Lamenting the death of a whiskey flask

Heritage Auctions has a rich slate of events coming up the next couple weekends.

Saturday is Heritage's "Historical Platinum Session." This features a piece of Dayton, Ohio's Wright B. Flyer that was allegedly taken to the moon by fellow Ohioan Neil Armstrong.

You can also bid on a logbook from the Enola Gay flight where the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.

Sticking with aviation, they've got several items from Amelia Earhart, including a letter from FDR congratulating her on following up on her trans-Atlantic flight by flying from Hawaii to California.

They've also got the jacket she wore just before the flight.

Next to Amelia Earhart's kimono was something that appealed to my Catholic upbringing:

An authentic cassock worn by the pope. He even signed it.

"An autographed, game worn pope cassock?!" I thought. Part of the proceeds are going to St. Jude, so if I bought it and wore it for a night out on the town, my sacrilege would be for a good cause.

I respect that he signs things "Francesco" because, if I had been signing things "Jorge" for 76 years and had to suddenly make a change, that cassock would have been covered with crossed out names, scribbles, and probably some less than papal thoughts on how God loves me no matter what I call myself, doggone it.

The specialty collections auctions manager showed me several first drafts of other work by Mark Twain and JRR Tolkien, who even drew up family trees for his characters.

They've also got drafts by Beethoven and Mozart.

But, at the risk of editorializing, you know who was not a genius at work? John Wilkes Booth. You can also bid on a letter he wrote a year before he assassinated Abraham Lincoln lamenting the death of a friend who was, technically, a flask of whiskey.

But let's not get bogged down in history. Next weekend, Heritage has an auction of movie memorabilia that includes, but is not limited to, George Clooney's Batman nipple costume. Heritage's Robert Wilonsky explains the significance:

If Batman's nipples aren't your thing, you can also check out a blaster and Stormtrooper helmet from Star Wars Episode IV. I found the helmet surprisingly light, and Wilonsky explained the E11 blaster is surprisingly heavy because it's not a prop; it's an actual machine gun.

Also up for bid is Walt Disney's first camera with Wilonsky explaining you can see the beginning of Disney and follow it to the empire that now includes Lucasfilm.

And if you're questioning your place in this world, wondering when your time will come, consider this telescope the man who would later discover Pluto MacGyvered out of some stuff on his farm.