Rich wrote,

>Ok, I admit it.  I'm a bone nerd.  Bones I know.  Smooshed pennies and
>flaoty pens....I have absolutely no idea what you all are talking about.
>How about explaining what they are for us poor beknighted souls who haven't
>a clue......

     These are souvenir items offered by many places.

     The smashed penny: There's this machine with a lot of gears inside
and a crank. You insert a penny, as well as a number of quarters to pay
for the privilege. When you crank the machine, the penny is smashed into
a long oval shape and a design is pressed into it.

     Floaty pens: The back half of the barrell of the pen is clear and
filled with water. A scene is printed on a slip of paper inside the
barrell, and on the backside the site name is printed. Another element is
printed on a clear slip and it floats across the scene. Sometimes there
are foreground elements. Sometimes there is glitter, but that's not the
same.
     The most common floating element is a horse & carriage moving in
front of a historic. building. Most scenes are logical, but some are very
silly. My favorite is the Pieta scooting across the floor of St. Peter's.
     And when a collector is concerned if a floaty pen works, they mean
that the design moves freely through the barrell. If the pen writes, too,
all the better!

     -Carol Kocian

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