Bloomington Antiques and Collectibles

12/23/2025

My buddy Larry had this poster as we were growing up

Farrah Fawcett 1976.

11/17/2025

06/23/2025

Very interesting story

78 year old Robert Lincoln slowly ascending the grand steps of the Lincoln Memorial, his frail frame steadied by a supportive arm.

It was May 30th, 1922, and this marked his final public appearance, at the dedication ceremony presided over by President Warren G. Harding, who, in a poignant twist, would die just over a year later.

Robert’s life was uniquely entwined with America’s darkest chapters, shadowed by an almost uncanny proximity to tragedy. He was present at or near the assassinations of three U.S. presidents: his father Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, and William McKinley.

On the fateful night of April 14, 1865, when John Wilkes Booth shot his father at Ford’s Theatre, Robert was across the street at the White House, summoned to the Peterson House where the president was carried. He remained at his father’s bedside, grappling with grief, until Abraham Lincoln succumbed the next morning.

In July 1881, as Secretary of War under President Garfield, Robert stood at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad’s Sixth Street Station when Charles Guiteau fired two bullets into Garfield’s back. Robert, shaken but composed, knelt beside the wounded president, offering aid as chaos erupted on the platform.

Two decades later, in September 1901, Robert had just arrived in Buffalo, New York, for the Pan-American Exposition when news broke that Leon Czolgosz had shot President McKinley in the Temple of Music. Though not at the scene, the echo of violence struck close once more.

Adding to the eerie threads of his life, Robert, as a young man in the 1860s, narrowly escaped disaster when he slipped from a train platform in Jersey City. A stranger’s quick grasp saved him—none other than Edwin Booth, the celebrated actor and elder brother of John Wilkes Booth, the man who would later kill Abraham Lincoln.

Beyond these haunting moments, Robert carved his own path. As Secretary of War from 1881 to 1885, he oversaw military reforms and navigated the complexities of a post-Civil War nation. Later, as U.S. Minister to the United Kingdom, he strengthened diplomatic ties.

Yet, despite his accomplishments, Robert’s life remained marked by an unrelenting proximity to tragedy, painting a poignant portrait of a man forever touched by the weight of history’s gravest moments.

06/06/2025

Kid must have been a Cub fan

05/28/2025

I've tried this 12 times and can't get it to work

05/24/2025

Hey man, this don't work hehe

04/20/2025

James Butler "Wild Bill" Hickock and William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody 1873.

04/20/2025

Nostradamus must have told him

A headline from 1953: "There'll be no escape in future from telephones" - Pacific Telephone CEO.

~ Historic Photographs