Shiny objects I cannot afford, but covet madly

[cupcake_goth]

Some of Forrest Ackerman's collection is going to be auctioned off. (clicky-link!)

Including:

- Dracula ring worn by Lugosi as Count Dracula. ($20,000-$30,000).

- Cape made for Lugosi in 1932 and used many times for his stage portrayal of Dracula. Lugosi also wore the costume in Plan 9 from Outer Space. ($15,000-$20,000).

- A first edition of Dracula, signed by Bram Stoker and inscribed by Bela Lugosi to Forry Ackerman (also signed by a host of other Dracula-related personalities). ($6,000-8,000).

FIRST EDITION OF DRACULA, SIGNED BY STOKER AND LUGOSI!!! Yes, my heart skipped a beat when I read that. I need a very wealthy fairy godmother, or I need to start my life of crime now.

---

Oh yeah, happy things! Things That Make Me Happy, Day The Third:

- Dracula. (oooh, I should read part of The Annotated Dracula tonight.)

- Cupcakes. (We stopped at Cupcake Royale after dinner.)

- That Ruthven, one of our adolescent boykitties, still chases his tail if he sees it.

Comments

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

awwww.

and CURSES!!! WHY DO I NOT HAVE MILLIONS IN DISPOSABLE INCOME???

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

I KNOW! THE UNIVERSE. IT TAUNTS US!

[tjcrowley.livejournal.com]

I've worn that ring!

I may have to buy something.

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

You have?! Don't mind me, I'll be over here being mildly envious.

[larisa57.livejournal.com]

Oooh, cool. I'm totally drooling over that first edition now.

(The producer of Dracula, Carl Laemmle, was my great-grandmother's cousin. He sponsored my grandmother's family, a whole bunch of other relatives, and pretty much the entire Jewish population of the village where he grew up to come to the US in the thirties. Back then, to immigrate to the US, you needed someone already here to sign a form saying that they'd be responsible for making sure you never had to go on welfare or any other state assistance, plus you needed to go through a whole ton of paper work, especially if you were part of a group that had immigration quotas (and there were Jewish quotas), and he signed the forms and paid whatever needed to be paid and everything for a total of about 50 people.)

[cupcake-goth.livejournal.com]

Oh, what a fabulous story. Thank you for sharing it!

[larisa57.livejournal.com]

OK, I really need to proofread more closely when I'm typing while I'm this tired. His wife was my great-grandmother's cousin, not him. And I somehow left out the probably salient fact that the family was from Germany. My great-grandparents were among the last people that he sponsored -- their boat left a week before Kristallnacht. My grandmother had come to NY (also sponsored by Laemmle) a few months earlier. Her parents had been scheduled to come with her then, but something happened that made them have to be delayed.

[staxxy.livejournal.com]

wow, that is an awesome story!

[gchick.livejournal.com]

Even though they're all far beyond my means, it makes me a little sad that the book is valued at so much less than the other things...

Mostly, though, WANT THEM ALL.

[kambriel.livejournal.com]

The tragic thing is Bela himself only earned $3,500 for his role of Dracula in the 1931 film... much less even than other actors in the smaller roles like David Manners who earned significantly more :P