Tom Carrier's blog

Daron's Air Force One Collectibles

Maybe it's understandable why a nice guy from Kansas, who has a batch of really interesting collectibles, might go postal after being saluted by a president of the United States.

The Family Sandifer and the Dumpster Collectibles Campaign

There are stories of finding antiques and collectibles in the most unlikely places. Flea markets, antique shops, your grandma’s attic. But, the dumpster?

Antiques and Collectibles at the American Presidential Experience

When I ask visitors to the WorthPoint booth at the American Presidential Experience what type of antiques and collectibles they collect, the answer is most often, “Nothing, nothing at all.” Until I ask a few other questions, then they begin to remember that, “Yes, I have a few of this or that.”

The 51-Star Flag of the United States

It is the longest-serving national flag of the United States. Since July 4, 1960, after the addition of Hawaii as the 50th state, the flag of the United States with its 50 stars has served longer than the 48-star flag, the national standard from 1912 to 1959.

Origin of Flag Day

"Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation." Second Continental Congress, June 14, 1777.

At the 2008 Whitman Coin and Currency Convention

Gold and silver, platinum and kids. The 36th Annual Coin and Currency Convention in Baltimore, Maryland last weekend had quite a lot of all that, plus so much more. This is where you can both be a long time collector and still enjoy learning like a kid. That’s what I found out when I followed the kids to see Patti Jagger Finner at the Kid’s Korner.

Mother's Day Tribute: A Mother Knows Her Children

A mother knows her children. That’s what I learned from my own mother in a most unusual way.

My mother had five boys with age differences between each of about 18 months to 2 years, so she was constantly going through the separate stages of growing up for entirely too many years. All of us were different. I was the shy, bookish one, but still able to hold my own in any rumble.

Mother's Day Gifts: Antiques, Jewelry & Time

Gifts - Antiques, Jewelry & Time

Symbols and Flags of Earth Day

To paraphrase a famous Clinton-era campaign slogan, "It's the Environment, Stupid."

That could have been the basis for Earth Day as conceived by Senator Gaylord Nelson in 1969. Originally created as a teach-in about environmental problems facing Earth, it grew into the basis for the worldwide environmental movement.

'Official' Vice Presidential China

On the grounds of the U.S. Naval Observatory near the British Embassy in Washington, D.C. sits a grand old Victorian mansion built in 1893. Originally the home of the Chief of Naval Operations, it was requisitioned as the first official home for the vice president of the United States in 1974.