Several years ago I began collecting items with ancient Egyptian themes. I have tried to limit my collection to objects that the average American (like you!) would have owned or been aware of. Things I have tried to avoid: really expensive items (that was easy, given the status of my bank account), European goods, and junk made for tourists (fake scarabs, etc). Currently I have over 700 items, so if I share one with you per week, we’ll be here awhile. And that’s good – because, to use a vernacular phrase, this stuff is way cool! So sit back, pop the cap off a Pyramid Ale, and enjoy.
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Dr. Sphinx's Blog 
Hi Dr. Sphinx, I am subscribed for a while now. Working on an exhibition, I wonder if you could reach me, I have some questions for you!
Sure Liesbeth, what are your questions? 🙂
I am co-working on an exhibition about Cleopatra in which we also like to include old ads. I suppose you have a lot of material (I like the stylish flexibone corset-Cleopatra for example) and I was wondering if you are willing to present some of it on loan. It is in the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn, Germany.
How fun! I will look through my inventory and see what Cleopatra ads I have, and let you know. Would it be possible for you to use high resolution scans rather than the originals?
Great! When you can sent me a list, it would be a great help. In the exhibition we definitely need the originals. Since we also include paintings from different museums I assume we can work things out with the curator of this exhibition.
I have thirty-three ads. Some, such as the corset ad, are small and only cover a small area of the page that they are on. But most are full-sized. In addition, I have other ephemera such as sheet music and greeting cards, and objects that range from a roll of 1924 toilet paper (yes, you read that correctly) to a ring designed by Elizabeth Taylor for Avon in the 1980s based on her Cleopatra movie. Please provide me with your email address and I can send more details by the end of the week.
My email adress is liesbeth.grotenhuis@gmail.com (I thought you could see that…): we definitely like the adds, especially when we can make references to paintings like the Cleopatra by Cabanel. We also like to make a shop window in which artefacts can be showed, the stranger (indeed, toilet paper gives a completely new dimension for the use of Cleopatra’s name) the better! And do you happen to have the Revlon lip stick?