History and Relics LLC
Vintage Sports Collection
Guitar and Music Memorabilia
Other Vintage Relics
DOCUMENTARIES & DOWNLOADS
MEET & GREET PHOTO GALLERY
Contact 216.533.8825
NOTE FROM THE OWNER
John's Story
As far back as I can remember, I've always been driven to know the whole story and history behind people and things. Where did that come from? Who is he or she? What did they do? How is old is that? When was that used? Why did it happen? These traits combined with the desire to do the right thing led me to a career in law enforcement and later into financial fraud investigations of which I'm still actively engaged.
All the while I've been very fortunate to enjoy a multitude of hobbies including playing guitar, researching genealogy and military history, and collecting vintage sports memorabilia – especially baseball. Each of these three hobbies means something special to me due to my own life experiences and people I've met along the way.
Some of these life experiences include the time when I was graduating high school and trying to be a part of country music legend Hank Williams, Jr's road crew where I had personal correspondence with Merle Kilgore who was Hank Jr's personal manager at the time and the person who co-wrote the song "Ring of Fire" with June Carter Cash and was later recorded by Johnny Cash.
Another of life's experiences was conducting research into my late Father's military life (post WWII and pre-Korean War 1947-1949) which took over 20 years to completed resulting in the discovery of a man I never knew. His story of being a crew member aboard a B-29 to getting access and taking photos of General Douglas MacArthur's Plane the "Bataan" as it sat at the Kimpo Airbase in South Korea at a point in time that history books refuse to acknowledge was quite the adventure in researching and writing.
Yet, some of my other experiences ties to discovering a Grand-Uncle who played semi-pro baseball in the Ravenna, Ohio area in the early 1900's and likely played alongside other area greats such as George Sisler and Cy Young (post career) to striking a dear friendship with Dorothy and Anthonie Voogd of Ojai, California during another of my genealogy expeditions that led me to Dorothy's Father – Don Heffner who played in the major leagues starting with the Yankees in the early 1930's playing alongside the likes of Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig to coaching Pete Rose of the Cincinnati Reds in the 1960's.
I have met some absolutely incredible people in my travels over the years including those who share the same passion to find, research, and preserve the history and integrity of the things that make all these hobbies fun to do.
I'm very proud to have known and corresponded with the late John Ferreira who served as an undercover agent in the FBI's "Operation Bullpen" investigations in the late 1990s that brought down the biggest and most notorious forgery ring in autograph history. I'm also very happy to know and have done business with John Taube of PSA/DNA Authentication Services who is the premier authority on authenticating game used and professional model baseball bats. Brandon Steiner of Steiner Sports is another person to whom I am influenced by for his entrepreneurial spirit and motivation.
And now I bring you History and Relics LLC – a company I founded in 2020 that brings together my research and investigative skills and the passions I have for the music, military, and sports arenas to find, research, and preserve the stories behind significant artifacts and relics.
Join me in what will prove to be another exciting chapter in my life and one which I hope you enjoy and can benefit or learn something interesting from as well.
~ John K. Heffner
Publications & Forum
John K. Heffner
john.heffner@historyandrelics.com
Copyright © 2023 History and Relics LLC. All rights reserved.