Just next to the famous Penny Arcade in Manitou Springs sits Colorado Art of Facts, a small business filled with relics from the state’s past and riddled with stories.

Owner Tim David’s story started about 50 years ago. At only 10 years old, David, now 59, became fascinated with antiques, slowly building a remarkable collection of historical pieces that even the Colorado Historical Society envies.

The story goes back further, however, when David’s mother, a fourth-generation Coloradan, hitchhiked from Grand Junction to Los Angeles in 1962, where she then met David’s father.

While she and David’s father built a business and created a life, David visited Colorado every summer to spend time with his lingering family in the state, many of whom were miners.

“I loved Colorado so much that I wanted to take as much as I could home,” David said. “So, I’d come home with suitcases full of just this old tourist Colorado stuff. Anything to do with Colorado, I’ve always collected.”

Piece by piece, his collection grew. Even though he started with strictly Colorado-themed items, David expanded his horizons into hundreds of Egyptian artifacts after a museum visit left him in awe.

“(My mother) would take me to museums and stuff, and I’d say, ‘oh, I want that piece for my bedroom.’ And she says, ‘Tim, you can’t have that; that’s in a museum exhibit.,'” David said. “So I wanted to have a museum where you can buy whatever you want.

Now his prized possessions are up for grabs for those wandering through Manitou Springs.

“The collection is huge, it’s always been part of my plan (to sell the collection,)” David said.

A full circle moment

David came to Manitou Springs about four years ago from Denver, where he was the visual coordinator for Park Meadows Retail Resort for several years.

However, it wasn’t his first stint in the mountain town. David first arrived in Manitou Springs during the mid-80s while in the Army. With no housing available on base, David chose to make his temporary home in the city next door.

“I loved Manitou Springs so much that I said I’m going to retire here one of these days, and it took me 30 years, but I made a big round, a big loop, and I finally made it,” David said with a smile across his face.

David opened his antique store in October 2023, moving to a larger space in September 2024. His shop currently features unique items like a rare gold-ore glazed Van Briggle piece and a Colorado legislator chair from the 1900s.

The collector works six days of the week, saying his only complaint about running the store, which he does solo, is that he doesn’t get much time off.

“The shop is like this combination of things that I’ve worked towards my whole life,” David said.

Continuing the collection

David is on a never-ending mission to continue to grow his collection of antiques, and is always on the hunt for a new find.

Some help he never planned on getting would end up being from pickers, who are often retired couples on the hunt for interesting artifacts.

“I’ve got five or six different sets of pickers that I get texts all week long,” David said. “They know my aesthetic. They know I’m looking for Colorado stuff. I mean anything, Coors, Van Briggle, Jolly Rancher, celestial seasoning, anything to do with Colorado and a little bit of vintage or antique history, I’m all about it.”

Another useful tool David employs to ensure his collection never dwindles is Facebook Marketplace, although it can be a hit or miss.

“It’s a constant swim,” David said.

Loyal customers Jenny and Jose Balderrama, who call themselves “collectors of the unusual,” hold high praise for the antique shop, calling it a must-see destination in Manitou Springs.

“It is so dangerous to go in that shop,” Jose Balderrama said. “Because I’m just like, all right, we’re just going to go say hi. Meanwhile, we’re like, OK, I’d like this and like that.”

“I would say that his shop is truly the souvenir shop,” Jenny Balderrama added.

Some favorites from the store include the couple’s purchases of a mantle to go around their fireplace, an Egyptian mummy amulet and several pieces of uranium glass.

“(Finding pieces) is his superhuman ability,” Jose Balderrama said.

Favorites and hard goodbyes

David’s favorite piece will never see the sticky side of a price tag – a wedding announcement of Horace and Baby Doe Tabor printed in silver. He found the piece in the 2010s through investigative work, and even the Colorado Historical Society, History Colorado, has made passing comments about wanting it for their collection.

The story of Horace and Baby Doe Tabor is one of rags-to-riches-to-rags, David says, from the silver mining era of Colorado’s history.

“It’s incredibly rare,” David said. “The things that I love the most are still in my home.”

So far in his collecting, David has yet to donate any pieces to places like historical societies or museums. However, the antiques that don’t sell by the time David passes, he plans to give away his collection to History Colorado.

“If I were hit by a milk truck tomorrow, they are in my will to get everything,” David said.

Another favorite of David’s that is currently up for sale is a Cañon City title card from a 1948 film of the same name of the city, which tells the story of a prison break from the state penitentiary.

Among the top sellers in the shop are the vintage lighters he collects and restores.

“That might have to do with military and so many military people being in Colorado Springs, but people are really attracted to lighters,” David said with a laugh.

To visit David’s always-growing collection, located at 934 Manitou Ave., visitors can stop by during open hours, which are Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.