America at 250 Episode 15: "Picking through the Past: The Briar Rose consignment shop as a crossroads for history"
The Briar Rose in Litchfield, IL is the kind of store everyone should want in their town. Filled with a little bit of everything, old and new, and with a steady arrival of furniture, clothes, antiques, toys, and trinkets, it acts as a representation of many points in history and aspects of popular culture. A perfect topic for this show.
Danell Fogle owns Briar Rose and I was happy that she took some time to talk with me this summer. Just like the contents of her store (and this podcast), we go from one topic to the next, but with the throughline of preserving the past. And, although we recorded this at the end of June, Danell's preview of Litchfield's Halloween activities comes at a perfect time!
This is the fifteenth episode of a special season of the Everything is a Primary Source where, in celebration of the 250th anniversary of the United States, American pop culture is examined for historical value and for connection to the founding of the country in July of 1776. While this episode doesn't directly mention the Declaration of Independence, the nearby Illinois town of Bunker Hill does come up. Curious to see if my theory that the town was named after the Bunker Hill in Charlestown, MA which was the site of a Revolutionary War battle, I checked the town's website for clues. It turns out that some of the town's founders were from New England--which adds credibility to my idea--with one of them coming from Salisbury, NH. That small town is is just a stone's throw away from Warner, where I recorded the first set of oral histories for this project.
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