February 17th was the monthly Show and Tell night at the City Reliquary. We had an amazing crowd that night. They were ready to listen, applaud, ask questions, and share some items from their personal collections.
One featured piece came from Arthur, the guest of one of the Reliquary’s fabulous volunteers. Perhaps inspired by the host’s policy of “you always have something on you with an interesting story,” Arthur shared his belt with the audience. While in the southwest, Arthur had taken one of his favorite belts with him. The belt was hand tooled leather and, unfortunately for Arthur it had been made for someone other than himself, bearing the name “Debbie” across the back. In his travels, he came across a man who makes hand-tooled leather belts. The man said to him “let me make you a belt.” However, Andy never received this belt before he left the area.
A little disheartened, he left the area assuming that he would never receive a belt with his own name inscribed into its surface. However, some time later he received a package in the mail. Inside the package was just such a belt, which also included snare drums flanking the sides of his name. Unfortunately, this package also included something else with Arthur’s name on it, a hefty and unexpected bill.
Later in the night a Show and Tell newcomer shared something from his time in New Orleans with the crowd. The guest had been the assistant to a prominent celebrity photographer in Louisiana. After working with the photographer for some time, he had been told that the man was bankrupt and that he would soon be out of a job. As a severance gift, the guest received this Día de los Muertos, or Mexican Day of the Dead, statue. The figurine features a skeleton standing up and posing for a crouching figure with a camera. The guest was given this gift on his last day of work, as the photographer was about to work on a set with musician Kid Rock. As with most rock stars, Kid Rock entered the studio with his entourage, which included: a man with a fanny pack whose job was to supply cigars and a woman named Stormy, whose job it was to look good. While working, the guest had set down his skeletons haphazardly. Before he knew it, Stormy had sat on his new gift from his boss. Thankfully, the gift remained virtually in tact, if a bit wobbly.
Tags: brooklyn, city reliquary, february, show and tell