28 Things People Keep At Home But Avoid Talking About Because They Are So Controversial, As Shared Online
Probably, each of us has strange things, similar to a suitcase without a handle - they're hard to carry, but it is absolutely a pity to leave them behind. Things that once mattered to us or someone close to us, but today gather dust somewhere in the attic or sometimes 'float to the surface' during a thorough cleaning of the house.
The most interesting thing about these items is that almost every one of them has its own story, thrilling or amusing, and sometimes it sounds so incredible that it looks more like an excerpt from some adventure movie than a story from real life. Perhaps it is precisely because of the memories that these things give us that we continue to selflessly store them at home, brushing off the dust and wiping an occasional tear from our eyes.
Once a thread appeared in the AskReddit community, which instantly went viral with almost 40K upvotes and around 23.3K different comments. The author of the original post asked "What is the most controversial thing you own?" and if you're a writer experiencing a genre crisis, there's just an endless sea of fresh ideas here for you. However, the selection made by Bored Panda based on the original thread will be interesting for literally anyone, so please feel free to scroll it to the very end and tell your own stories in case you own some strange items as well.
More info: Reddit
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A Bengal tiger pelt.
My wife is half Indian. A friend of her family died, and they found a tiger pelt in his belongings. He was early 80’s and was born and raised in India before moving to my country (Canada). The estate was split in 3 so most everything had to be liquidated. Well you can’t sell tiger pelts here, and no museum or anything seemed to want it. So somehow I wound up with it.
My wife’s a vegetarian for ethical reasons. So naturally I was floored to bring it home. Id never hunt an endangered species, and I’m firmly against hunting for sport. But I wasn’t going to let it get thrown in the trash.
Would seem to me that throwing it away would be disrespectful to the animal
I agree. Throwing it away won't bring the animal back, and I would treasure it as I would have treasured the living tiger, only from a distance.
Load More Replies...In this scenario, a professional cleaning and displaying all the glory of a beautiful animal is the best thing if it's already gone...I hope that these cats can make a come back in numbers but the trash isn't the way...everyone should see how beautiful they are and learn the best way to see these animals is on a camera in the wild and not on a wall or on the floor
Heirloom it. The gent was in his 80's. Chances are it wasn't illegal to hunt the tigers then but is now. Find out how he came into it and make it part of the families history. So it becomes a family treasure and not something stored with mothballs.
That is what I always debate when I go to thrift stores. I might like something but it's leather so come the question would it be wrong to buy it since it's not contributing to killing animals ( I am an ethical vegetarian). I don't get them though since I still haven't answered that question.
I have the same discussing in my head about sweatshops and second hand.
Load More Replies...I'd buy it in a heartbeat. I live and old fashioned lifestyle and utilize pelts for warmth. Finding vintage pelts is always preferable, as the pelt if well cared for can go on to serve a purpose for many generations, but when I cannot, I source mine through subsistence herders with free range herds. Fur farms are evil and I do my absolute best to make sure that absolutely NONE of my money makes it back to those places.
hey. High -five OP. My granddad was the chiefforest ranger at Buxa Tiger reservein India,and during a night patrol, he once recovered a freshly-skinned Tiger pelt from a group of poachers he and his team apprehended . Problem is, back in the day there was no proper system to register these recovered items, so my Granddad had to hold onto it, and after his death, his cousin was given the pelt. The whole family has been unable to sell it, because of the aforementionedlack of registration
I don’t believe displaying it is t the way forward. I might try talking to an anti hunting campaign group to get some ideas about what to do
Just so you know, tiger pelt is used for spiritual practices. People sit on it and use for meditation and other practices. Most of the practitioners are staunch vegetaraians too.
My great grandpa was a medic in ww2 and we own a little chest with his personal belongings, including his diary, some old bandages
And 3 vials of 1940s morphine
What’s the problem? How is it controversial to own 3 vials of morphine? Anyway It most certainly is not morphine anymore, the solution is not stable and would not last 80 years.
At our local flea market the one vendor cleared out an old drug store from around 1900. He just had everything up for sale without paying attention to what was in the bottles. Alcohol was in every one of them. Also various concoctions of heroin, morphine, strychnine, mercury, & cocaine. I told him about it & now he worried.
80+ yo Morphine probably has the current strength of 2 Xtra strength Tylenol!
Sears catologue (geez how do you spell that) had them by the syringe in the early 1900s.
