In August of 1828, the editor of the Cincinnati Gazette, Charles Hammond, wrote: “General Jackson’s mother was a COMMON PROSTITUTE, brought to this country by the British soldiers! She afterward married a MULATTO MAN, with whom she had several children, of which number General JACKSON IS ONE!!!”
Patiently waiting to be summoned for jury duty by the bailiff, my eyes slowly scan the walls of my local superior court, carefully examining the framed photographs of the county’s sheriffs and judges of yesteryear. I’m immediately intrigued by the older photos; many of them dating back to the 1850s, depicting bearded men with piercing […]
If you’ve collected military items for any length of time, chances are that you’ve heard of the name “Bannerman.” Like many successful entrepreneurs of yesteryear, Francis Bannerman IV was an immigrant, brought to America as a child. Born in Dundee, Scotland in 1851, the 3-year old Bannerman settled in Brooklyn, New York with his Scottish […]
From the outset of the Civil War to the end of the century, no other publication did more to reflect and shape public opinion than Harper’s Weekly. Most notably, the journal carried the most extensive coverage of the Civil War and strongly influenced political discourse through its masterful illustrations, thought-provoking editorials, and scathing political cartoons.
During the American Civil War, Mathew B. Brady, Alexander Gardner, and other photographers enjoyed tremendous business success due in large part to the popularity of the carte de visite (abbreviated CDV). Cartes de visite provided soldiers, family and friends with an affordable way to share photographic portraits with one another. Cartes de visite provided a […]
While taking photos of interesting artifacts at a recent Civil War show, a gentleman approached me with an item he wanted photographed. He opened his clinched fist to reveal a nondescript piece of metal that he proceeded to drop into the palm of my awaiting hand.
We recently worked the 38th Annual Southeastern Civil War and Antique Gun Show in Marietta, GA. In addition to enjoying the rich history on display, we also got a chance to visit with some old friends. I was reminded of the time many of us spent together just a year before, trading stories of some […]
Several years ago, I recovered a Saint Christopher medal from the grounds of a WW2 training area in middle Tennessee. Immediately intrigued by the medal, its meaning, and why a solider would have worn it, I took a closer look at the relationship between Saint Christopher and the military.
Do you collect or deal in coins, currency, art, fossils, pottery, stamps, or old-world relics? Come to think of it, do you collect anything of moderate to significant monetary value? If so, caveat emptor “let the buyer beware!”
From the decorative to the mundane, I’ve always been intrigued by clay tobacco pipes. They’re some of the most curious artifacts in my personal collection because of the stories they tell. Just by looking at a pipe, I begin to imagine the type of person that would have smoked it– their social lot in life, […]