Wolfville Days

Reproduction of the original.

The Old Cattleman has many tales to tell of the days when the Wild West was truly wild, having spent his entire life in Wolfville--a time when desperadoes and mule-skinners, outlaws and lawmen, runaways and rawhiders, ran the town.

When So-Called Dollars was published it was the first, and it is still the only book to deal comprehensively with its subject matter. The book begins with the legendary Erie Canal Completion issues of 1826 and proceeds to catalog 135 years of the Golden Age of American history, all the way up to 1961. Although there have been many propositions for reviving the book over the years, none were more than theoretical musings until two collectors, Tom Hoffman of Crystal Lake, IL and Jonathan Brecher of Cambridge, MA set the process in motion. They have been joined by two others, Dave Hayes and John Dean, to produce a remarkable new edition, of the sort that can only be the product of dedicated hobbyists who love their subject and see it as their obligation to share with others the knowledge gained from years of collecting. While the second edition holds true to the original in basic style and in substance, prices have skyrocketed and it offers much that is new. There are many more illustrations than in the first edition. In fact, virtually every type is now represented by a photograph. More historical information for the issues is presented in the text, which has been further expanded with additional listings of both previously unknown metal varieties and totally new items. The size of each item is now given in mm rather than in 16ths of an inch as in the 1963 edition. Each issue has been assigned a rarity rating of from R-1, indicating more than 5,000 known, to R-10, meaning unique. In addition, a loose-leaf price guide included in each book at no additional charge. The index has been expanded to include references to more subjects and places. Finally, there is a section of color plates. The Hibler & Kappen book remains the standard reference work on the subject with its HK numbers an instantly recognizable means of cataloging and identification.

Lewis (1855-1914) was an American investigative journalist, lawyer, novelist, editor and short story writer. He began his career as a staff writer at the Chicago Times and eventually worked his way up to editor of the Chicago Times-Herald. By the late 19th century he was writing muckraker articles for Cosmopolitan and as an investigative journalist he wrote extensively about corruption in New York politics, including a biography published in 1901 of Richard Croker, a leading figure in the corrupt political machine known as Tammany Hall which exercised considerable control over New York politics from the 1790s to the 1960s. As a writer of genre fiction he had his greatest success with his collections of Wolfville western stories which he continued writing until his death. This collection reintroducing the reader to such characters as the Old Cattleman, Doc Peets and Faro Nell was published in 1902.