 sj |
||
|
||
Folklore:, your oddest purchase
|
|
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Lepus Rex Date: 05 Oct 00 - 01:44 AM Axman ROCKS, Jim. That's where I got my Jabba the Hut action figure torso! (great-looking 2-litre bottle cap) ---Lepus Rex |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Lin in Kansas Date: 05 Oct 00 - 01:30 AM John and I were browsing through an antique store in Blackwell, OK, recently when he emitted a surprised grunt and turned to show me the treasure he'd found--a small metal boot scraper with the logo "Mudders Little Helper." I looked at the big grin on his face and said "Huh?" Turns out the thing was made in his Dad's sheet metal shop in Wichita KS back around 1954...and might have been one John himself had put together. Nothing like finding your own handmade artifact being sold as an "antique" to make you feel REALLY old! (We bought the thing, of course...) Lin |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: lamarca Date: 04 Oct 00 - 05:35 PM I have a somewhat warped sense of humor, (as BillD might testify) and have been acquiring items over the years that would complement my pink plastic lawn flamingos in taste and elegance. Some of my favorite things: 1 hand-carved, handpainted Honduran or Costa Rican chicken purchased from a cigar store in Belfast, Maine, for the princely sum of $12 1 750W glass bulb from an ellipsoidal light; when the filament blew, the glass was hot enough that it deformed around the tip of the bulb, and, well, I'll let you imagine Sinsull's fetish in the extra-large industrial size... 2 duck decoys - not your regular carved wood, but just the rear ends of the ducks with a lead weight attached to the severed middle so they'll float arse end up and look like dabbling mallards, rescued from the beach one autumn...sure to come in useful somehow... 1 genuine hairy armadillo charango purchased at a charity auction for $20 (and then set up to be playable by Elderly Instruments for a lot more - still haven't sat down to try to teach myself to play him). They say that the armadillos have to go to Bolivian music school for at least 5 years before they can become a charango... 1 genuine hand-carved solid teak rudder from a Javanese boat constructed on the Mall for the Festival of American Folklife when Indonesia was the featured country. It's in the basement - someday I'll sand and finish it and hang it on the wall... vast quantities of flamingo kitsch, the gifts of my so-called friends (and some purchased by yours truly, I confess). It has to meet certain minimum levels of tastefulness before I'll put it out on display, although scholars differ about where to draw the line... |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Jim Dixon Date: 04 Oct 00 - 02:40 PM I suppose the Japanese invented the square egg mold because they like making interesting geometrical shapes with their food. There used to be a Japanese restaurant near here that was big on "presentation." They would garnish their dishes with various fruits and vegetables carved into artistic shapes - radishes carved into rosebuds, for example - and carefully arranged on the plate. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: sophocleese Date: 03 Oct 00 - 10:43 PM I thought it was so they wouldn't roll off the plate. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: hesperis Date: 03 Oct 00 - 10:41 PM So they stack better, of course. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: SINSULL Date: 03 Oct 00 - 07:25 PM OK Jim. I will ask. Why did you need a square egg? |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Jim Dixon Date: 03 Oct 00 - 06:39 PM I've done my share of Dumpster diving. I'll take just about anything if it looks like it might be useful or fun and it's free. I brought home a birdcage a few weeks ago that I got out of a Dumpster (tip). We don't have a bird but my son wants one. We may never get one (we have cats) but the birdcage is hidden in the storage shed under the workbench just in case. I brought home a piece of plastic tubing once. Had no idea what I was going to use it for. Then I heard someone play a didgeridoo, and it all became clear. I still can't play it very well, but it's fun to fool around with once in a while. I once bought a whole tray (font?) of handset type. Thought I might get a printing press someday. Don't think I ever will now that I can use a computer. I tried to give it away once to a neighbor who actually had a hand press. He turned it down because he wanted to encourage me to get a printing press instead, so I could join him in his hobby. It's still in my basement. There's a shop near here called the Axman, where they sell … weird stuff, mainly industrial surplus. Once I bought, for a dollar, a Japanese square egg maker. No kidding. You hard-boil an egg, peel it while it's still warm, drop the peeled egg into this squarish plastic mold thingy and screw the top down. It compresses the egg until it's a perfectly rectangular, almost cubical shape. Put it in the fridge and let it cool. When you take it out and release it from the mold, the egg will keep its rectangular shape. Even the yolk will be roughly cubical. Haven't seen that thing in years. My wife probably threw it out. