Let's solve a 40 year old unsolved treasure hunt!

The Something Awful Forums > Main > General Bullshit > Let's solve a 40 year old unsolved treasure hunt!

bonestructure: Sep 25, 2008; by Ralp

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

I think that's just a reference to diamond == africa = slave fairy in the picture, Charleston's history of slavery, etc. The midnight rock is presumably coal.

And, of course, there's a white house and a palm tree right here:

http://goo.gl/maps/5hp4c

If you go over the battery wall and down there's rock and sand at the base of the wall. There's even a little beach about a block down the street at the base of the wall. No palm trees though that I remember anyway, not down there.

Edit: here's the little mini-beach, white house and palm tree nearby:

http://goo.gl/maps/uQPIu

The benefit of that beach is it's a place it would be easy to go digging around in.

The Battery and that little spit of sand down in the corner by Water St are continually pounded by the waves in the harbor. The "beach" changes in size and shape from month to month and sometimes from day to day if there are storms. Anything buried there would almost certainly be washed away.

I figured diamond for Charleston because of the daisy in the picture. Daisy is the birth flower for the month of April, and diamond is the birthstone for April.

Edit: Also, it's hard to tell from the view above, but the silted-up sand beach in the corner is about a ten-foot drop from the Battery above (a bit higher or lower depending on the silt level at the time.) It's actually pretty difficult to get to. This photo shows it a little better.

Edit: Hieronymous Alloy and TotalHell, are y'all still local? We should all meet up at the Battery with our poking sticks and see if we can figure this out.

bonestructure fucked around with this message at 20:58 on Jun 4, 2013

# ? Jun 4, 2013 20:48

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 11:21

Invicta{HOG}, M.D.: Jan 16, 2002

Is there any place that I can look that has information about what the rest of this book contains? I assume it isn't all pictures and verses. All I can find is that most of the 200+ pages are not related to the pictures but why in the world would anyone believe that?

# ? Jun 4, 2013 20:49

TotalHell: Feb 22, 2005; _{Roman Reigns fights CM Punk in fantasy warld. Lotsa violins, so littl kids cant red it.}

bonestructure posted:

The Battery and that little spit of sand down in the corner by Water St are continually pounded by the waves in the harbor. The "beach" changes in size and shape from month to month and sometimes from day to day if there are storms. Anything buried there would almost certainly be washed away.

I figured diamond for Charleston because of the daisy in the picture. Daisy is the birth flower for the month of April, and diamond is the birthstone for April.

Edit: Also, it's hard to tell from the view above, but the silted-up sand beach in the corner is about a ten-foot drop from the Battery above (a bit higher or lower depending on the silt level at the time.) It's actually pretty difficult to get to. This photo shows it a little better.

Plus that spit of sand is a far enough away from the battery that it seems to me like it would be an odd place to point to if the Garden was your starting location.

Edit: I wish I was a local! I love Charleston. My mother's from there, and I still have extended family there. Wife and I go down for a week every other year and stay on the Isle of Palms to get together with my parents and siblings. This year is actually the year we'll be going again, and I would love to meet up in the city, but that isn't happening for another two months (around August 11th or so).

But I love doing research on this kind of stuff, so until I'm down there I will continue to do what I can from a distance!

TotalHell fucked around with this message at 21:09 on Jun 4, 2013

# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:03

Pissed Ape Sexist: Apr 19, 2008

HoboZero posted:

BOSTON

Oh, and it's retarded but I can't stop seeing this:

GWBBQ posted:

I read it sideways and saw the bottom one as the Cyrillic И, but no combination of letters that resemble the shapes on her sleeve translates to anything according to Google Translate.

Hell, I just thought it looked like a big ol' BOS.

# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:05

Hieronymous Alloy: Jan 30, 2009; Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!; Morbid Hound

bonestructure posted:

The Battery and that little spit of sand down in the corner by Water St are continually pounded by the waves in the harbor. The "beach" changes in size and shape from month to month and sometimes from day to day if there are storms. Anything buried there would almost certainly be washed away.

I figured diamond for Charleston because of the daisy in the picture. Daisy is the birth flower for the month of April, and diamond is the birthstone for April.

Edit: Also, it's hard to tell from the view above, but the silted-up sand beach in the corner is about a ten-foot drop from the Battery above (a bit higher or lower depending on the silt level at the time.) It's actually pretty difficult to get to. This photo shows it a little better.