Years ago the library had a reproduction of a early 20th century Sears & Roebuck catalog. I loved looking at it. For mere 95 cents I could have a set of fancy silver jeweled hair combs that are probably worth bank now. Now I want to google for it. Lol
Load More Replies...I gave back my syrettes of morphine the last time I served as a reservist. I had the since my regular service, 12 years earlier. You have sign them out, but after a shell landed in the medical clinic when we were out on maneuvers, we listed all of our morphine as destroyed, in case one of us lost ours. Still had a bunch, so each of us took a set of 5 home. I can't remember who I handed off mine to. If I wasn't moving overseas I would have kept them. It's been almost 40 years now.
Apparently, a full vaccination card. (A genuine one.) And a mask.
lol. there are so many idiots... i am happy with my 4 vacchines and diligent mask wearing - I have actually avoided the plague so far! and most importantly- not killed my elderly parents.
I have one too. We're still using mask too. Health safety precautions are still in effect too. What is so wrong with that. Are you guys okay over there.
Some people and certain media sources have politicized the vaccine and just plain lied about its effectiveness. That is why, in the USA quite a few more Republicans have died from Coronavirus than Democrats.
Load More Replies...Why would anyone avoid talking about being vaccinated? That would be like not talking about taking paracetamol surely?
I got a genuine chortle out of this. It's going to be such a non-issue in a year or so. I wonder what nonsense the uber-right will be in uproar about by then. Maybe something even dumber like gas stoves. Oh...
Left-handed Zoroastrians with pierced septums who wear pleather jackets are grooming our children!
Load More Replies...I had to wear a mask to see a doctor this morning, felt very much like 2020.
wait how do you wear a mask if you have no head?
Load More Replies...I still wear masks in indoor public spaces. Nobody gives me any grief.
That WHO issued vaccination pamphlet is standard in the US military, US State Dept, & other US govt agencies. My family & I still have our's from over 30 years ago.
A packaged stick from Afghanistan that claims to cure all known illnesses, including cancer, if you rub it on you.
I traded an energy drink for it.
I think it’s pretty controversial since I now own the cure for all ailments.
I don't know if the stick can, but if you come down to Parts and Service, I'm sure we can get you a robotic head if you want
Load More Replies...I knew a guy once. He told me all the same things about rubbing his stick on me.
can it cure depression, adhd, crippling anxiety and maladaptive daydreaming? . . . . asking for a friend
if it will cure all ailments, try rubbing it on humanity and see if it will cure stupid. it would make things much better if it worked.
My uncle owned one of those sticks. He got AIDS. He accidentally broke the cure the day before. It was a sticky situation.
Similar to Headless Roach's comment: can you fix shriveled-up skin on a hippo?
As a joke I told my mom I wanted my dogs testicles in a jar after we had him neutered…. She took it seriously and now I have had my dogs balls in a jar for almost a decade
That's really funny. You'll have to search for more articles on neutering so you can use it again on the comments. My post SOUNDS a little sarcastic when I read it, but it's a compliment!
Load More Replies...Know why dogs lick their nuts? Because THEY know they're going to lick you in the FACE!
Load More Replies...My niece requested the umbilical cord pieces from my boys after birth (after falling off obviously) but didn't get either since both fell off while with my grandma and were disposed of without my knowing. I'd have done it just to gross out my mom. Lol 😂
Well if i would've kept something it would've been the boujee (pronounced booshy) tail but balls it is!
Allister Crowley's Key of Solomon. It's a book about summoning demons. It's just a curiosity piece.
You can't have it. There's only one copy and it's in my possession. I am possessed too.
Load More Replies...fun fact: this is the book that Belle from 'beauty and the beast' is reading when she is sitting next to the fountain.
Wait, so when Belle says "here's where she meets prince charming"...
Load More Replies...Aleister Crowley was a clever trickster who made a living from stupid well-off people who wanted to be a bit 'daring' for their time. Whatever 'magick' he possessed is to be found in all successful con-men.
Is that considered weird? I have all of his books, including that one...
The book in pic is exactly like the one Belle is reading in Beauty and the Beast
My Scottish family crest is a hand holding a severed head on a sword. The owner of the head is a Moor who allegedly was wanted by the king. The reward was land. My ancestor caught this guy, cut off his head and brought it to the king. Pretty controversial when you know what a Moor was.
My family crest is of a woman, carrying the severed head of a man in one hand and holding up an anchor with the other. I find many crests have somewhat cryptic images but these seem pretty straight forward.
My family comes from the tip of Italy's boot. We are very dark, which I attribute to the Moors invading and ruling that part of Italy for hundreds of years. They were just everywhere. Every family has one (or more).
I'm curious though if it was that specific Moor for real reasons? Like a crime beyond being born. Or just the head of any Moor?
When I was a volunteer at a cat shelter, I visited the booths at the fair. One sold books with histories about various clans. Mine was Macintosh. I picked it up and asked the guy who ran the both if this was a joke. He wanted to know why. "well, for one the slogan for my clan name is "touch not the cat but a glove". Sir, I work at a cat shelter.