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Matt Woodbury/Mimosa Date: 03 Oct 00 - 05:34 PM Rats, LEJ. I was all ready to beg Sinsull for the charm. Mimosa |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 03 Oct 00 - 03:10 PM Well, there was the gross of Kankles we bought to supplement the Tiples at the NYCFTTS... RtS |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: SINSULL Date: 03 Oct 00 - 03:02 PM This has the makings of a Mudcat Flea Market. Basic Rule: Everyone contributes at least one piece of crap and walks away with at least one - this is to prevent me from coming home with an assortment of crap to be returned for next year's flea market. Still think Guy holds the prize winner. Even I would not have gotten involved in that. LEJ - the charm is yours - no strings attached but please be aware it does not belong with me and it may not belong with you. PM your address and I will be only too happy to send it off. And feel free to bury it, burn it, or toss it into the Grand Canyon if you have the same reaction. Mary |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Grab Date: 03 Oct 00 - 02:31 PM Bill D, the word is "orrery". A good word, especially if you're Asian or have a lisp... ;-) Grab. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Troll Date: 02 Oct 00 - 09:39 PM The strangest thing I've ever bought? Which century shall I start in? My son and I once traded two cassette tapes for a fibreglass knight on horseback complete with lance. It's about three feet long by four feet tall and is designed to hang on the wall. Basically it's like a bas-relief. My son still has it and vows to take it with him when he finally (!) moves out. troll |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: hesperis Date: 02 Oct 00 - 08:36 PM Which one, sophocleese? The one in the mall is a wee byte better than the one in town... Of course, most of my last post was in fact a joke... Besides, I'm not Tandy-phobic. I like leathercrafting and beading and wonderful things like that. RANT ON: And you can go into a Tandy's and go straight to what you want and then straight to the counter and straight out without someone pouncing But I do mind it when I go into a store and a salesman comes over and tries to steer me to buy about fifteen things that I don't want, particularly when I know exactly what it is that I do want and the damned salesman is getting in the way!!!!! ARRRRRRGGGGHHHHHH! RANT OFF. This trait is, of course, not confined to Radio Shack. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: sophocleese Date: 02 Oct 00 - 05:34 PM Um, as another resident of Orillia I would like to say that I have generally enjoyed my occasional visits to the nearby Radio Shack Emporium. Maybe I just get them on good days. My only annoyance being buying battery controlled gizmos with instructions not to use rechargeable batteries. I find this out after I've got the rechargeable batteries. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: hesperis Date: 02 Oct 00 - 05:25 PM LEJ - "St Alkaline,Patron Saint of Battery-Testers" *snarky, smart-ass tone of voice:* Don't you mean "St Energizer"? *end snarky, smart-ass tone of voice* Well if either LH or I ever come to your store in Conifer Colorado, we'll be sure to see if you have good staff... The Radio Shack stores in Orillia just aren't that great. It's amazing the influence a manager can have on a store though, so I (for one) would be willing to give you the benefit of the doubt... |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Ely Date: 01 Oct 00 - 05:50 PM I remember "Turd Burds" sold as souvenirs out west--yes, dried manure decorated with plastic eyes, beaks, and cowboy hats. I don't have one, though. My brother and I had a record of a Lone Ranger episode that we loved. I don't know where it is now. Too bad. Come to think of it, I got a mystery stuffed animal last year at the thrift store for fifteen cents. It looks like a bear, mostly--black fur with a hunched back and a plastic snout--but it has long, floppy, Labrador retriever ears. The ears are two different lengths, too, and I think they have little bells in them. Not a really strange purchase but surely one of the most nonsensical teddies ever. