WUNDERKAMMER I
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I ran across this word recently when I was looking for pictures of antique objects to use in the Swedish-English Pictorial Dictionary. In early times people often gathered their “treasures” into a cabinet or even a room for proper display. Thus, “Room of Wonders” – a mini-museum. It occurred to me that I have “treasures” tucked away in all corners of my place, with very few of them on display. I decided to photograph some of them to share.
This is the 1943 edition of the Boy Scout Handbook. I got it for 50¢ and
read it a lot, but we never settled in one place long enough for me to join.
I inherited Mom’s 1946 edition of the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book and,
since the basics of cooking don’t change much, and all I need are the basics, I
use it quite regularly.
This is the 1956 edition of Army Log Tables. This is the actual source
book I used when I was in the Army. I WAS a Computer in the Survey Section
of the Headquarters Battery of a 105mm Howitzer Battalion.
I took wood shop in high school and this box is one of the products of that
class. Somehow it has survived marriages and divorces, travels galore, and
lack of maintenance. Good work?
When we were in Thailand we sent my father-in-law this carved teak box. I
don’t know the appropriate name for it, but it is for overnight storage of
spectacles, wallet and watch. When Minard died, I ended up with the
treasure and used it as intended. It is still full of things that were
important to me once, but since retirement, my watch, shoehorns, change, and any
number of odd items, sit idle.
This is a potpourri of objects from my past. I simply can’t talk about the
first one. Oh, I know what it is, where it is from, and what it is for,
but I can’t tell you. I’ve probably said too much already.
In ancient times (60s) we used to write computer
instructions on paper forms, submit them for manual conversion to punched paper
tape or punched cards, for input to computers via appropriate readers.
Variation in handwriting was an issue and some rules prevailed. To
distinguish between similar characters our rules were O was the letter while Ø
was zero, and 2 was the number while
My father was friends with the sheriff of a town in Upper Peninsula of Michigan
(UP). One night when we were visiting him I admired a set of brass keys he
had on display and the sheriff gave me the smallest of the set. He said
they were keys to the jail, but I now suspect they were very attractive display
items. I still like it.
My parents and I spent many years in the cold of the UP.
As an adult, I purchased the brass monkey above to test the climate in the UP.
Sure enough, the monkey lost certain male parts, proving that it was cold enough
to freeze the ……… off a brass monkey.
I’m not sure how the seahorse survived, but I believe it was purchased at the
1933 World Fair in Chicago and given to me by one of my relatives who lived
there at the time. Since I was born in that year, I suspect it was given
to me somewhat later.
Ceramics made of Celadon are popular exports of Thailand. While assigned
there, we purchased a number of things including this covered casserole with
wooden base. It has never seen food or the inside of an oven (except when
it was fired), but it is pleasant to see.
The carved head came from Bali, where we stopped on our return trip from the
assignment in Thailand. The 7500 (somethings) price tag is still on the
base. If this is in Rupiahs, at today’s rate it would cost less than $1.
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These classic masks were a gift from Ru, a coworker who made a vacation trip to
Taiwan in the 80s and brought them back for me.
In 2004 my old friend Helen was returning from Thailand and emailed me to see if
I wanted anything from there. I requested a snack food that I remembered
called muu phèn (literally pork sliced). This delicacy is thin like bacon and
crispy like potato chips and flavored as only the Thai can do. Helen
picked up two pails full and wrestled them on and off planes as carry-ons until
she got to Maui. She was challenged at our airport and had to admit it was
a meat product. They made her dump the muu phèn in the trash, but
generously allowed her to keep the pails. After all her efforts, she
presented me with two pails full of the smell of muu phèn.
These Chinese characters of brass are trivets, but are
also equipped with hooks which allow them to be used for wall hangings.
Purchased in Thailand in 1971.
A 55mm shell casing and two bayonets – leftovers from WW II. I’m not even
sure of the provenance of these items, but I think the casing came from my
ex-father-in-law. One of the bayonets probably came from some odds and
ends left with me when a friend was out of the country and never got collected
when he returned. The second bayonet just appeared in my belongings.
The plaque hung in my parents bathroom for as long as I can remember and it now
hangs in my guest bathroom. The Swedish says “Sit in peace and have it
good until someone else wants your place.” JR actually reproduced this
item and has one in his bathroom now.
AFTERWORD
The title of this P-gram probably gives you a clue that it is the start of a
series. I have a list of obscure items lying around the house and I hope
to share more of them with you. Hope you will enjoy looking at these
things as I have enjoyed digging them out. A side effect is that some of
them are experiencing cleaning for the first time in quite a while.
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