I read "chest" instead of "crest" and I was highly concerned that this person had a human head saved somewhere in their house....
When my sister was in high school she wrote letters to Charles Manson. He wrote her back. My dad intercepted the letters in the mail. He never opened them, but still has them. My sister never knew he wrote back.
**Edit to answer some questions**
I can’t believe I woke up this morning to this explosion…
My sister is 7 years older. Mental health was left generally undiagnosed and untreated in the 80s. She was a rough kid to parent, and even as a sibling there’s a lot of trauma stemming from her I’ve had to work through. I haven’t spoken to her since I was in my 20s. She’s estranged from my dad, my other sister, and I. She has worked her way back into my mom’s life as she’s gotten older, more than likely to benefit from her death.
I do remember her being obsessed with Manson when I was a kid. She was a f*****g menace, constantly getting into some sort of trouble, running away, police calls, etc. As soon as she turned 18 she was kicked out. She turned 50 last month, and according to my mom “she finally has her life together, she bought her first house”.
My dad told me about the letters approximately a year ago. This happened 30 years ago, I’m pretty sure there wouldn’t be any federal charges brought against him (haha), and he has no reason to make this up or lie about it. I told him I want them left to me in his will.
To the people messaging me to buy the letters…big fat f*****g NO. If and when I get them in my possession, I’ll evaluate what I want to do with them at this time. I agree they’re worth more sealed than opened.
Guys watch out for some a*****e named xidaci7. advertising bots. UGH
I am realy impressed that people didn't open them. The curiosity would just kill me
I imagine it could be really painful, too, especially if you could infer what your child had written based on his replies.
Load More Replies...There are collectors out there, who would pay good money for anything connected with major criminals and killers. The Krays, for example, used to sell their art.
Load More Replies...I’m sure a historian would view this as worthy of examining to get more of a perspective on how Manson influenced people while he was still in prison. Can’t deny the man did influence the psychology and psychopathy of mass murderers. Ironically, the crimes of Sharon Tate and the Libianca murders….Manson never actually touched any of them. But his influence was powerful. Imagine if OP’s sister was writing to Manson while he was NOT in prison. She would have easily have been influenced to run away and could’ve been a criminal as well. This is just a WOW story. Thanks OP for sharing l.
I'd talk to a professor or religious leader I trust to see if I should burn them or give to someone who studies criminals. Maybe read them first. But I wouldn't PROFIT off them.
Would OP consider donating to the behavioral science unit of the FBI?
Load More Replies...This is extraordinary. Thank you for the edits to tell more of the story. My brother and I had carte blanche in the Library, but NOT for Helter Skelter or any books about Manson.
Wow the op seems a little entitled wanting letters addressed to his sister like he has a right to them
Tell me you didn't read the whole thing without telling me you didn't read the whole thing....
Load More Replies...
Probably a small bone I lifted from a catacomb In Peru when I was younger. Technically I’m a grave robber and definitely getting haunted.
Please Do Not take artifacts from sites. Even just moving them can destroy valuable information about our past. The precise location something is found can be very important.
Don't take anything from historical sites. Ever. But having said that I don't think the owner of that bone gives a c**p where the bone is.
I bestow opon you an upvote moth for your comment
Load More Replies...Hmm ... I seriously wonder what the fine or jail time or both would be?
5 grams of uranium metal, stored under oil in a glass vial.
BP is notorious for ill-fitting pictures. I suspect they’re picked by AI based on code words, not actual people.
Load More Replies...Ok but the real question is...will I turn into a super wolf if I drink it?...
I'd kind of like to know how they got it. And does the oil neutralize the radiation? I would have thought it needed to be kept in a lead box or something.
You can just buy it. Uranium metal is generally "depleted uranium" which is what's leftover after refining fuel for use in nuclear reactors. The oil is there to prevent it from forming an oxide layer on the surface which would interfere with whatever scientific purposes it might be used for.
Load More Replies...I would find out how to get rid of it. A scientist at a University or something. What would happen to it if you die?
It isn't terribly hazardous. Depleted uranium does emit the odd alpha particle. However, α-particle radiation cannot penetrate your skin (or even a sheet of paper) so as long as you don't ingest it, it's harmless.
Load More Replies...Nothing controversial. 5 grams of depleted uranium if harmless, freely available and cost less than 100 euros/dollars.
I have started to collect uranium glass.... sooo pretty.
Not me, my parents growing up..
they had an actual elephant foot turned into a table.
Like an actual foot cut from an elephant and taxidermied made into an end table. Had a glass table top. You could feel the thin hairs on it. F****n haunted my dreams man.
