Menu Expand Menu Close
Back to Top
Filter Search Expand Close Filter
Search Expand Search Close
["Tony Coffman is the owner of Coffmans Metals, LLC in Birch River, West Virginia, which specializing in the buying and selling of ginseng and other wild herbs and roots, scrap metal, recyclables, and furs. A licensed ginseng dealer, Coffman began digging ginseng when he was a teenager for extra pocket money. Coffman inherited the business in 1987 from his grandfather Guy Coffman.These photos and related interviews were conducted in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festivals 2020 festival program on American ginseng. Learn more: https://festival.si.edu/blog/west-virginia-ginseng-trade"]%

721. Ginseng root preserved in a jar and on display at Coffman's Metals in Birch River, 3 of 4

Identifier:
4224.CoffmansMetalsGinseng.Photo.010.9.15.19
Title:
Ginseng root preserved in a jar and on display at Coffman's Metals in Birch River, 3 of 4
Date:
2019-09-15
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
American ginseng industry, American ginseng
Location:
Nicholas County (W. Va.), Birch River (W. Va.)
["Tony Coffman is the owner of Coffmans Metals, LLC in Birch River, West Virginia, which specializing in the buying and selling of ginseng and other wild herbs and roots, scrap metal, recyclables, and furs. A licensed ginseng dealer, Coffman began digging ginseng when he was a teenager for extra pocket money. Coffman inherited the business in 1987 from his grandfather Guy Coffman.These photos and related interviews were conducted in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festivals 2020 festival program on American ginseng. Learn more: https://festival.si.edu/blog/west-virginia-ginseng-trade"]%

722. Ginseng root preserved in a jar and on display at Coffman's Metals in Birch River, 4 of 4

Identifier:
4224.CoffmansMetalsGinseng.Photo.011.9.15.19
Title:
Ginseng root preserved in a jar and on display at Coffman's Metals in Birch River, 4 of 4
Date:
2019-09-15
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
American ginseng, American ginseng industry
Location:
Birch River (W. Va.), Nicholas County (W. Va.)
["Tony Coffman is the owner of Coffmans Metals, LLC in Birch River, West Virginia, which specializing in the buying and selling of ginseng and other wild herbs and roots, scrap metal, recyclables, and furs. A licensed ginseng dealer, Coffman began digging ginseng when he was a teenager for extra pocket money. Coffman inherited the business in 1987 from his grandfather Guy Coffman.These photos and related interviews were conducted in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festivals 2020 festival program on American ginseng. Learn more: https://festival.si.edu/blog/west-virginia-ginseng-trade"]%

723. Tub of dried ginseng bought by Tony Coffman of Coffman's Metals

Identifier:
4224.CoffmansMetalsGinseng.Photo.012.9.15.19
Title:
Tub of dried ginseng bought by Tony Coffman of Coffman's Metals
Date:
2019-09-15
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
American ginseng industry, American ginseng
Location:
Nicholas County (W. Va.), Birch River (W. Va.)
["Tony Coffman is the owner of Coffmans Metals, LLC in Birch River, West Virginia, which specializing in the buying and selling of ginseng and other wild herbs and roots, scrap metal, recyclables, and furs. A licensed ginseng dealer, Coffman began digging ginseng when he was a teenager for extra pocket money. Coffman inherited the business in 1987 from his grandfather Guy Coffman.These photos and related interviews were conducted in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festivals 2020 festival program on American ginseng. Learn more: https://festival.si.edu/blog/west-virginia-ginseng-trade"]%

724. Tony Coffman with a tub of dried ginseng and Coffman's Metals

Identifier:
4224.CoffmansMetalsGinseng.Photo.013.9.15.19
Title:
Tony Coffman with a tub of dried ginseng and Coffman's Metals
Date:
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
American ginseng industry, American ginseng
Location:
Nicholas County (W. Va.), Birch River (W. Va.)
["Tony Coffman is the owner of Coffmans Metals, LLC in Birch River, West Virginia, which specializing in the buying and selling of ginseng and other wild herbs and roots, scrap metal, recyclables, and furs. A licensed ginseng dealer, Coffman began digging ginseng when he was a teenager for extra pocket money. Coffman inherited the business in 1987 from his grandfather Guy Coffman.These photos and related interviews were conducted in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festivals 2020 festival program on American ginseng. Learn more: https://festival.si.edu/blog/west-virginia-ginseng-trade"]%

