Another Musuem mystery. Was Turtle Bay’s copy of Little Mendocino painted by Grace Hudson herself? Or is it one of many dozens of copies made by other artists? “The Game is Afoot”, as another famous Holmes would say.
This miniature pendant replica represents the type and styling of gold objects that characterize the Tolima culture of central Colombia. A reproduction that accurately depicts a creation of inspiration from supernatural visions and nature. Often worn as a pendant, this piece captured an embellishing portrayal of a shaman being in an animal spirit form.
Did a local lawman really tangle with Black Bart? Explore the history of M. F. Eldridge, Black Bart, and Samuel Colt and delve into the fascinating history of Gold Rush stamped holsters in the September Artifact of the Month by volunteer Bob Harris.
In 1984, a traditional Quinua ceramic figurine was purchased from a Valerie’s Choice catalog by the
Redding Museum of Art and History, one of the predecessors of Turtle Bay Exploration Park.
How providential that we are able to present this perfectly pleasing yet peculiar pickle paraphernalia! This is not your ordinary pickle jar! In fact, it probably didn’t hold the type of pickles we are most familiar with today – those delicious, tangy, former cucumbers. Before the ubiquity of refrigeration, jams, jellies, pickles, and chutneys preserved produce for future consumption. Victorian pickle recipes included sweet pickled cantaloupe, pickled onions, cauliflower, cabbage, radish pods, nasturtium seeds, walnuts, as well as the more familiar gherkins and cucumbers. Spiced or pickled fruits such as sour plums, blackberries, cherries, and pears were also popular. Yum!
You may think this is a horn to blow – a type of trumpet to gather the troops and charge into battle! Though these objects were sometimes used in battle, by local militiamen during the Revolutionary War for example, powder horns served a different purpose. In addition to bullets and the firearms themselves, powder horns carried another important part of the kit – gunpowder!
Long before we cozied up for a movie with a bowl of popcorn and a loved one, shuffled through our iPod playlist, cheered to a baseball game on the radio, or sheltered-in-place, folks sought live entertainment in the company of friends and strangers. It was both intimate and communal. Performances such as plays, operas, ballets – even music, magic, and comedy – took place on a big, well-lit stage. Patrons sat in a darkened auditorium. Some were close enough to see the sweat of an actor’s brow, yet some sat too far to make out important details that helped tell the story. Sporting events like horse racing also presented a need to see the action from a distance. Luckily, a series of technological advances led to an elegant solution – opera glasses.
When we first encountered this artifact in the collection, we asked ourselves what on earth it could be. The name implies that it was “medical” in nature. Patent dates indicated that it was manufactured sometime after 1919 and the overall style and materials suggested not too long after that patent date. This gadget is a “violet ray” medical appliance, once advertised to cure a multitude of ills by applying a high voltage, high frequency, low current to the human body, and by producing ozone for direct inhalation. These devices were designed to be used in medical settings and at home by the consumer.
World War I, also known as the Great War, lasted from July 1914 to November 1918. It was the first time poisonous gas was used in battle. U.S. troops did not have a standard gas mask for combat, so they eventually adopted the British version. The use of chlorine gas by the Germans received widespread condemnation and the Geneva Protocol of 1925 banned the use of chemical weapons.
Sometimes, the internet is a curator’s friend. For 42 years, this Artifact of the Month has been misidentified in our records. The donor thought that her late husband had passed on to her a 50-yen banknote that he’d acquired when he was stationed in Japan during World War II. She noted in her correspondence, that it had been worth “about 20 American dollars when he got it.” When the Redding Museum of Art and History received the donation in 1978, they did not have immediate access to the resources required to verify or refute this identification, so it went into the records as “yen.”
Stylish and sleek, February’s Artifact of the Month is a 1960s Murray Pedal Car. Murray Ohio Manufacturing Company was originally founded in 1919 to make fenders, fuel tanks, and other automobile parts. They began making children’s toy cars in 1923 and bicycles in the 1930s. Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of this pedal car is the high likelihood that it was designed by renowned artist and industrial designer Viktor Schreckengost, who worked for Murray from 1936 to 1972.
Federally recognized as the Timbisha Shoshone Band of California, and sometimes referred to as “Panamint”, the Nümü Tümpisatti’s traditional homelands located in the Death Valley, Saline Valley, and the Panamint Range are some of the most challenging environments on earth. The harsh desert landscape has shaped traditional material culture, such as this coiled basket.
Turtle Bay Exploration Park holds a collection of over 35,000 objects, but our art and artifacts are not kept exclusively for our museum. Just as we often borrow objects for our own exhibitions, we are a resource for other researchers and other institutions. These objects act as ambassadors for Turtle Bay and our mission.
Most of us had access to some sort of wagon when we were kids. Commercially made children’s wagons have been around since the 1880s and the iconic red metal Radio Flyer brand debuted in the early 1930s. Even today, with the prevalence of digital gadgets, wagons come in a wide range of materials and still sell well.
At first glance, these four pages may not seem too compelling, but there is more here than meets the eye! What appears to be a stack of personal notes, jotted down in old-fashioned cursive, are actually records from court cases related to miners and land claims. The cases were conducted in French Gulch in the late 1800’s. Legal documents like these offer a glimpse into 19th Century life while also providing insight into the local affairs of 1890.
One might argue that the handbag (purse, satchel, or just plain old bag) is probably one of the oldest hominid inventions. An animal bladder, a skin, a gourd, or even a really big leaf could be adapted as an effective way to carry our ever-increasing number of possessions. Over millennia, a relatively simple and practical way to carry stuff has been elevated to an art form and a status symbol accessory.
