My wonderful and strange father gave me the coolest Xmas gift, which I opened early at his behest.
What could it be?
I guess he found it on Ebay- he said someone from England found it with their metal detector, probably buried somewhere, though it’s pretty clean so who knows. Anyway, it’s this old cigarette tin filled with all kinds of wierd shit. It’s got a commemerative coin celebrating the 1919 armistace, a bunch of random tokens
(My favorite says on one side: “I smile at you, bad luck cannot harm you*BILLIKEN*” with a slightly racist asian-eyed monkey pictured, and on the other side: “Always buy PEEK FREANS biscuits. highest quality cost no more” )
…There are a few sharks teeth, a fossilized clam of some kind, a couple ancient looking metal thimbles, and some other random flotsam. It’s really quite astonishing. Some people might think of it as junk, but I ADORE it, and it reminds me a lot of the wonderful box of memorabilia in the movie Amilie, only I have no way to find the original owner, and if it was set aside in 1919, there’s pretty much no chance the person who stashed it is still alive. But that’s ok, it’s just awesome to have, and wonder why these objects are in here, and where they came from, and who put them there. Totally, utterly, unspeakably awesome.
"Players Navy Cut Cigarettes"
....and all the weird goodies contained therein (The racist monkey coin is visible on the lower left, and the fossil clam on the lower right)
Esmeralda's Quiet Life 
I bet you can’t write a story about how all the items would interconnect. You know, as a bedtime story for Henry. Bet you can’t 😛 Hell, bet I can’t help you 🙂
Where the hell did Henry come from… I meant Wesley. Henry was my grandfather.
lol, it’s all good. You’re right though- that’s a GREAT idea!
I don’t know who these “some people” are, but to me, that’s totally not junk, it’s full of WIN. I’m totally jealous of your present.
It’s not the traditional “socks and sweater” Xmas gift, but of course, this is my dad we’re talking about, lol. Gifts I remember getting from him include an original 1979 Sex Pistols ’45, a publishers copy of a Richard Leaky book on prehistoric African hominids, and a portable microscope, so all things considered it’s pretty on par.
That is so very lovely and incredibly awesome!
Again, you and I are the same in that we love weird, old stuff and love *thinking* about the real stories behind old objects.
I once wrote, “Always fascinated by the idea of history and past lives, I spend a lot of time combing through thrift stores and antique malls, finding inspiration in old things. Antiques are full of mystery because they have previous owners, previous experiences, and previous lives. I love the thought of putting my clothes into a dresser that had once held the clothes of women in previous generations who kept their secrets hidden beneath their bras and panties. I love the thought of wearing a hat that saw a completely different world from my own, all just by being nestled on the head of a woman born so many decades before me. I love uncovering the history in objects. I like that things have a story to tell, and I always want to give those stories the respect they deserve.”
I can’t wait to see you on Wednesday! *hugs*
This is beautifully said, and I could not agree more.
Yipee! See you then lovely lady!
Very cool….my dad used to have a players navy cut tobacco wooden case but the damp got to it…luckily i saved one side of it.
Yeah and took a photo of it.
The fossil looks like a devils toenail..we have a few of those somewhere…love old fossils and stuff.
We have an old tin from the first world war that was given to all the british soldiers on one christmas at the time…..
Amelie is a film i have not seen but want to…trying to watch a film day for the next year…..
Christmas Gretting from a snowy Suffolk, England
Hey Hope you Hunter and Wesley have a great christmas!! and an awesome 2011..
Also….your dad is awesome.
Just got in from Ely cambridgeshire bringing my sister home for christmas.
(deleted my farcebook due to getting heckled by someone i used to go to school with..feh….was’nt a fan of farcebook anyways)
vodka….sorry of this rambles.
Omg I didn’t even see this till just now. I’m such a douche.
I’ve never heard f a Devil’s toenail. I love the way that people name stuff- like- when people name stuff who aren’t strict science nuts. lol- instead of planetary body gb578 you have “Eris” or whatever- or like that shell, it’s not a mollusca subterranea shellusthing it’s a “Devil’s Toenail”. That is so much cooler.
I have the postcard from suffolk on my board at work and I see it every day. It’s up there with my pic of wes and hunter. I don’t know why you guys have such a big piece of my heart, but you do. Tru dat.
And WHO THE FUCK would harass you on farcebook? Asshats! You are fry, awesome and totally cool, who the hell would give you crap?!?!?!
I seriously cannot believe that.
Do you have a windows chat thing or other doodad you use- or even a regular email that I could have?
hey, just got myself a wordpress….after 2 days of being to stupid to manage to start one..(thought i had to pay)..anyways i am subscribing to you…naturally. (frys adventures in nerdland)
YAY! I have subscribed to you! I’m so glad! I like it better than lj- the format is not as easy to work with, but you don’t end up with a million people reading your stuff, and there are no communities- which may sound like detractors but I was kind of done with too many people, you know?
Did your sis tell you I sent you a book? Well I did. It’s just a cheesy scifi book, but t’s my favorite scifi book by my all time favorite author, so I think you’ll probably at least dig it a little. I’ve been meaning to send it to you for ages, but you know how stuff goes. It won’t be coming directly from me though- it’s coming from a seller on amazon so let me know when it arrives, so I can leave feedback, ok?
tried to put a pic in the middle of that but it failed i think…
linkage…. http://www.flickr.com/photos/matt1138/4868489712/
I can’t believe I didn’t see this until now, I feel like such an asshole!!!!!
cool thanks…i will give you a heads up when it arrives at put it on the top of my “to read” pile….i always have a book on the go but im not always very fast at getting though them.
me neither. It’s been taking me about 3x as long to get through one nowadays, because babies & books are not good pals.
Hey, the book arrived today…..its cool as i feel like some sci fi next just gotta finish “the boat who would’nt float” ad i can start it, I also bought world war z a couple weeks ago but planet of adventure is next.
Thanks.
OMG I absolutely adore that book.
Please, review-
I have read it twice and it still haunts me oddly.
I’m so glad it’s there safe and sound.
There’s something about Jack Vance. He had a sreally amazing life store, but also my dad used to read me his books when I was little- he’s both erudite and yet still really readable. At least I think so.
😀 happy it’s there.
What’s The boat that Wouldn’t Float?