Edit: Hieronymous Alloy and TotalHell, are y'all still local? We should all meet up at the Battery with our poking sticks and see if we can figure this out.

Unfortunately I'm up in Columbia now and can't really make it down -- I'm just voyeur-hunting :P

If it were buried deep enough it could still be there, but then there's water table issues, I'm not sure how deep it could have been buried. That's also a good long distance away from the actual park. I just remember wanting to dig there when I was a kid and my parents saying "hell no."

Alternate theory, and a general observation: The "long palm's shadow" could refer to the palm of a hand, such as that on the Confederate memorial monument statue, not a palm tree.

# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:06

Bea Nanner: Oct 20, 2003; Je suis excité!

I just realized that most of the cards have 'JJP' in them, which is likely the artist's initials(?). So just be aware that it is likely not significant as anything besides that.

# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:17

The Human Cow: May 24, 2004; hurry up

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

Unfortunately I'm up in Columbia now and can't really make it down -- I'm just voyeur-hunting :P

If it were buried deep enough it could still be there, but then there's water table issues, I'm not sure how deep it could have been buried. That's also a good long distance away from the actual park. I just remember wanting to dig there when I was a kid and my parents saying "hell no."

Alternate theory, and a general observation: The "long palm's shadow" could refer to the palm of a hand, such as that on the Confederate memorial monument statue, not a palm tree.

I can't imagine that it's buried on that little "beach," and if it were it's probably long-gone or destroyed by now.

# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:19

ruebennase: Oct 18, 2011

NYC

The Walking Dad posted:

Picture is from before the renovation in the 90s. I had a typo, I meant to say 11am, not noon. I realize it looks like some grassy knoll conspiracy poo poo but bare with me.

Archways of the NYPL look like the archway of the mural

The women above the archways are dressed in the same manner as the woman in the mural. Same stylistic folding of her gown. In the Mural she has the face of the statue of liberty, but this could simple signify New York in general. The central fold in her gown just below her abdomen is clearly in the shape of Manhattan.

Right below the paneled arch at the top of the mural, there is a second line. This feature was also on the northward facing windows of the NYPL in the 80s before the renovation.

De Silva's definitive biography is in 3 volumes

Compare this face with the one seen in the center of the woman's gown. Because in the end we are searching for gemstones, it may be of interest that De Silva was an expert in gemstones and minerals.

Before the renovation, the NYPL was noted for having turned a dingy grey color. It is a gigantic building

At 11am, the time described on the clock, the NYPL casts a shadow northward.

The Chrystler building is 3 blocks away from the location, looking southeast you can see the Eagle headed Gargoyles.

Directly north across the street from the location is an optometry school. The mural has color blind test looking panels.

Cars abound, it is right next to a road

The whirring sound could be sprinklers or lawn mowers from the park.

William Cullen Bryant was a Romantic Poet, the park is named after him. If you look up romantic in a thesaurus, Rhapsodic will probably be the result.

The woman is holding a chrysanthemum. Bryant park is known for its chrysanthemums in the fall.

Some folks think there is a 74 in the waves. The address on the street right next to the location is 74 west 42nd street.

Now I just need to figure out what the arm is, what the V is, and what the Branch is.

The V could be a five of course
The Branch could be a bank branch? There are banks nearby
The Arm could be a wing of a building? I am not sure. The statue of Bryant has never been moved, and it has an arm that extends forward, but not over a narrow path.

Alternative Theory!

We could assume that The arm is Bryant's statue's arm. This leads us to the northeast side of the building, past De Silva's plaque and statue. When we do this we are facing the school of optometry. If you then walk 22 paces somewhat eastward down 42nd street, you are directly across the street from a branch of M&T bank. If you look towards the NYPL, you are facing the middle of 5 windows. In the mural the gemstone is located at the foot of the window arch. There are flowers planted there.

As an aside, any talk of Ellis Island is right out, The park wasn't even open to the public until 1990.

Now this has me pretty convinced that the Public Library has to be our starting point. Especially the bit about the double line under the arch.

Not too sure about Bryant park being the end, though. Maybe a lot of that is wishful thinking because that would probably mean the cask was lost to the remodeling, but still.
As others have mentioned, Bryant Park is nowhere near water. Water is prominently featured in the picture, and that foamy wave makes me think seashore.
And then there's the Chrysler seagull. Why? Why put the Chrysler eagle head on a different bird's body and why is it a seagull specifically? It has to mean something.

