[The auction for this Significant Object, with story by Maud Newton, has ended. Original price: 59 cents. Final price: $24.50.] This astonishing “Cracker Barrel” artifact appears to be a souvenir of modern vintage, representing a down-home North American restaurant-and-country-store chain … Continue reading
Earlier this morning I checked in on the progress of our Six Words Significant Objects contest, in collaboration with SmithMag. In its first 24 hours, the contest has attracted 144 submissions. Josh notes that this works out to a story … Continue reading
[The auction for this Significant Object, with story by Kathryn Borel Jr., has ended. Original price: 50 cents. Final price: $16.] Marc’s room smelled like half-open tins of chewing tobacco. He liked Skoal butternut, and I loved it too. Not … Continue reading
We couldn’t be more thrilled with the creative results of our contest in partnership with Slate (600+ entries), and the economic results are looking good, too: As I type, bidding on the Bar-B-Q Jar + Story by Matthew J. Wells … Continue reading
[The auction for this Significant Object, with story by Merrill Markoe, has ended. Original price: 59 cents. Final price: $21.80.] Any image that has been carefully placed in an antique gold frame embossed with angels and laurel wreaths becomes transformed … Continue reading
[The auction for this Significant Object, with story by (Slate contest winner) Matthew J. Wells, has ended. Original price: 75 cents. Final price: $54.] Booth 106 was the regular table of Evelyn Nesbit — it’s where she was introduced to … Continue reading
Congratulations to Matthew J. Wells, whose BBQ Sauce Jar story — entered in a Significant Objects contest earlier this month — triumphed over 600+ other entries to earn top honors, from a panel of judges from Slate.com, as well as … Continue reading
1. Although we might not approve of every use to which their new owners have put our ex-insignificant objects [that's the Cape Cod Shoe, above], we encourage them to send us photos of the objects in their new contexts. Or … Continue reading
[The auction for this Significant Object, with story by Meg Cabot, has ended. Original price: 75 cents. Final price: $108.50.] So Brandon was going to Cabo for spring break and I saved up all my tip money for a year … Continue reading
Benjamen Walker’s always excellent WFMU show, “Theory of Everything” is about Significant Objects today. It’s on right now! Check it out.
Aggregate cost of objects, sold so far: $111.03 Aggregate sales, post-Significance: $2,718.22 Coming up this week: Yes, yes, the Slate contest winner. Sorry for the delay! Recent reactions from elsewhere: Jawbone.TV assesses the project (and its relationship to advertising, among … Continue reading
As you know, the winners of all our auctions receive a copy of their Significant Object’s invented story. Usually that story is told only in words, so presentation is straightforward: a printout. The objects for sale now in our shop … Continue reading
Earlier this month, when we announced that Slate was hosting a fiction contest to select one of the 100 stories we’d publish as part of the Significant Objects project, we figured that it would only take a couple of days … Continue reading
Back in mid-September, we paused to assess our list of published stories (and concluded auctions) to see which 10 objects have sold for the most money to date. In part this was to see if the exercise would help us … Continue reading
Last month, in an update, I explained our Significant Object categorization scheme: a FOSSIL is an object that bears witness to a vanished era or way of life (including childhood); an object that played a role in a crime or … Continue reading
Significant Objects published a three-part series of cartoon stories in collaboration with The Center for Cartoon Studies. Today, instead of publishing a new Significant Objects story, we’re going to post three runners-up. (Note that only the three finalists were colored; … Continue reading
Significant Objects published a three-part series of cartoon stories in collaboration with The Center for Cartoon Studies. Today, instead of publishing a new Significant Objects story, we’re going to post three runners-up. (Note that only the three finalists were colored; … Continue reading
Significant Objects published a three-part series of cartoon stories in collaboration with The Center for Cartoon Studies. Today, instead of publishing a new Significant Objects story, we’re going to post three runners-up. (Note that only the three finalists were colored; … Continue reading
