Military Memorabilia Show Attracts Collectors to St. Clair Shores VFW

Private and professional collectors who had gathered Sunday at the in St. Clair Shores filled tables full of military patches, pins, hats and helmets, uniforms, packs, weapons and other collectibles.

The military collectors show, hosted by VFW Bruce Post 1146, allowed collectors to display, buy, trade and just mingle with one another – all while raising money for the post men’s auxiliary.

All proceeds from admission and the $10 charge for table vendors went to the men’s auxiliary, said post member Joe Murdock. Much of those dollars will be distributed to various charitable organizations.

Throughout the day, collectors filed in from around Metro Detroit.

“My buddies are here, so it’s fun. It’s a very social thing too,” said Karl Kithier, a professional collector whose business is based out of Clinton Township.

Kithier, who came in part to support the men's auxiliary, had a display table filled with a number of war souvenirs from World War II, including knives, helmets and a Nazi flag. The table display contained about 1 percent of his total collection, he added.

Collectors showed and sold military items both American and foreign, with War War II souvenirs in abundance. The collections also represented military history from the Civil War to the Gulf Wars, and everything in between.

Larry Paul, of Chesterfield Township, also brought a small fraction of what he said was a “mammoth” collection, some of which had been handed down from family members. He was selling items from both World War II and the Cold War at his table.

“I’ve been collecting since I was a little boy,” Paul said. “When I was little, I was just drawn to uniforms, I guess. My dad, my whole family, was in the military all the way back to (George) Washington’s militia.”

VFW Bruce Post 1146 is hosting another military collectors show on Dec. 4.