Can we save the Robbins Ave tomato?

My wife's paternal grandfather was a very interesting man.  He had a number of interests, but one that he was known for in the family was his love of vegetable gardening.

Until he died a few years ago, he maintained a large garden in his back yard which he spent a considerable amount of time and energy.  Well-landscaped with hedges and trees towering above, the path to the garden opened up on a large clearing that contained a large asparagus patch, some pole beans, beets for canning, peppers, a couple of raised beds for greens, and his pride and joy -- the Robbins Ave tomatoes.  Legend has it that until the early 90's, he used to do gardening on a large plot on a friend's farm.

As I've been told, Wifey's grandfather always wanted the biggest and best tomatoes.  No one knows what varieties he used originally, but I've been told that he started off with a few varieties of beefsteak-style tomatoes, cross-pollinated the varieties by hand and saved the seeds from only the largest and best-looking tomatoes.  The next year, he would start new plants from those seeds.  For 20 years (give or take), he followed this process until the time came that he just couldn't work in the garden any longer.

His enthusiasm begat success in the garden.  For years, family gatherings had pickled beets, garlic, or green beans, fresh tomatoes, asparagus, or the occasional bell pepper used in a dish.  For all he did, his Robbins Ave tomatoes are the main topic among the family (particularly our generation) when the garden is mentioned.

Those tomatoes were revered so much that a year before his death, a professional photographer was commissioned to take a picture of him holding two of his Robbins Ave tomatoes.  Wifey has such fond memories of her grandfather and the magic held in his garden that we have a framed copy of that picture in our kitchen.

 

When we realized that some of the Robbins Ave tomato seeds still exist, it was instinct to us to plant them to try to keep that strain alive.

The odds are slim that they will germinate -- best guess, they're 5 or 6 years old.  I did some research and found that according to the Virginia Cooperative Extension, the average viability of tomato seed is only 4 years.  Also, we only have 19 seeds and they weren't stored in seed bank-like conditions.

Regardless, I'm going to give it a shot.