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Lepus Rex Date: 30 Sep 00 - 08:45 PM You'll be back as a rabbit, LH. ---Lepus Rex |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Little Hawk Date: 30 Sep 00 - 08:42 PM When I was a kid they used to sell stuffed baby alligators, with glass eyes...they looked very real aside from the fact that they were brown in color. I suspect it's illegal to sell them now, but they were quite common back then. I loved alligators, so I usually had one of them with me. One time when I was about 12 my parents took me to a small zoo, and I was carrying the alligator under my arm. We arrived at the monkey cages and the monkeys went nuts...they hooted, gibbered, ran around in a panic, made threatening faces and so on. They didn't like that alligator one bit! Being a 12-year old boy, I was delighted, and made sure to take the alligator on all future zoo visits, and give the monkeys a really close look, right up to the bars. Hundreds of monkeys no doubt carry the resulting trauma to this day...or have passed it on to their children. I wonder what my karmic reward will be? |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Little Neophyte Date: 30 Sep 00 - 04:56 PM Guy's story is so funny! Well I can't say I have every purchase anything wierd enough worth posting here but a friend of mine was given a shrunken head from Africa for his Bar Mitvah. Bonnie |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Hollowfox Date: 30 Sep 00 - 03:56 PM My oddest purchase wasn't for me,actually. It was a wedding present for two folkies who didn't need anything to start up a household. I was getting desperate for the right gift; something that would show my love, appreciation, and admiration of them both, and show my joy at their marriage. I finally found just the right thing.. a 18 inch high bisque figurene of a moose dressed like Elvis Presley (white costume with cape), complete with guitar. What made it perfect as a wedding gift was that it was a music box that played "Heartbreak Hotel"! It reflected their (shared) sense of humor perfectly. When I wrapped it, I put in a note saying that I still had the receipt, so they could exchange it if they got a duplicate. For myself, the "best" purchases were from yard sales. A copy of "Honky-Tonk Classics with Ragtime Sue" (the strangest record I own), a copy of "The Mikado" with Groucho Marx playing Koko, and a sutffed pheasant("We're only charging a dollar for it, because Pa felt so bad about shooting it that he had it stuffed and never went hunting again.") |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Dharmabum Date: 30 Sep 00 - 02:07 PM I guess this qualifies,A friend of mine has started a mini museum in the corner of his garage consisting of items that sort of fizzled out. Appliances from the now defunct Grants department stores etc. The main focus being on Ronco products. I've managed to find a vegomatic in the original box, A Pocket fisherman, & of course we've got the hair in a spray can {can you say, get a life}. We're still trying to locate a Ronco record vac though. Anyone remember those tv commercials? Any one know where we can find one? I also bought a stuffed alligator for a buck. I had to wrap duct tape around his tail to keep him from leaking sawdust. Ron. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Metchosin Date: 30 Sep 00 - 01:38 PM Art my brother has been invited to play at the Winnepeg Folk festival next year, so if you are there again, you can creep him out by asking him if he still has his bayonette. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Metchosin Date: 30 Sep 00 - 01:33 PM Gee that's not too weird Lepus, my brother bought one too, when he was young.......come to think of it now, my little brother was a pretty weird kid........he spent a lot of time drawing gory cartoons and blowing up his dinky toys with firecrackers in the back yard. His drawings came to the attention of the school district psychiatrist, who did an assesment on him based on his drawings and the fact that he came from a broken home, which at that time was a rarity. Our mother was informed, by the school, that he was a really violent youth....which in itself was weird because his only other violent acts, apart from the dinky toys, were against his drum practice pad. 40 years later he's still making some pretty beautiful music on various instuments and my very non-violent brother came out of it all with a pretty strong sense of outrage against stereotyping and a penchant for routing for the underdog........Ooops serious thread drift here.... Odd purchases? One amongst too many over the years, was a brass fathometer, too large and heavy to hang on the wall and the shape did not lend itself to standing it in the corner, we stubbed our toes on it for years, until finally giving it away as a gift. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Art Thieme Date: 30 Sep 00 - 01:13 PM I bought a cloth camouflage-patterned rifle bag/case to carry my musical saw in. Flying to Winnipeg for the folk festival with it proved to be rather difficult. Art Thieme |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Little Hawk Date: 30 Sep 00 - 12:53 PM sophocleese - I DO hope you are not planning to play it at song circle... If so, we will retaliate in ways you can't even imagine. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: sophocleese Date: 30 Sep 00 - 12:22 PM Well last week I spent $75 on a used accordian. Its missing one button, two of the keys stick and it smells slightly of mildew. But I'm having fun wrecking my back trying to play the thing. I've never played one before or really seen how its played so its fun to figure out what all the buttons do.