Of course, the whole of NY is by the sea, and two out of twelve locations confirmed as being near water doesn't really say anything definitive, but still. Why the seagull?

I've been googling seagulls and combinations of Chrysler (and related car manufacturers) for a while now and haven't come up with anything compelling.
There's a play called "The Seagull" by Russian writer Chekov, the DeLorean is one of the most famous examples for gullwing doors and was designed and built by an former Chrysler exec, but I can't see any connection with the play and I think most of the DeLorean's popularity comes from Back to the Future, which wasn't out in 1981.
And seagulls in general apaprently symbolize freedom, some sea god and messengers, none of which really helps.

Any ideas?

# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:21

BJG: Jun 4, 2013

bonestructure posted:

Then again, the litany of the jewels that BJG posted points to a specifically African monument or area for the cask

The central theme of this book is the migration of elven races to America. In most cases the connection between a country and the location is probably just that it's connected with the influx of a certain people; eg Charleston's general African-American heritage.

The litany and introduction may also contain additional clues however. Eg:

The month indicator in this image is the watch at 1.00, which gives us January -> Garnet. The corresponding litany entry is:

Fairies of England proudly bear
Garnet, crown-jewel of their Queen

Roanoke is associated with England and the Lost Colony. But beyond that, the Elizabethan Gardens which feature in the verse were named after the English Queen, and there's a statue of her there.

* * * * *

Nine flowers gives us September -> Sapphire.

The Hadas of Iberia:
Sapphire, shy as a wild field flower

Connected with this, the introduction relates how...

For slow centuries, the exotic Dracs and Fadas from the Riviera had sported and dozed on the beaches of new-found Florida. Perhaps the metal-clashing landfall of the Conquistadores took them by surprise and they fled without taking time to disenchant their Fountain of Youth.

This image and verse lead to the Fountain of Youth in Florida. Hadas and Fadas are the same thing; the words have the same root. And the picture shows us a conquistadore; Ponce de Leon.

BJG fucked around with this message at 21:32 on Jun 4, 2013

# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:26

TotalHell: Feb 22, 2005; _{Roman Reigns fights CM Punk in fantasy warld. Lotsa violins, so littl kids cant red it.}

BJG posted:

The central theme of this book is the migration of elven races to America. In most cases the connection between a country and the location is probably just that it's connected with the influx of a certain people; eg Charleston's general African-American heritage.

The litany and introduction may also contain additional clues however. Eg:

The month indicator in this image is the watch at 1.00, which gives us January -> Garnet. The corresponding litany entry is:

Fairies of England proudly bear
Garnet, crown-jewel of their Queen

Roanoke is associated with England and the Lost Colony. But beyond that, the Elizabethan Gardens which feature in the verse were named after the English Queen, and there's a statue of her there.

* * * * *

Nine flowers gives us September -> Sapphire.

The Hadas of Iberia:
Sapphire, shy as a wild field flower

Connected with this, the introduction relates how...

For slow centuries, the exotic Dracs and Fadas from the Riviera had sported and dozed on the beaches of new-found Florida. Perhaps the metal-clashing landfall of the Conquistadores took them by surprise and they fled without taking time to disenchant their Fountain of Youth.

This image and verse lead to the Fountain of Youth in Florida. Hadas and Fadas are the same thing; the words have the same root. And the picture shows us a conquistadore; Ponce de Leon.

Ah, okay. So in the case of the Charleston image, the watch hands on the Fort Sumter ornament point to 4:00, which pairs with the 4th month, April, which has the diamond birthstone. Cool, thanks!

# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:39

McIneri: Jan 4, 2012

Hieronymous Alloy posted:

Yeah, I mentioned Marion Square upthread as a possible. You'd think there would be a more explicit reference to the John C. Calhoun statue, that thing dominates the square.

I think a lot of renovation was done on Marion Square in the early 80's but it may just have been surface landscaping -- if the casques were buried a few feet deep could very well still be there. A bigger issue is that a lot of notable trees were blown down in Hugo so for any given tree in Charleston it's a gamble as to whether or not it's still there.

I think it's a possibility and I was more drawn by the cannonball in the cornerstone than Calhoun himself. And yah, I was worried about Hugo knocking down trees AND the holocaust memorial they built in 1999 on Marion Square. Here's to hoping though. I'm asking several of the historians that work at Ft. Sumter about the CASK 2 image as well. Maybe something will come up.

# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:41

TotalHell: Feb 22, 2005; _{Roman Reigns fights CM Punk in fantasy warld. Lotsa violins, so littl kids cant red it.}

McIneri posted:

I think it's a possibility and I was more drawn by the cannonball in the cornerstone than Calhoun himself. And yah, I was worried about Hugo knocking down trees AND the holocaust memorial they built in 1999 on Marion Square. Here's to hoping though. I'm asking several of the historians that work at Ft. Sumter about the CASK 2 image as well. Maybe something will come up.

That is excellent, I hope your research turns something up!

TotalHell fucked around with this message at 21:56 on Jun 4, 2013

# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:51

Delthalaz: Mar 5, 2003; Slippery Tilde

NYC
Well, if ethnic migrations are a hint, the obvious choice for Russians would be Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. So that has the whole oceanic thing going for it.

# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:51

SheepNameKiller: Jun 19, 2004

NYC

I still don't buy the NYPL at all and I'll detail why here. Something just doesn't add up, half of the facts fit but everything that doesn't fit is being ignored.

1) The explanation of the panels as Ishihara tests is really tenuous. The one in the middle's color is nearly absolutely uniform which would make no sense for a colorblindness palette, and there's no indication that they're this type of test except for a passing resemblance. It doesn't seem likely that they'd be featured here three times if they were merely a really abstract allusion to an optometry school, and I'd be far more likely to buy this if there were actual numbers or symbols present in the images.

By far the best evidence against this item though is Occam's razor. You do not need extraordinary optometry references to explain these patterns, the simpler explanation is that they're mosaics that can be found if you go to the general area where the box is buried and look around.

2) Water absolutely dominates this painting but there is none to be found around the NYPL, it's really silly to think that there's no water significance whatsoever in where the cask is buried.

3) I haven't seen the isle of B adequately explained here, and it's a second time we see a water reference appear in the material available. The NYPL is simply not near water, and to say it's a starting point for a location near water is ridiculous. Geometrically speaking, it's located as far as you can possibly get from water in Manhattan.

Finally, and this is just a hunch, I don't think De Silva is the indies native being spoken about here.

SheepNameKiller fucked around with this message at 21:55 on Jun 4, 2013

# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:52

McIneri: Jan 4, 2012

In reference to CASK 2 in Charleston. Does anyone think it's a terrible idea if we just go to the top 10 or so places it might be and just take a bunch of pictures? Maybe if we have all of them together it will be easier to match clues with places and then maybe be able to eliminate some places? From the discussion on here, people seem to believe the cask is either on Ft. Sumter, Sullivan's Island, Marion Square, Hampton Park, The Battery, or White Point Park. That really isn't that many places and I'd be completely willing to go and do that on my next day off.

McIneri fucked around with this message at 22:10 on Jun 4, 2013

# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:52

TotalHell: Feb 22, 2005; _{Roman Reigns fights CM Punk in fantasy warld. Lotsa violins, so littl kids cant red it.}

McIneri posted:

In reference to CASK 2 in Charleston. Does anyone think it's a terrible idea if we just go to the top 10 or so places it might be and just a bunch of pictures? Maybe if we have all of them together it will be easier to match clues with places and then maybe be able to eliminate some places? From the discussion on here, people seem to believe the cask is either on Ft. Sumter, Sullivan's Island, Marion Square, Hampton Park, The Battery, and White Point Park. That really isn't that many places and I'd be completely willing to go and do that on my next day off.

I wanted to suggest this, but seeing as I'm not there myself to volunteer I didn't want to come off sounding like I was demanding other people do a bunch of legwork. I really think this would be a fantastic idea, it might give us a better idea of the geometry of everything at these locations.

# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:55

Plaid Jacket: Nov 3, 2011; I'll give you five hundred bucks for that busket.

Plaid Jacket fucked around with this message at 04:37 on Nov 11, 2023

# ? Jun 4, 2013 21:59

Rondette: Nov 4, 2009; Your friendly neighbourhood Postie.; Grimey Drawer

I get a real Don Quixote vibe off the figure on the top. Any windmills nearby?

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:03

McIneri: Jan 4, 2012

TotalHell posted:

I wanted to suggest this, but seeing as I'm not there myself to volunteer I didn't want to come off sounding like I was demanding other people do a bunch of legwork. I really think this would be a fantastic idea, it might give us a better idea of the geometry of everything at these locations.

