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| The box it was found in, intact. |
The 80 year old phallus was made of plaster and discovered by the 80 year old Connie on a flue shelf in the chimney of her house and is thought to be 120 years old, having been secreted away by the fisherman's wife Martha Coffin sometimes between 1898 and 1920. She was one of the 'Cape-Horn wives' so called because often their husbands would be on voyages of up to 8 years around cape-horn. As you can imagine, often husbands would be anxious about the fidelity of their wives and so gifts such as the one that Martha kept secret all these years were common. in Nantucket, these were referred to as 'he's-at-home'. It just goes to show, not much changes.
If you'd like to read the whole article you can do so here.
Phallic items like these turn up quite often in archaeological digs and in historical collections and there is often an interesting level of debate as to whether they are decorative or ritualistic (such as the famous 'flying phalluses' of Ancient Rome, whether they are misinterpreted, or whether they were actually used. Often a culture of prudishness in academia also clouds judgement on these matters, but they always have something interesting to show about the period of history they hail from.
(Ah heck, while we're already here talking about wangs, why don't you check out some other interesting articles on how human penises are thought to have had spines at one point, and how human penises lost the baculum bone during our evolution. You're welcome.)
Sources
-"He's-at-home' was a term for a Nantucket dildo
-There once was a dildo in Nantucket
-LiveScience - Stone Age Carving: Ancient Dildo?
-Ancient Romans Carved Winged Penises to Ward off the Evil Eye
-LiveScience: How men lost thier penis spines
-LiveScience: Technically speaking you don't have a boner, but your dog does.
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