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Misfits of the Mineral Collection
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- Опубликовано: 7 май 2019
- Help us solve some mysteries! Do you have any more information about these Misfits from the Mineral Collection?! A number of these objects have historical or cultural value and significance, but our records are incomplete. Help us, Brain Scoopers!
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Executive Producer, Creator, Host:
Emily Graslie
Producer, Director, Editor:
Sheheryar Ahsan
Production Assistant, Content Developer, Writer:
Raven Forrest
Interview With:
Jim Holstein
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This episode is filmed on location at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois.
www.fieldmuseum...
The watch fob would be attached so that the crossbar would go through the vest hole behind the button, the weight would dangle below the button and the clasp would attach to the watch in the pocket.
Ahh I knew someone would beat me to this. Well done, you!
True
My grandpa had one
I think you're correct!
Ahhh! That makes sense!
@@thebrainscoop the jade fob is also most likely for a watch chain. A fob is the decorative weight that hangs down as described above, like the larger square on the other watch chain. The jade fob is simply missing its chain. Or it never had one and was to be chosen seperately depending on individual taste.
can we get a whole series of these weird and wonderful collections?
can we get a whole series of these weird and wonderful collectors?
I'll second that request!
”Werd and wounderful collectors” ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
I'd be happy with a whole series of mystery items.
yesss
There needs to be a small case in Stanley Field Hall with items like this in it with a sign over it that asks, "What are these things?" You can put a "suggestion box" with some paper next to it and people can give answers that can later be verified. You can number the items so you can match up the suggestions. Swap things out as they get verified.
That's a great idea!
@@thebrainscoop Thanks!
John Januszewski
Clever!
+
@@thebrainscoop To be honest, having more videos with mysteries like this could be pretty fun to watch. There's a subreddit called /r/whatisthisthing/ that would probably also have a ball trying to figure things out.
reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing
Emily, I bet if you posted one item a week to that board, you could clear that "unknown" catalogue in no time. Those guys are geniuses at this kind of thing
+
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She is aware of this reddit and mentioned it on her Tumblr as something she enjoyed doing in her free time back when this channel started. She is actually how I found out about it.
I expected at least one "Sedimentary, my dear Watson...." joke.
eyyyyyy
Sounds like an idea for the next episode :)
Sherlock is rolling over in his literary grave.
Seeing the fascination with Dinosaur Poop, perhaps, ''Alimentary, my dear Watson.''
The agate cigarette holder is not a cigarette holder. It is a pen shaft and a steel writing nib is inserted into the end with the hole. You dip the nib in the ink bottle and write letters, homework assignments, etc. The ones common people used were made of wood. Some had a small lever mechanism that would lock the nib into the holder. Nibs were interchangeable and came in different sizes and styles for other uses such as calligraphy, "pen and ink" drawings. Some nibs had "ball points" like a fountain pen.
And considering it matches the button hook it makes sense, ladies wouldn't be smoked at that time.
Jim is such a dork. It's great. He's one of the best guests on the show.
i like that his mind immediately went to Burgess Meredith's Penguin (Adam West's Batman).
Dork? Nah, he's just a geek.
The "cigarette holder" without the hole might actually be a quill holder for metal quills
Oh, yes! I have some made of wood that look kind of similar.
It could've at one time had a clip or pin on the metal end to hold the cigarette, and the long stone end would've been the part you held in your hand; but yeah, it does bear a resemblance to a nib pen, so ???
I think you’re right that it’s a “quill holder,” better known as a “pen,” and the “metal quills” were known as “pen nibs” (or just “nibs”).
Sorry but it is not. If it had been it would have had another metal piece inside the hole.
@@ZeroArcana I agree, there were types of cigarette holders with just a ring and a handle. Unlike the cigarette extension type that we usually see these days. And I can see a tiny ring or little clamp breaking off much easier than a pen nib - unless it was a replaceable nib kinda pen.
The 'cigarette holder' looks kind of like a handle for a dip pen! I'd want to see if the opening is threaded or not.
It could also be a stub-pencil holder; I've seen a few similar (but less ornate) ones. You use them as extensions when the pencil becomes too short to use comfortably.
Oh i was thinking a brush that lost all its bristles
I've watched since the very first episodes, in Montana.
I still cannot close out the video until she says "It still has brains on it."
I love The Brain Scoop!! I recently started turning you on when I’m babysitting and my kids love it! We’re at the point they ask for it when I come over!
I'm fairly sure the "beads" at 11:20 are Talhakimt pendants
Oh wow, I think you may be right! Thank you for sharing!
And what's that?
