Cabinet of Curiosities – A New Take on an Old Tradition By K. Coats
For centuries members of the upper class would have something called a Cabinet of Curiosities on display in their homes. It could range from an entire room all the way down to a smaller display case. In these “cabinets” would be items from far and wide – mostly artifacts that were hard-to-find in the natural world. Remember those old bug collections kids used to make in elementary school? The curiosities would be like that, but much more encompassing. One could see unique shells, skulls, stuffed birds, rocks, feathers, and anything else deemed “curious.” I learned about these through a podcast by Aaron Mahnke that was appropriately titled Cabinet of Curiosities. The idea of a cabinet filled with neat items fascinated me, especially as my children began exploring the world around them. We already had a small collection of neat “things,” but it was mostly limited to a cardboard box stuffed in a corner. So I did something decidedly unpopular, especially here in the South. I sold my China set that had no emotional value to me or my mother, and I kept the China cabinet my father-in-law had given us. He had long replaced the glass with plexiglass because of his children, and I’ll always consider him one of the smartest people in the room for that move. But I digress. I purchased bottles and jars of varying shapes and sizes, as well as some vintage-looking labels, and the kids and I got to work. We put robin egg shells in a short, squat bottle, our collection of blue jay feathers in a wide, flat bottle, and our prized bird’s nest in a large jar with a wide mouth. We looked up and identified as best we could with our Audubon Society Field Guide to the Southeastern States and made the labels as accurately as possible. The result has been one of the best hobbies my kids and I could have asked for. The cabinet collection has grown to include both common and unique bugs, a nest made from horse hair, animal skulls, shells, unique stones, snake skins, and even a random bird leg. And before you clutch your pearls at the idea of bringing home random “specimens,” rest assured this mama has two very firm, unbreakable rules. Rule 1: Whatever it is must already have gone on to its Reward; no
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