I am obsessed with articles online where the cultural elite tell us what to buy, and when. Basically if I was tasked with writing those articles then this is what I would write. This week I was inspired by the passage in The Day of the Locust where an enormous fake hill collapses on a 1930s Hollywood film set. Each tiny remnant of the gargantuan studio system holds a spiritual value greater or equal to a saint’s flesh-and-blood relic. You, too, can own a small slice of man’s most immortal empire! (except you can’t because all of this has been sold already, rendering the entire writing process totally pointless)
The Bed from Gone With The Wind
This is a genuine 1860s antique used as Scarlett O’Hara’s bed in the iconic 1939 film. It went for 40k at auction in 2019, and I hope it comes up for auction again soon because a host of relevant cancellations will probably mean it goes for much less and also means it is much more interesting than it was before. I like that it is in a state of disrepair.
Mary Pickford’s Mirror
$425 to peer into the same looking-glass as one of the first film stars ever, a move with enough poetic value to maybe justify $425. This mirror comes with a laminated picture of Mary Pickford in case the buyer, in raptures of artistic meaning, happens to forget who she was.
The Dress from Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Honestly no joke I am probably the same size as Bette Davis and I LONG to track this dress down and wear it to my lesbian wedding, which will be themed around the Crawford-Davis feud. My wife will arrive brandishing a wire hanger. This is an iconic artefact which represents an irreplaceable 60s horror subgenre - old women going mad! Elderly actresses brawling! For this reason I also have my eye on the house from Whatever Happened To Baby Jane, which is in an upmarket location - and - a bonus - just across the road from Judy Garland’s childhood home.
The Crucifix From Rosemary’s Baby
This crucifix sold for $300 at auction in 2014 - a scandal, I would probably pay more.
A Matte Painting from The Wizard of Oz
I last watched this film when I was ten and it shocked me to an existential level great enough to change my inner system of pictorial association forever, which is why I would now like to buy this matte painting and hang it on my wall. Oz came far before its time. It is now the central scripture of a world led by visual iconicity, shady rumour and the inescapable camera lens. Readers may be interested to learn of the prevalence of matte paintings in Hollywood’s golden age, not just within outsized fantasy or epic films but also for down-to-earth, seemingly insular comedies and dramas. (I’ve been reading this guy’s blog a lot). The poetic affect that sticks with me here is the blackening of a whole swathe of the painting, later to be substituted for studio-shot footage. A reality jigsaw!