The study of history through the excavation of discarded items, exploring people's attics, flying drones, and stuff….
This is an interesting old blacksmith-forged knife with what appears to be an effigy carving of some sort on the end of the grip, which appears to be made of either whale tooth, or walrus tusk – I’m not sure how you tell the difference. This was collected by Keith Collis in Pennsylvania.
This is a burl wood hand scoop, or ladle, which is very possibly Native American in origin. These small spoons, bowls, and similar items, which are hand carved out of burl wood, are often called “treen” ware.
This is an interesting old wood-carved bird decoy. I’m not sure if it was artwork or a functional decoy. It has sort of a cartoonish look to it, but on close inspection, has some well-executed artistic features. Some of the attachments indicate that perhaps it was functional. That’s about all I know about it. I can’t seem to find others that closely resemble it.
A newer addition to the Scavengeology Museum History Bunker, a Model 1878 Sharps-Borchardt Rifle. It was cutting-edge technology for the time, being a hammerless single-shot rifle with an internal firing pin. The sleek, modern rifle was designed by Hugo Borchardt, who would later become famous for the design of the early semi-automatic “Borchardt Pistol,” the predecessor to the German Lugar – much later popularized in the Red Dead Redemption video game series.
This is an original antique (19th century) leather hunting bag and powder horn, with original accessories and contents, as of its last usage. The “honey comb” wooden cap on the powder horn indicates a Southern, most likely North Carolina, provenance.
This is pretty neat – an antique collapsible travel cup in a leather case. I would guess it’s 19th century. There doesn’t seem to be a lot out there on these…. but I did find a photo of one which allegedly belonged to Doc Holliday.
This original 18th century cased set of flintlock pistols are both signed by French gunmaker, Adriaene Reynier, a Dutch-born gunmaker in Paris, France. The box, and one of the accessories inside, are engraved with the initials, “LMS.” They represent more than just the beautiful work of the finest French gun-makers, but also the little-known activities of the Spanish in late 18th century America, including plots against the U.S. government with both hostile Indian tribes, and American spies and frontier leaders.
This weekend we went and picked up the old dinner bell from the old Sweet Chalybeate Springs resort, or as it was also called, Red Sweet Springs. We also picked up a load of antique handmade bricks from the remnants of the old Crow’s Tavern, in Crows, Virginia – which was just down the road from Sweet Chalybeate.
But if we dig deeper, we find out that Logan’s subsequent murder spree in Virginia included Logan leaving “calling cards” with the dead bodies – one of which survives today; and one of which uncovers what I think is a bit of lost history tied to my little county – Monroe County, West Virginia.