We have an elephant foot in my family, too; it was made into a stool/ottoman, and has the skin/hair/toenails still intact. I posted in another thread a while ago about the leg bone that I have. My grandfather was a professional archer with a long bow (he's actually in the hall of fame). For the record, I don't condone killing elephants.
We only ever had their footprints in the fridge. [For those wondering, an elephant's footprint is a type of creamcake]
I was gifted a pair of elephant hide western style boots. They are quite similar to a pair featured in a recent issue of National Geographic magazine. Their provenance is unknown. They are likely African, culled from a herd in the interest of population control; the skin lawfully sold to a large and popular U.S.A. bootmaker. According to the article DNA testing is usually inconclusive due to the tanning and treatment process. When I learned of the controversy I wondered if anyone would notice or care. No one does. I plan on returning them to the giver. I won't own any another exotic hide items in the future.
I've had lots of elephant ears. They're basically pie crust sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, then deep fried.
I own a ivory bracelet I bought back in the 80s. Don't have the heart to wear it or get rid of it.
You don't have to wear it but def keep it, I'm sure it's atlease a lovely bracelet. Getting rid of it won't bring the animal back, I feel like keeping it's better to honor that creature it came from.
Load More Replies...:( this makes me want to cry, the atrocities that man committed and continues to commit.
There was a Far Side cartoon with an elephant, who is missing a leg, on the phone with someone. "What? They turned it into a WASTEBASKET?!"
When I was a kid we had friends that had one turned into an umbrella stand. So weird.
My family owns a petrified walrus [wang], my grandmother took it to get it identified at the Smithsonian several decades ago. Apparently her grandfather or maybe it was her great-grandfather brought it home after he spent several years on some type of expedition up around northern Alaska and points north. It has been loaned out to several museums at different times. The family has talked about selling it but everyone has to agree and so far there is no agreement about selling it. So I own 1/67th of a petrified walrus [wing-dang-doodle].
This is just getting silly, BP. So w**g is acceptable, but penis, w***y, d**k and k**b are not. Edit apparently w**g isn't, but penis actually is. So instead of childish language, why can the post not just say penis, like a grown up?
Sucks if your name happens to be any of those.
Load More Replies...The Inuit used them as war clubs... those bones are no joke. But still have to say that it's the worst way to get d*#k slapped...
Load More Replies...My family has one. It is capped in ivory. Back in the 70's, everyone in Alaska had one.
Growing up, my dad had an embryonic whale in a jar on the mantle piece. It upset him, he did not like like it. No idea about any back story, but on my grandfather's dea death, my dad called a few museums and gave it the first who said they would like it. My dad and his sisters enjoy arguing over minor inheritance (there is nothing of real value) but on the subject of the whale, they all find it horrid. I kind of wish I knew the story though
That's an Oosik. They used to sold in lots of tourist traps in Alaska. I used to see them all the time, but never bought one. I just have an ivory Billiken, which is another bizarre Alaskan souvenir. I was never quite clear if it was the part of the walrus they claimed it was, or was just carved from a tusk.
These Walrus penis bones are ivory and called, Oosik. I have a 20 inch long one from Alaska.
Umm mortuary toe tags from an asylum in New York ....like twenty or so of them ... I think they could be the only things left showing that these people actually lived
This is cool! Thank you for finding a way to remember the forgotten!
I'm not sure why you would take them ... to honor them ... for horror stories ... I'm not sure.
An ornate, Boer tobacco jar from the 1800s. My great grandfather looted it off a dead militiaman during the Second Boer war.
There was at one time in the family, (somewhere) a woman’s breast, cut off and cured and turned into a tobacco pouch by a great, great uncle during the Boer wars. I remember seeing it as a kid and being totally scared by this gruesome thing Back in the sixties. Seems these tobacco pouches were a thing back in the day and it is said, that some could hold a pound of tobacco.
Today I learned from bored panda commenters that you're allowed to, nay, encouraged to steal from the dead body as long as you don't like who it belongs to.
I grew up in South Africa and my great great grandfather and my great grandfather fought on opposing sides, apparently if they were in a skirmish the made sure to avoid each other. Also fyi the British out over women and children in internet camps and there was a cholera outbreak and they were give Epsom salts which the board thought they were being poisoned and the Afrikaans name for Epsom salts is Engels se do it which literally me and English salt. Sorry for the random piece of trivia but I love this story.
Internment camps, not Internet camps. Basically, the British invented the concentration camp during the Boer War, killing over 25,000 civilians, mainly women and children, with children accounting for 80% of the deaths.
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I have a glass vial/small bottle of pure histamine. If anyone would be exposed to this they would get a deadly allergic reaction. I have it double sealed.
