I’ll finish the organizational post another time. This post I’d like to dedicate to Nick Huston, a friend who passed away recently after a fire. We were closest between 5-10 years ago, but I hadn’t seen him in a while, largely because I’m bad at staying in touch (for a variety of reasons). On November 23rd he messaged me about wanting to look through my trash hoard. We chatted a bit, but didn’t make plans, and on December 15th he was gone. He was an unpretentious, goofy, generous guy, and was taken from the world far too soon. He wanted to see my garbage, so here it is bud. This junk’s for you.
This was one of a few intriguing spots I had on rue St-Denis this year. These guys rarely threw out much at once, but there was enough to keep me checking back week after week. My best day was when I opened a bag that was mostly full of food (both wet and dry, so kind of gross), but also contained a box of little treasures.
I like to take pictures of things as I found them. In this case, the box of treasures came with a bunch of sliced almonds. The many joys of trash!
Thankfully, this kind of stuff cleans up pretty easily, and nothing was ruined.
The most unusual object was the “sexographe.” I can’t find any others online, but a few articles discuss it. Apparently it was a tool used to sex chicks, though some people writing about it were very dubious of its functioning, describing Capron as a “charlatan.” It sources an article that sounds like it would have been a lot more in depth, but unfortunately appears to have disappeared from the internet. Based on the font, I’m guessing it was made in the 1900s or 1910s.
The medals were pretty neat. The colourful enameled badge was purportedly made for the 50th anniversary of the Société Saint-Jean-Bap
The 2nd Congress for the French Language in Canada (1937) bronze medal is also impressive. Very art deco. It was designed by Marius Plamondon, who was more well-known for his work in stained glass. They seem fairly uncommon, but I found another one on a coin/exonumia site listed for 150$, so I listed mine at that price as well.
That little pendant is a wax seal. Sterling I think, though I can’t read the hallmarks and haven’t tested it. I don’t know what that emblem is. The boat reminded me of the New Brunswick flag, but then there’s also some fleur-de-lys, a sun, and a castle.
I still have to research the long, flat thing, though it appears to honour those who fought against the government in the 1837-1838 rebellions.
Photos of the relevant reverse sides are below, plus a closer pic of this funny alpaca card holder (?) made using a 1907 silver coin from Peru. If you have any info about this junk that might be of interest, please share your insights in the comments!
One of my final finds at this spot was a reverse glass painting of the Montreal Historical Society emblem. It was pretty dusty, but it cleaned up nicely and I’m leaning towards keeping it myself. It kind of reminds me of something you’d see in a church basement that hasn’t been renovated since 1960 or so.
Anyways, whoever owned this stuff was clearly into local history. It’s a shame it was tossed, but thankfully I was there to save it!
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My condolences on the passing of your friend. I too mean well, but fall short with communication. You are such a gift and I look forward to your emails with all the finds. As we say in the South, Bless your heart honey.
So sorry for the loss of your friend, Nick Huston. I think this post is a fitting memorial to him. Such an interesting mix of regional finds. He would have enjoyed looking through these, and more, I’m sure.
And who knows … perhaps he is, in an alternate universe within the larger multiverse … rubbing elbows with you, examining the stuff and things of your excavations. It’s a nice thought anyway. *hugs*
Hi Martin, so sorry to hear about your friend. We should all treasure every day because who knows what’s around the corner, eh? Thank you as always for your very enjoyable posts.
I’m sorry you lost an old friend, you’re an interesting person and he knew that.
My condolences on your friend’s passing.
Have you checked with the Historical Society to see if they want to purchase the plaque(should you decide not to keep it)?