Well I live here and I want nothing more than to find one of these things. So I'm raising my hand for cause! My next day off is on Friday so that's when I'm planning on going. Anybody else in the Charleston area is more than welcome to come with me.

McIneri fucked around with this message at 22:07 on Jun 4, 2013

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:04

bonestructure: Sep 25, 2008; by Ralp

McIneri posted:

Well I live here and I want nothing more than to find one of these things. So I'm raising my hand for cause! My next day off is on Friday so that's when I'm planning on going. Anybody else in the Charleston area is more than welcome to come with me.

I can help too. I work on the old navy base, it's just a hop and skip over to the Battery on my lunch hour, and Hampton Park is even closer. Crappy iphone pictures to come!

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:09

BJG: Jun 4, 2013

Incidentally apart from the month/flower/gem and lat/long, another thing several of these pics may have in common are the shapes of parks. Eg maybe Shore Road Park in NY...? (Still my favourite for a view of the "Isle of B", aka Bedloes/Liberty)

Lake Park in Milwaukee...?

Golden Gate Park, with "Gh" for "Great Highway"...?

Worth looking out for these anyway.

BJG fucked around with this message at 22:12 on Jun 4, 2013

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:09

SheepNameKiller: Jun 19, 2004

BJG posted:

Incidentally apart from the month/flower/gem and lat/long, another thing several of these pics may have in common are the shapes of parks. Eg maybe Shore Road Park in NY...? (Still my favourite for a view of the "Isle of B", aka Bedloes/Liberty)

Now this is actually really good, it's in Fort Hamilton (Hamilton was an Indies native) and Bedloe/Liberty Isle is north of it. It's also by water.

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:11

Emacs Headroom: Aug 2, 2003

NYC

I still can't get past the Russian connection being important, since the Greece clue was such a big deal for the Cleveland one.

And the park with the clearest view of an important Russian landmark (with onion domes!) is McCarren Park:

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:13

McIneri: Jan 4, 2012

bonestructure posted:

I can help too. I work on the old navy base, it's just a hop and skip over to the Battery on my lunch hour, and Hampton Park is even closer. Crappy iphone pictures to come!

Unfortunately my new job does not give me a lunch break so it's only days off for me or after work. Not that your efforts hinge on me, but if you were looking to tag team this that'd be the option. I think it would be both cool and helpful to do it with more than 1 person.

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:13

BJG: Jun 4, 2013

SheepNameKiller posted:

Now this is actually really good, it's in Fort Hamilton (Hamilton was an Indies native) and Bedloe/Liberty Isle is north of it. It's also by water.

Ay, it wasn't my idea but it looks promising and I've been trying to persuade someone to visit this place for years. Here's the summary. The 11 steps is contrived, but I still like the V.

New York PDF

(Re: Russians, Gershwin is most likely the Rhapsodic Man. Raised in Brooklyn and his family were Russian.)

BJG fucked around with this message at 22:21 on Jun 4, 2013

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:19

SheepNameKiller: Jun 19, 2004

BJG posted:

Ay, it wasn't my idea but it looks promising and I've been trying to persuade someone to visit this place for years. Here's the summary. The 11 steps is contrived, but I still like the V.

New York PDF

I like it the more I think about it, but we still need to reconcile the arch and the mosaics somehow.

I read that PDF but the park and the school are actually two different areas and I feel like the park is more likely, especially now that you've pointed out the shape.

The minarets seem like they have some kind of significance as well, maybe besides the whole Gershwin/Rhapsody in blue link.

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:21

Deteriorata: Feb 6, 2005

Emacs Headroom posted:

NYC

I still can't get past the Russian connection being important, since the Greece clue was such a big deal for the Cleveland one.

And the park with the clearest view of an important Russian landmark (with onion domes!) is McCarren Park:

And let's look at the window on that cathedral (Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, 228 12th Street, Brooklyn):

You may be on to something here.

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:24

Bloke: May 22, 2004

Bea Nanner posted:

N.O.

I will probably be wandering around the area(s) in question this weekend. PM me if you are interested in getting progressively drunk and doing some Nick Cage National Treasure poo poo.