|
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Lepus Rex Date: 30 Sep 00 - 11:55 AM Back in high school, I got this battered old US Army bayonette (Well, not THAT old; from the 60s, I'd guess. But battered). My friends thought it was creepy, for some reason. Anyways, I used to carry it, well-hidden, for protection. Me and a friend of mine went into the little store near my house one day, and I've got the bayonette, like I said, well-hidden under my baggy shirt. The clerks, a man and woman in their 40s, start cackling for no apparent reason, becoming more and more hysterical as time passes, and I start to feel all panicky, and I get a little dizzy. We walk out, and I'm thinking 'Holy God, I think I'm going insane here.' I turn to my friend and ask her 'Did you notice anything weird in there?' (trying to sound sane, heh) She says something like 'That was VERY f*cking weird.' She saw and hears the same things as I did, and had the same panicked, dizzy feeling. So I quit taking that bayonette with me. No idea what that means, but I guess that's my weirdest purchase. It's actually stranger than I'm making it sound. :) ---Lepus Rex |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Ely Date: 30 Sep 00 - 02:12 AM mcdo, I am laughing myself blue (I am glad to hear you're healing well, though). My uncle once sent me a small set of shark jaws as a gift. I didn't expect there to be shark jaws in the box and cut myself pretty badly when I was opening it . . . My mother and I developed a mild obsession with a large oak armchair in a local antique store. They wanted $150 dollars for it, which really wasn't too bad since it was so big and very solid. It was there for the longest time and the price kept creeping down until we went in and offered them $80 and they took it immediately. It turns out, they all hated it because they thought it looked like the electric chair. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: zonahobo Date: 30 Sep 00 - 01:01 AM There is no way I could sort through all my odd purchases for the oddist, but I recently paid $1 at a yard sale for a Paymaster mechanical payroll check imprinter by Paymaster. One of those things that looks like a little cash register that a guy in a green visor operated in the 50's. Still pressed the amount nicely. So I put myself on the payroll. It has to be worth somehing and it's PC (pre-computer)! |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: WyoWoman Date: 30 Sep 00 - 12:48 AM I bought an entire CD of "Louie, Louie." many different artists, marching bands, a vibraphone player. Many, many, many interpretations of an enduring favorite. Over and over and over ... I don't know whether to be happy or sad that the man I'd been living with at the time took it with him when he left ... ww |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Barbara Date: 30 Sep 00 - 12:37 AM Well, as a costumer, it's pretty hard to come up with my wierdest purchase -- we're always using something for a purpose other than that for which it is intended. But the day last spring I was in our local Coast to Coast Hardware store -- and I live in a small farming community in rural Oregon -- with the lavender satin Fredricks of Hollywood push up, lace up corset laid out on the check out counter while we tried to find the best toggle switches and solder to connect to the battery packs for the tit and butt and crotch lights for the costume, and the farmers kept walking past slowly, then "forgetting something" , making a loop and passing the counter again... well, that day has to be right up there...
