Phil Collins donates his huge collection of Alamo items
Phil Collins remembered the Alamo when he decided to donate his collection of more than 200 artifacts to the historic San Antonio site.
Collins is thought to have the largest private collection of Alamo-related items, Rolling Stone reports, including a leather shot pouch and rifle owned by Davy Crockett, powder horns, and the receipt for a saddle bought by messenger John W. Smith. He told reporters at a press conference on Thursday that his collection is kept in the basement of his home in Switzerland, and he can "look at it every day, but no one else was enjoying it."
Collins said that he became fascinated by the Alamo when he was 5 years old and loved the Disney miniseries Davy Crockett. In 2012, he wrote a book about his vast collection called The Alamo and Beyond: A Collector’s Journey. "Some people would buy Ferraris," he said. "Some people would buy houses. I bought old bits of metal and old bits of paper."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Most of the items will be on display by October, and there are plans to construct a new building for the collection. Collins promised that he would continue to purchase Alamo collectibles, which he will send to San Antonio "once I've lived with whatever I buy for a month."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Is pop music now too reliant on gossip?
Talking Point Taylor Swift's new album has prompted a flurry of speculation over who she is referring to in her songs
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Nuclear near-misses
The Explainer From technical glitches to fateful split-second decisions, the world has come to the brink of nuclear war more times than you might think
By Rebecca Messina, The Week UK Published
-
What is cloud seeding and did it cause Dubai's severe rainfall?
The Explainer The future is flooded
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Puffed rice and yoga: inside the collapsed tunnel where Indian workers await rescue
Speed Read Workers trapped in collapsed tunnel are suffering from dysentery and anxiety over their rescue
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
More than 2,000 dead following massive earthquake in Morocco
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Mexico's next president will almost certainly be its 1st female president
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
North Korea's Kim to visit Putin in eastern Russia to discuss arms sales for Ukraine war, U.S. says
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Gabon's military leader sworn in following coup in latest African uprising
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstances
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2
Speed Read
By Justin Klawans Published
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governor
Speed Read
By Peter Weber Published