by Sharon Smith

Created on: August 28, 2007   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

As I grew up in a small, coal mining town with much grief and sorrow, I spent much time with my Mamaw in her home in Lothair. She and I would cook, clean, then go to the bargain barn, a second hand store to shop.

One day she came upon a poster of a beautiful woman dressed in a Victorian dress, standing next to a large A with an eagle emerging from it. Mamaw explained to me that the lady represented the way early American woman dressed, the A of course was for America with the bald eagle emerging from the A, symbolizing the strength of our great country. Every visit to my grandmothers house, I examined the picture, mesmerized by its beauty and what it stood for. And each time, Mamaw would tell me one more thing about the poster, that the golden star represented our countries faith, the luscious greenery told of how fertile our land was, and the story got stronger and stronger, year by year.

When my beloved Mamaw passed away, and her things were distributed amongst the family, I didn't ask for her antique desk where we wrote our letters to everyone who loved her; nor did I ask for her sewing machine that she and I had spent so many hours on making baby clothes for the families new additions. The poster and her Bible was all that meant anything to me, as she had seemed to love those two simple possessions so much. My family graciously gave me those precious items, and I returned home knowing that I left her home for the last time with not only these simple items, but with more memories of my Mamaw than any other had.

Years passed, I put Mamaws Bible in my china cabinet, making sure that no sliver of paper escaped, and a carefully framed poster of the History of America. Much to my dismay, last summer on Antique Roadshow was my Mamaw's poster. It is an original Anheiser Busch poster worth over $6,000 to the public, but priceless to me.

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