44th Gettysburg Civil War Artifact and Collectibles Show

Originally published August 2017 · pp. 1–5

GETTYSBURG, Penn.—It’s the last weekend in June, one week before the July 4 holiday and the Gettysburg Anniversary Committee’s annual battle reenactment. The weather is ideal. Barb Mowery, President of the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association, is a bit through the sunshine and into the Eisenhower Hotel & Conference Center’s Allstar Expo Complex. The Artifact and Collectibles Show is the GBPA’s major fundraising effort. Attendance for the weekend was pegged at around 750, with 23 of them paying $100 for VIP disappointed as she helps oversee entrance to the vendor set-up on the opening of the organization’s Friday and first crack at prized 44th Civil War Artifact and acquisitions, this was double Collectibles Show. the usual number of VIP ticket “We get our best crowds when holders. it’s rainy,” said Mowery. “When Show organizer Brendan Synit’s sunny and mild like it is today, namon, a member of the GBPA the pressure is on for people to go Board of Directors, said the surge to picnics, parks, and the beach— in VIP opportunities reflected inthere’s no excuses.” creased overall interest in buying But any disappointment was Civil War Show dispelled as one of the event’s better crowds fought their way and selling over recent years. “The vendors liked the turnout,” said Synnamon, “People showed up with increased interest and more money in their wallets. “We had more than 200 vendors showing on nearly 330 tables— the most ever.” Synnamon said the vendors had offerings ranging in value from 50 cents to tens of thousands of dollars. Among the tables were a few occupied by exhibitors, there to promote their niche in artifact collection and sharing the legacy. Edward Max of Chester County, Penn., was there with his wife, Faye, with his display of Pennsylvania regimental and Gettysburg items. His interest in the Civil War was spurred as a child by seeing a bullet surgeons removed from his great-great grandfather’s lung after he was shot in a clash with Confederates near Antietam. Faye Max said that while she was at the GBPA show in support of her husband, she has her own attraction to “old stuff,” and has built her own collection of Civil War-era hair jewelry. Paul DeHaan of Kalamazoo, Mich., is an old hand at the Gettysburg show, estimating that he has been at 30 to 32 of the 44 GBPA shows over the years. His museum-quality collection of memorabilia pays homage to

Union Admiral David Farragut and his flagship, the USS Hartford. The centerpieces of DeHaan’s display are a silver chalice engraved: “To Dr. S.D. Townshend from his old shipmate and friend, Vice Admiral David Farragut.” Their friendship had begun in 1816 when both served aboard the USS Washington. Accompanying the chalice is an engraved silver cup that reads “Farragut to Townsend Jr. from his father’s friend. Sept. 20, 1865.”

Paul DeHaan of Kalamazoo, Mich., with his Adm. David Farragut memorabilia that includes an engraved silver chalice and cup commissioned by Farragut in 1865.

(Jay Purdy) As a special promotion, GBPA volunteers had a table at the entrance on Saturday, offering free admission for persons who became association members. The GBPA added 22 to its rolls. The 45th GBPA Civil War Artifact and Collectibles Show is set for June 30 and July 1, 2018.