I'm gonna start putting a case together for jackson square

Here's what I have so far

Verse 7

At stone wall's door

Jacksons square (lemontiger)

The air smells sweet

French Perfume, from the french market

Not far away
High posts are three

The three spires of st Louis cathedral (lemontiger)

Education and Justice

Adjacent buildings were court houses and are now museums (lemontiger)

For all to see
Sounds from the sky
Near ace is high

Ace is high or "Aces High", an expression used during WW2 for ace pilots
Refers to En Plein Air artists who frequent the square and put their work up on the fences "for all to see"

Running north, but first across

Not sure about this, running north could be the fountain, and was thinking of "a cross" but haven't figured this out yet

In jewel's direction
Is an object
Of Twain's attention

The missisipi river

Giant pole

The flagpole

Giant step

Step is the second hand in the clock image - which is also a pole. Step is used in horology to refer to the movement of the hand

To the place
The casque is kept.

EDIT

Been looking at PRESERVATION from a french angle

"pres servation" means "near conservation"
"pres er" means "near st"

Bloke fucked around with this message at 23:22 on Jun 4, 2013

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:29

bonestructure: Sep 25, 2008; by Ralp

McIneri posted:

Unfortunately my new job does not give me a lunch break so it's only days off for me or after work. Not that your efforts hinge on me, but if you were looking to tag team this that'd be the option. I think it would be both cool and helpful to do it with more than 1 person.

Sure, I work on Friday but we might be able to meet up on my lunch hour. You don't have PMs, so if you want to try going over Hampton Park or White Point Gardens, shoot me an email at bonestructure@rocketmail.com .

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:33

Essential: Aug 14, 2003

BJG posted:

Golden Gate Park, with "Gh" for "Great Highway"...?

What about rotating (flipping?) the image vertically (I can't do this for another 4 or 5 hours) and possibly shrinking it. Her hands point to 4 & 3 right? (4th and 3rd squares on her sleeves). 4th and 3rd avenue intersect GGP on the other side from the ocean. Maybe her hands point right to them?

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:34

Emacs Headroom: Aug 2, 2003

NYC

I made a meet-up thread to organize outings so we can go look for stuff. It would be better to keep the sluething, discussion, and speculation in here I think, but the other thread is there so we can coordinate schedules and vote on where to look next. Should be fun!

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:35

cosmo sex tip: Sep 26, 2005; contains sodium borate, xanthan gum, sucrose stearate, glucose, glucose oxidase & lactoperoxidase, and fragrance.

Milwaukee

While I'm not exactly following this, I did toss the Milwaukee stuff to my mom, who lived downtown through the 70's and early 80's, to see if she had any insight into what things might mean! Basically the things I think are most interesting that she picked up on are the interpretations of "nature cast in copper" being a tree in one of those metal surround-things they use on the south side sometimes, and the "three who lived in space" referring to the Apollo astronauts. If she comes up with anything more useful, I'll post it.

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:42

56k: Apr 4, 2004; by T. Finninho

Deteriorata posted:

And let's look at the window on that cathedral (Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord, 228 12th Street, Brooklyn):

You may be on to something here.

I see no reason why the water couldn't imply holy water.

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:49

Luminous: May 19, 2004; ~~Girls~~
Games
~~Gains~~

56k posted:

I see no reason why the water couldn't imply holy water.

Do you see a reason why it could?

I'm amazed at how good some of ya'll are at knowing landmarks, or being able to find them on google maps. I get ideas and can search text, but drat if it doesn't come time to try and find poo poo on a map things start falling apart.

# ? Jun 4, 2013 22:52

Occams taser: Mar 7, 2013; What is Occam's Razor??????

The photoshop tricks are cool and everything, guys.

But I don't think anything more than making the images lighter would do much..(photoshop wasn't around when these paintings were made)

and they were meant to be viewed from the book.

I'm just pointing that out there, and I think maybe some of you are tricking yourself into seeing things by using these "tricks"

Other than that, I'm liking the progress made in the thread!

# ? Jun 4, 2013 23:07

Deteriorata: Feb 6, 2005

56k posted:

I see no reason why the water couldn't imply holy water.

There's a pretty big pool in McCarren park. The big wave at the bottom certainly implies an ocean, but who knows what it really means.

# ? Jun 4, 2013 23:15

GWBBQ: Jan 2, 2005

ruebennase posted:

NYC

Now this has me pretty convinced that the Public Library has to be our starting point. Especially the bit about the double line under the arch.

