Hi All.  The weekend is here so every one is going to the flea markets,
right?  Well, while you are there could you look around for an old
photo frame made out of gutta-percha -- very dark brown, almost black.

Gutta-percha is a pre-plastic made in the USA and France during and
before the US Civil War.  I think in other places, too, but not as
much.  They came up with this ground-up animal horn, glued together and
pressed into shapes like flasks, combs, picture frames, and cases for
musical snuff boxes.

Well, I just got a real beauty.  It is a 63-tooth Paillard snuff box,
and the original tortoise shell interior is without cracks.  I do not
know the two tunes as of yet; more research needed.  It has a very nice
scene on the top of an Exposition building (I have to research this
building) pressed into the gutta-percha lid.

The snuff box is in great condition but a piece of one side is missing.
A piece 1 inch by 2-3/4 inch would give me plenty of room to fix it.
If any one would like to help me repair this case by looking out for
an old chipped "dark brown almost black" picture case frame made out of
gutta-percha, I really would like the help.

By the way, all you snuff boxers out there: no, it is not for sale.
Funny what you can find at the local flea markets.  Thank you for your
help.  Please e-mail me if you find anything.   Bye for now.

Keith Merchant from Canada

 [ An interesting and historical substance.  My 7 kg dictionary of
 [ 1928 says:
 [
 [ "gutta-percha -- A concrete [composite] juice, nearly white when
 [  pure, yielded by various Malaysian sapotaceous trees, esp. by
 [  Palaquium gutta.  It becomes soft and impressible at the tempera-
 [  ture of boiling water.  In composition and many properties it
 [  resembles caoutchouc.  It is used for many purposes, and especial-
 [  ly for insulating, being a poorer conductor of electricity than
 [  caoutchouc."
 [
 [ -- Robbie