The Old Way To Add To Your Collection

Another way was that a seller ( P V R in New Jersey ) would put several helmets
in one photo ( shot with a Polaroid camera ) and send it by mail with a hand written
price list .If you saw something to buy , make a quick phone call to make
sure that you the first in line .
I bought several that way .
Steve McFarland
 
Interesting! I was 4 in 1963, so these were out of my price range. Does anybody remember 'House of Swords' out of independence MO? Same with Joe, call to be sure it was available and then send a check.

:D Ron
 
Joe Walter at House of Swords, quite the character and a master sword maker, his fakes are still going around today selling as good pieces, mainly civil war.

Use to get his catalog in mail, call the same day and never get anything, always sold all ready. still it was fun to get them and look through.

Sadly he was murdered by son in law over a coin collection I believe.

James
 
I went there one time . A collecting trip ,also went to Manion's .At the House of Swords
I expected a store .He operated from his house basement .No display .
Swords were in old wooden barrels .Other stuff stacked on top of a pool table
which was covered with a sheet of plywood
Steve McFarland
 
I bought stuff from both Joe Walters and Ron Manion. You had to be careful to look closely at what you were buying but one could get some wonderful things. Joe was shot and killed because he trusted the kid who shot him and let him get too close. He always carried a .38 S&W in his pocket but this time he did not get it into action. Ron sold his business after a tornado destroyed his building and a lot of merchandise but it never recovered. He died in KC a few years ago.
 
The Manion's catalogue was always a welcome sight when it arrived in the mail! I was always looking for helmets that could be restored or for parts.
 
b.loree said:
The Manion's catalogue was always a welcome sight when it arrived in the mail! I was always looking for helmets that could be restored or for parts.
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I still have a lot of the old Manion catalogs
I don't know why
they are very hard to try and go over
the print is small
not a good thing for old eyes
I just can't throw things away
Steve
 
b.loree said:
The Manion's catalogue was always a welcome sight when it arrived in the mail! I was always looking for helmets that could be restored or for parts.
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Absolutely! I inherited some of my Dad's old Foxhole catalogs, which was the name of Manion's when it first started.
 
SCHUPO said:
I bought stuff from both Joe Walters and Ron Manion. You had to be careful to look closely at what you were buying but one could get some wonderful things. Joe was shot and killed because he trusted the kid who shot him and let him get too close. He always carried a .38 S&W in his pocket but this time he did not get it into action. Ron sold his business after a tornado destroyed his building and a lot of merchandise but it never recovered. He died in KC a few years ago.
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When I worked at Manion's Auction House writing catalog descriptions, the late Eric Johansson shared many stories about his friend Joe Walters, and the fake stuff that Walters had mixed into his "House of Swords" catalogs. It was interesting to hear of how Eric did his "Pickelhauben" book that was published in 1980 or '81, and the collectors he visited to have the photos taken. Yes, Joe Walters had many engraved Civil War swords made up in ?Spain, from what I remember about some of those stories.

I was lucky when I got my first catalog from House of Swords and I called to see about buying one of the several Prussian Red Eagle neck orders in the catalog, and recall my disappointment when I found out they were all sold. When I first met Eric Johansson many years later, he told me that all of those Red Eagle Order neck orders were fakes that were in the catalog. I dodged a bullet with them, apparently.

It was an interesting experience working at Manion's auction house. It was almost like going to a military collector show 5-days a week, every week.
When I left in 1998 (several years before the tornado hit the business), they were 2 or 3 auctions behind in their payouts to consignors. They were basically "robbing Peter to pay Paul", so as to say with their payout scheme to consignors. It seemed that it only got worse, and a lot of consignors lost a lot of money with items that ended up selling in the following years time, and they never ended up getting paid for their sold consignments.

A good friend of mine lost over $10K from 3rd Reich books they sold for him, and never paid him. They would lie to him and tell him the check had been sent in the mail, and he would never receive it. This was several years after I left, and I recall it was after Ron had sold the business to Jodi Tucker. A lot of people lost a lot of money there, unfortunately.
 
ww1czechlegion said:
When I worked at Manion's Auction House writing catalog descriptions, the late Eric Johansson shared many stories about his friend Joe Walters, and the fake stuff that Walters had mixed into his "House of Swords" catalogs. It was interesting to hear of how Eric did his "Pickelhauben" book that was published in 1980 or '81, and the collectors he visited to have the photos taken. Yes, Joe Walters had many engraved Civil War swords made up in ?Spain, from what I remember about some of those stories.

I was lucky when I got my first catalog from House of Swords and I called to see about buying one of the several Prussian Red Eagle neck orders in the catalog, and recall my disappointment when I found out they were all sold. When I first met Eric Johansson many years later, he told me that all of those Red Eagle Order neck orders were fakes that were in the catalog. I dodged a bullet with them, apparently.

