Memorabilia
“Mike loves Abraham Lincoln,” my friend Greg declared to my eight-year-old pen pal during our meet-and-greet with our 3rd graders last week.
“You do?” my pen pal, Joel asked. He had been rattling off the names of all the U.S. presidents he had been learning about in school when Greg interjected with a fun fact about me. “I like George Washington,” Joel said. “Why do you like Abraham Lincoln?”
“Well, he had a fascinating life before he became president,” I said. “And the events surrounding his assassination are also really interesting—oh, do you know what assassination means?”
“No.”
“Oh, okay, well, maybe you’ll learn that in school soon.”
Greg looked amused by the exchange. I’m glad he didn’t tell Joel about the Abraham Lincoln art cube he bought for me as housewarming gift last year, or about the pillow with Abraham Lincoln’s face on it that a roommate had bought for me a few years ago as a birthday gift, or—and this is super embarrassing—about that one Halloween where I dressed up as Tad Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln’s youngest son who was doomed to die at the age of 18. I also watch shows like Pawn Stars or Antiques Roadshow because sometimes they’d show a random piece of memorabilia related to Lincoln in some way.
Watch Appraisal: 1865 Abraham Lincoln Mourning Parade Banner on PBS. See more from Antiques Roadshow.
Hey, we all have our things. This is one of my things.
Other people collect sports memorabilia, for example, the Babe Ruth jersey that sold at an auction last night for $4.4 million.
Do you have a thing? Are they comic books, or record albums, or things that look like Jesus? Thankfully, my Lincoln stuff are mostly books, and random knickknacks of very little value. I’ve yet to come across an authentic piece of Lincoln memorabilia that I’d open my wallet wide for, but I’m sure it out there—somewhere.
Lincolniana is one of my things also. Topically, today Letters of Note has a great Lincoln letter on the value of a day’s work which is very Mike Dang-esque!
@Caroline Delbert@twitter Good find! Thank you!
I think if you have a “thing,” you shouldn’t tell too many people about it unless that’s all you want to get for Christmas, birthdays, Kwanzaa, etc. This happened to aunt of mine who liked frogs, as well as a good friend who was into elephants.
@stuffisthings this is very true. see: the tinkerbell visor that says “looking for lost boys” on it, purchased by my mom. … for me. … as an adult.
(i mean, i do wear it … sun protection you know …)
(also i never really had a tinkerbell “thing” but for some reason she thought i did)
@stuffisthings Thankfully, I have a bunch of other things I also like that people know about! But yes, I’m surprised I don’t have more random Lincoln junk.
@stuffisthings In college I frequented a diner where the owner was always gifted ceramic pigs for her collection. One night a car crashed into the front window where all the pigs were kept and my friend said to her, “What a shame your collection was destroyed.” She leaned over and said, “No it’s not! I hate the damn things, but people have turned into a thing. The best thing about the car crash was thinning the herd.” I loved that cafe.
Or I guess you could have your “thing” be, like, gigantic bars of gold.
@stuffisthings Women laughing alone with gold bullion?
Octopus necklaces. Squids and tentacles also acceptable.
you must be very excited for abe lincoln: vampire hunter
@redheaded&crazy You know it!
playing cards i find on the street. a set of three equals a basic tarot reading, courtesy of my witchy best friend.
Conspiracy theories. I get envelopes of newspaper clippings about death hoaxes and government coverups from friends all the time. I think my copy of the History Channel’s Jesse James’ Hidden Treasure might be my most prized possession. I’d save it in a fire, at any rate.