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This post isn't about the Washington, DC-based Museum of the Bible. Instead, it’s about the interesting journey of The Bible Museum and how it grew up to become a popular name worldwide from its modest start. It all began without any plan, but by God’s grace, it grew so big that people from far and wide now come to the online site as well as the physical store to browse and buy ancient and rare Bibles and Bible leaves.
Since 1987, The Bible Museum has been the largest dealer of antique and rare Bibles globally. Its sales figures for rare Bibles are significantly more than the collective total of all other dealers selling rare books worldwide. Since 1996, the online shop of The Bible Museum has been functioning at GREATSITE.COM. This popular website finds preference with thousands of other websites of ministries, churches, and individuals who enthusiastically link to it. Perhaps this popularity explains why the site attracts thousands of daily visitors.
The Bible Museum also has a physical showroom in Phoenix, Arizona, that stays open round the clock. If you’re wanting to learn more about The Bible Museum, read on the learn more.
It all began in 1987 when Dr. Craig Lampe, who was then the World Bible Society’s International Director, shared his idea of building a unique company with Dr. Jonathan Byrd - his old friend. This friend was one of the bigshots in Indy Car Racing and was chosen in 2002 for the Indianapolis Speedrome Hall of Fame. Dr. Lampe’s idea was to capture the market of antique and rare Bibles by establishing an organization to repair and conserve the antique printings of God’s Word for upcoming generations and put these magnificent assets up for sale. This idea was to grow this organization into the world’s principal source for antique and rare Bibles.
At that time, Dr. Byrd had just sold all seven franchises of his Kentucky Fried Chicken and was getting ready to construct America’s largest cafeteria. But perhaps it was divine intervention that made him decide to support his friend’s idea financially. This paved the way for establishing the company named “Jonathan Byrd’s Rare Books & Bibles.” This company didn’t have any brick-and-mortar store or public display area during its early days. It was positioned in a small storage room without any windows in the offices above Dr. Byrd’s Cafeteria in Indiana’s Greenwood. It was just people’s word-of-mouth referrals that helped others find their way to the company. Surprisingly, by 1989, the company grew to become the largest dealer of antique and rare Bibles globally.
In 1994, a hobby collector of old Bibles named John Jeffcoat was feeling disheartened as he couldn’t find Bibles printed before the 1800s. From a rare book dealer, he got the phone number of Dr. Craig Lampe. After two short calls, he took a 1,200+ miles round-trip to visit Dr. Lampe’s little shop that had established its near-monopoly in the field of antique and rare Bibles. He returned home two days later, armed with his first purchase from the store.
Two years later, John Jeffcoat shared his idea of creating a website with Dr. Lampe that he said would display a sampling of the company’s extensive and magnificent inventory of antique Bibles and Bible leaves. Jeffcoat planned to leverage printed advertisements and search engine listings for the website to make the public aware of his splendid material that they could easily access. And thus, GREATSITE.COM was born that houses The Bible Museum.
The site and The Bible Museum got such a great response that within a few weeks of the site going live, John quit his full-time job to ensure he could easily handle the deluge of incoming emails and calls from around the world.
The Bible Museum encouraged several people to turn into collectors as nothing could be as rewarding as owning the earliest and some of the rarest prints of God’s Word. You could hardly find anything more precious than these antique Bibles. Even when it comes to family heirlooms or astute investments, it is hard to imagine a more intriguing investment than these rare Bibles offered by The Bible Museum.
As the website grew and started raking in annual sales to the tune of millions of dollars and 1,000+ daily visitors, the need for a more elegant storefront showroom was felt. Dr. Byrd was then constructing three new lavish hotels in suburban Phoenix, Arizona. Finally, in 1999, the company headquarters shifted from Indiana’s Greenwood to Arizona’s Goodyear.
Today, The Bible Museum is located in the Grand Lobby of one of the most stunning new hotels in Arizona, where the showroom stays open 24/7 for visitors. However, you can only make in-person purchases at The Bible Museum during standard business hours, by appointment.
Original Source: https://greatsitethebiblemuseum.blogspot.com/2022/05/know-all-about-bible-museum.html
