Follow his parents’ footsteps?
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He grew up in a home packed with Native American art and artifacts, the loves of parents who bought and sold such collectibles for as long as Chatt can remember.
So when he came of age Chatt decided to rebel; take his life in an entirely different direction.
It made sense. Even as a kid, as he was dragged to garage sales and swap meets by his collector parents, Chatt scoured the trash and treasures for flashes of olive drab and steel.
He still recalls his first find; a mess kit from World War II.
“I paid $2 for it at the Santa Fe Springs flea market.”
See, even as a kid Chatt was renting a table of his own at the collector shows where his parents made their living. And if you’re thinking it was just a kids’ hobby, you’re thinking wrong. Chatt, now 44, has spent the past two decades making his living by buying and selling old military stuff.
But it wasn’t until the rise of what he calls “recession television” – shows that feature ordinary people turning castoffs into cash – that a series of unexpected events conspired to give Chatt a shot at TV stardom.
His brother-in-law, watching one such reality show, told Chatt that somebody should make a series about the life of a military memorabilia collector.
“Dude,” Chatt said, “nobody would watch that.”
But Chatt’s phone rang the next day, and the caller had an altogether different opinion.
•••
Chatt started collecting in the early ’70s, so it was natural that his first purchases were from an earlier period — that World War II mess kit; a German Mauser bayonet from World War I.
“Being an 8-year-old boy with a bayonet, that was pretty cool,” Chatt said.
But early on his interest shifted to Vietnam. Partly, this was because a lot of the Vietnam War material had a rebellious flavor to it; soldiers often modified or personalized their uniforms and gear. But, also, at the time, Vietnam gear was the easiest stuff to get.
“Nobody else wanted it,” Chatt says of the period when Vietnam was a war many Americans wanted to forget.
“You’d go to shows and ask for it and (sellers) would look at you like you were insane… ‘Why do you want that crap?’”
(Chatt’s love of Vietnam-era stuff is strong enough that, today, his ringtone is ‘Ride of the Valkyries,’ the Wagner piece popularized in “Apocalypse Now.”)
Still, Chatt’s collecting was – and is — about deals, not eras.
On the day he was set to graduate from Redondo Beach Union High School he met up with a collector and scored three helmets; a WWII German helmet he bought for $50, a WWII American helmet he got for $10 and a WWI German helmet he got for $50.
Buying the helmets made Chatt a last-minute arrival to the graduation ceremony, prompting his mother to angrily ask him where he’d been.
But when he learned a few days later that the WWII German helmet was a rare paratrooper’s model, and it was worth $1,000, Chatt says Mom “mellowed out.”
He path was set. Chatt tried college for awhile, thinking he’d become a history teacher, but quit because it was more fun selling relics. He’s been a full time dealer since he was 21.
It wasn’t always easy. He lived in his shop and, for a time, considered AM/PM a “highlight” meal. But eventually his company – Vintage Productions – grew. A dozen years ago he moved the business to Huntington Beach, where he’d settled with his wife Danielle and their daughters, Raven, 15, and Dixie, 11.
Today, if you walk inside Vintage’s nondescript building, you’ll find every room filled with military history.
There’s a gray jacket worn by an American POW during his six years of horror at the Hanoi Hilton; the nose cone art from a B-29 that flew over the USS Missouri as Japan formally surrendered in World War II; patches and ribbons dating back to the Civil War. He has anti-Hitler propaganda, a toilet paper dispenser in the shape of the dictator’s head and toilet paper emblazoned with the words “Wipe out menace.”
And if you get into Chatt’s office, you’ll find some of his personal favorites – a 14th century samurai helmet, a fake Time magazine cover that features the character Col. Kurtz, a prop from “Apocalypse” among them.
At Vintage, Chatt picks up a folded canvas sheet and shakes it open. It’s a hand-painted banner of Saddam Hussein striking a defiant pose. Chatt says he bought it for about $1,000 from a solder who served in America’s latest military engagement.
It’s a good life and a good living, and Chatt says he was content to continue as he was.
Then came the yammering with the brother-in-law and the well-timed phone call.
•••
On the line was a guy Chatt knew from Digital Ranch Productions, producer of the History Channel show “Mail Call.”
The guy was pitching the idea Chatt’s brother-in-law had been talking about.
“They were interested in a show that combined ‘Pawn Stars,’ ‘Antiques Roadshow’ and ‘History Detectives,’” Chatt said.
“They wanted to tell the story, show the stuff and talk about what it’s worth.”
A year ago, Discovery Channel bought four episodes of “Combat Cash.” And after taping throughout program last year, the show aired for the first time in January. It’s unclear if Discovery will buy more episodes, though early viewership was strong.
The show features Chatt as the military dealer and the straight man, and his longtime friend, Owen Thornton, as the excitable sidekick. Wife Danielle has an on-air role as well.
Despite his initial misgivings, Chatt says the show is a lot of fun – for him and for viewers.
On one episode they travel to Oregon and use flamethrowers. On another they track down a Springfield musket from the 1790s for an active-duty soldier who pays extra to have them test fire it.
And, along the way, as with shows such as “Pawn Stars” and “American Pickers,” viewers of “Combat Cash” get a sense of the history and value of the kinds of military material still kept in a lot of houses and garages.
“That’s one of the things we hope comes out of the show,” Chatt said. “That even if you don’t think something is worth much, don’t throw it away.”
To learn more about Chatt and Vintage Productions go to Vintageproductions.com.
Contact the writer: 714-796-7787 or
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