California’s grape growers discovered a gold mine in distilling aged brandy. Until the mid-1800s mission grapes were the primary wine-making grape...
Alchemists of the Vine
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Art, Guns and Culture
Print the Legend
Mass media dominates Brian Lebel’s Old West Auction in Mesa, Arizona. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend,” a newspaperman famously said...
A Proud Heritage Saved, Texas Style
Nobody’s surprised it’s so big and so bold. It started during a visit to a Norway museum in the 1960s, when Texas Tech University President...
Bar None
The long-gone bars, honky-tonks and saloons I grew up in are more than memories. When I was on the women’s panel at the Tucson Festival of Books...
You Can Never Just Have One
Corn bread and biscuits were staples of Southern cuisine in Arkansas. Biscuits and cornbread were staples in Arkansas homes, restaurants and hotels....
The Lawful and the Lawless
Firearms at the Rock Island Auction tell stories of violent days of frontier law and order. Rock Island Auctions presents firearms collectors with...
You Had to Look Hard – The Marquis de Morès Did
His wife’s beautiful name graces the charming town he left behind. "Little Misery” was about the only name you’d find in this part of the Dakota...
Kingman Kin
Here’s a classic film story that involves my hometown, Kingman, the Hotel Beale and my shirttail kin. As the story goes, Buster Keaton was...
Sport Fishing in the Land of 10,000 Lakes
In Minnesota, fresh fish and Hamm’s Beer have been going hand in hand since 1865. Fish was wildly popular through-out Minnesota in its early...
Colt Cylinder Scenes: History or Promotion?
More than just decoration, these roller-die-engravings were shrewdly added by Sam Colt to his revolvers to boost sales. Colonel Samuel Colt...
American Indian Art and Artifacts
Collectors and sellers were both winners at two recent Bonhams auctions. Creations by American Indians, past and present, figured greatly in...
Let’s Honor a Kick-Ass Arizona Woman
Frances Willard Munds changed life in the brand new state. Arizona deserves a new tradition on election day: After voting, women could take...