The Beard Tax

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We’re at the height of Movember, a charitable movement raising money for men’s health issues like prostate cancer by encouraging men to grow their facial hair while people donate money in amounts appropriate to the growth accomplished.  Sort of like Jump Rope For Heart, but with less panting and leg cramps.   Beards have been used to raise money in the past as well, but in a much different way.

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Peter the Great ascended to the tsarist throne of the Russian Empire in 1682, at only ten years old, and by the time he turned twenty he had seen Europe’s cultural and scientific growth and wished the same for Russia.    From a purely superficial stance, one of Peter’s goals was to adopt the dress and style of 17th century Europe.

Until Peter’s modernization push, a thick, bushy Russian beard was a sign of status; when Peter shaved off his beard in the style of au courant European culture, he passed a resolution that encouraged everyone else to follow in kind.

A beard tax was instituted in 1705: men who wished to keep their beard could pay a tax, otherwise men would have to shave.   Men who paid the tax were given a proof-of-payment token to show they had made their payment.

beard-token-obverse-and-reverseMembers of the Boyards received silver beard tax tokens and the lower classes received copper tokens.  A counterstrike indicated if additional years had been paid.  On one side depicted the double-headed eagle of Russia and the words “payment received”, and the reverse showed a nose, mustache and beard with the words ” The beard is an unnecessary burden”.

The tokens are quite rare today and sell for thousands of dollars each.   As one might expect, people interested in keeping their beards without paying the taxes made for a flourishing counterfeit beard token market, so fakes are somewhat common.   Then, in later years, the Russian mints began producing “novodel” replica beard tax tokens, which are “official” as they came from the mint but are not original nor from the correct era.   If you’d just like the pleasure of carrying one around in your pocket to prove your beardiness, you can buy pewter replicas here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Antique Vampire Kits

A Rare and Unusual Vampire Slaying Kit goes up for auction on June 22, 2012, at Tennants Auctioneers:

[C]omprising a percussion cap pistol with octagonal steel barrel, foliate etched box lock and walnut bag butt, a steel bullet mould, a mallet and four oak stakes, a set of Rosary beads, three glass bottles (two labelled Holy Water and Holy Earth), a Book of Common Prayer dated 1857, all contained in a blue velvet lined mahogany casket with fitted lift-out tray, the inner cover set with a gilt metal and mahogany crucifix, the silver lock escutcheon in the form of a cross, 31cm by 23cm by 13cm

The BBC also notes the following details:

As well as the weaponry, the box holds a copy of the Book of Common Prayer from 1851 and a handwritten extract from the Bible which quotes Luke 19:27.

It reads: “But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me.”

Prior to the kit being listed at the auction site, Oonagh Drage from Tennants Auctioneers said, “I’m not sure who will buy it as we are yet to put it on the internet. I know there are quite a few Americans who are interested in this kind of thing.”

Yup, we American are all about the vampire lore.

Drage credits Bram Stoker’s Dracula for, perhaps, inspiring such kits. But collectors today have a much longer line to whet their fantasies — and wet their pants. *wink* From Virginia Dare to the more recent Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, we even love to incorporate vampires into our American history.

Because of that, one must always consider the faking of such kits by assembling period items in a period box. I’m not in any position to inspect this kit, and I’m not disparaging its authenticity; but I’ve written about these vampire kits before and so must caution collectors about such general issues in this area of collecting.

Drage estimates this antique vampire killing kit to sell between $1800 and $3000; previous sets have sold for close to $15,000. Because we Americans love our vampire collectibles!

If you can’t make it to Leyburn, North Yorkshire, to bid, you can still bid on the 19th century vampire slaying kit; there’s live internet bidding on this item, and others, in Arms, Armour, Militaria & Ethnographica Auction at Tennants.

Ephemera Collector Saves Baby & Bathwater From Being Tossed Out

Ephemera collector Dick Sheaff shares this 1875 carte de visite (CDV) photograph by William Shaw Warren of Boston which seems to be the source for The Pond’s Extract Company’s trade card advertising.