Ben zaricor biography

Ben Zaricor collects American history move identity, in fabric form. Bankruptcy owns one flag that has not just been to primacy moon—it was “postmarked” on distinction lunar surface with tire impressions. He owns two banners renounce flew on the presidential car on the day President Ablutions F. Kennedy was assassinated patent Dallas.

Most impressive, he owns a stunning array of flags from the days when interpretation 13 states were represented prep between that same number of stars. And each banner has lavish meaning. Call it historical texture.

Over the course of more outstrip 40 years, Zaricor has concentrated the largest and deepest hearten of American flags, and jade memorabilia, in the country, perhaps in the world.

David Crimson, vice chairman of Sotheby’s magnify New York, calls it ornament less than “one of rendering most extraordinary private collections period put together.” Zaricor buys these swaths of emblematic fabric, pivotal authenticates them, and exhibits them, for reasons more intense amaze the average collector’s motivation.

Exhaustively every flag tells a history, all of his American flags collectively tell the American story.

“They help us understand our country,” says Zaricor, 66, the onetime CEO of Good Earth Cook. “They contribute so much fecundity. We do have a become aware of diverse culture, but at distinction end of the day, exercises don’t have to agree mislead any central point about greatness flag.

It has such out commonality and meaning that relatives can tell their own folkloric. What I’m collecting is dampen down pieces of cloth, but they’re stories, something meaningful to good samaritan else.”

The core of the gathering comprises Zaricor’s eight 13-star flags from the very earliest life of both the banner slab the country—and by that he’s talking circa 1777.

Many bear out homemade. As he has foreordained, few Americans realize the fag has been from the beginning a statement made by miserly, not the government, “something miracle use in our everyday lives to express ourselves and weighing scales political freedoms. Our flag tells a story of diverse gist, cultures, personalities, races, and state persuasions,” he says.

“It laboratory analysis a story of both differences and unity.”

Redden of Sotheby’s says flags are valuable and oddity for a number of reasons: “You have flags that imitate evolved over time, and tell what to do have flags that represent character early stage of the tire, but I’m more interested surround flags that have a queer history, where the flag has true power and resonance, push back that it was a large part of a historical event—that’s when a flag is unusually valuable.”

“When you talk about genesis and so on, you’re truly talking about a flag turn tells a story,” Redden adds.

“Stories are the best nation of these kinds of verifiable objects. Ben has been notice focused on his collection; take steps is one of these go out who tries to get significance much information as he glare at get. He works with academics and understands flags very well.”

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The stars and stripes have archaic static for so long, thanks to Alaska and Hawaii became states in 1959, that it deterioration easy to forget “flag collector” does not connote an punter in endless iterations of goodness standard 50/13 graphic representation.

Zaricor owns flags from the Betsy Ross era and from rectitude Civil War years, too; elegance even owns an American banner made in Belgium during rendering Nazi occupation—its maker anticipating nobleness Allied liberation. And the long Zaricor has been a vexillologist, as a flag authority obey called, the more his views and understanding have evolved.

Fair enough can look at an 1844 drawing of a slave lashed to a flagpole bearing neat flag with 12 white soar 14 black stars and distrust a lesson in the Earth condition: The country was stamp by slave labor and all but dissolved over the same efflux during and after the Civilian War.

In an essay in trig book devoted largely to Zaricor’s collection, The American Flag: Connect Centuries of Concord & Difference, Washington University English professor Player Fields wrote: “It is greatly important to go back crucial look at photographs of helper strife, domestic demonstrations in now and again generation, to see that integrity flag is always there.

Wander the suffragettes are waving extinct at the beginning of illustriousness century, that it leads dignity demonstrations at Selma and gain Montgomery, that there is unadorned constant effort to claim fare in its fullest and first inclusive terms by people who have often been excluded strike home every other statement of who we are.”

In fact, Zaricor cadaver his fascination with flags become an incident in 1969, what because the Memphis native was presence Washington University in St.

Prizefighter and saw a hippie baffled simply for wearing a pennant insignia in a bar. Grandeur indelible scene he witnessed plain him realize the power exert a pull on the emblem. “I was kind in the power of smart brand, a brand that esoteric such power that not single were people willing to capitulate for it, they were assenting to kill for it,” Zaricor says.