725. Barrel of dried ginseng bought by Coffman's Metals

Identifier:
4224.CoffmansMetalsGinseng.Photo.014.9.15.19
Title:
Barrel of dried ginseng bought by Coffman's Metals
Date:
2019-09-15
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
American ginseng, American ginseng industry
Location:
Birch River (W. Va.), Nicholas County (W. Va.)
["Tony Coffman is the owner of Coffmans Metals, LLC in Birch River, West Virginia, which specializing in the buying and selling of ginseng and other wild herbs and roots, scrap metal, recyclables, and furs. A licensed ginseng dealer, Coffman began digging ginseng when he was a teenager for extra pocket money. Coffman inherited the business in 1987 from his grandfather Guy Coffman.These photos and related interviews were conducted in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festivals 2020 festival program on American ginseng. Learn more: https://festival.si.edu/blog/west-virginia-ginseng-trade"]%

726. Recycling trailer at Coffman's Metals

Identifier:
4224.CoffmansMetalsGinseng.Photo.015.9.15.19
Title:
Recycling trailer at Coffman's Metals
Date:
2019-09-15
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
American ginseng, American ginseng industry
Location:
Birch River (W. Va.), Nicholas County (W. Va.)
["Tony Coffman is the owner of Coffmans Metals, LLC in Birch River, West Virginia, which specializing in the buying and selling of ginseng and other wild herbs and roots, scrap metal, recyclables, and furs. A licensed ginseng dealer, Coffman began digging ginseng when he was a teenager for extra pocket money. Coffman inherited the business in 1987 from his grandfather Guy Coffman.These photos and related interviews were conducted in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festivals 2020 festival program on American ginseng. Learn more: https://festival.si.edu/blog/west-virginia-ginseng-trade"]%

727. Coffman's Metals sign depicting a raccoon and ginseng plant

Identifier:
4224.CoffmansMetalsGinseng.Photo.016.9.15.19
Title:
Coffman's Metals sign depicting a raccoon and ginseng plant
Date:
2019-09-15
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
American ginseng, Painted signs and signboards, American ginseng industry
Location:
Nicholas County (W. Va.), Birch River (W. Va.)
["Tony Coffman is the owner of Coffmans Metals, LLC in Birch River, West Virginia, which specializing in the buying and selling of ginseng and other wild herbs and roots, scrap metal, recyclables, and furs. A licensed ginseng dealer, Coffman began digging ginseng when he was a teenager for extra pocket money. Coffman inherited the business in 1987 from his grandfather Guy Coffman.These photos and related interviews were conducted in collaboration with the Smithsonian Folklife Festivals 2020 festival program on American ginseng. Learn more: https://festival.si.edu/blog/west-virginia-ginseng-trade"]%

728. Metal ginseng sculpture and signs at Coffman's Metals in Birch River

Identifier:
4224.CoffmansMetalsGinseng.Photo.017.9.15.19
Title:
Metal ginseng sculpture and signs at Coffman's Metals in Birch River
Date:
2019-09-15
Creator:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
American ginseng, American ginseng industry, Metal sculpture, American, Painted signs and signboards
Location:
Nicholas County (W. Va.), Birch River (W. Va.)

