From London to Gettysburg

Our ‘Find of the Week” today takes us to both London (with kids) and to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania (probably without kids) all in one swoop!

     Our discovery was folded into the pages of the 2001 Fodor travel book entitled, “Around London with Kids.”  The book contains 68 great suggestions of places to go and things to do while traveling around the area with little ones.  Additionally, it details the costs of admission and provides tips for children of each age group, as well as suggested restaurants to eat in.  If you are planning a trip to London with children, this is a great resource!  Heck, even if you are going without any children, this book could come in handy, as upon glancing through it, there are many destinations that look appealing to those of any age!

     

Our find, however, originated from a time and place that could not be more different than present-day London.  It was three pieces of stationery from “The Gettysburg Sutler,” a small business that sold Civil War artifacts in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, from 1972-1985.  If you were an interested buyer at the time, this was the place to purchase Civil War weaponry, uniforms and period clothing.  Such historical items also included blankets, buckles, canteens, embroidered badges and tinware used for eating.  “The Gettysburg Sutler” was founded and run by a man named George Lower, known at the time to be one of the world’s largest Civil War artifact dealers and, possibly, a leading figure in the Civil War historical arena.

     On the stationery, in keeping with the Civil War theme, were two recipes for food items that we think sound very appropriate for the time period.  Handwritten on the papers were the directions and ingredients for Skillet Corn Bread and Sourdough Biscuits, all scribed by a woman named Carrie Colbert who hailed from Leesburg, Florida.

     We wondered: who was Carrie Colbert and what brought her from Florida to the Civil War artifact business in Pennsylvania over 30 years ago?  Was she just passing by?  Perhaps vacationing?  Maybe she was looking for the perfect Civil War era gift for her husband.  Or, just maybe, she was looking for a long-lost family artifact (passed down from generation to generation, of course) that her extensive research suggested could be housed by George Lower in Gettysburg.  You know us, there always has to be story!

     Whatever the case may be, the “Around London with Kids” Fodor guide can be yours for $2.99.  It comes with the historical stationery, of course, and we welcome your version of the story that brought Carrie Colbert all of the way there.  You can catch up with our previous finds of the week from the used book floor at bayswaterbooks.com and on facebook.  Better yet, stop by the store in Center Harbor and check out the used book floor for yourself!