As a visitor to American Digger Magazine’s 1st Annual Chattanooga Civil War Show & Sale, you would have thought it was the 10th such show. The inaugural event was flawlessly executed in every imaginable facet. From the signage leading patrons to the show, the welcoming reception of those working the entrance, the well-organized layout of exhibitors, and the quality of items on display; down to the facility itself, the visitor experience was nothing short of phenomenal. Read more
Growing up, I was raised on a steady diet of southern comfort food dished out by Cracker Barrel restaurants. To this day, I’m well acquainted with the Fancy Fixin’ menu and the wide array of antique décor that precariously hangs from every conceivable surface inside the Old Country Store. While the food is diabetically delicious, it’s the antiques that have always caught my attention and sparked my curiosity. I’ve often wondered why certain objects are selected for display, where they come from, and if they’re real. Read more
As I’ve previously shared on our blog, the fun of being a picker or collector are the people you meet and the friendships you make. I was reminded of this once again due to the recent passing of my good friend, Mr. Bill Jones. Read more
I’m an unabashed, American History enthusiast, and an obsessed collector of Civil War artifacts. To feed my insatiable appetite for history and Civil War relics, I regularly click thru the seemingly endless items offered for sale on online relic shops, visit the few that still operate brick-and-mortar stores, and attend Civil War artifact shows across the country. Read more
While you might not know the name Clark Byers, there’s a good chance you know his work. The former $3-a-week buttermilk bottler turned sign painter, spent more than three decades crisscrossing 19 states, persuading farmers to let him paint their barns. And persuasion was needed. In exchange for a free paint job, farmers allowed Byers to incorporate advertising slogans into the job. His work, which once covered some 900 barn roofs, helped turn a sleepy tourist attraction into a world famous phenomenon. Read more
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 of our favorite Civil War artifacts and recoveries. In case you missed it, here’s a small sampling…
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“Reader, did you ever eat a mussel? Well, we did, at Shelbyville. We were camped right upon the bank of Duck River, and one day Fred Dornin, Ed Voss, Andy Wilson and I went in the river mussel hunting. Every one of us had a meal sack. We would feel down with our feet until we felt a mussel and then dive for it. When we got to camp we cracked the shells and took out the mussels. We tried frying them, but the longer they fried the tougher they got. They were a little too large to swallow whole. Then we stewed them, and after a while we boiled them, and then we baked them, but every flank movement we would make on those mussels the more invulnerable they would get.”