A tourist trap from 19th century Jerusalem

[Amihai]

Another interesting item I couldn't resist purchasing on eBay:

This is a combination of a dip pen, letter opener and wax sealer carved from bone. It writes 'Jerusalem' on one side and has a small stanhope lens on the other end. If you look through it you will see a small inscription mentioning the church of Nativity.

Such items were common in the late Victorian era, this are in fact old tourist traps, with travellers paying to buy such souvenirs with small inscription mentioning the place they visited. Some of those sets (not this one) even feature small low resolution photographs, which back in the day were quite revolutionary.

Those aren't worth much today, but this is the only example I found to mention the holy land. Definitely an interesting piece of history, and I'm happy I bought it!

 

[Woodchipper]

What kind of bone? Interesting carving.

 

[egnald]

Wow, pretty cool. I don't have many souvenirs from Israel - just good memories and a lot of friends and acquaintances.

My biggest regret is that I never took the time to go to Jerusalem and to Yad Vashem. I even had a personal invitation from the curator because I had donated several of my father's photographs of the liberation of one of the camps a few years ago.

Dave

 

[Amihai]

What kind of bone? Interesting carving.

The seller couldn't tell. It surely isn't Ivory tho, so there shouldn't be any legal restrictions on the item.

 

[Woodchipper]

I was thinking of human or animal. History shows that the brutality of people knows no bounds. More than likely an animal bone.

 

[Amihai]

I was thinking of human or animal. History shows that the brutality of people knows no bounds. More than likely an animal bone.

I sure hope it's not a human bone!