Five Extraordinary Men.  

This year on 9 November, at 10:00 am in Downtown Springfield, MO, we honor all Veterans with the Southwest Missouri Veterans Day Parade along with five special men.  They did not ask to be in the parade, and in fact they all declined when first asked.    At first glance when you see them at a grocery store, mall, or just walking down the street your impression is another 'ordinary guy'.   They lead quiet lives, raising families, and privately dealing with events which led us to calling them the "The Greatest Generation"  These men are anything but ordinary!    These five men will tell you they did nothing special, but for me and most of you, they exemplify what America is!   

Grand Marshall - George Copeland, SSgt, US Army Air Corp, POW.  George Copeland was raised on a farm in Kansas.  With the outbreak of WWII he joined the US Army Air Corp with hopes of becoming a pilot.  While he did not fulfill his immediate goal of becoming a pilot he was successful in becoming an Armorer for B-24 Bombers.  He was a member of a 10 man crew in the 448th Bomber Group, 8th Air Force in England.   On his 5th mission when his plane was shot down over Germany, George was able to parachute to safety only to be captured and become a POW.   He was imprisoned at Stalag Luft IV near the Baltic Sea along with 8,000 other POWS.  Once it became clear that the approaching Russian army would soon arrive the Germans marched those at Stalag Luft IV and numerous other locations west in what became known as "The Black March"!  On 2 May, 1945 they ran into the Allied Lines and were liberated.   He never gave up his desire to become a pilot and eventually obtained his private pilots license.

Deputy Grand Marshall - Jim Vanderhoof, Sgt, US Army,  Fought as part of Patton's Army in Italy and North Africa facing Germany's best General, Rommel.  Earned the Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star for Heroism, and the Purple Heart!  Jim and his cousin Darwin joined the Army along with a lot of other young men from the small town he lived in.  Jim and Darwin were the only ones to survive the war and remained best friends.  To this day he still remembers General Patton on hill in Italy addressing the troops, telling them they were out manned and out gunned but General Patton was confident his men could whip them!

Deputy Grand Marshall - Bob Steffke, Corporal, US Army, Battle of Okinawa, One of the costliest battles of the war! The battle for Okinawa resulted in the highest number of casualties in the Pacific Theater and lasted 82 days!  Bob earned his Combat Infantry Badge and then trained as part of the force preparing to invade Japan.  When the war ended he spent a year in Japan as part of the Occupation Forces.  Before the war Bob had every intention of becoming a pilot in the navy.   While waiting for Navy Flight Training School to start he had an industrial accident in a foundry, resulting in major damage to his leg and indeed he almost lost it.  After his leg healed he was drafted into the army.  A week later he received his letter for admittance to the Navy V-5 Program but the Army would not release him.    

Deputy Grand Marshall - Lloyd Hoover, Chief Draftsman, CPO, US Navy,  30 Years, Retired,  WWII, Korea, Vietnam - There are some of us that really enjoy military life and protecting our country.  Lloyd Hoover is one of the living few that has seen action in three of the most intense military campaigns of the last century.  Lloyd saw action all over the Pacific during WWII and distinctly remembers the Battle of Saipan.  He spent most of his time in the Navy deployed on Ships.  He is a recipient of the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal in WWII, The Korean Service Medal and the Vietnam Service Medal.

Deputy Grand Marshall - Dale Irvine, PFC, US Army,  One of five brothers who served during WWII,  Member of the 3rd Infantry Division, Field Artillery,  Battle of the Bulge, which became the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in WWII.  89,000 men were casualties with over 19,000 killed.  In letters home, Dale did not mention the horror he and his fellow soldiers endured, rather he tried to send them encouraging letters of his plans and thoughts so they would not worry.  He received 6  Medals from the US Military and recently received the Legion of Merit, he is now a Docent of the Air & Military Museum of the Ozarks.

