Rusted, traditional iron boat anchor. 3.5 feet
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Golden Wedding Whiskey, "Has No Peers...For Fifty Years.", or so it says on the sides of the bottle.

Distilled in Schenley, Pennsylvania, the blended whiskey spent "15 years in wood" and was then bottled in this iridescent "gold" bottle some time around 1924, which would be during prohibition. We are not sure what the story is and we'd welcome any information about it. The cap served as a shot glass.

The brand was established in 1856.
Cork stoppered whiskey bottle which, according to the label, contained a fifth of Spey-Royal Scotch, the "Choicest and oldest procurable". This may be of WWII vintage, as the bottle also carried another label stating that the contents were of "prewar strength". Our guess is that the alcohol content of whiskey etc., was reduced during the war and getting "full strength" booze was difficult. This brand was produced under the banner of W&A Gilbey, a company founded by two brothers, London wine merchants, who began distilling gin in the mid 19th century. As the popularity of Scotch whiskey began to increase, the Gilbey's purchased several distilleries in Scotland and went into that business as well.
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French Glass Cutter. Brass. Late 19th or early 20th century - shown here approximately life-size. This is a beautifully designed tool, both aesthetically as well as for function.

The hammer shaped head has a numbered dial. On the underside of the dial there are 6 axles on which cutting wheels (missing) were mounted. We assume that wheels of varying sharpness were kept on the tool for use with glass of different thicknesses. (Generally, for thicker glass, duller wheels are used.) The head, itself, was used as a tiny hammer to tap on the scored line to open the cut.

The "teeth" at the opposite end of the shaft were used to "nibble" the glass, usually after cutting a fractional width off a pane, or when a cut did not break cleanly.

The shaft is nicely turned with two decorative balls and then narrows gracefully near the head. This narrowing is not merely decorative, but part of a carefully thought out ergonomic design. If you place the shaft between the index and middle fingers, and bring the thumb up, the shape of the slope creates a very comfortable and positive grip. At the same time, the tips of both the index finger and the thumb contact the concave curves cut in to the underside of the hammer head which makes for a sure grip and complete control over the tool as the cut is made.

The concave cuts on the opposite side of the head were done to take off the corners which would have kept the cutting wheel from making contact with the glass if the tool were tilted only a few degrees off perpendicular.

Lastly, the rounded point at the tip of the shaft was used to tap the scored line to open cuts on thin glass (where the hammer head might have been too heavy or inaccurate.)

In short, this is a very cool tool!.
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A group of lenses (shown about actual size) of varying designs . These are available, at no charge, to a science teacher or student with an interest in optics.

Contact us at: info@norsic.com
Package of Ansco 2 x 2 inch gelatin, color compensating photographic filters, probably from the 1950's.
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This is probably the niftiest kitchen gadget to come along up to the time that Fred Waring invented the blender. It's a churn and seems to be of European origin as the container is marked "2 L" (for 2 liters) on the bottom. Additionally, on the screw-on top, there is a faint stamped legend which says "REIF-WERK" indicating, perhaps, Germany or Austria. It's cast iron, tin, glass and wood. We're guessing it's from the 1920's.
Glass, brass, bronze and steel wire are the materials which make up this 'tree lamp". Hundreds of green glass florets with red bead centers are wired together to make up the leaves. The base is frosted, carved glass. The lamp stands 7.5" tall. Although the electrical componants seem to be American, I think it's a rewired Venetian souvenir piece. Don't quote me.
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Plaster cast of a buxom lady with hands on hips. She looks as though she's in charge of the staff of a large household or maybe of a kitchen. In any case, her attitude would suggest that she's definitely in charge of something!
First American Edition of George Orwell's masterpiece, Animal Farm, published by Harcourt Brace and Company of NYC, in 1946. (By that time, Emil Norsic & Son had already been in business for 14 years.)
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This magnum bottle was found in the garbage by one of our drivers. It is a 1929 Chateau Cheval Blanc, St. Emilion. This same wine was included in a tasting by Wine Spectator magazine 1991 and received a score of 90. They assessed the wine at $350 for a 750 ml bottle, putting this bottle in the $750 or better range, 11 years ago. Had it been stored correctly, our resident wine expert, a local restaurateur, places a $1500 to $2000 value on it auction. However, the bottle was empty.
Probably one of the most recognized logos in the world as it appears on a box use by MGM's motion picture film laboratory (Metrocolor). The box was used to package processed film; this one for a 1000' of 35mm film rolled tightly on a core. Millions of feet of "dailies" or "rushes" were delivered in these boxes.
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Mid 20th Century teaching aid, this Dukane film strip projector featured a built in turntable, amp and speaker to provide sound for the visuals on the film strip (a 35 mm strip of sprocketed film with individual still frames). The operator advanced the strip when cued by the record.
Bell & Howell "Film-O-Sound" 16mm projectors were the workhorses of the Audio/Visual Departments of schools and institutions in the 1950's 60's, 70's. Some are probably still in use today. They were extremely well built, sturdy and easy to operate. This one, a "Specialist" model, operated flawlessy after sitting idle in less than ideal conditions for decades.

For the incredibly vast number hours of dependable service the provided, in this writer's opinion, these machines rank right up there with Oscar winning equipment such as the Arriflex "S" and the Steadicam.
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There's probably no place in the U.S. where the line between genius and insanity is more blurred than the City of Baltimore. Okay, maybe it's too broad a statement but when you realize that two of the people most associated with the place are Edgar Alan Poe and director, John Waters, it does seem to have an element of truth.

Much has been written about Poe's "insanity" but as for Waters....well, I give you the item pictured above. It's the "Odorama" (TM) card from the 1981 film, "Polyester" released by New Line Cinema and starring Tab Hunter and a plus-sized transvestite named, Divine (the late, great Glenn Milstead.. also of Baltimore).

How it worked was that, upon entering the theater, you were handed the card pictured above. On the front were production stills. On the back were 10, numbered, scratch and sniff patches. At various moments during the film, numbers were superimposed over a scene and you were to scratch and sniff the corresponding patch giving you a whif of what the characters on the screen were smelling. The scenes, and smells, included, among other things, a bouquet of roses and an old pair of sneakers. The gimmick out-quirked the quirkiest moments of an extremely quirky film in a long list of quirky films by Waters...and the theaters were in constant laughter. Pure (quirky) genius!

The really quirky thing is that Waters is now becoming mainstream with another of his pictures, "Hairspray" being staged for Broadway.

Not much information, here, except that it's a hand-carved, hand-painted wooden mask. Just guessing at it's origin, I'd say it's Indonesian but I also sense a Hindu connection. So, Balinese? Maybe? I welcome any information.xx
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