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.

In 1929, a transplanted Arkansas sawmill owner named J.M. Davis decided to put his collection of 99 firearms on display in the lobby of his Claremore, Oklahoma, hotel. Some 40 years later, on Davis’s 82nd birthday, the artifacts found a permanent home at the Claremore’s J.M. David Arms and Historical Museum, an internationally known tourist attraction celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2019. Today, thousands of visitors a year marvel at exhibits featuring statuary, knives, swords, saddles, American Indian artifacts, political buttons, World War I posters, and many other items—all in addition to the most extensive private collection of guns on the face of the earth. With words and pictures, this book tells the behind-the-scenes story of the museum and John Monroe Davis—the man, his times, and his amazing acquisitions.

The village of Washingtonville and town of Blooming Grove contain a rich history that extends from early settlement by the Lenape people of the Delaware Nation to colonial European settlement in the 18th century and expanded regional development through the 19th and 20th centuries. Blooming Grove is naturally defined by Schunnemunk Mountain (Lenape for "excellent fireplace") and the Moodna Creek, which is referred to as "Waoraneck" by the Lenape and "Murderer's Creek" in early written documents. The fertile soil along the creek's banks attracted farming and milling industries to the region. Despite the loss of historic structures due to floods, fires, and other disasters, many of Washingtonville's iconic landmarks still remain. Some visible reminders of Blooming Grove's past include the Moffat Library of Washingtonville, a national and state historic landmark; Brotherhood Winery, established in 1839 and considered the oldest winery in the United States; and the Moodna Viaduct, which has been in continuous use since its completion in 1908.

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.