Your Guide to Collecting and Preserving History

Explore history, preservation, and the people who keep the past alive.

New & Noteworthy

Father William Corby gives general absolution to the kneeling Irish Brigade before battle at Gettysburg on July 2, 1863.

When Eternity Drew Near: Christianity and the Civil War Soldier

Pocket Bibles, chaplains, tracts, prayer meetings, and revivals brought Christianity close to Civil War soldiers living close to death. From Father Corby at Gettysburg to Lincoln’s Second Inaugural, this is the story of faith, fear, and a nation reckoning with its sins.

History

How Civil War Railroads Helped Win the War

A railroad spike doesn’t look like much. It is not as sleek as a cavalry officers sword made by renowned jeweler Tiffany & Co., as deeply personal as a soldier’s ID tag, or display-worthy as a rare Confederate belt plate. Most are…

General Interest

Banksy Identity Revealed: When the Story Becomes the Story

There are a few things in this world people agree not to mess with. Grandma’s recipe. A man’s fishing spot. And, apparently, Banksy’s anonymity. Reuters decided to test that last one. They published an investigative piece aimed…

A group of relic collectors gather in a church basement, sitting in a circle with relic cases and ammo cans at their feet during a relic collectors anonymous hobby meeting.

General Interest

Inside Relic Collectors Anonymous: Where Collectors Seek “Help” They Don’t Actually Want

By 7:00 p.m., the parking lot behind the little brick church was full of pickup trucks, aging SUVs, and one nervous sedan sagging suspiciously in the rear. The sign on the door read “Fellowship Hall,” but the people filing in were carrying…

General Interest, History

Temperance Tokens: Collecting Memorabilia from the Prohibition Era

History is full of ironies, but few are as deliciously contradictory as Prohibition (1920–1933). The U.S. government declared alcohol illegal, yet America somehow managed to drink more than ever. ‘Merica! Speakeasies thrived, bootleggers…

General Interest, Saving History

The Science of Patina: When to Clean and When to Leave It Alone

Every collector eventually faces the same gut-check moment. You stumble across a piece that looks… let’s call it, sultry in its age. And if you’ve ever read the descriptions from some of my favorite historical artifact dealers, you know…

General Interest

No Bango, No Pay

The first settlers in Hawaii introduced sugarcane to the islands around 600 A.D. Natives harvested sugarcane, or kō in Hawaiian, and consumed it as food and medicine. They chewed it for its sweet juices and the coarse stalk helped to keep…

General Interest, History

Tobacco Tags

At the intersection of advertising, tobacciana, and numismatics, tobacco tags, also known as tobacco tin tags or tobacco can tags, are a collector’s delight. Introduction of Tobacco Tags First introduced in the United States in the mid-1800s,…

General Interest, History

Majestic Tourmaline Crystals

Digging bucket and gear in hand, I took a moment to enjoy the expansive views from atop the northeastern slope of Chief Mountain, a stone’s throw away from scenic Pala, California. I was there to rummage through old mine dumps from the Pala…

General Interest, History

South Carolina Dispensary

While Tennessee toasts Jack Daniel’s Whiskey, and Kentucky cheers Jim Beam’s Bourbon, neighboring South Carolina runs dry on notable liquor royalty. As America’s whiskey and bourbon men were mashing their way to fame and fortune at the…

General Interest, History

WW2 Ration Tokens

When milling about an antique store one lazy afternoon, I came across an assortment of red and blue discs, haphazardly displayed inside a locked curio case. About the size and thickness of a penny, made from fibrous material, and designed to…

General Interest

DIY Museum Labels

If you are looking for creative ways to convert your living space into a museum quality display exhibit, this article might just do the trick. We will show you how (and with what) to accentuate your collection with museum labels, also referred…