daily, June 20, 1947
Melody Lingers On
This organ and two others along with eight pianos will be sold at auction this morning at the Collyer home, 2079 [2078] Fifth Avenue. Workmen were busy yesterday clearing paths through the junk-filled rooms so curiosity buyers might examine the last of the trash the dead hermits held so dear.

Google Street View of 2078 Fifth Ave.

PM Daily, April 2, 1947

PM Daily, April 1, 1947
“Will Homer’s Burial Today Lure Langley?
They will bury 65-year-old Homer Collyer today in a casket with bronze trimmings at the Cypress Hill Cemetery… And the big question is whether Homer’s brother, the missing Hermit from 2078 Fifth Avenue, will turn up at the service…
At 8:3 a.m. they started to move the dust-encrusted books. By 3 p.m. they had removed 2,987 volumes, most of them said to be of little value, medical books from the senior Collyer’s library – he was a well-known gynecologist – and books of law and engineering. Homer was an admiralty lawyer, Langley an engineer…
A collector’s item was a New York Telephone Directory for 1908…
… At least one legend was true: Langley did have a Ford car in the house…
One of several pianos was carried out. It was a Steinway…”
Photos by John De Biase, PM

(To be continued…)

PM Daily, March 28, 1947
Photos by Morris Gordon
“Patrolman William Haag examines the 34 bankbooks found in the decrepit Collyer house during yesterday’s second-floor search. Earliest account dated back to 1894. Most recent withdrawal was in 1942. Total deposits: $3007.”
“On an inside window sill, second floor, police found a cigar box wrapped in rags. Inside were these three old break-type revolvers. two .38s and a .32, in good working condition and oiled. There was no ammunition.”
“They found a miniature arsenal in the Collyer mansion – three revolvers, two rifles, a shotgun, a saber, a French Bayonet. Fire chief T. Douglas Collyer, Rutherford, N.J., a cousin, is shown with some of the firearms.”