Not being shady.... but I'm highly curious as to how people acquire some of these things
What is histamine and is it legal to throw it at someone that is LITERALLY DESTROYING THE EARTH (like a alien or something) - asking for a friend
Histamine is an ingredient of topical drugs for the relief of joint pain or muscle aches and pains. [https://go.drugbank.com/drugs/DB05381]
Load More Replies...I have a used covid vaccine vile. Found it left behind at work (so weird because I don't work in any type of medical setting whatsoever) couldn't resist taking home a piece of pandemic history
Where on earth did you get such a thing and why? Seems really dangerous, I really hope it is marked or has a label it would be awful if someone opened it in error. Very very cool but a little terrifying.
A first print edition of Batman Damned #1, the one featuring Batman's "little batman". (From DC Black Label featuring more adult content. Violence and swearing are totally fine, but a shadowy [phallic] profile made people flip out enough they removed it from subsequent print runs).
It's up there as one of my favorite boredpanda wrong photo matches
Load More Replies...I have the whole series in first print, and then I bought the collected hardback edition. The originals have only been opened to check quality, so the hardback is my reading copy. It's a pretty good read with brilliant artwork, but people only seem to talk about the Batwang.
I own The Little Mermaid in the original VHS box. For those wondering Google The Little Mermaid cover art.
Reminds me of my neighbors, where my daughter spent a lot of time growing up. They would watch the grossest, most violent movies & that was okay, but their son was told not to watch any more movies at our house after they watched one that showed kissing (heaven forbid people show love)!
Couldn't find the front, but here's the back - pretty cool: 26367173._SX540_.jpg
A small horse figurine made of ivory. I have a small collection of horse figurines, and it was a gift from my grandmother from when I was little. Nothing I can really do about it, but I still feel a little icky for having it.
My girlfriend showed me her grandma's eagle hat. Or headdress, she called it. She's only allowed to own it because it she is half Native. Apparently you can't own eagle feathers otherwise.
Yup, and even then it’s pretty strict. Migratory bird act, I think.
Load More Replies...I inherited 2 ivory bracelets from my mother who got them from my grandmother. My grandmother was a missionary in, what was then, Upper Volta (now Burkina Faso). The village leader gave them to her as a farewell/thank you gift and she was afraid not to accept them.
I have a hand carved ivory elephant. My mom visited a friend in Belgium in the 1960's and they went to a "bazaar" where my mom found this elephant. Her friend had been a missionary in South Africa and told her the people selling the elephant were from a good company in South Africa. I love elephants but am unsure exactly what to do with my beautiful elephant as I don't have any authentication that it was purchased before the ban.
Load More Replies...my husband has two ivory statues that has been past down through several generations of his family. We don't tell anyone it's real ivory.
I understand. After my dad died, I have all of my grandparents ivory figurines (or their parents? Honestly I don't know where these came from). No idea what to do with them.
All you can do is keep them, gift them (but who wants ivory?) or throw them away.
Load More Replies...We have a large heirloom piece of ivory (not sure if tusk or tooth) with scrimshaw on it. Historically it's very cool, but ethically it sometimes feels off. It's been around for ages and I've admired it since I was little, so I hope the honor and admiration it's been given in our home is giving the animal's memory some of the respect it deserves. (We absolutely do not condone animal trophies of any kind. Shed antlers are ok tho!)
I have an ivory bead necklace from vietnam from the 1980s. They were a gift from some Vienamese official ot my Dad, so I assume they are not from a poached, but I still wouldn't be able to wear them. They are pretty: small and a creamy white, but they are ....elephant teeth. It didn't use to bother me but my sensibilties really have changed over the decades.
An original Asteroids arcade machine.
But my brother and I removed the original (burned-in) oscilloscope screen and replaced it with an LCD panel, replaced the controls with six-button arcade fighter sticks, and hooked the whole thing up to a hacked Xbox with thousands of dumped ROMs on it. The original board was gone before we got the cab, donated to another machine that did have a working monitor.
Controversial because some arcade historians would prefer to see these cabs preserved rather than hacked. But with a burned screen and no board, this cab was pretty useless.
As long as the sticks were installed in the original button cutouts and nothing was done to damage the rest of the original cabinet then what you've done is fine. Mods are totally ok as long as they are done in a way that is reversible.
Always brings back good memories to see those cabinets. My brother-in-law was a security guard at the Atari HQ in the early 80s. They had an "employee game room" staff could book for friends and family use. Every game was free, just press "Start". I had more "friends" than I could count once word got around I had access to that room.
An original copy of Mao’s Red Book from when they were distributed in China back in the 60s
Also a copy of Mein Kampf but I’m not sure about this copy’s backstory
Mein Kampf is terrible. But it is a great insight into the mind of a complete nutball.