A special guest in the Parade who is here to Honor these great men is Major General Leslie C. Smith, Current Commanding General, U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. General Smith's decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Bronze Star Medal (with oak leaf cluster), Legion of Merit (with oak leaf cluster) and Senior Parachutist Badge along with numerous other medals and badges. General Smith holds a Master of Science degree in administration from Central Michigan University and a Master of Science degree in national security strategy from the National Defense University.

Everyone who has ever served in the military either saw or made the mistake of Saluting their Drill Sargent after a frustrating day of training.   Nothing makes the point more about saluting then that drill instructor in your face yelling and screaming that he works for living and you do not salute enlisted men or women!  Well Sargent Kontas, I am going to disobey you this Saturday.  When these five enlisted men pass me in the Parade, I will proudly stand and salute them.  They Earned it! 

Mike Cook

Chairman, Southwest Missouri Veterans Day Parade

The Vacant Era! What Era of time do you collect?

It seems everyday I will get a call from someone asking what something they have is worth. In general it is hard to suggest any value over the phone or via email with pictures. Many times the caller will use terms like Antique, Vintage or Victorian and they have no idea what those terms mean. In fact I am often confused myself and that is easy to do. A recent call by a young man wanting to bring his "Antique" furniture by the store to sell it has generated this blog. When he arrived he had a truck full of put together furniture, an entertainment center, microwave cart, and a stereo system. At first I was kind of in shock as I looked around for the camera. Surly this was a set up by some friends to give me a hard time! Alas it was not. The young man in question did indeed have some of his grandmothers stuff she had given him. All was made in the 1980's or later but to him it was old and antique. It is all a matter of perspective. I have only been in this industry for a couple of years and everyday I make mistakes finding the right words to call something. I thought I would take a minute to relay some of the more common phrases and what periods of time they refer to.

 Antique - Generally anything over 100 years old. But this varies depending on what you are referring to. Guns for example must be produced before 1898 to be classified as antique. For cars it is generally accepted they are antique if they are over 45 years old. This will vary from state to state in regards to licensing. Furniture is probably the most common item referred to as antique.

 Vintage - In general anything from the 1970's or early 1980's. Again the term becomes confusing depending on what you are talking about. Clothing for example is considered vintage when it is anywhere from 20-80 years old. Wine is called vintage when 85-90% of the grapes used were picked in the same year, and that varies from country to country.

 Retro - Many people consider things to be Retro if they are from the 1950's-1970's. As you can already see different terms will cover the same period of time.

 Mid-Century Modern - Mostly a term used to refer to furniture from the 1930's-the 1960's.

 Brass Era - This was a term that applied to early automobiles that used a lot of brass in their construction. Generally the time frame of 1902-1916.

 Victorian Age - The Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901.

Mod Period - In general the time of the 70's, 80's, and early 90's.

Primitives - These can be from any era and are generally considered hand made, rusty, junky looking things like wooden boxes, saws, and other tools from the farm.

 And the list goes on and on. Steam Punk, Industrial Age, Depression Era, Turn of the Century, Art Nouveau, Art Deco ...............

Now its time for my favorite period - I have taken the liberty of naming this myself.  1990-2013 I refer to as the Vacant Era!.  Most younger people go around with a vacant look in their eyes only seeing I pods, Video Games, Computers and Social Networks.  They all use new technology that is obsolete the day they buy it and if they buy furniture or things for the house it is compressed cardboard, sawdust and made in China.  The Vacants will inherit the world and have no appreciation of the time, art and creative minds that actually conceived and built most of what we have in this life.  Before long they will just use their 3D printer and make anything that has been created before.

July 4th Celebration!

Welcome back to my blog - after a long hiatus trying to figure out why it would not show up we have it working again! Join us this 4th of July Holiday Weekend! Free Popcorn from the 3rd thru the 7th! We are also proud to announce that Hearts On Fire BBQ Competitive Cooking Team will be in the parking lot on the 4th, 5th and 6th of July! Come try some of their award winning sauces and BBQ Also in the parking lot is R & R Fireworks - they have been at this same location for decades and offer the best in Fireworks! Check out our face book page and get your coupon for a free buffalo nickel with your purchase on the 3rd or 4th of July. Good while supply lasts and limit of one to each customer!

