Confections and collectibles

A week or so ago a collector paid around $15,000 for a lock of Napoleon's hair (we won't know whether the hair is genuine, of course, without DNA testing, given that there was a thriving pre- and post-mortem trade in Bonaparte hair clippings, clothing, letters and even splinters from trees at Longwood). Earlier this year a half-smoked cigar abandoned by Winston Churchill sold for $8,138. A collector recently paid US$45,000 for three chest x-rays of Marilyn Monroe.

The trade in memorabilia - and in murderabilia - has a long history, with the devout attributing magical properties to relics of the saints. That attribution, commercial exploitation and uncertainty about provenance and ease of forgery meant that sceptics have had fun inventorying holy nails, cross fragments, the one true Spear, the Holy Sponge, swaddling clothes, cradles, robes and other items that had supposedly been in close contact with The Son of God and that - o miracle - managed to manifest themselves in numerous places at the very same time to confound the unbelievers, edify the faithful and incidentally aid revenue generation by the custodians.

Don't even think about the multiple survivals of the one, the true and of course miraculous Holy Prepuce, the residuum, if that is the word, that features in Peter Goldsworthy's mordant Honk If You Are Jesus (Angus and Robertson 1992) and that so far has escaped exploitation by Dan Brown. (The prospect of Tom Hanks and assorted homicidal albino monks tearing around Europe in search of what's left by the mohel is alarming.)

It is not too surprising to see today's news item, courtesy of Derridian, reporting the production of "occult jam" -

JAM made from one of Princess Diana's hairs has been selling well at an art exhibition in London.

Sam Bompas, who founded catering company Bompas and Parr, says a tiny speck of the late Princess of Wales' hair has been infused with gin, then combined with milk and sugar to make the preserve, which tastes like condensed milk.

Mr Bompas says he bought the hair off eBay for $US10 ($12) from a US dealer who collects celebrity hair.

He said today that the product, called "occult jam", aims to provoke people into thinking about food marketing and what they eat.

With Jurassic Park in mind, why, I ask, stop there? Why not energy drinks infused with just a little bit of Napoleon? Love potions with something from Rudolph Valentino or Erroll Flynn? Cupcakes sprinkled with some reconstituted HLA Hart? Sausages - blood sausages of course - with essence of Carl Schmitt? Althusser salve (a hit among WWF fans)? Judy Garland fruit-n-genome vodka cocktails in a can? Phar Lap Burgers!

Alas, it's been done before. Over a decade ago US-based Stargene was reported as planning to market jewellery, watches, pens and other trinkets that incorporated DNA from the hair of notables such as Abraham Lincoln, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, James Dean and Albert Einstein.

I'm more impressed with 'The Kaiser's tooth' by Pfeiffer, Benthaus, Rolf and Brinkmann in 117 International Journal of Legal Medicine (2003) 118–120 -

A tooth attributed to the German Emperor, Kaiser Wilhelm II (1859–1941) and stored in the museum Huis Doorn, The Netherlands, where the Kaiser lived in exile from 1918 until his death, had to be investigated for two objectives: firstly, possible paternity in relation to a woman who died in 1952 and secondly, to verify its authenticity.

Alas for CSI fans, the lower molar ("extracted at the beginning of the twentieth century" and presumably displayed on a silken cushion) failed to provide the requisite DNA -

The tooth had two golden inlays, extensive carious defects and mummified granulation tissue fixed between the roots. Due to extensive dental manipulation the pulp chamber was largely destroyed and could not be used for DNA recovery

'Tales from the Crypt: Scientific, Ethical, and Legal Considerations for Biohistorical Analysis of Deceased Historical Figures' by Jordan Paradise & Lori Andrews in XXVI Temple Journal of Science, Technology and Environmental Law (2007) 224-299 notes that -

Aside from jewelry, functional products have also been marketed that claim to incorporate celebrity DNA. An advertisement from Airline International touts the Krone Limited Edition Abraham Lincoln Pen, allegedly containing crystallized DNA of Lincoln replicated from hair strands of the former President removed on the night of his assassination, set in an amethyst stone. ...

Even living historical figures are now being faced with issues of commercialization of their bodily tissue and DNA, which exceeds the scope of this article but raises similar ethical and legal questions. In an effort to have a piece of their favorite celebrity, people have forked over thousands of dollars at internet auctions for clippings of Neil Armstrong's hair gathered by his barber, Britney Spears's used pumice stone, Kelly Clarkston's discarded water bottle, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's chewed cough drop. John Reznikoff, a private owner of the largest collection of human hair at 135 different people’s locks, purportedly including hair purportedly from Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Albert Einstein, Napoleon, Elvis Presley, King Charles I, and Charles Dickens. Reznikoff describes the hair collection as a "unique card catalogue of DNA of the most famous people in the world," of which he is the custodian.