@@thebrainscoop No problem! Thanks for all that you do Emily and Co.
jjkusaf Good call. (I'd never heard of those, so I looked them up.)
I just googled those and yeah, that looks like it! If anyone else is wondering what those are, this page has a picture with pendants that look almost just like the ones in the video. web.prm.ox.ac.uk/amulets/index.php/museum-trail/15-resources/152-trail-tuareg/index.html
i would love to open my electricity bills with that superior dagger
11/10 suggested use for that device
Ugh I can't do that because I signed up for ebills.
That is a watch chain. It's usually worn with a waistcoat and the little bar on the chain is slipped through one of the button holes in the waistcoat and the watch attaches to the little claw hook. Waistcoats have a little watch pocket which of course the watch is kept in but because the chain is anchored by the little bar through the buttonhole it means you won't lose it and of course it's a statement piece worn by rich men. Bye Chuck.
"Is this made of quartz?"
...of quartz it is
10/10
If the 'cigarette holder' is solid on both ends it may have been a pipe tamp.
"They're not rocks, Marie. They're minerals!" ;)
That jade pendant looks literally just like a necklace pendant. Maybe it could have been attached to some sort of pull, or maybe a headpiece/hat? Definitely decorative. The round triangles could be planchettes possibly. The rise of spiritualism starred in the mid-19th century.
The red-orange agate, triangular "beads" are actually beads called talhakimt or tanfouk. They seem to originate in either India or Africa and are now associated with the Tuareg people in particular. From the Pitt River Museum website below; "Shaped like an arrowhead fixed to a ring,...talhakimt are derived from Indian carnelian finger rings. In the early 20th century they were mass produced in factories in India, Germany, France, Italy, and Czechoslovakia and exported to West Africa, where they were sold at street markets...talhakimt were also made of agate and celluloid plastic, and came in red, green, yellow, and white as well as blue. They were used as protective amulets and fertility charms, and were worn on necklaces and as hair ornaments." web.prm.ox.ac.uk/amulets/index.php/protection-7/index.html and redcamel1.blogspot.com/2011/10/you-say-talhakimt-i-say-tanfouk.html
Here, blindly put your hand into this bag.
IT'S A KNIFE!
"My moon doesn't smell."
That letter opener obviously from Whitby north yorkshire. We are famous for our jet and ammonites!
Now we need a video with an abacus expert showing us how to use one.
This is fantastic. But, I had real hopes there would be footage of you both discovering hidden rooms with your hats, pipes and magnifying glasses in hand. :) Maybe even a little sherlock holmes type music in the background.
6:17 - I'm a sculptor and use "plaster of Paris"/gypsum all the time for moldmaking & such and never have I ever seen it in such a state! Only as a powder and re-formed as opaque objects. Au naturale is gorgeous!!! Thanks for teaching me something new about something I've been using for over 20 years!
The watch fob chain: one end goes through the button and clips together, preventing the loss of the chain. The other end goes through the watch, holding it, the weight helps keep the watch inside the pocket...
All of these items were especially interesting! I hope the chest will end up being displayed. It's especially lovely!
My Grandfather used to cut gemstones for a hobby. I used to love watching him work with the various stones. So Interesting!
Every question Emily asks is beyond perfect- I imagine any "curator of weird collections" dreams of responding to these types of questions!
On the jade object perhaps you could check with staff at the Lizzadro Museum. They have a large jade collection, so maybe they can help.
They have unbelievable pieces carved from single pieces of jade. Currently, they are in the process of moving from Elmhurst to Oak Brook and
will re-open in the fall.
From what I understand with the watch chain. The cross bar is not for the watch end but goes through a buttonhole in the waistcoat.
The abacus works through a tally system. Each time you go through enough of the previous units you advance the next row by one. So each row is a different digit in the number. As far as I know the most efficient abacus's are the Japanese Soroban which are still used today as a skilled Soroban person can calculate much faster than an electronic calculator can
T-Bar on watch chain was designed to fit through the hole in the top of the front flap of bib overall. This kept the train engineers from losing their watches while working, and aloud easy access for keeping trains on time. Conductors also used them and hooked them through special re-enforced holes in their vest.
Is the little Jade object a lucky cabbage to hang on your purse? My friend was given one once as a gift. Love the show!
Never heard of a lucky cabbage before! Wacky!
This was an AMAZING video! Please do more with the geology department. It's amazing all the hidden gems (pun intended) that are hiding in drawers!
Isn’t it wonderful, that not only get these things preserved and studies, but you can actually share them with all of?
Those are Tuareg beads. They are still used today.
