48-star garage sale find to be on display for Veterans Day week

David Olson stands with the 48-star U.S. flag he found at a North Platte garage sale. The flag will be displayed at McCook National Bank and the Keystone Business Center. (Courtesy photo)

McCOOK, Neb. -- David Olson's reluctance to pass up a garage sale has snagged him a bit of American history.

A flag with only 48 stars found by Olson, of North Platte, will be displayed in McCook the week of Veterans Day, Monday, Nov. 7 through Thursday, Nov. 10, in the lobby of McCook National Bank. The following week, it will be displayed at the Keystone Business Center.

Olson, a retired Navy veteran, said he stumbled upon the flag at a garage sale in North Platte.

"I noticed the stars were stitched in and I counted them really quick," he said. "Then I got to looking at it and thought, Holy cow, I have to have this."

The U.S. flag had 48 stars from 1912 until 1959, when two more were states were added, Alaska and Hawaii. Olson said the flag is in excellent condition, with only a slight yellowing in the white stripes.

Olson found out that the young woman having the garage sale discovered the flag when she and her husband recently moved into the apartment duplex. He offered to buy it with the only cash he had on hand, $1.80, all he had left from visiting prior garage sales. She accepted the offer.

Since then, he's had the flag, a little under 3 by 5 feet, framed with UV glass so it won't deteriorate, making sure it doesn't touch the glass.

Olson said he's been diagnosed with a non-aggressive form of prostate cancer. As a board member of the "Gift of Hope" Cancer Foundation in North Platte, he offered to display the flag as a fundraiser. The foundation donates funds to individuals for extra expenses associated with cancer treatments, such as traveling costs and medication. Its service area is east of Lexington to the western edge of Nebraska, as well as to any Nebraska patient receiving treatment at the Callahan Cancer Center.

Although he's not 100 percent positive, Olson is pretty sure that the flag is authentic and not a reproduction, due to the fact the stars are stitched on instead of printed and the slight yellowing. Regardless, for him it's still a treasure and an important symbol of the nation's history. And, it's whetted his appetite for more garage sales.

"Oh yes, I'll keep going, I can't stop," he said.