Antiques & Collectibles

As the ink was drying on the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other documents that established the United States, millions of Americans hungered for new legal tender coinage from the young sovereign nation. Following calls by Alexander Hamilton and other Founding Fathers for the nation to issue its own money, Congress passed legislation to officially establish the United States Mint in 1792. Growing from its humble beginnings as a collection of small buildings in the nation's onetime capital city of Philadelphia, the United States Mint now stands along Independence National Historical Park as the largest coin factory in the world. While the Philadelphia Mint is one of several official United States coin manufacturing facilities, it remains the heart of coining operations in the nation and is also one of the most popular attractions in The City of Brotherly Love.

Established in 1874, before Colorado became a state, Grand County is nestled in the north-central Rocky Mountains. Named for the Grand River (renamed the Colorado River), Grand County encompasses 1,868 square miles, which is larger than Rhode Island. For thousands of years, Indigenous, nomadic tribes enjoyed natural hot springs and summer hunting. Spanish explorers, French fur trappers, and mountain men followed. In 1858, the gold rush brought rugged prospectors, creating towns named Coulter, Gaskill, Lulu City, and Teller. Later, homesteaders, loggers, merchants, and the Moffat Railroad built Arrow, Hideaway Park, Winter Park, Fraser, Tabernash, Granby, Grand Lake, Hot Sulphur Springs, Parshall, Kremmling, and Radium. Today, tourists flock to Rocky Mountain National Park, Arapaho National Forest, and award-winning dude ranches and resorts to enjoy some of the world's most beautiful lakes, mountain ranges, and abundant wildlife.

In the late 19th century, the Rockwellian city of Plymouth, Michigan, became the breeding ground for competitive air-rifle companies, putting this still-thriving suburban Detroit community on the map. Plymouth's Air Rifle Industry hones in on the three air-rifle companies and the spin-off .22-caliber rifle company that dominated the Plymouth landscape for years. William Philip Markham and his company, the Markham Air Rifle Company, first received an air-rifle patent in 1887. The Plymouth Iron Windmill Company entered the competition in 1888, when founder Clarence Hamilton introduced his prototype to the board of directors. After firing the rifle, general manager Lewis Cass Hough declared, Boy, that's a Daisy, and the Daisy air rifle was born; the company was renamed in 1895. The Plymouth Air Rifle Company opened in 1888 and ceased to exist after its building burned in 1894. Hamilton went on to develop a .22-caliber rifle and started the Hamilton Manufacturing Company in 1898. The rifle era ended when the last of the competitors, Daisy, moved to Rogers, Arkansas, in 1958.

Warren was founded in 1798 as an agricultural concern and, within two years, became the county seat of Trumbull County. By the early 20th century, the city was the "Silicon Valley" of the Midwest with the Packard brothers growing the community as a hub for technology and manufacturing. Warren's population more than doubled between 1910 and 1920 as steel production boomed, placing Warren on a track to be dubbed an "All-American City" by the National Civic League in 1954. Recreational options in neighborhood parks, local hotels, and eateries were abundant. Over 180 postcards in this book will illuminate the journey Warren took from the 19th century to the later decades of the 20th century.