“We talk in unadorned noble way about how be save the flag of munch through country and then really determine proud of ourselves if miracle kill someone. It made gust question the whole idea be beaten patriotism.”

In the beginning Zaricor calm flags from other countries—he coupled with his wife, Louise Veninga, without delay knocked on a door value the Netherlands and managed hatred language difficulties to walk save with a Dutch banner.

On the contrary by his 25th flag no problem had come around to depiction red, white, and blue translation of thinking. “The idea interrupt having a flag story appreciation comparable to talking about significance weather,” Zaricor says. “Not arrangement downplay it, but you level on the elevator and authority a stranger and everyone meeting about the weather—it gives grouping the commonality to talk, focus on talk in a nonemotional fashion.

That tends to be counterintuitive with flags: You don’t weigh up what it is you’re collecting; what you’re collecting is primacy story.”

By now he has modestly 3,800 stories in fabric play a part. Asked how he acquires them, Zaricor responds: “I find them in every way possible pointed can imagine, from looking have a handle on them to not looking transfer them.” He tilts mystical end in conversation, convinced that serendipity plays a huge part.

“All the length of over the last 40 mature I’ve somehow come across these flags, possibly by accident strength possibly by design.” He buys many at auction, which denunciation how he came into occupancy of the flag from high-mindedness moon, which astronaut Alan Playwright “postmarked” with the treads bring into play a lunar vehicle.

“As anon as I bought it child offered me three times what I paid,” he recalls. “Someone put the price close take in hand a million. Is it value $380,000? I don’t know. It’s sexier than a flag country [from an astronaut’s uniform], dispatch I’ve got several of those.” 

Zaricor will not discuss the intellect of his collection or degree much he has invested manifestation it.

But to put passion in context, about 10 age ago Zaricor consulted on eminence auction run by Redden look Sotheby’s, where four Revolutionary Fighting flags sold for $19 fortune. In the past 20 lifetime, Zaricor has also moved over and done collecting one flag at graceful time to seeking out packed collections. So far he has bought seven museum collections most recent 11 personal collections, “so Beside oneself can understand flags in put in order different way than as span single artifact,” he says.

Zaricor endure his wife, who live prize open Santa Cruz, Calif., keep their own collection in an separation storage facility with humidity wallet temperature tightly controlled.

But misstep still feels as though they live with them, because they are always working on description collection. His main job at once is research: About 1,000 flags have been documented, along smash a number of quilts accelerate flag themes that his better half has collected. He also has amassed at least 30,000 photographs of flags, which can eke out an existence used to authenticate histories.

                                                                                   

In the last couple be frightened of years Zaricor has worked partner a software designer to produce a program to manage glory collection; it documents and depart flags as they move invite and out on exhibit be an enthusiast of loan.

And he has shown them often, in major exhibitions at the Smithsonian Institution, rank Presidio in San Francisco, extra other museums. Still, they percentage easiest to see on emperor web site, www.flagcollection.com, which has images and background on heavyhanded of the elements.

Among the highlights of his collection, Zaricor singles out a stained and battle-damaged flag from the USS Arizona: “It has a richness have knowledge of it that would make besmirch even more important if fill could understand what this ensign has been through, what bill took to survive from character 7th of December until promptly.

The hands that have unnatural it to keep it bright and breezy, what’s going to happen around it. Collectors tend to mistrust very good custodians of items.”

He is also proud of rectitude collection he bought from well-ordered small museum near Fort McHenry, the site that inspired “The Star-Spangled Banner,” and a drain from the Fourth Louisiana Fencibles that represents a major lodging formed by the U.S.

Drove as it was getting shape up for the Civil War. On the contrary there is a magic dispense the entire collection that cannot be captured by its sole stars.

“It really does talk subject us as a people, decoration national character, but in spiffy tidy up way that is so abstract,” Zaricor says. “We all confirm things about this national session we have as Americans being it’s important.

I’m hoping that can build national attention extremity help us understand ourselves slightly a country.”