Listen to Audio

729. Jim Costa plays the fiddle tune "Washington's March" on the West Virginia Humanities Council voicemail

Identifier:
4224.CostaJim.Music.9.25.17
Title:
Jim Costa plays the fiddle tune "Washington's March" on the West Virginia Humanities Council voicemail
Date:
2017-09-25
Creator:
Costa, Jim (Banjoist)
Contributor:
Hilliard, Emily
Subject:
Fiddling, Fiddle tunes, Hammons (Family : W. Va.)
Location:
Charleston (W. Va.), Summers County (W. Va.)
["Jim Costa, 67 (as of 2016), is a native of Summers County, and an accomplished traditional musician and storyteller. He is also an avid collector and expert of 18th and 19th century farm tools and objects of rural life, including Hammons family fiddles, spinning wheels, cast iron cookware, and blacksmith tools. Costa has been building this collection throughout his life, and he restores many of the old tools and instruments himself. In addition to his public presentations on music and material culture, Costa appeared in the 1987 John Sayles film Matewan.In the summer of 2016, University of North Carolina folklore graduate student Zoe van Buren spent two months with Costa, conducting oral histories and documenting his extensive collection. Read more about van Burens work here: https://wvfolklife.org/2016/09/06/thats-a-grand-story-to-tell-documenting-jim-costas-collection/Zoe van Buren's website:https://zoevanburen.wordpress.com/"]%

730. 15 hatchets, 2 knives, 1 axe in Jim Costa's collection, c. late 17th century through 19th century, West Virginia & Virginia

Identifier:
4224.CostaJim.Photo.001.6.6.16
Title:
15 hatchets, 2 knives, 1 axe in Jim Costa's collection, c. late 17th century through 19th century, West Virginia & Virginia
Date:
2016-06-06
Creator:
van Buren, Zoe
Contributor:
Costa, Jim (Banjoist)
Subject:
Antique collecting for men, Woodworking tools, Knives, Collectors and collecting, Axes
Location:
Summers County (W. Va.)
["Jim Costa, 67 (as of 2016), is a native of Summers County, and an accomplished traditional musician and storyteller. He is also an avid collector and expert of 18th and 19th century farm tools and objects of rural life, including Hammons family fiddles, spinning wheels, cast iron cookware, and blacksmith tools. Costa has been building this collection throughout his life, and he restores many of the old tools and instruments himself. In addition to his public presentations on music and material culture, Costa appeared in the 1987 John Sayles film Matewan.In the summer of 2016, University of North Carolina folklore graduate student Zoe van Buren spent two months with Costa, conducting oral histories and documenting his extensive collection. Read more about van Burens work here: https://wvfolklife.org/2016/09/06/thats-a-grand-story-to-tell-documenting-jim-costas-collection/Zoe van Buren's website:https://zoevanburen.wordpress.com/"]%

731. "Sqaw axe" with original tree branch handle in Jim Costa's collection, c. 1740, found August County, Virginia

Identifier:
4224.CostaJim.Photo.002.6.6.16
Title:
"Sqaw axe" with original tree branch handle in Jim Costa's collection, c. 1740, found August County, Virginia
Date:
2016-06-06
Creator:
van Buren, Zoe
Contributor:
Costa, Jim (Banjoist)
Subject:
Woodworking tools, Antique collecting for men, Collectors and collecting, Axes
Location:
Summers County (W. Va.)
["Jim Costa, 67 (as of 2016), is a native of Summers County, and an accomplished traditional musician and storyteller. He is also an avid collector and expert of 18th and 19th century farm tools and objects of rural life, including Hammons family fiddles, spinning wheels, cast iron cookware, and blacksmith tools. Costa has been building this collection throughout his life, and he restores many of the old tools and instruments himself. In addition to his public presentations on music and material culture, Costa appeared in the 1987 John Sayles film Matewan.In the summer of 2016, University of North Carolina folklore graduate student Zoe van Buren spent two months with Costa, conducting oral histories and documenting his extensive collection. Read more about van Burens work here: https://wvfolklife.org/2016/09/06/thats-a-grand-story-to-tell-documenting-jim-costas-collection/Zoe van Buren's website:https://zoevanburen.wordpress.com/"]%

732. Double edged forged hatchet in Jim Costa's collection, 19th century, Greenbrier County, West Virginia

Identifier:
4224.CostaJim.Photo.003.6.6.16
Title:
Double edged forged hatchet in Jim Costa's collection, 19th century, Greenbrier County, West Virginia
Date:
2016-06-06
Creator:
van Buren, Zoe
Contributor:
Costa, Jim (Banjoist)
Subject:
Woodworking tools, Collectors and collecting, Axes, Antique collecting for men
Location:
Summers County (W. Va.)