Today, few Americans recognize the name Frederick Funston. A century ago, that would have seemed impossible.
Newspapers
couldn’t get enough of him. His exploits made front-page headlines. His
portraits appeared in magazines across the country. For a time, Funston was one
of the most famous military figures in America.
Some
admired him.
Some
criticized him.
Almost
everyone knew who he was.
 |
| Find it on eBay |
Today, few Americans recognize the name Wesley Merritt.
That’s
surprising.
During
his lifetime, Merritt fought in some of the most important military campaigns
of the nineteenth century, rose to the highest ranks of the U.S. Army, and
played a key role in America’s emergence as a world power.
For
decades, his name appeared in newspapers, military reports, and magazines
across the country.
Yet
unlike Custer, Pershing, or MacArthur, Wesley Merritt has largely faded from
public memory.
Most Americans have heard the name Robert Fulton. Few realize just how much they owe him.
Before Fulton came along, water travel was slow, unpredictable, and heavily dependent on wind and weather. Moving people and goods upstream could be a frustrating, expensive ordeal.
Then Robert Fulton changed everything.
His steamboat helped transform the United States into a growing economic powerhouse.
 |
| Find it on eBay |
Few Civil War figures inspire as much debate as George McClellan.
To
some, he was a brilliant organizer who transformed a disorganized army into a
powerful fighting force. To others, he was the general who hesitated when
victory seemed within reach.
Over
150 years later, historians are still arguing about him.
That’s
because McClellan wasn’t just another Civil War commander. For a time, many
Americans believed he might be the man who would save the Union.
 |
| Find it on eBay |
There was a time when Maude Adams was the most recognizable woman in America.
Her
photographs appeared in newspapers and magazines from coast to coast. Audiences
packed theaters to see her perform. Critics praised her talent. Fans collected
her portraits and followed her career with the same enthusiasm modern audiences
reserve for movie stars and pop icons.
Yet
today, most people have never heard of her.
That’s
one of the strangest stories in entertainment history.
How
does someone become one of the most famous actresses of her era—and then vanish
from public memory?
 |
| A slightly different view of the flag raising on Iwo Jima |
Some photos tell a story. This one became the story.
On
February 23, 1945, a group of U.S. Marines dragged a larger American flag to
the top of Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. The battle was still raging below them.
Smoke filled the air. Men were still fighting and dying across the island.
Then
they raised the flag.
Associated
Press photographer Joe Rosenthal snapped a picture almost without thinking.
Years
later he admitted, “When you take a picture like that, you don’t come away
thinking that you got a great shot.”
Turns
out he did.
The
image exploded across newspaper front pages. One editor said, “Here’s one for
all time.”
That
wasn’t an exaggeration.
The
picture showed up everywhere. Newspapers. Posters. War bond campaigns. Eventually,
it inspired the giant Marine Corps Memorial near Arlington Cemetery.
What’s
easy to forget is that the battle wasn’t over.
Not
even close.
The
photo was taken less than a week into one of the bloodiest battles of World War
II. Three of the six men who helped raise the flag would be dead before the
fighting ended.
Maybe
that’s part of what makes the image so powerful.
The
men aren’t posing. They’re working. Straining. Pushing. Pulling together.
Over
80 years later, people still recognize the photograph instantly.
A
lot of famous pictures fade with time.
This
one never has.
 |
| Find it on eBay |
Nearly everyone has heard of Sherlock Holmes.
Far
fewer people have ever held one of the original magazines that introduced the
world’s most famous detective to his readers.
Long
before television adaptations, movies, and paperback collections, Sherlock
Holmes lived in the pages of The Strand Magazine. Readers eagerly
awaited the latest adventure from Baker Street, often discussing the stories
much the way modern audiences talk about hit television shows today.
Today,
original Strand magazines containing Sherlock Holmes stories
are among the most desirable pieces of literary history a collector can own.
And
it’s not just because of the stories.