Can confirm, here's a modern example www.globalbeads.com/shop/agate-point-tuareg-necklace-tp08/
The item at 8:10, rather than being the top of a walking stick, could also be a ladies' parasol handle. Its size suggests that, because any walking stick that could go in there would be bizarrely slender. These fancy parasol ends were often made of precious or semi-precious materials and sold like jewelry, they were interchangeable onto whatever parasol you were using.
The abacus is used primarily for fast addition and subtraction. It has columns for the ones, tens, hundreds, etc., each with a number of beads. This one seems to colour the middle two so you can easily select the right number. Imagine a merchant saying "a pound of rice is this much", as he slides some beads, "this much for a chicken", etc. as he adds up your grocery bill.
In 1946 an abacus operator out-performed an electronic computer. Consider that even ten years later, the IBM 1401 did 90,000 operations a second, compared to a billion, today, and only had addition and subtraction, with integer multiplication an optional feature.
At 2:08 The carved quartz disk actually seems to be Moses being removed from the Nile. One woman is wearing what appears to be a crown, that combined with the amount of women present would suggest that this is depicting Pharaoh’s daughter and her attendants removing Moses from the river. The women also appear shocked/amazed which is more consistent with the account of when Moses was found compared to when he was placed into the river.
Exodus 2:5-6 is the passage that depicts the scene: ‘then Pharaoh‘s daughter went down to the Nile to bathe, and her attendants were walking along the riverbank. She saw the basket among the reeds and sent her female slave to get it. She opened it and saw the baby. He was crying, and she felt sorry for him. “This is one of the Hebrew babies,” she said.’ NIV
The watch fob, I can solve. My grandfather also had one of these. It's either for a coat pocket or a pants pocket. But you had it the wrong way. The watch goes on the long end so you could pull it out and read it, and the T-shaped part goes through a button hole and holds it in place.
This was a fascinating episode! I haven't been to the Field Museum since I was a kid, but I still remember the mineral collection to this day because of how gorgeous it was. It's so cool to see all the different materials that people used to make all sorts of things! History is so amazing in that way.
Those two triangular things look like napkin rings to be honest.
they kinda do don't they
True, depending in how thick the napkin is when rolled.
They could also still be beads, just not the type you thread through a string. Perhaps intended for use with a decorative, precious metal wire wrap...or they were to be set in something. I've seen gems set with fittings for "bails" that let you string it on a chain or thread. Something to look into. They were nice examples of agate.
Agreed, and some napkin holders are called beads.
These are so cool. The field Museum should have a small temporary exhibit of all these cool things. Or maybe do stuff for the Chicago land schools.
I would like to make a case for the importance of having Chuck remain in a museum. I think the fact that we know when he was made and the fact that he looks exactly like a little kitschy souvenir that you could pick up inexpensively basically anywhere today together make him a very important museum piece, because he helps us realize that, in some ways, we are actually quite similar to our ancestors. We still like the same little knick knacks that they liked and also cluttered their houses with. It's easy to focus on all the ways that we are so different from people who lived a hundred years ago, but, it's also really important to realize that they were humans just like us, not aliens. Now, he might be better situated in a different museum, a museum that focuses on bridging that generational gap, but, I do emphatically believe he "belongs in a museum." ;) :)
"It was like that when I found it." Mhmhm.. sure Jim... sure....
Totally a thing that someone who didn't break it would say.
Doing the I don't know nutting boogie.!. Repent sinner!
That box is exactly what I'd imagine a loot chest filled with gold in a fantasy tabletop game to look like. It's absolutely extravagant. What could you even put in something like that that would be worth more than the box itself??? Absurd.
I would have never guessed button hook or that it would have been used for shoes.
In the late 1950's my great aunt, who was very old at the time, still had a button hook for shoes (but no button shoes). I thought she was telling me a made up story that shoes were buttoned when she was a young woman. Only years later did I realize that she was telling the truth.
I see these items and think how great it would be to see the Museum open an annex in a small community where a collection of odds and ends could bring in enough tourists to make a significant economic impact.
Love the references on the evidence bags, but I couldn't read several of them.
How did you fit a whole sky bison in such a small bag?
Baby bison???? Or an origami expert...
This guy is my favorite brainscoop character.
The assumption is that the hole on the beads is large because the string attached to it was large, but that's not necessarily the case. They could have been attached to the cord with cow hitch knots. A number of these, evenly spaced around the neck, all attached via cow hitch knots and with beads in-between each would be a very pretty necklace. The little nubs on the top would fit between the two strings on a cow hitch to hold it in place.
