these icons of country music made their Mark through songs that have withstood the test of time like Dolly Parton's Jolene but the outfits instruments and personal momentos that help make them shine often slipped away I walked in a junk shop one day in Nashville on 8th Avenue and there was a beautifully handtooled makeup kit and it said paty Klein that's when the Ultimate Fan and treasure hunter Marty Stewart began his mission rescuing relics of country music music with the help of friends fans and even strangers so out of the closet comes that shirt Hank Williams shirt it's a world he knew all too well this is Loretta Lynn's little dress that's paty Klein's dress and this was a dress that paty's Mom soed for her having toured with Lester flat and Johnny Cash before building a successful solo career he shared some of those stories now a part of country music history this is a world class piece right here Johnny Cash was in his 20s when he wore his first black suit on stage well Grandma cash not to be outdone went to JC Penny and bought this edging here and edged her little boy suit so he would pop a little bit and he wrote Don't Take Your Guns to town on this custom Gibson guitar he changed his clothes and shined his boots and combed his dark hair down and this bright green dress you'll never guess who this is was once worn by Dolly Parton in the 70s on the Porter Wagner show and given to Stewart for his collection well this came from her yeah she I mean it came this is the one this is the one she chose and sent over over the years Stewart collected roughly 22,000 items which will now be a part of the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville how rare is a collection like this there's only one and had he not done it uh I'm not too sure if these things would even exist anymore a longtime caretaker of the spirit of country music now sharing it for the world to see up close they're part of the essence of who I am they're part of my heart but um they're a greater part of me here now this collection is so massive archists say they will likely take a year to catalog each and every one of these items but the good news is several pieces are on display right now for the public to view back to you all right Kathy thank you so much I mean the country music Hol Fame is cool enough already that's just going to make it even cooler I love that they have the pictures to go alongside each of these items that Dolly Parton man look at her 50 years ago she now she looks right into that Peter Alexander hitting on Dolly par simmer down now simmer down hey thanks for watching don't miss the Today's Show every weekday at 11:00 a.m. eastern 8 Pacific on our streaming Channel today all day to watch head to today.com allay or click the link right here okay