UChicago Curio Cabinet

Spring of 1938

In the bushes outside Rosenwald.

d’awwww

Auto Accessories

University of Chicago bookstore->Gifts->Accessories->Auto Accessories

I question the categorization of a bottle opener as an auto accessory… What exactly are they suggesting?

Iraq Museum Database Project

Cool project undertaken by the OI.

http://oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/dbfiles/Iraqdatabasehome.htm

In the days following the conquest of Baghdad by U.S. troops in April 2003, the Iraq Museum was looted; many pieces were stolen, others damaged or destroyed…. A complete list of all losses can only be drawn up after a complete inventory of all remaining items has been complied, a lengthy and laborious procedure that obstructed by the fact that the museum’s archive had been devastated during the looting. Some 15,000 items are now confirmed to be have been stolen…. Since April 2003 scholars at the Oriental Institute have been compiling a comprehensive database of objects from the Iraq Museum. While the primary objective of this project is to help in the recovery of the missing objects, we also hope that this site will be found useful as an educational resource for schools and the general public.

Iraq Museum in Baghdad, 2003.  Female statue decapitated by looters who took the head. (Photo by Joanne Farchakh-Bajjaly)

Myth Busted?

http://uchiblogo.uchicago.edu/archives/2011/05/the_may_day_myt.html

(myth)

Harper West Tower Collapse

Harper West Tower Collapse, before 1912

Although most campus buildings had been constructed using steel frames, Harper’s architects thought they’d save money by using reinforced concrete instead, a relatively new technique.  After the east tower was completed, the west tower collapsed for reasons still not entirely clear.  Martin Ryerson (yup that Ryerson), president of the Board of Trustees at the time, blamed sabotage by striking construction workers.

Not to worry though.  Both towers have since been reinforced with steel and brought up to code.

(Source: The University of Chicago: An Architectural Tour, Jay Pridmore, Princeton Architectural Press, 2006)

Pasta Poem

I asked a librarian in the Special Collections Research Center what the weirdest thing in the collection is.  Her answer: poetry printed on a pasta noodle.

The notable noodle got a nod from The Chronicle of Higher Education in 2005:

The University of Chicago has, among other odd items, a limited-edition book of poetry printed on a raw pasta noodle — “alas, becoming more brittle by the year,” writes Alice Schreyer, director of special collections.

What is the poem?  Perhaps “The Onion As It Is Cooked” (October 1990) by Steven “Jesse” Bernstein, imprinted by Flockophobic Press onto a large saffron pasta noodle.

Stacked

http://regenstein.tumblr.com/