Collabs with Jim are always such great videos. I enjoyed the mystery of the more random things and thinking about what the other odd bits could be! The button hook was pretty awesome! I think my favourite word of this video is "lapidary", and my favourite piece? Well probably the cigarette holder or the sample seals.
this video has such a whimsical feel and I love it
That was all very interesting. I really like the idea of people offering their ideas to ID the mystery items.
i always love the brain scoop but man this episode is just...so freaking awesome
You were very close on the watch chain. You just had the ends reversed. So the bar end goes into the button hole of your vest, and the clasp connects to the watch.
You can easily get a buttonhook on Amazon. It’s used by people with arthritis. It’s a different size and shape, for shirt buttons, but it works the same way.
That little jade fob is beautiful! It looks like a cucumber with a blossom still attached.
Even without the provenance of the mineral (which, NICE, it's so cool that we can know that), that's DEFINITELY a Russian abacus. It has the distinctive lack of a divider bar and two beads in the middle of a different colour than the others. I have no clue how to use it! I do know how to use the kind common to eastern Asia though, because it was a common teaching tool for beginner arithmetic even in the 1990s.
As a kid I saw this type of abacus used in small shops in late USSR.
How to use it? Each row is a decimal digit, so you can sum up or subtract decimal numbers one by one. 2 colored beads do mark the middle, so for example you don't count 7 beads, you just pick "one bead right from colored"
@@brine1986 I was born in 1984 and we had them in school, when I was a kid. In Denmark. Thought to be more educational than digital calculators.
Oh man, I love bits and bobs like this! Can the other departments show some mystery objects as well?!
This was so enjoyable! Loved the humor, loved the exhibits and the questions both answered and unresolved. Plus I'm a rockhound, so that's a big plus too.
More with Jim H., please -- the two of you work together really well.
A great idea for your museum, would be to photograph everything in the museum, from all sides, and create an online museum. You could make access the database based on a subscription fee.
It could be an invaluable resource to researchers of all stripes. There are so many things you could do with such a database. I hope that your museum considers the idea.
The Instagram tag is the contemporary equivalent of the personalized wax seal. It's the thing that allows people to easily identify every picture of your cat.
This is probably one of my favorite episodes? So fun! I would looove to see more bits and bobs that dont seem to have a place!
The two things that stuck out to me were the pocket watch chain which connects to the pocket watch by the little ring at the end on the chain while the bar at the other end goes through a vest button hole. The " cigarette holder", I am 99.99% sure is actually a dip pen holder. I have a small collection of 19th century dip pens and the gold pen grip in this video has a very similar motif to some of mine. Great video Emily!
More please. Also this would be a great show to merge with this subreddit of what is this thing
and for some odd reason from this point forward chuck was stored in Emily's office
These objects may not have super clear value in the mineral collection itself, but they offer a really neat look into humans and the history of the museum, which in and of itself should be very valuable to the folks visiting and working there now. Plus, it’s fun to look at the things Victorians felt were valuable and useful. As a former docent from a victorian-era living history museum, I can tell you that some of it makes perfect sense while some makes none at all. I can confirm they were an odd, macabre bunch of people. Of course, people will be saying the same things about us in 125+ years.
The red agate rings are Talhakimt or Tanouk. The antique pieces were usually Brazilian agate carved in Idar-Oberstien, Germany and traded in Africa. They are considered a good talisman representing female energy (the circle) and male energy (the point.) They are usually worn by women in Mali, Mauritanian, Niger, and by Touareg in plaided hair or as a pendant possibly with other items such as a Touareg cross. Modern and Contemporary versions are still made in agate, pressed glass and plastic. (Info thanks to my wife, Jennifer Stenhouse!)
Those beads look like they might have belonged to a purse, like on the sides as decoration, and the catalog might have had no idea what too call them and just said they were beads.
Interest...! Do you have an example for what that looks like?
i was thinking napkin holders but the hole is a little small.. i like your idea decoration to a lost thing
Oh, good stuff guys! Learning about minerals through curiosities - love it!
the jade piece looks like it may be a netsuke, an ornamental fob used on the pouches Japanese men would wear attached to the sashes of their kimono.
Clasp to the watch, rod through the buttonhole on your waistcoat. The dangly part is purely decorative and keeps the rod part in place.
Fun video :) Great to see items that normally don't get the spot light. Enjoyed thinking about what gives an item significance to a museum.
The jade fob looks like the flower end could have fit into a similar shape in relief - maybe the fob opens a box or some "secret" compartment in something else, but was given a loop so that it could be worn on a necklace (or similar) and held close at hand? If it was called a fob, that typically relates to a key of some kind, or providing access to something.
