Our Top 25 Objects

by Joshua Glenn | Sat, Dec 5, 2009

ABOUT the PROJECT

According to our highly scientific Adjusted Sales Rank table, the following objects were the 25 most significant of our experiment. Let’s consider these significant objects visually — i.e., without mentioning which authors wrote which stories, and without reference to the stories. What do you see here, readers? Is there something inherently more significant about these objects than the other 75?

Click here to view a single table containing all our experimental data, and links to every post in which analysis of this data has been offered.

russian-figure-550

1. Russian figure

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indian-maiden-550

2. Indian Maiden

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IMG_1218

3. Wooden Animal

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hawk-ashtray-550

4. “Hawk” Ashtray

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pinkhorse

5. Pink Horse

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brassboot

6. Metal Boot

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4tile-550

7. “4” Tile

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Cape Cod porcelain shoe

8. Cape Cod Shoe.

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Duck Tray

9. Duck Tray

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mallet4

10. Mallet

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Object No. TK of 100

11. Fish Spoons

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fake-banana-550

12. Fake Banana

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missouri-shotglass-550

13. Missouri Shotglass

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cow-vase-550

13. [tie] Cow Vase

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<em>Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Glen David Gold, here</em>

15. Kneeling Man Figurine

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rhino2

16. Rhino Figurine

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coloredsandanimal

17. Rainbow Sand Animal

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meat-thermometer-550

18. Meat Thermometer

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idol-2-550

18. [tie] Idol

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feltmouse-550

20. Felt Mouse

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bird-figurine-550

21. Bird Figurine

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ziggy-250

22. Ziggy Heart

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geisha-bobblehead-550

23. Geisha Bobblehead

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bbqjar-550

23. [tie] BBQ Sauce Jar

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7a-ireland-dish

25. Ireland Cow Plate

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The significance of this object has been invented by the author; see the project description for details. Click here to receive email updates.

About the author:

Joshua Glenn

Joshua Glenn is a cultural semiotics analyst and independent scholar. He is the coeditor of Taking Things Seriously (2007), a collection of ordinary objects with extraordinary significance; and coauthor of The Idler's Glossary (2008). In the '90s, he published the zine/journal Hermenaut; today, he is coeditor of Hilobrow.com.

2 Responses to “Our Top 25 Objects”


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  1. [...] these not-so-appealing items don’t appear on Josh’s adjusted top-25 list. (I’d say the least intrinsically impressive object there is the meat thermometer, although since [...]

  2. [...] presented the experiment’s Top 25 most significant objects (according to adjusted sales rank) in a [...]

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