How much is a Kangamouse really worth?
How much would you pay for this adorably bedraggled kangamouse? A dollar? Less? What if it was a gift from a soldier in Vietnam to his two young sons back home, a gift that they worshipped alternately as “The Great Faa,” and as “Mr. Peepers” — and a gift that ultimately divided the family and lead to an exorcism via toilet? That seems worth a little more than a dollar, right? That’s because there is a certain value to stories, to histories; this is why people pay thousands for certain baseballs or comic books, this is why experts on Antiques Roadshow can tell people with a straight face that their ancient button collection from the civil war, with letters to prove its authenticity, is worth more than my car.
This is also the idea behind the Significant Objects Project, which is the brainchild of journalist Rob Walker and author Josh Glenn, whose book Taking Things Seriously looks at how we invest ordinary objects with extraordinary significance. The premise is this: the Significant Object Project buys regular objects — for no more than a few dollars — from thrift stores and garage sales. Then, a writer invents a story about the object, imbibing it with a rich, albeit fictional history. Invested with new significance by this fiction, the object, as the project’s website so succinctly puts it, “acquires not merely subjective but objective value.” Finally… the newly significant object is sold! Via eBay!
In the case of the kangamouse, the addition of a story resulted in the tiny varmint being sold for $162.50 — a striking increase, when you consider that the original mouse was bought for around a dollar. (You can read the entire saga of the mouse here.) All proceeds from Significant Objects are given to charities. And, significantly, the purpose of the experiment is clearly outlined to people bidding on the objects — the curators aren’t trying to trick anyone. Instead, they are performing a kind of sociological experiment to see just how much a story is really worth.
The answer, apparently, is quite a bit. So far, Significant Objects has raised over $4,000 for charities like 826 National, a creative-writing tutoring program for teenagers, and Girls Write Now, a nonprofit that mentors at-risk young women in New York City. If you want to peruse their archive of stories, or learn more about the project, check out their website: http://www.significantobjects.com/
