About Us – Important Aspects of
The Greater New Orleans Militaria Show
Interesting Facts About Our Show
& It’s Promoters
The Fourth Annual Greater New Orleans Militaria Show will be held October 12th & 13th at the Castine Center in Mandeville, Louisiana. We will continue to build on the HUGE success of our 2023 show and our plan is to expand this year’s show into a true military history event. We have had an outpouring of support from dealers, collectors, visiting public and numerous historical entities in our area. We have truly proven that we can bring the exciting and history filled world of military collectables back to the New Orleans area.
We can expand the Greater New Orleans Militaria Show to nearly 400 tables and we are working diligently to get there! The show as of the time we are writing this, will be a 250 plus table military history event for 2024 and we welcome you to join us. We will not only features some of the biggest and most well known names in the world of military antiques, but also numerous displays from local military museums. We seek not only to offer items available to buy, sell or trade, but to also feature the rich military history of Louisiana and our local area. Our 2023 show exceeded anything we could have ever imagined. We are now working diligently to turn the Greater New Orleans Militaria Show into the biggest military history event in the deep south.
The Greater New Orleans Militaria Show is hosted by Dan & Trish Clifton of Old Patriot Militaria. Dan & Trish have been buying and selling world class military antiques for 25 years and have worked tirelessly to bring this five star militaria show to the Greater New Orleans Area.
“Lieutenant Dan” of Old Patriot Militaria is a retired, decorated US Navy combat veteran of the war in Iraq and a Native of St Tammany Parish. Trish is a retired Industrial Engineer that enjoyed a long, distinguished career with such entities as NASA, Lockheed, General Electric and Armstrong World Industries. She is a native of the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Dan grew up in Slidell, where he met Trish 30 years ago. They both lived in Mandeville prior to moving to Florida and Dan’s entry into military service. They now reside in Pearl River, Louisiana and their son attends Pearl River High School.
The Greater New Orleans Militaria Show has partnered with the Saint Tammany Parish Department of Animal Services and a portion of the show serves as a fund raiser, adoption event and donation drive.
Education & Philanthropy – Our Greater Purpose
The promoters, dealers and partners of the Greater New Orleans Militaria Show understand that education is the key to not only our event’s success, but also to the success of the militaria collecting community as a whole. It is understood on many educational levels that the more senses we utilize during the learning process, the more likely we are to absorb and maintain the knowledge being presented. Utilizing as many senses as possible in the learning process can, in turn, wake up a greater desire to learn even more. Printed words, spoken words and images in books, while extremely important, can only excite so many senses. They, while very important, do not utilize a full range of emotions and senses.
As humans, we connect with other humans by being introduced to items that touch us on a personal level. Military artifacts such as those we see in museums open a whole other level of connecting with those who came before us. Items such as uniforms, hats, helmets, medals, boots, etc. tell of a personal struggle and are not cold, lifeless relics. They are items that have the ability to touch us, tell us about ourselves as a people and expose us to a part of history that may not be experienced on any other level.
Militaria shows such as ours provide this level of learning and can take the experience to an even greater height by allowing individuals to fully experience items they will normally only see behind glass. Our shows give all who attend not only the chance to see, touch, smell and sometimes hear pieces of their own past, but also provide an opportunity to connect emotionally to true pieces of history. By exciting this passion and driving this connection, we foster a desire to collect, protect and dedicate ourselves as well as future generations to becoming studious custodians of these historic pieces. Pieces that the Greater New Orleans Militaria Show provides them with the opportunity to obtain and collect.
In recent years with history fading from the forefront in public schools, museums and the artifacts housed within them have begun to play a greater role in public education. Many schools have begun partnering with museums to fill this gap while museums have begun to employ “education curators.” A recent study by the American Association of Museums found that in many cases, museums are a more trusted source for history education than schools.
We at the Greater New Orleans Militaria Show realize that partnerships between shows such as ours with museums and other historical entities is the future of history education. We also firmly believe that the Greater New Orleans Militaria Show has a greater purpose that expands beyond education. We believe that our show can provide much needed assistance to our community. Because of this, we have partnered with the St Tammany Parish Department of Animal Services, an outstanding, humanely operated, “no kill” animal shelter in our local area. This organization does absolutely amazing work helping save the lives of all animals in need. Like many organizations of this type, they are underfunded, understaffed and seemingly under appreciated. The Greater New Orleans Militaria Show is going to do all it can to help them in every way possible! So, a portion of our show serves as a fundraiser, donation drive and adoption event! We have have also partnered with educational entities such as “The Naval Landing Party” and the outstanding Louisiana Military Museum in Abbeville. The Greater New Orleans Militaria Show is more than “just” a military antiques show. It is now a part of Louisiana’s rich culture and history and is firmly established in the community. Our show strives to not only give back to the community and educate all who attend, but to also be the “gold standard” that ushers in a new era of military antiques shows.
