Patients of one area orthodontist will never forget him.
They can't. His name is on signs, lanterns, bottles and other items throughout his offices in East Brainerd, Ooltewah and Ringgold, Ga.
No ego trip for Dr. Chris A. Coleman, it's just a decorating style carried out through an outdoors theme with the Coleman camping gear brand.
With so much to look at, patients who may be nervous will be "put at ease," he said.
Accentuating the collection of Coleman products, most from the 1940s, 1950s and1960s, are items once used by Mr. Coleman's family, signs painted by his wife, Mary Anna, and objects as diverse as a moose head, a white oak stump table and a collection of Smores ornaments.
Mrs. Coleman said the name theme was a natural.
"I think kids like to be outside," she said. "We both love camping, so we had to do it. It's our name."
Even the pine-needle color, textured walls and hall mural of trees, both done by Mrs. Coleman, and the customized light brown fabric on the dental chairs carry the theme.
"It's something fun for kids," she said.
Dr. Coleman said he and his wife have scouted antiques stores from New York to California to find the vintage gear, which includes some 100 lanterns.
Once they even followed a flatbed truck loaded with wood through East Brainerd to buy a yard-wide stump they spotted among the detritus of a sawn tree.
"I've got to have that stump," Dr. Coleman said his wife told him.
At their request, the surprised truck driver said he'd sell them the stump, which weighs hundreds of pounds, for $5. He and his passenger leveled the top so it would become the perfect table Mrs. Coleman envisioned for one corner of the patient waiting room.
Many items are birthday and anniversary gifts to her husband, Mrs. Coleman said.
Most lanterns are not rare or expensive, he said, but Mrs. Coleman said one 1972 mustard-color lantern purchased for $15 at a local thrift store turned out to be worth several hundred dollars.
The Ooltewah and Ringgold offices both have 50-state, wall-mounted antique license-plate collections, she said. The years on the plates range from the 1920s through 1980, she said.
They also have found and purchased metal wall signs and bottles from a now defunct Coleman Ginger Ale company, bottled near Buffalo, N.Y.
One ginger ale sign and several bottles were incorporated into a bench in the practice's East Brainerd waiting room. The bench was crafted by Mrs. Coleman's father from a chair in Dr. Coleman's family.
"The time, effort and thought" put into its creation make it significant, he said.
Other items with a family import include the stuffed large-mouth bass caught by Mr. Coleman's grandfather, Charlie Harris, in Lake Panasoffkee, Fla., in 1981; his mother's sled; his grandfather's Coca-Cola cooler; and Dr. Coleman's childhood fishing pole and badminton racquet.
Mixed in -- and part of -- the outdoor theme are Scripture verses, many painted by Mrs. Coleman.
"We have a strong Christian faith," Dr. Coleman said. "That's what it's all about."
The couple said friends, staff members and family even look for items for the couple's collection.
"We have a tag line: 'Incredible People, Incredible Smiles,' " Mrs. Coleman said. "We (also) wanted to have an incredible atmosphere."