It was an interesting experience working at Manion's auction house. It was almost like going to a military collector show 5-days a week, every week.
When I left in 1998 (several years before the tornado hit the business), they were 2 or 3 auctions behind in their payouts to consignors. They were basically "robbing Peter to pay Paul", so as to say with their payout scheme to consignors. It seemed that it only got worse, and a lot of consignors lost a lot of money with items that ended up selling in the following years time, and they never ended up getting paid for their sold consignments.

A good friend of mine lost over $10K from 3rd Reich books they sold for him, and never paid him. They would lie to him and tell him the check had been sent in the mail, and he would never receive it. This was several years after I left, and I recall it was after Ron had sold the business to Jodi Tucker. A lot of people lost a lot of money there, unfortunately.
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Really a shame, as I loved the company! In the late 1990s, my Dad paid for a subscription for me to get the catalogs. I would just have fun ogling over the items as a 10-year-old or so, dreaming of one day being able to own such things.
 
I remember Manion's visited the place one time while in KC. Back then I was mainly into Turd Reich militaria but still loved Spiked Helmets. I recall in 96 I was talking to Ron at a show and he tried like hell to get me to buy a Bavarian Generals Friedensrock but I was sold on a completed Pioneer officers unit. Man oh man, I F'd up that day.... It was a beauty and as the time I was worried about the Bavarian Borte as Id never seen that on a collar before. Good Lord I was dumb....
 
I have to remind all of us “old guys “ here that the knowledge base we had to draw from while trying to collect during these years was very limited as compared to today. So don’t beat yourself up over missed purchases.
 
I'm one of us "old guys". I got my first Pickelhaube in 1970 when my Dad found a "Filzhaube" in a local flea market run by a guy he knew. I subscribed to Manion's and still have a lot of the Auction Catalouges. At the time the only "reference book" I had was Col. Rankins' less than adequate book.

In the 80's and 90's I was a member of "The Bytown (Ottawa) Militaria Collectors Association" which had about 40 members. I was the only Imperial German collector. A pretty lonely pursuit having no one to confer with, but it did have the advantage of making me the resident expert which sometimes translated into having a few nice items offered to me as the only person interested in this stuff.

I remember being pretty excited when "Pickelhauben" was published. A reference book with colour pictures and descriptions!! I still have it although it was pretty heavily highlighted.

The Manion Catalouges were another reference source for me. Like Steve, I have a hard time getting rid of stuff that I envision as being useful some day. I still have several pieces in my collection that came via Manion's. Fortunately I was strictly a buyer in those days.

Regardless, I think it was a fun time to collect because the vast majority of the items you picked up came by way of interacting with other collectors and members of the public. Bidding on-line is so clinical. I miss those days.

Sorry for the "trip down memory lane".
 
I remember in the early days , we would "pass " on a helmet to wait
for one in better condition .A lot of times that worked .
Not today .If you see it and like it you better buy it
there might not be another one like it
I remember a collector sold a 1 L K 1 officers helmet
100% but the nickel finish did not suit him
He sold / traded it
Quess what he never saw another one
I ended up with it
then later traded it
I did obtain another one but the cost was a lot more than the first one I had owned
Steve
 
Here are a couple of photos from the tornado damage at Manion's Auction House.

The main building which is shown in the 2nd photo towards the top of the buildings and storage trailer complex was totally wiped out. You can see the long gray color floor of the main building. There was a basement below where they had the shipping department, and some of the auction items for one or more auctions were stored there also. All the items from the main floor of this building were blown away by the tornado. There had to be literally tons of stuff on the first floor. The building was probably 100-150 feet long. When I worked there it was literally packed full of stuff on shelves on the walls, and in the center of the building. I recall that there were 2-long rooms with walkways or hallways between the rows of shelves running the length of the building. The rooms were divided up by auctions, with cross walkways or hallways. They would do 7-8 auctions per year when I was working there.

The large metal building also had items for auctions stored in it, and was heavily damaged by the tornado.

As a catalog describer, we would move around to different locations in the main building, and we would also move out to the metal building and describe items for more auctions.

The first photo shows John Conway looking at the disaster and the seemingly endless pile of rubble. There is probably military items still in the woods on the slope of the hill running down to the Missouri River that have never been found, and are now destroyed by exposure to the elements over the years.

The second photo shows destroyed trees and I can see items strung up in trees, and in the woods. It looks like a war combat zone.


Alans Photos 041.jpg

Alans Photos 042.jpg
 
Jeez .
I would love to bid on items and actually won a few.
I remember they had a muzzle break for an 88 that I did not bid on and sold for cheap cheap.
Now they sell in the 4 digits.
Devastating pics.
 
Thank you for this post Alan, this explains in detail what happened and why they went out of business. A sad end to a company that meant a great deal to collectors.
 
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