Fancy A Sliver Of George Washington's Coffin?

Forbes.com, Jonathon Keats,  Contributor:

8/08/2013 @ 1:13PM |353 views

Fancy A Sliver Of Washington's Coffin? Pre-History Of The Souvenir Industry On View At The Smithsonian

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If you’d visited Plymouth Rock in the 19th century, you’d probably have brought home a piece, broken off with a hammer left there for travelers. But if you’d wanted a chip from GeorgeWashington‘s mansion, you’d have had to bring your own penknife to Mount Vernon (though some people just snapped off branches from the trees he once planted).  Souvenirs were a do-it-yourself affair in early America. An absorbing new exhibit at the Smithsonian Castle – and an accompanying book from Princeton Architectural Press – offer a rare look at a national obsession and the multi-billion dollar industry it inspired.

The keepsakes in Souvenir Nation are mostly nondescript, often in inverse proportion to the dramatic role they once played. For instance the flag of surrender with which the Confederacy ended the Civil War is just a dirty hand-towel accompanied by a handwritten testimonial from the soldier who saved it. Yet the apparent ordinariness of a bit of cloth or wooden chip is the secret to its magic. Because the physical object is so commonplace, it’s pure artifact: an unvarnished piece of history.

And history was in short supply for 19th century Americans, citizens of a young country. The mania for souvenirs was a craving for heritage, for evidence of legitimacy. For that reason, taking a splinter from Mount Vernon or a chip off of Plymouth was not an act of vandalism but patriotism.

It’s no accident that many of these keepsakes look like religious objects, and that some – such as a fragment of Washington’s coffin and a cuff stained with Lincoln’s blood – are essentially the secular equivalent of relics. Important by association, these original souvenirs were objects of veneration, miraculously containing the past and carrying it forward in time.

[Image Caption: Piece of George Washington's mahogany coffin, Mount Vernon, Virginia. Courtesy of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History.]

And CBSlocal.com/Associated Press:

MaryThompson, research specialist for Mount Vernon Estate & Gardens, Washington’s estate located just south of Washington, D.C., said when Washington died in 1799 at the age of 67, he was put into a family vault at Mount Vernon that had been built on the side of a hill with underground springs. Washington wanted a new vault built and upon its completion in 1831, he and other family members were moved to Mount Vernon. During that move, it was discovered that his coffin was falling apart and was replaced.

Mary

Pieces of Washington’s coffin are not unusual, and have occasionally come up for sale, Slater said.

“At that point, people took handles and pieces of wood as souvenirs. We have a number of coffin fragments in our collection and other people have them in their collection,” said Thompson, adding that the body was moved again in 1837 when it was placed in a marble sarcophagus in that vault.

© Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.