Local collector's collection is like taking a step back in time in Lynchburg
They say everything has a story, you just have to look for it.
"The history of it is very interesting to me, even though I'm not from here - it's very fascinating," said Jeff Barker, an avid collector of Lynchburg memorabilia.
After growing up in New Jersey, Jeff Barker attended college at what was then Lynchburg College in 1974.
And like so many, the area caught him, and he stuck around.
Growing up, Jeff and his father would metal detect in the Garden State and along the shore.
So, after Jeff made the Hill City home, he had a whole new area to search.
"I collected a wide range of things - bottles, and all sorts of stuff", said Barker.
But, it didn't stop there. No. Not even close.
Because that turned into collecting... well, really anything and everything Lynchburg.
"It's a disease, it just grows," said Barker.
But to Jeff and really any history buff, these items and this collection are priceless.
Seeing Jeff's collection of stuff is like taking a step back into the Hill City's past.
You'll find something of just about anything in Lynchburg, from any time period inside.
"Thermometers, and real estate signs, cause I'm in real estate and paper weights and jewelry and made in Lynchburg and just everything - it just kind of spiraled outwards," Barker said.
Some things Jeff has paid for at yard sales.
"We were walking through there and we came to the back of it and that was there, of course I started drooling and my wife was like - no don't go near that....So I look up a lot of the things I find in the city directory so I can see where it was, what the address was, who owned it, those types of things," Barker explained.
And some he’s just been given by friends.
"We were meeting for dinner one night and he said, 'I know you're going to want this,' and once again my wife was like, 'Oh no you don’t," said Barker.
What's interesting is that some of the items here were items that used to be just given out for walking into the door of a business.
Items like yardsticks, ashtrays, and even these mechanical coin banks.
Other items include milk bottles from Lynchburg's vast history of dairies that used to occupy the city of seven hills.
So, the next time you come across something old... "Call me... I'm always on the lookout for another get," Barker laughed.
