October 17, 2003
Greetings Accumulators!
Well, well, well. Summer's definitely over in The Big Apple. It's brisk out
there today. Good sweater weather. In our continuing quest to provide you
with misheard lyrics from the past, we bring you the story of Alert
Accumulator Seaneen Brennan, who says, "When I was a child I heard the last
line of "Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer" which is actually "...you'll go
down in history!" I thought the line was "...you'll go down and kiss
Irene!". Actually, recently, some friends told me that Rudolph was actually
a female, since male reindeer drop their antlers in November, but the
females keep theirs until January. So, let's hope Irene has an open mind.
FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU'LL FIND LYING AROUND ON THE
SCRAP HEAP
If you're like I am and you live in a place where you occasionally have to
drop things off at the town dump, you like to have a quick look around
before you leave, in case someone has left an undiscovered treasure for you
to scoop up and take home. A junkyard in Columbus, Ohio has been providing
consumers with a little something extra, reports The Associated Press. The
owners of the dump have been running a prostitution ring, according to
police. The ladies-in-waiting have allegedly been waiting around the piles
of refuse, until calls for their services come in, whereupon they've been
dispatched by the owners to wherever their services have been needed. Fees,
needless to say, were split between management and labor. Police Sgt.
Richard Curry said, "This is the first time we've found anything like this
inside a junkyard." No word on whether or not the call girls are the
trashy type.
VERY EARLY ARTWORK DEPARTMENT
The latest in our series of articles about contemporary art is a story from
Georgia, where a local gallery in St. Simons Island is displaying and
selling the work of one Dante Lamb. The works consist of acrylics on
canvas, although Lamb also works in other media, including works that
contain sand and shredded newspaper added for texture. The show has
received critical acclaim, according to the gallery owner. Oh, and the
artist is three years old. His parents, Aimee and Scott, say they bought
canvas and paints for their son after he showed unusual talent and interest
in coloring with crayons and chalk. "He just took to it," his mother says.
She adds that the toddler is adept at using tools and his 'studio' is
usually a newspaper-covered floor at their home. And of course, sometimes
the artist simply must put down paints and brushes when the muse deserts
him. Or for nap time or to go potty.
BEFORE YOU GO, BE SURE TO GO
The owners of the Suber-Shively Funeral Home in Fletcher, Ohio, plant to
educate their customers by opening a funeral museum, according to AP. "We
just thought it would be interesting for some people in the area to reflect
back on how the funeral service has evolved," Bart Shively said. The museum
will display casket handles, burial garments and other items previous
owners collected over the past century. It will be housed in two rooms of
the funeral home and admission will be free. Surprisingly, the Shivelys are
not the first to open a funeral museum. Lafferty Funeral Home in West Union
in southern Ohio has operated a similar museum since 1994. It includes
funeral carriages, caskets and old embalming equipment. And The National
Museum of Funeral History in Houston, founded in 1992, houses
funeral-related artifacts from around the world. The Shivelys plan to
display a wicker body basket used to transport corpses and a child's coffin
with a viewing window. Shively points out that before the 1960s, most
funerals were held at home, and the funeral director brought things like
flower racks and caskets to the home of the deceased. The National Museum
of Funeral History has a web site at LINK. It's actually
pretty interesting.
SITES TO SEE
Forgotten New York - Even if you're not from here, this is a fascinating
site. There are scores of streets that no longer exist; abandoned
underground tunnels, including private railroad tunnels of the rich and
famous; and my favorite, advertisments painted on the sides of brick
buildings. These were long ago covered up by other brick buildings being
built alongside them. Several decades later the adjoining building is
demolished and, for a few short months, becfore another high-rise is built
in its place, the good as new colorful advertisement is revealed for all to
enjoy. The site is worth a look at LINK.
Okay, off to the gym. Tonight we'll be attending a function with our dear
friends the Fergusons. Then it's off to the country house to enjoy the last
of the foliage before it floats to the ground and we have to drag the leaf
blower out. Have a wonderful week, Accumulators. Happy hunting!
Best,
Judith
© 2003 Judith Katz-Schwartz. All rights reserved.
Antiques and Collectibles Newsletter #228
U.S. Library of Congress
ISSN 1520-4464
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