Not too sure about Bryant park being the end, though. Maybe a lot of that is wishful thinking because that would probably mean the cask was lost to the remodeling, but still.
As others have mentioned, Bryant Park is nowhere near water. Water is prominently featured in the picture, and that foamy wave makes me think seashore.
And then there's the Chrysler seagull. Why? Why put the Chrysler eagle head on a different bird's body and why is it a seagull specifically? It has to mean something.

Of course, the whole of NY is by the sea, and two out of twelve locations confirmed as being near water doesn't really say anything definitive, but still. Why the seagull?

I've been googling seagulls and combinations of Chrysler (and related car manufacturers) for a while now and haven't come up with anything compelling.
There's a play called "The Seagull" by Russian writer Chekov, the DeLorean is one of the most famous examples for gullwing doors and was designed and built by an former Chrysler exec, but I can't see any connection with the play and I think most of the DeLorean's popularity comes from Back to the Future, which wasn't out in 1981.
And seagulls in general apaprently symbolize freedom, some sea god and messengers, none of which really helps.

Any ideas?

This is a stretch, but how about the whirring sound in summer is the Wonder Wheel on Coney Island, the arm that extends over the slender path is the walkway from the boardwalk to the train station as it passes over the sidewalk from the NYC aquarium to the parking lot, where cars abound.

Rockaway Queens is south of both Barren Island and Broad Channel Island, bridges to both pass over a narrow path and cars abound on the bridges. It was originally home to the Lenape tribe, maybe there's some sort of historical marker at one of the parks?

# ? Jun 4, 2013 23:15

Hieronymous Alloy: Jan 30, 2009; Why! Why!! Why must you refuse to accept that Dr. Hieronymous Alloy's Genetically Enhanced Cream Corn Is Superior to the Leading Brand on the Market!?!; Morbid Hound

BJG posted:

Incidentally apart from the month/flower/gem and lat/long, another thing several of these pics may have in common are the shapes of parks. Eg maybe Shore Road Park in NY...? (Still my favourite for a view of the "Isle of B", aka Bedloes/Liberty)

Yeah, there are a number of weird little shapes in the Charleston image that I can't reconcile. I spent a while trying to match up Castle Pinckney with various shapes like the butterfly wings etc. and it just doesn't work. Problem is hurricanes have changed coastlines anyway.

# ? Jun 4, 2013 23:17

Emacs Headroom: Aug 2, 2003

Occams taser posted:

The photoshop tricks are cool and everything, guys.

But I don't think anything more than making the images lighter would do much..(photoshop wasn't around when these paintings were made)

and they were meant to be viewed from the book.

I bet we've lost a lot of contrast going from old book to old scanner to image compression to our monitors. Simple stuff like a level adjustment can bring some of that contrast back out (i.e. it makes the 42 and 74 really apparent in the nyc waves).

# ? Jun 4, 2013 23:22

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# ? Jun 3, 2024 11:21

Neutrino: Mar 8, 2006; Fallen Rib

shinything posted:

Milwaukee

While I'm not exactly following this, I did toss the Milwaukee stuff to my mom, who lived downtown through the 70's and early 80's, to see if she had any insight into what things might mean! Basically the things I think are most interesting that she picked up on are the interpretations of "nature cast in copper" being a tree in one of those metal surround-things they use on the south side sometimes, and the "three who lived in space" referring to the Apollo astronauts. If she comes up with anything more useful, I'll post it.

James Lovell was from Milwaukee and there was the Lovell Space Museum under MacArthur Square for a few years in the 1970s. But beyond him, there was no other astronaut from Milwaukee.

The metal tree grate wasn't made from copper or even copper colored so that would be a very flimsy association.

Occams taser posted:

The photoshop tricks are cool and everything, guys.

But I don't think anything more than making the images lighter would do much..(photoshop wasn't around when these paintings were made)

and they were meant to be viewed from the book.

I'm just pointing that out there, and I think maybe some of you are tricking yourself into seeing things by using these "tricks"

Totally agreed. I don't think the artist would have required anyone to resize transparencies of maps or do any other strange transformation. Those clues would have been very visible and obvious if you had a printed map held next to the image but nothing more complex than that. Anything that is faint or too obscure in the picture is a red herring.

Neutrino fucked around with this message at 23:41 on Jun 4, 2013

# ? Jun 4, 2013 23:23

The Something Awful Forums > Main > General Bullshit > Let's solve a 40 year old unsolved treasure hunt!

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