It’s amazing how quickly time flies. Our last update was made in February 2021. We are settled into our new home and have continued collecting. Overall, our acquisitions have slowed as our tastes have refined and the more unusual pieces remain hard to come by. Fear not! Even if we aren’t posting, we work hard to respond to all inquiries in a timely manner.
Before we get into today’s updates, we want to share a special project with you. This fall, the Indiana University system made a significant stride in the advancement of fraternal research. Thanks to Dr. Heather Calloway, Executive Director of Collections, the school authorized the creation of the Center for Fraternal Collections and Research. This new arm of the University has been authorized to collect and curate fraternal artifacts from across the country. It is the only center of its kind in America and deserves our robust support. If you have some spare change, please consider making a tax deductible donation to the Center.
The plan is to officially gift our collection to the IU Center once it has an appropriate endowment to care for the items. We appreciate your support of our work and this cause.
Now, on to the updates!
We’ll start with a new fez over in the Shriners International exhibit. We don’t actively pursue many Shriners fezzes these days because they are so common. But, when we saw a white fez from India Shriners, of Oklahoma City, we knew it was a find.
“You’re a Nobwah!” Sounds a bit slanderous, doesn’t it? But, if you were into pranking some new initiates, you might have found yourself among the Nobwahs of Sacramento Pyramid No. 3 of the Ancient Egyptian Order of Sciots.
We added a very early and unique fez from the Moose Legion as well. Dating from the early 1900’s, this fez features some very swanky bullion and crushed velvet.
It’s been a while since we gave our friends at Fez-o-rama a shout out. They recently re-released the “Double Cross” fez, commemorating Charlie Chaplin’s famed 1940 film the Great Dictator. While the fez is Just for Fun, the movie it was based upon is a serious piece of cinematic history.
When collecting, one of the things we look for are titles on the fezzes. That’s why we added a new Imperial Secretary’s fez over in the Dramatic Order Knights of Khorassan exhibit. It might not be old, but it is relatively rare.
We are always on the hunt for fezzes relating to the early Odd Fellows Social Groups. Thanks to a keen-eyed friend of the museum, we were able to snag a fez from Zorah Palace No. 12, Pilgrim Knights of Oriental Splendor. This is only our third Pilgrim Knights fez, making it a welcome addition.
Last, and certainly not least, is a new area in our Order of Alhambra exhibit. Thanks to a generous donor, we were gifted three fezzes from Osma Caravan of Maryland. The fezzes demonstrate the advancement in rank of a member, from new initiate to Past Grand Commander and, later, Grand Scribe. These are really nice fezzes that you won’t want to miss.
We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and wish you the best for an excellent holiday season!
