As I have mentioned in earlier posts, during the late 1970's into the early 80's I advertised faithfully in local newspapers with display ads that I was buying "Old Stuff". I would list about 20-30 items and always said "and many other things". The ads were effective in those days!Ads were expensive, but as an avid, very eclectic collector, what could have been more fun than never knowing what was going to turn up in the next call?
Well the "Rainbow" sign hanging on the back wall of my den was a result of receiving a call from that ad. I got a call from a lady that had seen my ad and asked if I could come over, she said she didn't have much but saw in the ad that I bought military items.
I wasn't real enthused about buying military items as most of the calls on military turned out to be standard issue US Patches, a hat etc., but I would never turn down a visit because you never knew what else they may have. I brought my wife with on this visit since I thought it would be a short one, already having been told she had only a few military things.
When we got there, she had this Rainbow sign, a picture of her brother in a WW1 uniform and an old original Rainbow Div. Patch. She told me her brother was a Bugler in the Rainbow Division and that he was very proud of his WW1 service all his life. I looked at the photo she had and sure enough, it was a WW1 photograph of her brother in uniform, holding his bugle with a Rainbow patch on his uniform.
I asked her about the sign and she told me that her brother grabbed this sign that had been in one of the trenches (showing the way to the Rainbow Div. C.P.) when they were pulled out of the field at the end of the war and brought it home with him as a souvenir.
I was simply amazed that someone would want to sell this kind of family history, but she said her brother had passed away several years before and she had no use for these things. So I paid her what she asked for the items (I didn't have the heart to negotiate) besides, I really wanted the sign and the patch. I held onto the patch & sign for a few years and then a friend of a friend that was a military collector (same guy that had bought my N. Starr sword) heard about my sign and the history behind it and bugged me until I sold it to him.
As I remember, I think he & his wife lived in a suburb of St. Paul. After buying my sign, I never heard from him again, until several years later (mid 80's) my wife and I were vacationing in northern Minnesota and had stopped in a small town to browse an antiques shop. Lo & behold, my buyer friend was also in the store browsing. We talked and as it turned out, he and his wife divorced shortly after he had bought my sign and he moved to northern Minnesota. I asked him if he still had the sign and he did.
As I mentioned, I wasn't always enthused about calls to buy military, but I did end up buying some really interesting military items over the years along with the "other" things I was asked to look at. I recall one lady took me into her attic and in a large box was her husbands WW2 uniform (Marine, South Pacific) and below that were numerous large, live shells!
I couldn't believe this lady and her then deceased husband had kept these shells in their attic all those years, I didn't ask how he managed to get that size ordnance home! I bought a few items, also took the shells, very carefully packed them, and immediately took them to a police station on the way home to let them deal with the ordnance.
Miscellaneous:
I just found this photograph in a box I hadn't opened for almost 15 years, didn't even recall that I had it, but was excited to find it and see that it showed the sign. The bookcase was 40" wide, that will give some size comparison to the sign.
In the photograph, to the right, there is a mannequin head with a hat on it. The hat is a German WW1 Green & Red field cap, another purchase made from the ad. On top of the bookcase is an original 1930's "Stork Club" advertising figurine, complete with the glass holder and original stir stick purchased at an estate sale. Alongside the Stork is a WW 1 French helmet. A metal Pepsi-Cola Bottle carrier can also be seen on a shelf. This photo (ca. 1978-80) was taken with a Kodak 110 camera which is why it is not the best photograph.
Well the "Rainbow" sign hanging on the back wall of my den was a result of receiving a call from that ad. I got a call from a lady that had seen my ad and asked if I could come over, she said she didn't have much but saw in the ad that I bought military items.
I wasn't real enthused about buying military items as most of the calls on military turned out to be standard issue US Patches, a hat etc., but I would never turn down a visit because you never knew what else they may have. I brought my wife with on this visit since I thought it would be a short one, already having been told she had only a few military things.
When we got there, she had this Rainbow sign, a picture of her brother in a WW1 uniform and an old original Rainbow Div. Patch. She told me her brother was a Bugler in the Rainbow Division and that he was very proud of his WW1 service all his life. I looked at the photo she had and sure enough, it was a WW1 photograph of her brother in uniform, holding his bugle with a Rainbow patch on his uniform.
I asked her about the sign and she told me that her brother grabbed this sign that had been in one of the trenches (showing the way to the Rainbow Div. C.P.) when they were pulled out of the field at the end of the war and brought it home with him as a souvenir.
I was simply amazed that someone would want to sell this kind of family history, but she said her brother had passed away several years before and she had no use for these things. So I paid her what she asked for the items (I didn't have the heart to negotiate) besides, I really wanted the sign and the patch. I held onto the patch & sign for a few years and then a friend of a friend that was a military collector (same guy that had bought my N. Starr sword) heard about my sign and the history behind it and bugged me until I sold it to him.
As I remember, I think he & his wife lived in a suburb of St. Paul. After buying my sign, I never heard from him again, until several years later (mid 80's) my wife and I were vacationing in northern Minnesota and had stopped in a small town to browse an antiques shop. Lo & behold, my buyer friend was also in the store browsing. We talked and as it turned out, he and his wife divorced shortly after he had bought my sign and he moved to northern Minnesota. I asked him if he still had the sign and he did.
As I mentioned, I wasn't always enthused about calls to buy military, but I did end up buying some really interesting military items over the years along with the "other" things I was asked to look at. I recall one lady took me into her attic and in a large box was her husbands WW2 uniform (Marine, South Pacific) and below that were numerous large, live shells!
I couldn't believe this lady and her then deceased husband had kept these shells in their attic all those years, I didn't ask how he managed to get that size ordnance home! I bought a few items, also took the shells, very carefully packed them, and immediately took them to a police station on the way home to let them deal with the ordnance.
Miscellaneous:
I just found this photograph in a box I hadn't opened for almost 15 years, didn't even recall that I had it, but was excited to find it and see that it showed the sign. The bookcase was 40" wide, that will give some size comparison to the sign.
In the photograph, to the right, there is a mannequin head with a hat on it. The hat is a German WW1 Green & Red field cap, another purchase made from the ad. On top of the bookcase is an original 1930's "Stork Club" advertising figurine, complete with the glass holder and original stir stick purchased at an estate sale. Alongside the Stork is a WW 1 French helmet. A metal Pepsi-Cola Bottle carrier can also be seen on a shelf. This photo (ca. 1978-80) was taken with a Kodak 110 camera which is why it is not the best photograph.
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