“...“poor folks have poor ways” ... your mom was spot on.
It is at the feet of our elders that we learn so much.
What did your brother end up doing with his bus collection?
He resold most of the buses as they were, but he rebuilt two of them into nice motorhomes and sold one to an attorney and the other to guy trying to become a rock star. Before he did this he had successfully restored many old classic cars and sold them- this was his only adventure in redoing buses. He doesn’t talk about it- I know he made money but I think it was a bigger pain than it was worth.