“Chief Idaho” and the wonders of drinking radioactive water.
Item 14 is a circa 1939 broadside to see Dolly and Rolly, Pronounced by Doctors and Scientists The World's Greatest Living Exhibit. At least that's what promoter J. Elvin Thompson of National City, California, claimed. Dolly-Rolly was a two-headed cow, and was said to be “the world's only creature ever to live any length of time with two normal heads on one body.” She had three horns, and it was also claimed there were images on her side of a camel, a lamb, a map of the United States, a seagull, a woodpecker, and a two-headed dog. My guess is it took a healthy imagination to see these things. An offer was made to pay $100,000 to anyone who could find another like her, though you can be sure another two-headed cow would not have been good enough to qualify for the reward. $100.
For those looking for something that will “prevent more bodily ills than a modern drug store,” here is your answer: Radium Hot Springs at Idaho Springs, Colorado, “Nature's Way to Health.” The 1930 broadside features a depiction of “Chief Idaho.” Naturally enough, it is claimed that Indians cured their ills in these miraculous radioactive waters. Rheumatism, high blood pressure, gastric ailments, and alcoholism were among the ailments they cured. As this item points out, “the radium water you drink acts like a million little suns giving off the Alpha and Gamma rays, which act as a tonic, stimulating the tissues, the glands, the nerves, and the internal organs.” This pseudo-medical nonsense is downright scarey. One wonders if Dolly-Rolly partook of these waters. Fortunately, the radium content of these waters is very low, so they are harmless, rather than deathly as they would be if the implications of this piece were true. Item 48. $50.
University Archives Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books October 8, 2025
University Archives Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books October 8, 2025
University Archives, Oct. 8: Wilson Declares War on Germany! 1917 Original Government Printed Joint Resolution Signed by the President, VP & House Speaker
University Archives, Oct. 8: Thomas Jefferson Certifies 3 Acts with 3 Sigs, Securing the Coasts with Lighthouses, Injured Battle Monmouth Soldier, Hugh Mercer - Fantastic!
University Archives, Oct. 8: George Washington 1781 LS Re: PA Line Mutiny Aftermath: "the continuance of this unhappy affair"
University Archives Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books October 8, 2025
University Archives, Oct. 8: Mary, Queen of Scots Signed Letter, 1565
University Archives, Oct. 8: Best Gandhi ALS “Don’t worry about my fast, God will fill that... Don't lose the hope”
University Archives, Oct. 8: Albert Einstein Signed Booklet Exploring Relativity! "On the Special and General Theory of Relativity" Issued Shortly Before Nobel Prize Win
University Archives Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books October 8, 2025
University Archives, Oct. 8: Benjamin Franklin Signed 1787 Land Grant as President of the Supreme Executive Council of Pennsylvania
University Archives, Oct. 8: Treaty of Amity & Commerce: Incredible Archive, 1778-1783, Nearly 200 Pages!
University Archives, Oct. 8: Rare Herman Melville ALS Dating From 1867, His "Annus Horribilis" According to One Biographer
University Archives Rare Autographs, Manuscripts & Books October 8, 2025
University Archives, Oct. 8: Stonewall Jackson ALS to Fellow John Brown Execution Witness, Re: Hypnosis
University Archives, Oct. 8: A. Lincoln 1864 Appointment of William H. Parkhurst to Commissary of Subsistence of Volunteers
University Archives, Oct. 8: Apollo 11 Crew Signed Type 3 Insurance Cover, Armstrong, Aldrin & Collins
Rare Map, Book, and Autograph Fair 17 and 18 Oct
Rare Map, Book, and Autograph Fair 17 and 18 Oct
Rare Map, Book, and Autograph Fair 17 and 18 Oct
Rare Map, Book, and Autograph Fair 17 and 18 Oct
Sotheby’s By a Lady 1-15 October 2025
Sotheby’s By a Lady 1-15 October 2025
Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Queen Elizabeth I. A queen’s defense of the realm, and the birth of the British Empire. $500,000 to $700,000.
Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Vanessa Bell — [Virginia Woolf]. An exceptional encapsulation of the Bloomsbury Group. A striking tile created by Vanesa Bell for her sister, Virginia Woolf, ca. Christmas 1926. $25,000 to $35,000.
Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Austen, Jane. A long and intimate autograph letter signed ("JA"), to Cassandra Austen. $300,000 to $400,000.
Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Austen, Jane. “Lines on Maria Beckford,” autograph manuscript signed ("Jane Austen"). $100,000 to $150,000.
Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: [Austen, Jane]. Emma, the extraordinary Edgeworth-Butler copy. $250,000 to $350,000.
![Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: Vanessa Bell — [Virginia Woolf]. An exceptional encapsulation of the Bloomsbury Group. A striking tile created by Vanesa Bell for her sister, Virginia Woolf, ca. Christmas 1926. $25,000 to $35,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/d61e5df0-f7df-4ff3-b120-69c4c4ded5d5.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15:</b> Vanessa Bell — [Virginia Woolf]. An exceptional encapsulation of the Bloomsbury Group. A striking tile created by Vanesa Bell for her sister, Virginia Woolf, ca. Christmas 1926. $25,000 to $35,000.")
![Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15: [Austen, Jane]. Emma, the extraordinary Edgeworth-Butler copy. $250,000 to $350,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/3d91ed5b-6dab-40a2-8ec2-3ba57b219840.png "<b>Sotheby’s, Oct. 1-15:</b> [Austen, Jane]. Emma, the extraordinary Edgeworth-Butler copy. $250,000 to $350,000.")
![Dominic Winter, Oct. 8: The Times. Your King and Country Need You, vintage poster, [London, 7 August 1914]. £300-400.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/856dcc2c-4766-4b37-b124-97a0c2a9434e.jpg "<b>Dominic Winter, Oct. 8:</b> The Times. Your King and Country Need You, vintage poster, [London, 7 August 1914]. £300-400.")
![Dominic Winter, Oct. 8: Pink Floyd. A signed programme for Pink Floyd The Wall, [1981]. £700-1,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/f7beb1ad-c923-40b4-83ce-1bf0e8f72702.jpg "<b>Dominic Winter, Oct. 8:</b> Pink Floyd. A signed programme for Pink Floyd The Wall, [1981]. £700-1,000.")
![Dominic Winter, Oct. 8: Woolf (Virginia). Autograph Letter Signed, 21 April [1938]. £800-1,200.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/866febb8-5e4e-4571-b811-5a2d094e896a.jpg "<b>Dominic Winter, Oct. 8:</b> Woolf (Virginia). Autograph Letter Signed, 21 April [1938]. £800-1,200.")
![Dominic Winter, Oct. 8: Walton (William). Part-autograph manuscript full score for Belshazzar’s Feast, [1930-31]. £70,000-100,000.](https://ae-files.s3.amazonaws.com/AdvertisementPhotos/450a04b3-b0ce-478c-8161-c1728e5bd0ce.jpg "<b>Dominic Winter, Oct. 8:</b> Walton (William). Part-autograph manuscript full score for Belshazzar’s Feast, [1930-31]. £70,000-100,000.")