This guy had a massive collection ... lots of WWII stuff and even quite a bit of Vietnam War memorabilia. This one thing really caught my eye and it was a reminder of a time in our history that is really hard to comprehend in a lot of ways. It's a "Slave Tag"
From the net:
Slave Tags or slave badges were used by slaves in and around the well-known seaside and slave trade city of Charleston, SC from the late 1700s to 1865.
There were laws in place in the early 1800s which allowed slave owners to hire out their slaves. These laws were in place in southern cities including Mobile, Norfolk, New Orleans, and Savannah. But, the only southern city that had a strict regulatory method for keeping track of these slaves was Charleston. Slave owners could rent out the services of their slaves to others for a fee. Slaves were required to wear a slave tag or identification marker.
Here's a pic of the one I found today. It says:
Nappy John
Buck Nigger Slave
Lowes Hog Farm
Columbia, S.C.
1854
There are some other markings (numbers and crosses, etc) but I don't know their significance.
slavetag.jpg