And an excellent study in the psychology of manipulation. Hitler was a complete nutball, but he was upsettingly clever.
Load More Replies...I found a hard copy of Stephen Vincent Benet's writings/poetry/stories doing a vacancy clean out at an assisted living facility for the elderly. This book was even signed by the original Stephen Vincent Benet! The book was full of his writings starting from when he was a little boy (10 yro). If you've never heard of him, that's ok. He was a Halo cast survivor. One of the few to leave Nazi death camp, Auschwitz. Some of his best known stories, "The Hemp" & "Krystal Nacht" are in this book. It has become a most cherished piece of history and one of my favorite books!
You can just buy Mein Kampf at most bookstores. Having one isn't that controversial.
Oh hey, I have the red book too. Got it off my dad who got it from my grandma. It's dated 1972 and has my grandfather's name pencilled in the front. No idea why he would have wanted it or where he got it from.
That's worth money. The little Red Book, if original, and in good shape, can fetch thousands.
That is a collectible. The Black Panthers would buy copies (in the 60s) for a dollar and sell them to the radicals in Berkeley for $5
Ha. I also have both - Mao's book was a gift to my grandfather from a visiting Chinese delegation in the 60s (we were "communist bothers" after all and the book was a Romanian translation made especially for this trip) and the other was a gift to my other grandfather in the 90s and it comes with a modern preface and postface putting it all in historical context. I kept them both because it's useful to know what some of the world's worst humans were thinking and, let me tell you, you cannot read Mein Kampf and then claim ignorance about what that lunatic is going to do once in power, because he literally spells it out...
Troll dolls we're very big in the early 90's. I have a confederate soldier troll doll in full uniform with flag in hand. Thanks Dad!
The trolls look like two twin former child stars. They're really pretty today. But they did look like trolls when they were on TV.
Mary-kate and Ashley by any chance? They still look like trolls imo. Far too skinny
Load More Replies...i had a bunch of trolls and rat finks in the 60's. we used to trade them at school.
Wait.... I had these... But just assumed they were Trolls - Like depicted in children's story books about the made up creatures who lurk under bridges (UK) like even in the TV show they were just depicted as mischievous beings going about their innocent random lives.... But now I'm guessing there was a sinister undertone of discrimination or racism? Is that what's going on?
no this one just had a confederate outfit for some reason
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A copy of The Anarchist's Cookbook
For a second I thought it said Antichrist cookbook but know I’m disappointed 😭
Agreed, I wanna know how the antichrist is spicing up his chicken wings.
Load More Replies...Oh man, I forgot about that thing. I remember looking it up online in the early days of the internet
Same... pretty sure I downloaded it from KaZaA! But took one look and it was boring af for a young teenager who had no interest in or desire to actually blow things up so I binned it XD I was just being an eDgELoRd
Load More Replies...Plenty still around-- Paladin Press deliberately changed a lot of stuff so that explosives recipes are missing key steps and ingredients
Hey, I used to order from them back in the 80’s. Is Paladin Press still around ???
Load More Replies...In high school I worked at a bookstore that did a lot of special orders, I ended up ordering five of them for some kids I went to school with. My bosses were not happy when we got some letters in the mail a few months later asking about our purchase history.
A lot of us who grew up in the late sixties and early seventies had a copy of this book
I’m a 70’s baby. My parents had a copy of this. And books on how to change your identity, how to create secret hiding places in your home, how to hide money and so on. Kinda makes me wonder what my parents were up to before I was born !
Load More Replies...I used to own one back in 2005. Sucks I let my ex keep it and he lost it.
The common, newer versions are edited. If you find the originals they are "interesting". Only saw an old one once but was able to compare to the common Paladin Press version from the 80's. Much different.
Load More Replies...In true anarchist fashion a friend and I printed that sucker up in the late nineties on a dot matrix printer, over 200 pages, hole punches them and stuck em in a binder. I've still got it floating around somewhere
I used to sell copies of it on 3.5" diskettes to my friends in elementary/middle school. Never found anything particularly interesting to do with it given our limited access to resources at that age, but we felt badass.
I have a few Ivory jewellery pieces from the early 70s my parents bought back from Botswana, and a poison arrow kit. Mum has the 3-metre long python skin she just put in her luggage from back then too.
I got handed down ivory domino's that were my grandmother's.
Dang, my parents were in the peace corps in Botswana in the 70's and they too brought back a set of poison tipped arrows and a bow as well as a zebra skin and a plethora of baskets, like so many baskets that 40 ish years later they still give them away as presents.
I too have several Ivory pieces of jewelry I bought in the 70's. I should probably burn them.
