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Politically incorrect candles

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September 26, 2017, 07:45 AM
DJ_Boston
Politically incorrect candles
Hello- next time I'm invited to a climate change dinner, I'm bringing the candles. I found 2 sets of spermaceti candles while cleaning out my grandmother's apartment.

The last set I could find on ebay sold for $110. They are real, from Nantucket, and old. I would love to horrify some greenie.

I think we will just burn them at Thanks Giving or some other family meal while my grandmother is still with us.


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- Mark Twain The Gilded Age

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September 26, 2017, 07:52 AM
braillediver
It took me a moment. Those have got to be rare.


____________________________________________________

The butcher with the sharpest knife has the warmest heart.
September 26, 2017, 08:45 AM
DJ_Boston
I think they are pretty rare. Maybe I can start a group called cetaceans for climate change. Global cooling has caused an obesity crisis for the whales.


There is something good and motherly about Washington, the grand old benevolent National Asylum for the helpless.
- Mark Twain The Gilded Age

#CNNblackmail #CNNmemewar
September 26, 2017, 10:40 AM
ArtieS
The Peabody Museum in Salem or the New Bedford Whaling Museum may be interested in them.

My family has a fair bit of whaling antiques. Scrimshaw, un-cut whales' teeth, harpoons, killing lances, cutting spades, etc. I have to figure out what to do with them, as my kids have no interest.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: ArtieS,



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September 26, 2017, 03:07 PM
zoom6zoom
quote:
The Peabody Museum in Salem

Man, we used to go there all the time when I was a kid. Some really neat stuff there.
Of course, it helped that we lived straight down 114 from there.




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September 26, 2017, 03:46 PM
rduckwor
I don't know you, but I like you.

RMD




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September 26, 2017, 11:52 PM
2012BOSS302
Oh you mean some C15H31COO-C16H33 candles. Nice find - enjoy them with grandma maybe she has a story to tell about them to pass down.




Donald Trump is not a politician, he is a leader, politicians are a dime a dozen, leaders are priceless.
September 27, 2017, 07:01 AM
sigfreund
quote:
Originally posted by DJ_Boston:
I would love to horrify some greenie.


I could easily see an historian, professional or amateur, regretting the destruction of the rare relics of a bygone era, but someone whose only interest is in protecting animals from unnecessary exploitation and harm today—? Are you aware of what’s commonly done with animal products like poached ivory these days? (Hint: It’s just what you’re proposing to do with those candles: they’re burned up.)

But to return to your original plan, you could make it much more effective, I believe, if you just kept the candles displayed in a prominent place and labeled them to identify their source. How ’bout something like:
“These candles were made long ago from a substance obtained from the head of a great and majestic animal—ha, ha! Too bad we can’t do the same thing today but are rather forced to rely on petroleum and plant products for the same purposes that we once relied on sperm whale oil for.”




6.4/93.6

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— Plato
September 27, 2017, 07:34 AM
joel9507
I am always reluctant to do irreversible things. They're not making more of them, so rather than using them up or giving them away, I like sigfreund's idea of keeping them and making a sort of display or shrine. Maybe you could ask your grandmother to say a few words about the history of those candles at a family event as a sort of dedication.

One way to make it a gift that keeps on giving (irritation to the politically correct.) Wink
September 27, 2017, 09:37 AM
DJ_Boston
Now that my wife is getting involved, she is inclined to sell them. I'm not sure I want to sell them. Burning them to destroy them isn't something I would want to do.

Her other thought is to put them on display along with the sealskin Eskimo doll I was given as a baby. She likes the idea of winding up the lefties too.

They are candles, and meant to be burned. Supposedly they burn particularly bright. so if they see a spark, it would be for pleasure.

There is no real interesting story behind them, other than my grandmother bought them, and kept them in the dining room hutch. I was probably with her when she bought them, which would make them 40+ years old.

The most interesting part is that why would someone hold onto candles for so long????


There is something good and motherly about Washington, the grand old benevolent National Asylum for the helpless.
- Mark Twain The Gilded Age

#CNNblackmail #CNNmemewar
September 27, 2017, 09:49 AM
jhe888
I don't know if they burn brighter, but it is my impression they burn cleaner.

But I think they are verging on being artifacts now. I'd save them, or give them to a whaling museum.




The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
September 27, 2017, 09:56 AM
parabellum
Yargh!!




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September 27, 2017, 10:02 AM
braillediver
quote:
Originally posted by DJ_Boston:
Now that my wife is getting involved, she is inclined to sell them.

I would tread with caution since I believe this is a Federal issue- While it might be legal to sell them it also might be illegal to ship them across state lines. Marine Mammals etc........

I was looking into a knife with scales made from a Sperm Whale Jaw Bone. I learned a lot about sperm whales- They are amazing. I decided some things were better left alone.


____________________________________________________

The butcher with the sharpest knife has the warmest heart.
September 28, 2017, 02:15 PM
jimb888
I think your candles are cool, esp. since your grandmother is still around. BUT

My dog recently fetched me up a piece of floatsam on the beach. I believe it may have been a small piece of Ambergris. Research quickly showed that if it was Ambergris that it is illegal to sell or possess such a thing. It may even be illegal to pick it up if you recognize it on the beach it appears. I'm not a lawyer and that shit confuses me, but naturally I tossed it back in the ocean. Be careful with the candles.
September 28, 2017, 02:34 PM
Bisleyblackhawk
Here's an auction house website with info (except the value) on the spermy candles...

https://www.worthpoint.com/wor...-nantucket-252896780


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Making the best of what ever comes our way
Forget that blind ambition and learn to trust your intuition
Plowing straight ahead come what may
And theres a cowboy in the jungle"
Jimmy Buffet
September 29, 2017, 07:35 AM
Chris42
Along those lines, probably some 50 years ago my family was into buying and selling antiques. My father bought a pair of oil lamps that still had oil in them. Lighting one he found it had whale oil in it. Said it smelled like hamburger cooking. Ever since I have thought of finding some whale oil just to see what it smells like when burning. In my searching I have yet to find any to buy.

In your case I would obviously be interested in lighting a candle just to see it and smell it. It might be a fragrance that was extremely common in New England houses 150 years ago.

I would save the candles for a special occasion, lighting one only briefly, in reference and reverence to our past.
October 03, 2017, 04:25 PM
fatmanspencer
quote:
Originally posted by ArtieS:
The Peabody Museum in Salem or the New Bedford Whaling Museum may be interested in them.

My family has a fair bit of whaling antiques. Scrimshaw, un-cut whales' teeth, harpoons, killing lances, cutting spades, etc. I have to figure out what to do with them, as my kids have no interest.

no lie, those are cool as hell. You used to use a stick to kill something that outweighed your vessal by how much? Hell I'd take'm if I was your kids.


Used guns deserve a home too
October 03, 2017, 09:13 PM
rburg
Of course I live inland, and we never see any of this stuff. I've got to use the internet to buy Bayberry candles. Bayberries aren't marine animals. I agree with the poster who suggested lighting one on a special occasion, like Thanksgiving or Christmas. Just for a few seconds so you can experience it. Even with your family.


Unhappy ammo seeker