Billy Sutton, of Cartersville, is continuing a legacy initiated by his neighbor.

Sutton said his collection of canes and walking sticks has expanded to more than a thousand, reaching approximately 1,425. He keeps the canes inside of a storage wing in his garage.

“I’ve got a few here,” Sutton, 78, said while walking into the space.

He said he scours newspaper ads for walking sticks and canes, and will go to town and auctions to buy them when he can.

But the majority of his canes, Sutton said, he makes himself.

To initiate his labor of love, Sutton said he goes into the woods and picks out a branch. For more intricate designs, he said he picks out branches with vines growing around them.

Using a carving knife, he cuts the vines and makes an imprint in the wood, creating a design made to look like snakes wrapping around the walking stick.

Sutton also uses his carving skills to create elaborate cane heads, which are meant to be both fashionable and functionable.

“I make (the heads) so it would feel good in your hands,” Sutton said.

Sutton not only carves heads, but also uses clever or common household materials, including pool balls, deer antlers, a pistol gun, bobbleheads, door knobs, a draft beer pulley and a gear shift from a car, among others. Some of the canes are inspired by Native American and African art, and feature familiar faces, including Popeye and Charlie Chaplin. 

He estimates that three-fourths of the canes he has in his collection are ones he’s carved on his own.

Sutton learned and was inspired to make canes from his neighbor down the road, Perry Turpin. Turpin was also an avid walking stick maker, and had showed Sutton the ropes.

After Turpin’s death, Sutton continued to craft canes the same way Turpin had.

“He made them his whole life,” Sutton said.

In the last six months, Sutton said he has only carved two or three, but in the past he was more active.

“I reckon at one time, I was making two or three a week,” Sutton said.

Sutton’s designs are partly inspired by his service in the 82nd Airborne division of the Army, where he and others jumped out of planes. He was stationed in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He also traveled Europe over the years, and some of his canes are designed with pins made in different cities in Virginia and Europe.   

Sutton’s collection has been eyed by well-known organizations, including the History Channel’s American Pickers, which expressed interest in featuring the collection.

Sutton said he also applied for Guinness Book of World Records, but became wary after one of the requirements was to take photo, and describe each cane in his collection. 

Sutton and his wife, Ilona, are planning to move a few miles down the road to a home near the James River. His extensive and growing cane collection is sure to come with him.

“I have been around the world a few times, but it is a beautiful spot,” Sutton said about the area where his new home will be. “I love it there.”