Clothing & Accessories

2000? TH Clay Charms. 1.5". Unknown source. Beautifully formed charms. The tortoise is particularly intricate with a springtime basket. While the hare has holes at his mouth and tail, the tortoise has holes in his shoulders.

1900? Collar stud displaying WC on black material. .75” x .89” x .5”. Unknown source. I have tried to use some glare to show the miniature scene on the face of this piece. The rounded back does not seem to be separable. Might the black stone be onyx?

1940? Plastic FG charm with inscription “Fox N’ Grapes.” 1" x .5" outside of the ring. This looks like a cracker jack “toy” or gumball vending prize. Unfortunately, the web offers no help on finding a series to which this might belong. The name on one face tends to obliterate the scene. The other face helps us to see the fox and the grapes. Since the inscription is written at 90 degrees from the scene itself, I offer three different views.

2000? Fox and Crow with Cheese Earrings. More fun in a pair of earrings! For me, the fox’s curved tail is especially successful!

1995? FG handkerchief advertising Bonux. Jean Effel. 8.5” square. Source unknown. Apparently Bonux was Procter & Gamble's low cost laundry detergent. The web helped me to learn both that this is indeed a handkerchief and that it belongs to a series advertising Bonux, at least one of which is online for a price that astounds me!

2000? Ralph Lauren Polo Shirt Featuring MLS. XL. 100% cotton. Made in Indonesia. Unknown source. Here is a surprise! My mind does not easily put Aesop and Ralph Lauren into the same sentence. Secondly, the choice of this fable for a shirt is another surprise. Finally, the result is, for me at least, a surprise. This may be the most garish object in the collection! The patterns are familiar, but from where?

1900? Brass button with black background. A bird and her young? 1” in diameter. Unknown source. This button is a mystery to me. We have found it among our buttons in 2025 and have no record of how it came to us. I cannot think of what fable it might represent, if it represents a fable at all. A bird on a branch looks down on young below. Attempts to find a similar button online have yielded wild and unhelpful results.

1900? Cufflinks of a tortoise whose shell opens to reveal a hare. Made in England? Hallmarket Silver? Source unknown. This is some of the most delicate small work in the collection! Each cufflink has a hinged tortoise back. Opening it with clumsy fingers is not easy! Does the Hallmarket Silver box belong to this exquisite pair? And what brings a person to wear openable tortoise-and-hare cufflinks? Matched tortoise cuffliniks seem common enough on the web. I have not yet found TH cufflinks.

1993 Stole Featuring Fable Scenes. Eric Heinzen, student in CLC 325 at Creighton University. Eric brought together two dear facets of my life: priestly ministry and fables. Among the fables recalled here are TH; TT; LM; “Three Fish”; “Stag at the Pool”; “Retired Rat”; FG; BF; “Heron”; and OR. I offer two close-ups from a treasured creation.

2001 TH Onesie for Infants. Gymboree. 0-3 months. 100% cotton. Made in Thailand. Unknown source. This cute garment features a lovely stiched representation near the neckline and repeated named rabbits and turtles in a pattern throughout.

1890? Circular pin with an unusual view of FS. 1” in diameter. Safety clasp on the verso. Verso reads “Nur Schein Invite. 67.” Unknown source. This pin reproduces an image found on one of two German verse coins in the collection. Together they offer a “before” and “after” in the FS story. The verse there urges not to make fun of a competitor. Here the German seems to say perhaps “Appearance only invites” or, more literally, “Only appearance invites.” One web reference suggests that there is a second pin with an image like that on the second coin.

1890? 1 circular FC button, brass, .75" in diameter. Unknown source. The image is familiar. This is one of our smaller buttons. No rim. The button itself is of one-piece construction, with a metal eyelet welded onto the back.