The Artifact: The Gadget Cane

in a special compartment of his bamboo walking stick. This detail can't help but add to the mystique of America's weirdest founding father, and it ties directly into the larger topic of special items hidden in canes or walking sticks. As Michelle Debjek explored in a twenty seventeen Mental Floss article, one can find various antique walking sticks and canes with all manner of special gadgety features, ranging from the possibly

practical to these somewhat ridiculous. There's a nineteenth century cane with a coin weighing gadget built into the handle. There's a magic lantern projector cane, a cider pressed walking stick, an architect's cane with drafting tools hidden inside, a spy camera cane from the nineteen eighties, a nineteenth century cane containing a miniature croquet set, a microscope cane, and a

nineteenth century eagle headed crossbow cane. There's even a spitting cane that naturally reminds one of the gimmicked weapon umbrellas favored by Batman villain the Penguin. All of these gadget canes clear novelties extend from the popularity of cane swords or sword sticks in eighteenth and nineteenth century Europe. Now, the basic appeal of a hidden blade is understandable. I remember when I was a child and I first saw Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes in the Granada television series.

I watched him whip out a cane sword and I was totally won over by the coolness of the thing. But the popularity of this sort of concealed weapon actually had to do with how uncool openly carrying a sword had become in polite society. Then, as sword canes became fashionable, the idea of hiding other various things such as gadgets and curios in a cane or walking stick became the new fat Now to be clear, sword canes are weapons.

Murderers have used them in committing their crimes, and they are often banned by local or federal laws as they are in essence concealed weapons. They also sometimes factor into historical mysteries, including the death of nineteenth century American author Edgar Allan Poe. Poe's cause of death remains a matter of dispute, and the theories range from illness to murder

and even cooping election fraud. Will likely never know for sure what happened, but some theorists have latched onto the fact that shortly before his death he managed to borrow a sword cane from his friend, doctor John Carter, perhaps by accident or perhaps intentionally, and left his own cane in its place. If his borrowing of the sword cane was intentional, then this could help prop up arguments that

he anticipated foul play or violence of some sort. However, if his death was due to rabies, lead poisoning, or any of the other dozen or so maladies that have been suggested, then the sword cane doesn't really get us anywhere.

The hidden blade remains an enigmatic artifact, though for in it, we see that old and symbolic human weapon, the sword hidden within a walking aid or fashion accessory, hiding murderous intent or awareness of some violence in the world when we read about it, when we find it among one's possessions, we can't help but speculate. Tune in for additional editions of the Artifact each week. As always, You can email us at contact at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com.