Do you own anything cool?

[99RangerKrazy]

I was just wondering what you all have that you think is really neat, cool, awesome, unique, rare, etc (BESIDES your RBV, of course). This all stemmed from something my Mom showed me today.

We were watching this show on Jesse James (the outlaw) and these archaeologists trying to find treasure and artifacts that he may have buried. During the show, they were also trying to determine when he may have died. It was rumored he was murdered in 1882; however, there is some evidence that he may have lived all the way up into the 1930s (maybe even later), but under a different name to escape legal persecution.

At the end of the show, my Mom wanted me to come look at something that she owned. It's an old fiddle that used to own to who she called Uncle Bake. His real name was Emmett Baker. She said he was a transient who rode the rails and eventually showed up at her grandma's house (where my mom used to stay all the time) looking for work. He ended up staying at my Mom's grandma's farm for fifty-some years, dying in 1978. He lived to be 80 or so (meaning he was born in about 1900).

The cool part of the story is that the fiddle, supposedly, was given to Uncle Bake by Jesse James. My Mom said that is all Bake used to talk about, how he ran with Jesse James when he was younger, in his twenties. He always said how Jesse James was much older than him, but he thought he was awesome, so he used to run with him. He got the fiddle back when he was in his twenties.

Even though this story could be completely false, it's pretty cool to think that the fiddle used to be owned by Jesse James.

So do you own anything cool, unique, etc.? I love the story behind such items.

 

[rockin86ranger]

i own a business card that was from my dads old shop in texas. the cool part is when i was in kindergarten i was in some reading program and george w bush came by and i read him the foot book by dr.suess and had him sing the business card. it was dress up week that week and that day was 50s theme and i was of course a greaser, and i had a stack of cards in my sleeve instead of cigarettes. so i just unfolded my sleve and had him sign a card. of course at that time he was governor of texas, but either way i think its cool.

i also have a good size collection of cameras and a few small steam engines but theres no real story behind them except they where my grandpas

 

[hoosier1104]

I own about 3 dozen pint glasses from all the pubs I hit up when I was stationed in the UK. I visited the same pub more than once on a regular basis.

 

[adsm08]

Well, I own a wrench, and few tire chucks from the 1920's, new never used. I also have my great grandfather's texts and tests from the correspondence courses he took in automotive in the 20's. I've read some of them, and these things are from back when timing advance wasn't something you set with a light, or that was taken care of by the computer, it was a knob on the dash. And speedometers were optional equipment.


Oh, I also have a genuine Serbian Secret Police coat that my uncle picked up while he was stationed in Bosnia in the 90's.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

tire gauge from a model a.. not sure what year

and i also have a really old knife that i think is from the prussian war, at least thats what my research came up with

other than that i have a couple left hand cresent wrenches, only difference if that the thumbscrew is "left handed"

 

[straycat]

Yes..I have a few things that most people will never have....a Sitar that I bought in Bangkok Thailand in 1973. It was made in India by a known master maker that only made 5 of them. It was made in 1965. It is signed and numbered (in Indian). I had it appraised at $25,000 10 years ago!!!

I also have some very old vases I collected from an ancient city in Thailand. The city was unearthed by a coincidence due to construction. They are in perfect condition and they over 30,000 year old. I was up at the city for a few days to visit a friend and we went into the city to see a movie when we came upon several excavation sites. I was invited down in one of the dig sites and met a few archaeologist students who let me poke around. They did not pay much attention to me at all!!! I brought up two vases and one bowl. Nobody said a thing to me when I went into a local store and bought a small wooden crate and packed up the artifacts!!! I shipped them to my grandmother's house that same day. When I got back to America in late 74 I unpacked them and put two of them in storage.

I will post some photos when I scan the photos I took years ago of the pottery. They even smell old.....but they are not cracked up or anything. How much they are worth....I don't really know. I had a few professors at USF in Tampa tell me they would go for about $175,000 to $300,000 and that was over 30 years ago when I displayed them. I traded one of the vases for a slightly used low milage 67 Vette Tripower 427 in 1978. Even trade. The two remaining ones are in a safe deposit box safe and sound.


So....do I win???

 

[adsm08]

So....do I win???

Unless someone can come up with the Arc (either Noah's or Of the Covenant), the Holy Grail, or a genuine, certifiable piece of the Cross, yes.

Or Abraham's bones.

 

[BRUTUS_T_HOG]

I traded one of the vases for a slightly used low milage 67 Vette Tripower 427 in 1978. Even trade.

best part right there.

 

[RatDog8o8]

I own a large collection of KISS-related guitars and basses. The one that's the coolest is a Kramer Gene Simmons Axe...a guitar version, not a bass. According to the ad, the first 1000 instruments were supposed to be signed by Gene, under the clearcoat. Best guess is, they didn't make as many as originally planned, and some of them became guitars instead of basses (the bodies of both instruments are identical, except for the pickups). I have letters from Kramer Guitars stating that there were only 25 guitar-versions built, and only "about" 175 bass versions. Another assumption is that since the bodies are identical, Gene signed a couple hundred, then the project fell through. But, it's the coolest thing I own.

My "holy grail" is to some day own a matching bass....

I also have some old tools, from the late 1800s and the early 1900s.

 

[Ranger Dave (B25)]

Wanna know what cool thing I have?

A damn yard full of snow, about 12 inches deep. That ain't cool.

 

[straycat]

Wanna know what cool thing I have?

A damn yard full of snow, about 12 inches deep. That ain't cool.

What is snow??? Can you send me a small sample of it?? lol

 

[straycat]

I own a large collection of KISS-related guitars and basses. The one that's my avatar is a Kramer Gene Simmons Axe...a guitar version, not a bass. According to the ad, the first 1000 instruments were supposed to be signed by Gene, under the clearcoat. Best guess is, they didn't make as many as originally planned, and some of them became guitars instead of basses (the bodies of both instruments are identical, except for the pickups). I have letters from Kramer Guitars stating that there were only 25 guitar-versions built, and only "about" 175 bass versions. Another assumption is that since the bodies are identical, Gene signed a couple hundred, then the project fell through. But, it's the coolest thing I own.
[I also have some old tools, from the late 1800s and the early 1900s.

So, now we know that Kiss had a least one fan....lol

 

[doorgunner]

I have a linen cloth from 1971 with a U.S. flag on it.....under the flag is 3 or 4 different languages.

All the languages say the same thing....something to the effect that this American soldier who has the flag is worth $100 dollars if returned alive.

I never got to use it....always made it back to the base-camp.....


adsm08.......I also had a feather plucked from the wing of a live angel, but a month later some jerk grabbed it when he asked to see it, threw it on the ground, and stomped it to pieces....you just never know how someone is going to react when they are in the presence of tangible evidence.

 

[RollinWOT]

I have one 1930's-1940's Volkswagen/Audi Auto Union 14x5" wheel. This fit the original Audi Auto Union(not Audi, but the actual Audi Auto Union, made up of the 4 companies represented by the 4 rings; Wanderer, Horch, Audi, and DKW) and Volkswagen cars like the Karmann Ghia, 1700, and Beetle. I have no idea what it's worth, probably not much, but it's still a nice piece of history.

I also have a Scottish Skean Dhu, which is the traditional Scott's last resort knife, usually tucked in a sock or strapped to his thigh when he wears his kilt. I wear wear it when I wear my kilt.

 

[willievhook]

I have my grandfathers first pocket knife....an old Barlow.

And a matching shotgun/.22 set from the 1890's that my great great grandfather bought new