Nice first episode of this new series!
Surely the museum has other misfits just waiting to be discovered.
I think the modern fancy equivalent to those wax seals would be one of those expensive custom pen sets that one can buy in jewelry stores and that are advertised in the back of high-end magazines.
Do the "beads" have a hole in the tips? Could they be earrings? I had a pair of earrings once made from some kind of stone/mineral. They were heavy.
I hope that The Brain Scoop could feature something about the Field Museum's Herbarium. But anyway, this episode rocks.
The orange beads would make good paper-folding / bone folders. Considering the size of the circle through them, I'd also be curious if they're marking or measuring tools used in either large-scale weaving / knitting / net-working, navigation, or surveying work. Or.... just beads.
There's a place near me called Whitby in the north of England that is famous for jet(lignite) and fossils. Whitby jet was(and still is, at least locally) a popular materiel for making jewellery and ornate carved items like that letter opener. You would need to test to be sure but I'm almost certain that letter opener came from Whitby.
www.thewhitbyguide.co.uk/whitby-fossils/
whamond.com/pages/what-is-whitby-jet
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitby
I may be wrong, but the triangular shaped beads look like headdress beads from South America. Great episode!! Looking forward to seeing the next one!
The lion wearing the glasses reminds me of the artwork for The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. In the book, everyone was required to put on green-tinted glasses before entering the Emerald City.
You had the abacus on its side. The abacus goes on a side where the beads are horizontal. Then it uses the bottom row of beads (ten on a row) for the ones, next for tens, hundreds, etc.
Loved it! More! More mystery objects please
You had the watch chain backwards. The clip goes to the watch & the bar goes through a button hole on your jacket or vest. My mom was a conductor for Amtrak & carried a pocket watch with a chain to jazz up her uniform.
the abacus has 10 beads on each level. you count out 10, move one on the next row and slide them back, basically adding progressive place holders as you count. think counting on your fingers but way higher.
It's been three years since I found this channel and three years since I started a personal collection:) I love this show, you really inspired me to go outside and find out what nature is like
3:54 is the ultimate example of the "desk sword." (See: Dear Hank and John. Episode 186, first question.)
these are all so beautiful omg
Fascinating! Please do more vids like this one
I would LOVE to see more episodes like this! Bye, Chuck. Don't be a stranger
A cool exhibit could be about souvenirs and how they've changed or stayed the same over the years. And what kinds of souvenirs different places have.
You have the connections backwards on the watch-fob. THe bar goes through the buttonhole of the jacket or vest; the snap-hook goes through the watch's ring.
As for an abacus - you use it flat on the table or upright so that the bars are parallel to the ground. You indicate values by moving beads from one side to the other. you move places as you move from bar to bar. To add two numbers, set the number on the left¹. Then, move the second value from the right to the left. Any that are over 10, move 10 to the right and move 1 more left on the higher value for the carry.
Better quality ones use two sets of beads per bar: 2 in a small section of the bar, and (typically) 9 or 10 in the larger segment; when you cross 5 in a place, you move five back to your non-counted, and one of the fives to the counted side. When you get two 5's on counted, carry it as a 1 in the next bar.
¹ or you can use the right... doesn't matter, so long as you're consistent.
item 1 of the unknown could have been from the 70s as a form of earring or from a hanging decorative craft or decor for the home possibly. the 2nd item would be a closure for clothing, usually a heavy sweater or coat, if i'm not mistaken.
The bar goes through the button hole,the clasp goes onto the watch ring,and the watch goes in your pocket with the charms dangling across your waistcoated abdomen.
oh man now im imagining a ‘whats on the curators desk’-style brainscoop series
Cool little trinkets! Gives a look at a unique side of history. And those minerals are straight up gorgeous!
Hey Emily! I can maby tell you a bit more about the letter opener. North east england has a place called Whitby. It is known for its fossils and its own kind of fossilised wood called whitby jet. This was most likley a gift to someone, as whitby is a very well known tourist destination that sells a lot of fossils, jet jewlery and also niche gifts for people
People rolled their cigarettes by hand back then so they were tapered on the ends. That tapper fit at the end of the holder. Since there were no filters (that's a modern thing) you used the holder so you didn't burn your fingers. Later they made the tapper hole bigger to work with nonfilter machine-rolled cigarettes. Those are the ones you see in old movies.
I would love a series with weird stuff from all the collections like this
The watch chain - pretty sure the gold bar is what goes through the button hole of a jacket to keep it in place. Then the clip end is what attaches to the watch, and the watch gets stored in the watch pocket.