Like the long lines of artillery on Gettysburg’s Cemetery Ridge, scale cannons with cast iron carriages and brass barrels can be found in most US battlefield gift shops. I hadn’t really given these little field pieces much thought until the … More
JAG File
Wanna Trade? Not Me!
Standing behind my table at the Show of Shows, I listened as a customer described a WWI Tank Corps photo to me. “He has his cap cocked to one side, his boots are muddy, and he’s holding his .45 in … More
COLLECTORS HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN WWI
This April will mark the 100th anniversary of the United States entering the “Great War.” While most military anniversaries seem to only create a blip in the spectrum of collecting activity, I couldn’t resist surveying our readers to get their … More
Born in Germany, they Marched for the Union
“Great Grandpa Klem was a ‘48er,” Dad explained as we kicked up a swirl of dust driving down a gravel road called, ‘Cork Hollow.’ “He is buried here with some of his sons.” With my feet not even touching the … More
Before helping to sell a collection, consider this.
“I’ve been asked by a good friend to sell some family papers for her,” a recent email began. “They are personal papers of a Major General and comprise material from his time at West Point to his death in 1944. … More
“Fake News?” Not in our hobby…Until Now.
Believe me, I know how difficult it is to write a regular editorial, especially around the holidays. The stress of buying presents, visiting relatives, and decorating the house just seems to block the neurons of free thought. I will admit, … More
2017—The Year of the “Deuce”
“We never called them a ‘deuce,’ damnit!” my boss, Chet Krause, once bellowed at me. “They were just ‘trucks’ or ‘jimmies.’” I had made a neophyte error by referring to one of his restored, WWII two-and-a-half ton trucks as a … More
A Veterans Day Memory
A former cavalry trooper who admitted he didn’t know a “magneto from a carburetor,” Newell Phipps Weed would later receive the Distinguished Service Cross for heroism for leading 6-ton tanks into combat. And while we honor all veterans on November … More
Threat to Collecting Purple Hearts and Other Medals
Well, here we go again! Just when medal collectors thought it was safe to buy and sell medals after the Stolen Valor Act was amended to exclude these sort of activities from the reach of the law, there is new … More
5 Tips for making the Hobby STRONG
“Went to a show. Talked to vendors. ‘Gotta get the young involved’ was the most common statement I heard. Though this was my show synopsis for an event I recently attended, it could have described any show I have I … More