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Auction Action Antique News
May 24, 2006 Vol. 11 No.41
Article by Brian Maloney
Collectors Flock to Zurko's Civil War Show
It was
billed as Chicagoland's Massive Civil War Collectors Show and Sale, and
that it was! April 15th marked the inaugural edition of Zurko
Promotions latest venture, bringing back a Civil War Show to the DuPage
County Fairgrounds after an absence of several years. Big crowds
were the rule all day, as shoppers wandered through the more than 260
tables of artifacts from the Civil War, Spanish American and
Revolutionary War.
Inaugural Zurko Civil War Show a BIG hit
with both Buyers & Sellers
Anytime I
attend a specialty show, it strikes me how many different worlds of
collecting there are - and how those worlds often don't overlap much
with each other. Such is the case with those folks interested in
the American Civil War. Exactly why interest in the subject is so
high might have something to do with the very scope of the conflict.
Over three million Americans fought in the Civil War, with 600,000
perishing either on the battlefield or
from disease.
Or perhaps it's because the American Civil
War was the first war that was so meticulously documented, both in print
and in photographs. Whatever the reason, Civil War buffs have been
around since right after the end of the conflict. The Grand Army
of the Republic (G.A.R.), the fraternal Union Army veterans, alone
boasted over 400,000 members. And you can add in the countless
thousands more members of similar Confederate veteran organizations.
Modern Civil War enthusiasts are as varied
as they ever were. Civil War reenactment clubs are very popular
all over the U.S. and beyond. There are scores of reenactments
throughout the year; in fact, there are sometimes several to choose from
on any given weekend! A good place to find more info:
www.civilwarreenactors.com.
Those with a more scholarly interest in the
Civil War often join one of the dozens of Civil War Round Tables,
located both in the U.S. and in countries as far away as Australia,
France and Denmark. Illinois and the Chicago area in particular,
has always been a center of Civil War interest. In fact, the very
first Civil War Round Tables started here nearly 50 years ago. There are
now nearly a dozen round table groups scattered throughout Illinois.
And then there are the Civil War artifact
collectors. There were over 100 of them displaying their wares at
the show, completely filling the main hall of the DuPage County
Fairgrounds in Wheaton, just west of Chicago. As you might
imagine, there was no shortage of firearms, but the breadth of Civil War
collector's interests was surprising. In the booth of Miles of
History, for example, Civil War era jewelry is the specialty. I
was fascinated by their large selection of hair-art pieces, with
examples featuring everything from locks of newborn babies hair to
remembrance brooches with the hair of the deceased.
Many of the dealers featured some Civil War
uniforms or uniform accessories. At Mark Sherman's booth sat a
pristine Union infantry great coat ($6,500) along side a rare 68th
Division officer's forage cap, priced at $1,900. One thing that
strikes you as you look at the typical Civil War uniform is how much
smaller the average soldier was in the 1860's!
Whether you are interested in Civil War era
firearms, photography or Native American artifacts, you can find it
here. One dealer, Warren Barber, specializes only G.A.R. and U.C.V.
items, and had literally thousands of ribbons and medals to choose from.
The show was so successful, a fall version
of the Zurko Civil War Collectors Show & Sale has already been
scheduled, on Saturday, September 16th, 2006.
Thank you Auction Action News! |
