A tale about a drag queen, Ebay, human skulls and a soup pot.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/3/07 at 4:27pm

Jojo Baby, your life is calling!

Jojo Baby, a local artist and part-time drag queen, dropped by a Bucktown apartment Tuesday evening to check out some mannequins for sale. The door was open, so he walked in unannounced and came upon a pot of water boiling on the stove. With a human skull inside.

So began a strange urban tale that involved four skulls, an eBay entrepreneur, an anthropologist, the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Long story short, the guy got the skulls legally "Somewhere" and is making a killing (No pun intended) selling them on Ebay. I wonder what the neighbors thought he was cooking?

(Sniff sniff) "Oh man, Skull soup for dinner AGAIN??"

And it's all apparently Legal.

Chicago Tribune

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 5/3/07 at 4:29pm

Um, my first thought is, why are people buying skulls from this guy? I mean, if there's no demand then logic says that there would be no need for a supply. Am I wrong?

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 5/3/07 at 4:35pm

"There are thousands of anthropologists, medical professionals and interested people who want to study anatomy through human bones," he said Wednesday. "It's not that unusual."

OK, I answered my own question. But I don't get how it isn't illegal. I mean, the skulls had to come from somewhere, right? Shouldn't there be official papers that come along with human remains?

[SNAFU]

Posted: 5/3/07 at 4:39pm

I once bought a full human skeleton from a supplier. He asked the age range and sex I desired. I used it for reference in sculpting. Now there are really good vinyl reproductions. I know a lot of artists that have skulls from which they refer to when drawing or sculpting.
I assume that he gets the bones from people who have volunteered their body to science. I would much rather my bones be hanging in an artist studio or a medical lab then moldering in the ground!

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/3/07 at 4:39pm

I'd think so. One story said he bought the human heads from a supplier "overseas." Gosh I feel better.

[SorryGrateful]

Posted: 5/3/07 at 4:49pm

Well, hey, SNAFU, you should donate your remains to this guy! You'll be a smash on eBay.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 5/3/07 at 5:34pm

Actually, I think I would donate my body for plastination. That way people can come see me playing cards or riding a horse with my insides all hanging out!

[SNAFU]

Posted: 5/3/07 at 5:37pm

Seriously though, I think a lot of body parts come from China where laws aren't as strict about bodily remains. I know, for instance, the show BODIES at the seaport had some controversy when it was first being put up because it was believed the bodies on display were obtaind from Chinese prisons without their owners expressed consent.

[Gingersnap2]

Posted: 5/3/07 at 8:00pm

When did eBay start allowing human bones for sale?

A couple of years ago, I was interested in canon law and hagiography. A lot of saints' relics would turn up on eBay...real or fakes...and fetch high prices. But, often the auction would be shut down on the grounds that body parts...even such tiny slivers of bone...were prohibited items.

Of course, the sellers would try to get around the rule and canon law in one gesture...they'd add a disclaimer that they were selling the locket or reliquary containing the bone. The relic itself was a free bonus to the high bidder.

[Unknown User]

Posted: 5/3/07 at 9:34pm

I did ponder that you can't sell your underpants, but you can sell someone's skull. Seems odd.