You have a poison arrow kit?!?!?! Where are you that this is ok to have in a house?!?!?!
I bought a used Bill Cosby comedy album on vinyl and the next week everything started coming out about the horrible things he had done ☹️
ok im so sorry for sounding like a complete imbecile but what the heck did he do?
I once spent 15 dollars on a hand blown glass bottle just for my mom to break it
Load More Replies...his pic is no longer painted on the side of ben's chili bowl: https://www.washingtonian.com/2017/01/26/bens-chili-bowl-removes-cosby-mural/#:~:text=Photograph%20by%20Flickr%20user%20Ted,Donnie%20Simpson%2C%20and%20Chuck%20Brown.
A piece of a radiation bore drill encased in resin. It has a cloud floating above it in the resin where the focal point is. It's safe now, bizarre to think about, and probably illegal as f**k for a civilian to aquire today.
These devices are used in resource-extraction drilling. The way the radiation reflects back to the source allows measurement of material density. Less dense material is desirable because it is more likely to produce oil or gas.
Score another fail for the BP picture bot who saw the word "drill" and ran with it!
BP use royalty free pics from like sites like Pexels etc so they don't have to pay anything, Pexels pics are all volunteer pics so they might not have what you want... That's why they are so whack. I think it's a real person picking them though
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A switch knife. Technically one with a blade as long as mine is illegal in my area. I don't know I would rather have it and risk the misdemeanor than not have it with me.
My husband has brass knuckles that apparently belonged to his great grandmother 😂
Just get a good assisted opener. Same effect as a switch without the legal hassle. Try Benchmade for a good factory brand.
I never thought to look to see if a knife was illegal due to length.
I have a metal billy club with a hidden sword inside. Its designed to screw together to make a short staff with the sword at the end or to have a sword in one hand and club in the other. Totally illegal but somehow buying/selling them along with other illegal blades is perfectly fine at the flee market. Lol
In the US a lot of knife laws are changing but an interesting item. I wouldn't carry it around. Especially if it is older as it could be a collectible.
An uncut DVD of Caligula.
I am not sure if it is still banned or not.
Not sure why people buy anything other than uncut DVD's, if the CD is cut, it wont play.
Sometimes they are cut for religious reasons. 😉😉😉
Load More Replies...Caligula is infamous. Written by Gore Vidal (who later had his name removed from it), starring Helen Miren and Malcolm McDowell. The movie was produced in partnership with Hustler who did their work largely in parallel to the more serious actors. The uncut version is *shocking*, and for many reasons other than the highly pornographic material heavily sourced throughout. Anyway, the video made it to mainstream store shelves and the ensuing panic saw it dramatically pulled from shelves, burned, etc. It's a truly brilliant piece of work if you're able to dissociate a bit from the material. Not for the faint of heart though. If you have *any* serious trigger, chances are it's in this movie.
Load More Replies...omg! i remember seeing this once...and only once. i am a history nerd and back in the day when video stores were just coming out i saw it and thought it would be fun to watch as i had just finished a course in ancient civilizations. imagine my surprise as the movie played! and, especially knowing now that a very young helen mirren was in it.
I'll never forget that machine they had for cutting off heads.
Load More Replies...Nah bought one years ago for $11. Friend was pissed as he bought a copy few months b4 for $60 thinking it was rare
Hardcore scenes were spliced into an otherwise fairly straightforward if VERY 70s movie with a few soft Erotic scenes. It has long-since been un-banned and in uncut form (in the UK at least) although the blu-ray is out of print. Neither the whole film nor the added sex scenes are anything to get very excited about, despite the presence of some great actors like Helen Mirren, Malcolm McDowall, and Sir John Gielgud.
I had one a long time ago, not knowing what it really was. I hadn't seen it and one day asked my relatively new gf if she wanted to watch with me. Needless to say we were both in for a surprise 🤣
I asked my now wife if she wanted to go see some Spanish foreign films at a local theater. They were doing a Pedro Almodovar festival. The first one was Law of Desire, which has a guy masturbating, fairly explicitly, right at the start. We were both embarrassed by that one.
Load More Replies...I own the original VHS, the DVD and just pre ordered the picture book they're making off stills taken during production. The controversy was due to the contracts that were signed and had to be honored. Helen Mirren Peter O'Toole, in a pornographic movie made by Penthouse. If they didn't make they would have been blacklisted in Hollywood
I had a burned copy of "Salo" ... after I watched it, I broke the DVD and trashed it ... reasons ...
Kony 2012 Kit. It’s a whole thing and I don’t want to talk about it.
Not sure if it's the Kony I know about, but... the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for Uganda's Joseph Kony's arrest in October 2005, which accused him of human rights violations that included some 10,000 murders and the abduction and enslavement of more than 24,000 children.