We also invite everyone to check out the ads banner on our site. You bill see a banner for Sureshot Custom made jewelry. Click on the banner and check out the great deals from our friends at Key of A!

Are you a Collector?

     Why do you collect?  For many of us it is by complete accident.  I fell into collecting hot sauces by chance.  I love hot and spicy food and would buy sauces from the different areas I visited when traveling for work.  In the beginning I would only buy one bottle but if I liked it I would wish I had bought more.  I then began buying two bottles.  Before long I had a lot of bottles all over the house so I made a display cabinet for them.  Friends and relatives would see it and soon they were on the hunt to find me a bottle of something I did not have.  Within a few years what started as a quest for great hot sauces to use turned into a Huge collection of bottles from all over the world.    

     Number One Rule of collecting.  Do it for your OWN personal enjoyment!  Unless you collect something of intrinsic value like silver, gold, or very high end items - the value of your collection will likely decline the more you add to it.  I guess the best way to illustrate and explain this is by a friends recent inheritance.  She was lucky enough to have her grandmother leave her a large collection of salt and pepper shakers.   The grandmothers thoughts were she was leaving a valuable asset that the granddaughter could use to go to college, pay off her house or raise her own children.  The sad fact is that when she attempted to sell the collection she could not find any buyers!

     With most collections the fun and enjoyment of collecting is finding the items you do not have and adding them.  If you can just buy everything at once then what's the point.  So my friend was left with a collection that costs 10s of thousands of dollars to accumulate but could not sell.  Fortunately for her I had just started my store and convinced her to get a booth to sell her collection piece by piece.  After over three years she is finally getting near the end of selling the majority of her collection.  She is keeping quite a few of the special sets that her grandmother was really proud of to pass on to her children.

     How and where to find things to collect?  First you should never collect anything that is going to cause you to spend money you need to live on.  Only spend a little of the extra money you have.  Make a budget - decide on a maximum amount you will spend on anything for your collection.   There are a lot of places to look to get the best deal.   Ebay, Etsy, Craigs List, Estate Sales, Auctions, Local Newspapers, Garage Sales and of course Antique Stores and Flea Markets.  Learn the value of what you collect so you can make intelligent offers or bids when you find that special item you just 'have to have'.   Clearly (of course I am biased here) The most fun can be found when searching in Flea Markets and Antique Style stores.  Most of them have vendors who scour the country side looking for things to buy and put in their booths.  They will buy storage units or boxes of things at garage sales and price everything low to sell it quick.  They have done all the work and spent all the money going from garage sale to garage sale or estates sales and auctions.   Vendors do not have the time or patience to look up everything they get in a sale so you are the benefit of great deals if you look hard.  In many stores you can shop in heated and air conditioned comfort and even bring your pets with you!  You can spend many enjoyable hours searching and finding treasures for your collection and have fun doing it.

It is important once again to note "Collect" for your own personal enjoyment.  Please realize that most of what you collect only has value to you.  Buying collector plates from late night TV with the hopes that they will go up in value should never be done.  Be careful of buying fads and paying too much for something.  A great example is the Beanie Baby Fad that swept the country a few years ago.  People were paying huge amounts of money for some Beanie Baby's that you can now buy for 50 cents.   Unless you are very knowledgeable or an expert do not buy anything with an expectation of leaving a valuable inheritance for your children to count on.   Collect and have Fun!

Much to the chagrin of the masses LOL I am BACK!  We have been fighting internet access issues with slow DSL at the store.  It was so slow that if I was online on the computer and the checkout used the credit card machine it would knock me off line.  Got tired of fighting it.  Fortunately another service finally extended their reach to our store and now we are back with a vengeance! LOL  Things are really happening now.   We just expanded our furniture store area with custom booths designed for furniture and home decor!   Watch us Grow!