on 8/6/07 9:54 AM, Carol Serr at [log in to unmask] wrote:

> That's a possibility...since there IS a rail line near by the property.
> I was wondering why there are so many (8) railroad spikes in a domestic
> household dump....and speculated they were "goodies" one of the kids
> collected (but then his mom made him throw them out?; or he grew up and
> did away with his boyhood collections?).
> 
> Of course, they could have been pulled out of recycled ties used around
> the property...I suppose.
> 
> And, if readers are curious to know if there are many toys in the
> collection...um, not really.  A China 'pet name' doll head and a bisgue
> doll torso frag is all...that I can remember right now.  There is a
> harmonica reedplate also, but an adult could play one of those.  The
> youngest of the 5 children was a son...
> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
>> Behalf Of Ron May
>> Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2007 5:44 PM
>> To: [log in to unmask]
>> Subject: Re: the Kid Factor influence on artifacts (etc)
>> 
>> Maybe they placed the bullet shells on a railroad track and
>> then picked up the flattened shells to take home? I used to do
>> that with pennies.
>> 
>> Ron May
>> Legacy 106, Inc.
>> 
>> 
>> 
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>> 
In regard to railroad spikes, people (kids and no longer so....) just seem
to want to pick them up and bring them home.  I have 15 to 20 in a pile
under my front porch at this moment.  All have been picked up by visitors
walking the nearby railroad tracks.  They all return with a look as if they
have found a unique artifact -- one that I probably desperately need.  And
out of respect under the porch they go....  Some are occasionally employed
to weigh something down, and I remember flinging one or two at marauding
groundhogs in the garden.  Anyway, it doesn't take a kid.  I have also seen
rail fans with very large collections of spikes, often labeled as to
railroad of origin.  They make a nice portable souvenir, and I think we
often fail to appreciate the place of railroads in the hearts of many in
older generations.

Joe Dent
America Unv.