Lilly Irons, Shackles, Ball & Chains

[L Verge]

I stumbled on this website while searching for something else. Has anyone else seen this?

http://www.network54.com/Forum/261154/th...ia+Blunder

[Joe Di Cola]

I stumbled on this website while searching for something else. Has anyone else seen this?

http://www.network54.com/Forum/261154/th...ia+Blunder

Laurie,

This makes me nervous. Pawn Stars is just another bad realtiy-TV-type show that wants people to believe in the provenance of items. The "experts" they bring in are sometimes laughable--one guy comes in with a gigantic sample case, out of which he only takes a magnifying glass to verify some signature! This is another way in which people are getting a sometimes distorted view of actual history. Shame on the History Channel for what it has done over the past several years! What do you think, Laurie? Others out there?

Joe

[Gene C]

I agree Joe, the quality of the programs on the History Channel is not what it used to be.
Next thing you know, they will be calling "The Flinstones" a reality history TV series

[BettyO]

Agreed! The History Channel ain't what it used to be....and I HATE the so-called "Reality shows". I won't watch 'em! I'd rather spend my time researching or with a good book!

[Gene C]

Agreed! The History Channel ain't what it used to be....and I HATE the so-called "Reality shows". I won't watch 'em! I'd rather spend my time researching or with a good book!

they could do a reality show about you and Laurie.
They could call it the Verge and Monroe, no make that "the Laurie and BettyO Show"

[L Verge]

I agree about Pawn Stars and other reality shows, but I was interested in this very long set of postings regarding the restraints that the conspirators did or did not contend with. The enlarged one of Powell standing with obvious ankle contraptions was something I had never seen. I had not seen mention of an iron pyramid that held the men together during the trial. We need John and Barry to chime in with what they might have found out. Maybe I'm the only one behind the times on this???

Gene - If Betty and I could be remakes of Laverne and Shirley, I wouldn't mind. Just don't put me on anything that faintly resembles keeping up with the Kardashians. Maybe Betty and I can be Desperate Historians...

[Gene C]

This post heading could to be the title of a great blue grass song

Lily Irons, Shackles, Ball & Chains
The put a bag on my head and I'm goin insane
Tomorrow I'm hangin
And I'll be in my grave
With my Lily Irons, Shackles, and my Ball and Chains

The irons are so tight
And I can't scratch my nose
I dropped the darn ball
And I broke all my toes.
So, listen my son, don't follow my path.
They'll write a bad story, like the one done by Gath.
I know I've done bad, I know I've done wrong
And the best I can get, is this sad little song.

I have a new friend,
he's the bug in my cell
I confessed everything,
but he never will tell.
We were playing tag,
I slipped, he went crunch
My new friend is dead,
But he's staying for lunch

[L Verge]

Very good, Gene! I'm going to enter you and Dave Taylor in a poetry contest.

[KateH.]

The fact that "experts" on Pawn Stars handle items without gloves has always bothered me. If they are touching rare artifacts, the oils from their hands probably shouldn't be transferring to the pieces.

[BettyO]

Gene -

That's a keeper!!

The "White Gloves" have only made an appearance in the last 20-25 years or so....I've handled many pieces in years past without....including Lew's head.....

[L Verge]

Actually, I've attended conservation seminars for nearly forty years, and the white gloves are always pushed at us. We museum people are just lazy!

[J. Beckert]

That makes me feel better, Laurie. You have no idea what I did in the tavern last March. My DNA is all over that place.

[Jim Garrett]

Not a whole lot of reality in reality TV. Some experts are better than others. Remember, they usually have had a couple of weeks to research the item they are appraising. The time constraints make it appear that they are just walking in and "oh yeah, this is the item you called me about".

There are two schools about the gloves. Some are saying now the gloves really don't make a difference.

[J. Beckert]

There are two schools about the gloves. Some are saying now the gloves really don't make a difference.

I'm sure that's true with some items, Jim, but I think it's best to err on the side of caution. I went to Hildene last February and was told Lincoln's stovepipe hat was not on display as the UV resistant glass case it was housed in was in a room being renovated. The guide told me that for years it was displayed uncovered and out in the open on a table. I was there in 1987 and RTL's reading glasses were on a table next to a bed. The guide said after one tour a frantic mother of a toddler came running back with them. The little rascal grabbed them on the way out!

[Jim Garrett]

I agree Joe, particularly when it comes to textiles and paper which are usually fragile anyway. A few years back, I went to a repository and was given access to a couple of paper items including a letter from Mary Ann Holmes to her lawyer to prepare documents to sell Tudor Hall. I have my own gloves and when I pulled them out, I was told I didn't need them. The curator said that new studies have shown that there is not enough transfer of skin oils, etc. to affect the item being handled.