Here is a recent FACEBOOK post that may be of interest to several chippers

Original hats personally owned by the late James N. Episale (1943-2022) who owned “Unshredded Nostalgia” in Barnegat! Jim was born in Yonkers, New York and was a veteran of the United States Marine Corps. He was also a former photo journalist and newspaper publisher - he started his journey in the antique industry by hosting a series of garage sales in front of his home. In the 1970s, he began to do flea markets and setup at specialized shows across the country. Jim opened up “Summer’s Rainbow” in 1976 in Ship Bottom and later opened a second store in Beach Haven. However, in the 1980s, he closed those stores and would later open “Unshredded Nostalgia” in the 1990s in Barnegat on South Main Street (Route 9). The store is located in the former Baily’s Hardware Store building, which was originally built and owned by William Ambrose Cox of Barnegat. Some of the main highlights of the store’s history included selling around 2,000 original photos of Princess Diana after she passed away in 1997, selling well over 250,000 photos of movie “stills” which were sorted alphabetically and by category to the Library of Congress, and also having a room dedicated to New Jersey History amongst other feats. The store would later downsize in 2020 and would re-open on March 21st, 2020. Jim passed away on March 5th, 2022, at the age of 79. I had the opportunity to work for Jim while I was in high school from 2019 to 2021 sorting and cataloging photos, tidying up the store, and other related tasks. He has taught me so much about antiques and has inspired me to get into collecting Barnegat memorabilia. In fact, a huge majority of my collection has come from Unshredded Nostalgia over the years. These two hats were recently gifted to me by his wife, Barbara Episale during my last visit to the store (in fact, that same day, I wore one to the last 2025 Speaker Series presentation at Cloverdale 🙂). After Jim’s passing, Unshredded Nostalgia continued to operate by his wife which was one of Jim’s final wishes. In 2025, it was unfortunately announced that the store would be closing. Both of these hats were among several hats of his that he would wear from time to time. While I vaguely remember him wearing at least the black hat shown, I have found photos of him wearing the tan one (which I plan on printing and putting next to them). One of the hats I plan on taking with me to my antique store that I’m opening up, Rawley Emporium, to display as a tribute to the man that got me into not only my personal hobby of collecting Barnegat items, but the “antique world” in general. Jim, thank you so much for your service for our country, and for everything you’ve taught me — and a huge thanks to Barb for these hats for the collection 🇺🇸