By Lisa Hix — If I told you I knew of a middle-aged man who’s devoted to creating a miniature World War II village, you’d probably shrug. It’s a little nerdy, but so what? If I mentioned he was staging elaborate battles with action figures and photographing them, you might think he was a little childish, or possibly an avant-garde artist. But if I put it to you like this: A grown man has spent 14 years building an elaborate imaginary world in his backyard for his collection of Barbie-scale dolls that...

War and Prosthetics: How Veterans Fought for the Perfect Artificial Limb

By Hunter Oatman-Stanford — There's something undeniably beautiful about prosthetic limbs, designed to echo the physical grace and mechanical engineering of the human body. For most people, these objects elicit some combination of squeamish discomfort and utmost respect. But far fewer of us connect those feelings to the untold generations of battle-scarred amputees whose sacrifices made prosthetics a public priority. "Patients even have doctors sign non-disclosure forms to protect potential patents." “You hate to...

Why Would Anyone Collect Nazi?

By Ben Marks — When we started inviting people to post items from their collections on Show & Tell, we knew that sooner or later we'd be faced with a Nazi swastika. At first, we simply followed the lead of eBay and deleted anything with a Nazi swastika on it that was not a coin or a stamp. But then we noticed that the handful of people who were uploading these World War II medals, helmets, and badges appeared to be sincere militaria collectors, not neo-Nazis trying to sneak an offensive image onto our...

From World War II Parachute to the World's Most Romantic Wedding Dress

By Ben Marks — Apparently there's a small wedding in England this week. While we're sure that Kate Middleton's wedding dress will be a fashion tour de force, we're also sure that it can't possibly be as romantic as this one, which is from the collection of the Smithsonian. Here's their description: "This wedding dress was made from a nylon parachute that saved the groom's life during World War II. Maj. Claude Hensinger, a B-29 pilot, and his crew, were returning from a bombing raid over Yowata, Japan,...

Yard Sale Treasure: A Rare Flight Jacket

By Tom Herwer — On one sunny California morning, my sister-in-law called from a garage sale, thinking I’d be be interested in a bunch of old license plates and possibly a typewriter. I wasn't too excited about the typewriter, but the promise of the California-issued tags prompted me to drive 20 miles to this sale. I wasn’t disappointed. Indeed, there were 31 license plates from 1919 to 1956. Even better, though: After looking through several more boxes, I pulled out a leather jacket and read the tag on...