The musical is Gypsy, and the character Electra, one of the three strip entertainers who sing "You Gotta Have a Gimmick". |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Lonesome EJ Date: 30 Sep 00 - 12:25 AM You anti-Radioshack bastards should burn in hell for your Tandy-phobic utterances.Fall on your knees and beg forgiveness of St Alkaline,Patron Saint of Battery-Testers. I own a Radioshack,Little Hawk and hesperis,so don't be coming in to the store in Conifer Colorado and pulling that smart shit with me.I've seen it all.Today,this little old man comes in with his cordless phone handset and says "can you test the battery on this thing? The volume has gotten gradually worse until I can hardly hear anyone who's talking to me,and the ringer's gotten quieter and quieter too." I took the phone and asked "how long have you had it?" He gives me a blank look and says "What?" "How long have you..." "WHAT?"he says,I respond "I SAID 'HOW LONG HAVE YOU HAD IT!!" and ...well,you get the picture. Back on the topic...I own a 2000 year-old Roman oil lamp that I bought in a rummage sale in Burley,Dorset,a basket of fossilized shark's teeth that I bought with the vague idea of making jewelry out of them,and three huge stained-glass windows I bought in Boscombe,padded,wrapped,carted to the airplane,and have now been storing in my shed for about ten years.I also have a large eerie photograph of a long-dead relative that includes a lock of his hair in the overly-ornate frame.I can't stand to look at it because it gives me the heebie-jeebies,and I'm afraid that if I get rid of it the old character will haunt me.Maybe I could trade it to SINSULL for her creepy talisman. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: mcdo Date: 30 Sep 00 - 12:14 AM This is my first time in the Mudcat Cafe. I just happened to stumble into this section. I just want you all to know how welcome you have made me feel. I am an obsessive purchaser of useless items that have no apparent use or value. I have in my possession (I can't even remember how long) a pair of glasses. They are very special in that you lool into a pair of inverted triangle wedges that are attached to a kind of visor. Then you can look staight ahead and still see an item immediately in front of you. I have only worn them once. It is impossible to see an object in front of you, but fun to watch your feet move. I was getting into watching my feet moving faster and faster and could not see the tree. It all ended well though, I located an excellent surgeon and the scars above my eyes are barely noticeable now. Did I mention that I have been listing them for sale or free to a good home for the last 3 1/2 years? Mcdo |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Little Hawk Date: 29 Sep 00 - 11:57 PM I read a review on that one. "It stinks." That's all they said. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Peter Kasin Date: 29 Sep 00 - 11:50 PM I bought a CD that Spaw recommended (should I stop there?). It's called "Mr. Methane.Com: The World's Only Performing Flatulist." It's crass, low-down, tasteless...in other words, I LOVE IT! Thanks, Spaw. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Little Hawk Date: 29 Sep 00 - 11:49 PM He feels pretty, and witty, and bright...and he pities...any Mudcatter who isn't he tonight...da da da da da dum da da da dum.... Mbo, you get a bonus point for your response! Bravo! |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Mbo Date: 29 Sep 00 - 11:34 PM I feel pretty! Oh so pretty! |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Little Hawk Date: 29 Sep 00 - 11:32 PM What are Meebs? Are they anything like dweebs? |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: hesperis Date: 29 Sep 00 - 11:29 PM Radio Shack, eh? Well, I didn't actually buy this thing, but it's funny. I walked into Radio Shack one day looking for the price on a computer game I wanted - I wasn't looking for studfinders, sheesh! - and I managed to walk all the way into the back of the store before a salesman came to "help" me. I told him I was looking for a specific computer game, and tried to turn back to perusing the shelves. Well, he said, really enthusiastically, "You GOTTA look at this software that just came in!" Like a fool, I followed him to a rack FULL of Cosmopolitan Instant Makeover on CD-ROM. I guess he assumed that because I'm female, I'd be interested in that crapola. I'm not interested. So I was trying to explain that I wasn't interested, and after about three minutes, he realized that I wasn't interested. It usually takes longer, he was smart for a Radio Shack salesman. Anyway, just as I was turning to go back to looking for what I wanted to look for, a lightbulb turned on above my head. I could use that software to put in pictures of all my guy friends and my friends' boyfriends, and turn them into something that belongs on a magazine cover! A stupid, frilly FEMALE magazine cover! Pretend that they're all cross-dressers, and show the pictures to my friends!!! Imagine Mbo with long, stylish golden hair, bright blue-green eyeshadow, ruby cheeks, and bright red lipstick. Don't forget the evening gown with a well-stuffed push-up bra. Or better yet, like an old lady with blue rinse in his/her hair. I still regret not buying that... My erratic sense of self-control unfortunately kicked in.
