Drake Vintage Music & Curios – Bowling Green, Kentucky - Atlas Obscura
Places near me Random place

AO Edited

Drake Vintage Music & Curios

Bowling Green, Kentucky

Veritable museum of 20th century country music history. 

View all photos
Drake Vintage Music & Curios. (rosehips/Flickr) http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosehips/5247... (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosehips/5247917023/in/set-72157625560324516/)
Drake Vintage Music & Curios. (rosehips/Flickr) http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosehips/5247... (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosehips/5247917023/in/set-72157625560324516/)
Drake Vintage Music & Curios. (rosehips/Flickr) http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosehips/5248... (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosehips/5248518506/in/set-72157625560324516/)
Mr. Freeman Kitchens in his shop. (rosehips/Flickr) http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosehips/5225... (http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosehips/5225697804/in/set-72157625511499258/)
Freeman Kitchens in his shop. http://www.flickr.com/photos/rosehips/5685... (Jennifer M. Jameson)
104
534
Top Places in Kentucky
Lexington's Biblical Miniature Golf. (Creative Commons)
Lexington's Biblical Miniature Golf
Lexington, Kentucky
Wigwam Village #2
Cave City, Kentucky
Dinosaur World
Cave City, Kentucky
 See All

The founding member and president emeritus of the Carter Family Fan Club, Freeman Kitchens, operates this long-running record and curio shop. It’s been described as a veritable museum of the fan culture of 20th century country music history.

Since the mid-1940s, Kitchens, a man from and of Warren County, Kentucky, has collected and sold early country music recordings out of his general store/post office, today called Drake Vintage Music & Curios. Through this space, popular with locals, Freeman has encouraged a sense of community and engagement in country music history by establishing and operating the official fan club of the Carter Family, in which he and club members published and circulated some of the earliest forms of music journalism and grassroots documentation surrounding each generation of America’s beloved country music family.

Kitchens still operates his shop, packed with photos and artifacts from years of involvement with country music and its fans. Stop by to purchase a record and have Freeman give you a tour of his shop to find a rare and unique perspective on early country music history.

Updated as of November 2021: Sadly, Freeman Kitchens passed away on July 8, 2020.  

Know Before You Go

Twenty minutes from Bowling Green, Kentucky, and about one hour outside of Nashville, Tennessee.

purveyors of curiosities shops music collections museums and collections museums
Community Contributors
J
Added by
Jennifer Joy Jameson
nbj914
tracylynn45
t
Edited by
nbj914, tracylynn45, terence2393
Published
May 1, 2011
Edit this listing
Make an Edit Add Photos
Nearby
Octagon Hall Civil War Museum
7.85 miles
National Corvette Museum Sinkhole
12.84 miles
South Union Shaker Village
13.47 miles
Want to see fewer ads? Become a Member.
Near This Place
Octagon Hall.
Franklin, Kentucky

Octagon Hall Civil War Museum

A unique home built by Andrew Jackson Caldwell that also served as a military hospital.
A sad sight for car collectors everywhere
Bowling Green, Kentucky

National Corvette Museum Sinkhole

Eight rare Corvettes are swallowed up by a sinkhole in Kentucky's National Corvette Museum.
Visitors Center in front, dwelling in back
Auburn, Kentucky

South Union Shaker Village

The remains of this visionary community can still be found much as it was a century ago.
The Little Tunnel.
Westmoreland, Tennessee

The Little Tunnel

This tiny 19th-century tunnel was built so a man could move his cows from one field to another.
Related Places
Queens, New York

The Noguchi Museum

A self-made museum in Queens, New York continues to display the work of a sculptor known for paving his own way.
Manchester, England

RNCM Collection of Historic Musical Instruments

Over 300 historical instruments from around the world can be found in the Royal Northern College of Music's basement.
Edinburgh, Scotland

St Cecilia's Hall

Scotland's oldest purpose-built concert hall houses an incredible collection of ornate, centuries-old keyboards.
Chalice/grigson #2
Saint Petersburg, Russia

Museum of Sound

An unusual collection of self-made musical instruments and unique noises.
In partnership with KAYAK

Plan Your Trip

From Around the Web