Load More Replies...Kony was a evil warlord. He was convicted for war crimes in 2005 by International Tribunal Court at The Hague but the guy has been elusive and has been caught from what I understand.
Omg i remember watching the stupid documentary with my ex bfs family and they took it so serious but i was reall suspicious of it lmao
My 26.5” scale 8 string guitar is apparently super controversial to every guitarist I’ve ever shown it to.
That's a picture of a 4 string acoustic bass in the foreground. Cant tell if the controversial instrument is the one in the background. Kinda sounds like they have an 8 string bass.
Looks like maybe the author just grabbed images of the blurb topic for these posts; stock photos etc
Load More Replies...Many (not all!) musicians have giant egos about their instruments and there will be lively debates on which instrument/brand is better. Like the pineapple on pizza debate.
Load More Replies...Probably something like this: schecterhe...serc-8.jpg
I guess this would be controversial to the guitar purists for whom nothing good was designed after the telecaster or the Les Paul.
That in the picture is my acoustic bass from Ibanez. I am looking at mine right now, it's identical. An 8 string guitar is a very different thing. I played one once, it was like trying to play a cutting board with strings.
Yeah, an 8 string sounds like a lot of real estate to cover. I imagine it would be like when I play my six string bass.
Load More Replies...Another bass player. I saw that! The one in the background appears to have 4 tuning keys on each side of the headpiece.
Fellow bassist here.I dunno what the one in the background is. Tis a beast I am unfamiliar with.
Load More Replies...Because that's a really short scale length for an 8 string, so probably won't sound very good.
I own a vial of mercury, but haven't played with it for a long time. I also own a copy of Steal This Book, which was banned here in Canada.
I have some mercury as well. We have some outdated mercury pressure switches that we are phasing out and I collect all the little vials, cut them open and dump them into a jar.
Load More Replies...Just another a*****e advertising bot in the comments. Downvote them, please. Or report them. Either works.
But...But I made $60,000 while reading this post, /s
Load More Replies...My family has a human skull. It was for some years at one of the police stations near us and was never identified. We just pretty much went there and asked for it. They were actually happy to get rid of it. So we just adopted him/her/it. Sometimes the local school's art club borrowed it as a model.
Most controversial thing I own is probably my marriage license. I am a gay intersex woman married to a gay transgender woman. That's grounds for murder on several points in far too many places in the world.
Congratulations, may you have long and happy life together. One day the world will realize that love is love and that's that. I hope to see it in my life time.
Load More Replies...I have an ivory statue of an elephant that is ironically missing it's tusks. I'm not 100% sure where it came from, but I think from a great grandparent.
Question.. why can't people upload their own photos of these awesome finds they have?! The pictures aren't even of what they are talking about and I assume they didn't even upload them, would have been 10 times more interesting... Or should I say less confusing judging by the comments it seems as if people think that they're the actual pictures 🤔😐
I have a freemason ring, it is a grand master one. I got it at a thrift store.
I wouldn't put that one out there, you'll end up on a high frequency list....hackers will find your location, and target you day and night...you're going to love it.
Load More Replies...I own a vial of mercury, but haven't played with it for a long time. I also own a copy of Steal This Book, which was banned here in Canada.
I have some mercury as well. We have some outdated mercury pressure switches that we are phasing out and I collect all the little vials, cut them open and dump them into a jar.
Load More Replies...Just another a*****e advertising bot in the comments. Downvote them, please. Or report them. Either works.
But...But I made $60,000 while reading this post, /s
Load More Replies...My family has a human skull. It was for some years at one of the police stations near us and was never identified. We just pretty much went there and asked for it. They were actually happy to get rid of it. So we just adopted him/her/it. Sometimes the local school's art club borrowed it as a model.
Most controversial thing I own is probably my marriage license. I am a gay intersex woman married to a gay transgender woman. That's grounds for murder on several points in far too many places in the world.
Congratulations, may you have long and happy life together. One day the world will realize that love is love and that's that. I hope to see it in my life time.
Load More Replies...I have an ivory statue of an elephant that is ironically missing it's tusks. I'm not 100% sure where it came from, but I think from a great grandparent.
Question.. why can't people upload their own photos of these awesome finds they have?! The pictures aren't even of what they are talking about and I assume they didn't even upload them, would have been 10 times more interesting... Or should I say less confusing judging by the comments it seems as if people think that they're the actual pictures 🤔😐
I have a freemason ring, it is a grand master one. I got it at a thrift store.
I wouldn't put that one out there, you'll end up on a high frequency list....hackers will find your location, and target you day and night...you're going to love it.
Load More Replies...
