Regular readers will know that I use the Free section on Craigslist to amuse myself. As today is a sort of vacation day for me, I popped over there just now to see if there was anything funny worth tweeting. I found something absolutely totally and completely NOT worth tweeting. It was so awful, especially in light of all of the horrible racist atrocities happening in Ferguson, MO and elsewhere right now, that it merited its own blog post.
What could possibly be that bad you might ask? I’ll show you. Be prepared.
Antique noose from witch hanging with certificate of authenticity (Peabody)
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post id: 4629136917
posted: 37 minutes ago
Ok, I don’t know about you but I suspect that the pic and information above is, well, complete bunk. As Geoff observed when I called him to the computer in horror, that rope is WAY too well preserved to be from 1692 and to have been used in an actual hanging. Also, I don’t know about you, but I suspect that the AHA isn’t the type of organization that would provide a “certificate of authenticity” for such a thing.
Besides, we have a few problems here, folks.
1) 19 of the 22 condemned witches were hung. The rest were crushed to death or died in prison. Issuing a certificate of authenticity linking this noose to one of the 19 hangings would be impossible.
2) In 1692 they would have been using hand made hempen rope. The rope above is modern rope made via machine. Oops.
3) The photo in the above post was taken from here. Hello, stock photo.
4) A variety of knots were used in nooses over the centuries and in various countries. The one shown above, in the stock photo, is a more recent one. A “Gibbet” or “Ichabod” knot would have been more common earlier in US History and certainly in the time of the Witch Trials. See photo below for a distinction.
My guess is that this is someone who thinks that throwing a photo of a noose up on Craigslist in one of the most liberal areas of the country is HI-larious. Quite the joke considering what is happening in this country right this moment.
I don’t care if you call it a “devil rope” or not. This isn’t funny. There is nothing about this that is funny in any way, shape, or form.
The fact is, if you want to actually offload a historically significant item that you find distasteful, for whatever reason, 1) don’t do it on Craigslist and 2) take an actual photo. It may be that grandpa told the person posting this once upon a time this that this thing was the real deal. Either grandpa was deluded or the poster has convinced him/herself that it isn’t racist propaganda/a trophy from the Civil Rights era.
If that “devil rope” bothers you so much then burn it. Or untie it and make it a useful piece of rope. If it actually exists at all.
~Kelly
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