For many years, Madison County columnist Abby Burnett shared stories and recipes about favorite foods found in the Arkansas Ozarks. At her log cabin in Kingston, her home office -- and kitchen -- were filled with vintage pots, pans, ladles, presses and appliances, and I know from personal experience that seeing culinary antiques transformed into crafts fair wind chimes and wall hooks made her pale with pain.
Burnett also had a habit of hanging out in cemeteries, searching for unique headstones from the turn of the 20th century -- lambs, angels and pearls of wisdom -- all of which she logged in photographs. Then one thing led to another and, today being Halloween, Burnett agreed to talk about her current and ever-growing collection, the one that shoved kitchen oddities out of the running, for "My Favorite Things."
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What do you collect? Things related to illness, death, burial and funerals. Among the items here in my home office are various pieces of coffin hardware and tokens of mourning: postmortem photos (people in their coffins), black-bordered stationery, jet buttons -- even a Currier and Ives mourning print from 1885. There are also things once given away by funeral homes, such as cardboard fans, thermometers, pens. I also have cemetery-themed art, and Stereopticon cards showing funerals and cemeteries.
How/when/why the collection began: I didn't set out to collect death paraphernalia, but these things started finding me after my book on Arkansas burial customs was published ("Gone to the Grave; Burial Customs of the Arkansas Ozarks 1850-1950," published by The University Press of Mississippi in 2014). I really love the quirkiness of the collection! For example, I have a piece of stone from the Cartney quarry in Baxter County, Arkansas, the source of the marble used to make Abraham Lincoln's sarcophagus. The smallest items are housed in a glass-fronted bookcase that I call the Cabinet of Morbid Curiosities.
What appeals to you about these items? The fact that most of these things are personal, such as the last photo ever taken of someone, or an engraved plaque from the top of someone's casket. But then, I also have a few family pieces, including two large, gold-filled molars that my sister found in our mother's jewelry box.
What's the most expensive item in the collection? ComeOnIn Antiques, in Seymour, Mo., sells antiques from early funeral homes and doctors' offices. (I remember seeing a gallstone in a bottle for sale!) I've spent more money in this store than any other place, but not a lot on any one item. The most recent addition to the collection was free; I found an armadillo pelvis here on my property and framed it!
Where do you find most of the items in your collection? Flea markets? Thrift stores? Estate sales? Though I have bought some items, my favorite pieces are those that were given to me by friends and acquaintances. Sometimes I'm offered things because the givers have no one else who is interested, and they know I'm honored to have them.
For example, a woman gave me a small box filled with items related to the death, in 1925, of her mother-in-law's infant brother. The box holds a gown and tiny stockings, a postmortem photo of the infant, the cards that were tied to the flowers at his funeral, and a sheaf of doctor's bills for the baby's unsuccessful treatment for pneumonia. I was told that no one in the family wanted to inherit these relics.
Another cherished item is a man's watch chain made from human hair, decoratively woven into a rope. It belonged to my neighbor's grandfather. Attached to the rope is a little charm that looks a pitcher, which was once used to symbolize temperance.
Is there "one that got away" – i.e., one you passed up and regretted not buying? I don't really collect hair jewelry -- woven pieces of human hair displayed inside lockets or pins -- but I have a few pieces. Years ago, at an antique show, I saw a collar pin that I liked but didn't buy -- and I regret it! It was unusual in that, when worn, the hair faced inward so only the wearer knew it was there. The piece was unusual, and reasonably priced, but I passed on it because I like to wear hair jewelry when I give talks and wanted something where the hair would show.
Is your collection finished, or ongoing? If ongoing, will it ever be finished? I tend to wait for things to find me. I suppose if that stops happening, the collection will be finished, but I hope not!
Is there a white whale you're after? I'd love to own a mad stone! Before Louis Pasteur discovered a vaccine to combat rabies, mad stones (a folk cure) were used to draw the poison from the bite of a rabid animal. The "stone" is usually said to be a calcified object found in the intestines of a deer, and it can take different forms. The Carney family, in Barry County, Mo., made mad stones out of pieces of porous rock coated with red sealing wax. They patented and sold these in the 1920s as "poison extractors," and I'd love to find one.
What do people say about your collection? They don't usually say anything. They just back slowly away!
Will you ever run out of room for your collection and, if so, do you have a plan in that event? I would quickly run out of room if I started acquiring coffins! Luckily the collection is made up of small items, so I'm not too worried.
What else do you collect? I am interested in fraternal lodges, and I collect the lapel pins of the defunct or more obscure ones. And because I'm also fascinated by early medicine, I have a few medical oddities, including my father's dissecting kit from his stint in medical school during World War II and the mercury-filled thermometers he saved. Oh, and I recently discovered that I own a surgical bone saw: I thought it was a cheese slicer and had it stored in a box with antique kitchen gadgets!
Got something you treasure? Or a friend who has the best collection ever? Send your story suggestions to Lara Hightower at lhightower@nwadg.com.