~*sirepseh*~ |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Mbo Date: 29 Sep 00 - 11:05 PM LH, don't let EJ catch you! |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Bill D Date: 29 Sep 00 - 11:04 PM reminds me of the story of a world-travelling playboy who collected stuff where ever he went. He managed to lure some sweet thing (blond, no doubt) up to his apartment. She browsed while he fixed drinks....so when he came back, she pointed to the mantle...
"Ummm..what's that thing?"... |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Little Hawk Date: 29 Sep 00 - 11:02 PM It gets scary sometimes, doesn't it, Mbo? Here's a Radio Shack story. A lady came in just before Christmas and asked us if we had any studfinders. We did. "How many have you got?" she asked. "Wait, I'll check inventory," I said. "The computer says we've got 3 of them." "I'll buy all three," she declared firmly. As she left the store, my boss, Richard said, "Now there goes a desperate woman!" True story. I hate it when I walk into a store and a salesperson comes over right away and starts pestering me. (That happens all the time in Radio Shack, by the way...they are truly pshychotically obsessed with making money off the hapless public...but I digress.) Anyway, I worked out a standard routine...they ask me if they can help me...I say either 1. "Yes, I'm looking for a date with Cher." or 2. "Well, I have been trying to get a date with Winona Ryder." Well, I did the "date with Cher" one to a salesman in Radio Shack one day, and it almost caused him to fry his synapses....I think he thought it was a computer game...he tried desperately to retrieve it out of his memory, and then said "Wait, I'll see if it's on the computer inventory." I did wait. He came back in a while, and said "We don't have it, but maybe I can order it in." I said "No way, Jose, I either get it now, or I'm taking my business elsewhere", and stalked out of the store. For all I know, he may still by looking for it. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Mbo Date: 29 Sep 00 - 10:42 PM Gulp |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Sorcha Date: 29 Sep 00 - 10:39 PM Sinsull, NO I do NOT want your "Roman phallic symbol." If it were mine, I would bury it in sea salt for at least 30 days,smudge it with sage and cinnamon, then take it to a very, very out of the way place and bury it at least 6 feet deep. Anything that creepy feeling needs to be purified and disposed of. Properly. Male shit. I am sick of it. Splinters from the soapbox are hurting. Rant off. Thank you for the offer, tho! |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: SINSULL Date: 29 Sep 00 - 10:21 PM Guy, that's hilarious. Whatever the prize, you currently are winning it. With your luck it is probably the old wagon complete with 30 years of parking tickets. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Melani Date: 29 Sep 00 - 10:21 PM I just bought a really crappy dulcimer covered with furniture varnish with the idea of using it at Renaissance Faires, where no one in their right mind would take a decent stringed instrument (at least, I wouldn't). It turns out I'll have to rework the bridge just to be able to tune it, but--oh, well, another project. The weirdest thing we ever had in the house was not bought but given to us, and the guy asked our permission before showing it to our kids. Like idiots, we said yes. It was a life-sized stuffed bear toy. It sat glowering in the living room for several years, then in the basement for several more. We finally managed to get someone to adopt the thing--and they haven't spoken to us since. I had a jeweler friend who liked to make rings out of petrified dinosaur poop. He especially enjoyed the fact that most people did not know the term "coprolite" and had no idea what they were buying. |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Guy Wolff Date: 29 Sep 00 - 10:11 PM OK Ok , I do have a good one for this!!! In 1970/71 when I was aprentising for my trade in Ewenny Wales (Pottery) I went on a small trip to Irland.. Outside of Limerick I bought a Tinker's caravan off of a family moving into state Housing.. It was just beautifull!!! The irons fell off the wheels ,though , in the first few miles but I had the good fortune to have the help of some other tinkers who took it in trade and sold me another (I'm now in 100 quid: remember this is 1970) .. Anyway I almost made it to Cork with the help of my newly made friends but they disapeared in the middle of the night with the horse before I could get it to the boat (5 miles to the boat) and back to Swanzey.. Low funds by then<><><><><><> I donated the caravan to the Cork Police department who sent for Mr. Reily to come back for his Caravan witch had been double-parked in town.. God what a twilite-zone that adventure was..I like Rick's totom Pole but I think this one has got to be in the international top ten.. Catspaw can judge.. WHats the prize anyway??????? All the best Guy |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: SINSULL Date: 29 Sep 00 - 09:53 PM I have a house full of irresistable crap including a circa 1950 knight in shining armor from Mexico rescued from a trash bin, a 1897 wind up Victrola that is the size of a coffin, a working 1960 something black and white Danish cabinet/TV, etc. My strangest is a Roman glass phallic charm dated to 100BC. I wore it once and it gave me the creeps. Can't explain it but I refuse to touch it and keep it in tissue in plastic. My family thinks I need to bury it - bad Karma. Anybody want it? |
|
Subject: RE: Folklore:, your oddest purchase From: Sourdough Date: 29 Sep 00 - 09:27 PM Does it count if you didn't buy it for yourself but for a friend? I have a friend with what is called an "earthy" sense of humor. He enjoys being outrageous but has the winning quality of being willing to lay his opinion and reputation on the line for things he believes in - and has done so. That was why, on a motorcycle trek across county, I had spent six or seven thousand miles looking for "the perfect gift" for him. With only two thousand miles to go before getting home, I was starting to worry. I hadn't seen anything that seemed remotely appropriate - but that was before I stopped in at Wall Drug. For those of you who don't know, Wall Drug is a strange place on the Western plains, somewhere in the middle of South Dakota, a drug store in the town of Wall. At least that it what it began as. Years ago, its claim to fame was that it offered free icewater to travellers. In the middle of a Great Plains summer, icewater is a strong attraction and people started stopping off for the free icewater and of course they bought things. The owners, realizing they had a good thing, expaded their advertising until if you got to within 500 miles of Wall from any direction, a roadsign told you about it. To further lure tourists, the owners got a buffalo and then a bear. Kids loved them. They got tourist dreck brought in by the truckload but it was all done with the same sort of sense of humor that made the Burma Shave signs so memorable and winning. Soon, Wall Drug was a "must stop". I had been there twenty years before, as a child. I had ridden a tame mechanical bucking bronco and had my picture taken on it, sporting the cowboy regalia they supplied that is so authentic for a nine year old. This trip, it seemed that Wall Drug was even bigger and more kitchy than I remembered it but I had a feeling this might be the place to find the perfect gift for Fritz - and I was right. There was a tray filled items so exquisitely correct as a gift for this particular person that I probably squealed with delight at their discovery. What I had found were petrified dinosaur droppings! I bought several pounds worth and got back on the highway. Fritz's reaction? He was overjoyed. Not only that, within a few weeks, he had learned a lot about dino droppings and was happy to share the information with me. Apparently, it is a whole field of study, a subset, I guess, of paleontology. The coprolites (as I recall they were named) are a great source of information about a lot of things. I guess that would include diet, size, size of colon, for starters. Anyway, that's my strange purchase. Sourdough Now, Catspaw 49, if that doesn't loosen up your vowels (and consonants) I have misjudged you. Come to think of it, I'll bet you and Fritz would really enjoy each other.
|
| Share Thread: |