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Hello from Seattle


JKrause
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My name is John. I am recently retired. I am an historian and anthropologist by training but fortunately Bill Gates came up with the PC so I could actually find 35 years of gainful employment in the tech security field. I maintain an intense interest in American conflicts, mostly the Revolution, Civil War, and WWII.

 

I am not really a collector, although I do have "a collection". As a kid in the 50's I was surrounded by men who had at least one or two souvenirs from the war. The Civil War was not quite 100 years old and most folks grandparents, at least in my Western Pennsylvania home town, had been in The Great War. Although my dad was ground crew for B-24s in East Anglia, we always had combat items from both major theaters lying around the house.

 

I started getting into the history of these things when our neighbor gave my dad a beautiful (after Dad cleaned it up) 1841 Harpers Ferry Mississippi rifle. We used to take it out for target practice on weekends. He set out to make a collection of American "home guns" that had been used in defense of the country. At one time he had everything from flintlocks to a semi-auto M-14. After his death Mom had me sell of most of them for her but I kept a half dozen because they were the ones Dad an I used when I was a kid.

 

In addition I ended up with a couple of boxes of "pointy things", like sabers and bayonets. I have some trench art, a couple helmets and Nazi items I can't sell on eBay, the foot locker of a great uncle that came back with him from France in The Great War.

 

In addition, since my parents owned an antique store, I have a house containing a lot of non-military stuff, like three foot tall RCA Victor Nipper, an eagle that Teddy Roosevelt supposedly shot, and, well, just a lot of valuable items with no real modern use.

 

So I suppose I am a de-collector. Neither my wife or daughter have much interest in most of these items after I am no longer around. I have found this site an excellent source of detail when I am trying to identify marks and history of items I own or want to sell on eBay. Additionally, while Seattle has a lot of smart folks, it is not a hotbed military history buffs. This site is a nice alternative.

 

 

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easterneagle87

Greetings! Glad you've enterred this realm. Lots of good peolpe and information here. I'm an "east sider" , grew up South of Spokane and went to Eastern Wash U., however jobs and work took me to Northern California. I think you'll be able to find good homes for your items. And those that you can put on ebay, be sure to sign up over on the sister site, World Militaria Forum. Another good source. Looking forward to seeing your posts and sharing your items.

 

Ben

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Hello John, welcome to the forums. I live in the Tacoma area, so not too far from you.

 

I wouldn't call this area a hot bed of military history buffs, there are more around here than you might think.

 

If you're not doing anything this Saturday, there is a small military show at the Olympic Air Museum just one exit south of Tumwater. I will be set up along with some others that have quite a bit of military to buy, sell or trade.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello John, welcome to the forums. I live in the Tacoma area, so not too far from you.

 

I wouldn't call this area a hot bed of military history buffs, there are more around here than you might think.

 

If you're not doing anything this Saturday, there is a small military show at the Olympic Air Museum just one exit south of Tumwater. I will be set up along with some others that have quite a bit of military to buy, sell or trade.

 

 

I appreciate the welcome, Stony. This is my first attempt at "social media" so I am a little out of my element here. (I'm not a technophobe but three decades in IT Security has strongly deterred me against that sort of thing.)

 

It hadn’t occurred to me that I could use the Forum as a source for finding about local shows. I missed the one at the Olympic Air Museum. (I was in Mexico warming up.) I am still finding my way around the site. Is there somewhere one can look for events, specifically local ones?

 

I have a couple of items, like an SS pitcher that I would love to have experts examine for authenticity and a couple of others that I have no idea what they are specifically. That’s one of the reasons I joined the site but local gatherings sound like another potentially great way to find things out.

 

Thanks again.

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I appreciate the welcome, Stony. This is my first attempt at "social media" so I am a little out of my element here. (I'm not a technophobe but three decades in IT Security has strongly deterred me against that sort of thing.)

 

It hadn’t occurred to me that I could use the Forum as a source for finding about local shows. I missed the one at the Olympic Air Museum. (I was in Mexico warming up.) I am still finding my way around the site. Is there somewhere one can look for events, specifically local ones?

 

I have a couple of items, like an SS pitcher that I would love to have experts examine for authenticity and a couple of others that I have no idea what they are specifically. That’s one of the reasons I joined the site but local gatherings sound like another potentially great way to find things out.

 

Thanks again.

 

The next Olympia Air Museum show isn't until November, but Portland has a couple of nice ones coming up. Both are two day shows, one in June and the other in September. There will be people from all over the west coast at both, so lots of stuff to see and/or buy, sell or trade.

 

On the forums, go to

Where to see History - MUSEUMS, REENACTMENTS AND EVENTS

and click on EVENTS CALENDAR. There will be events from all over the country in this room, so you just need to look and see what's local or semi-local.

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