Pieces from the Batsel collection in a 2016 exhibition.
Although this headdress is one of the most dramatic pieces in the collection, its origins and intended purpose remain unknown. While we can speculate that it may have originally served some ritualistic function, Batsel’s notes on the piece tell us o
Over the years, Oliver Robert Batsel handed many clothing items down to his son, Kurt. Two of these items, originally purchased and worn in the 1930s through the early 1950s, appear in some of the few extant photographs of Batsel as a young man. In
This tintype, taken in the early 1890s, remains the only known photograph of Peregrine Lander (left), known best as Empyreal Trading Company figurehead Carbuncle Pip. An explorer, naturalist, and anthropologist by trade, Pip gained a cult following
[LEFT]  Thaumatrope Spinning Toys 1890s (facsimiles 2016) These paper toys were included in certain copies of The Boy’s Own Magazine to promote the Carbuncle Pip stories. When held by the strings and spun, the image of explorer Carbuncle Pi
The Empyreal Trading Company sponsored only a single chartered ship, the Empyrean , but its reputation for securing strange and exotic curios for its wealthy clientele – at whatever the cost – distinguished it from its much larger competitors. One
Batsel sent postcards and letters for every special occasion. Many of these contain references to his collection, like the one at left: "I'm bringing back a souvenir for you from up north - and one for me, too!"
In his teens, Oliver Robert Batsel spent his summers selling cigars in southern Florida.
By the time he reached his early twenties, Batsel had already built a home in northern Florida and purchased a car of his own.
A rare photograph of Oliver Robert Batsel (with wife, Carole, left) behind the Florida home in which he kept his collection. 
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