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Ye Olde Curiosity Shop: Where mummies are celebrities
Thursday, October 7, 1999
By ROBERT L. JAMIESON Jr.
Mummies are among the most popular attractions at the Ye Olde Curiosity Shop. Each one, encased in glass, has a unique history.
The first mummy to arrive was Gloria, whom the shop owners purchased from a female explorer in the late 1940s.
She was found in an Arizona desert and estimated to be between 8 and 10 years old when she died.
She was the subject of a recent documentary on The Learning Channel, and a mummy expert who examined her estimated she had been dead for as long as 700 years, Joe James, the shop's president, said yesterday.
Sylvester arrived in 1955 after a woman wrote the store and mentioned she wanted to sell him. In the late 1890s, the woman's father-in-law and a second man had been in the desert near Gila Bend, Arizona when they came across Sylvester's remains, remarkably well preserved and half buried in the sand.
Sylvester was about 45 years old when he died of an apparent bullet wound that is visible on the left side of his torso. Sylvester also has something of a celebrity past: He has been examined by experts at the Smithsonian, James said.
One day, a man visited the Seattle shop and felt sorry that Sylvester was a bachelor. The man put the shop owners in touch with folks who knew about Sylvia. She had been found in the Central American highlands, and arrived at the shop in the late 1960s or early 1970s, James said. Her age is unknown.
Andy James, son of Joe James, said that people "just seem to find us" with items. "Right now, we are not actively collecting. Our biggest role is preserving."
See related story: Curiosities galore keep luring people to waterfront shop
P-I reporter Robert L. Jamieson Jr. can be reached at 206-448-8125 or robertjamieson@seattle-pi.com
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