I’ve seen that bit of folklore used exactly once in modern pop culture, and it was hilarious. In the X-Files episode “Bad Blood,” Mulder, drugged but still barely conscious, manages to scatter the packet of sunflower seeds he’s been eating in the path of the vampire who’s closing in on him. The vampire is in full-on, fangs-out, hissing, glowing red eyes mode, creeping closer and closer–until the seeds hit the floor. Then he stops, gives a disappointed “Aw, man!” and starts picking them up one by one.
There was another film in which the vampire-hunter throws a bunch of seeds into the air. The vampire watches closely as the seeds fall to the ground. He turns to the hunter, smiles, and gives the count. Then he goes back to kicking tuchus.
My favorite scene from, I believe it was Dracula 2: Ascension, and the only thing I remember from that movie, had to do with that bit of lore, and the one about untying knots. The vampire finally gets free, and they kept him covered with a net of knotted ropes to keep him busy if he got loose. He grabs one end of the bundle of ropes and swipes to the other, untying them instantly and effortlessly.
A bystander then tosses up a big bowl of (I believe) rice that they’d also kept around as a deterrent. The vampire glances around at the rice in midair, and says something like, “Seventeen thousand, four hundred forty one.” A grain that had fallen on the guy’s shoe falls off to the ground, and he says, “Forty two.”
I thought it was clever, a way to show that the vampire has been doing this a long time and it’s hardly an effort anymore.
IMHO they are all basically fake and I’ve made several of them myself using all antiques; not with the intention to fake but just as personal projects. I can see one of them in particular selling to some idiot after my passing to some nidgit as a rare antique. Imagine what someone could do if they had the intent to fool people. How are you going to tell the difference between one assembled in 1850 and one assembled from pre-1850 parts last Thursday? Small details like a blending of time-frames and nationalities (1810 Spanish cross combined with an 1850 London pistol) and enough suspicious repairs to the box and lining to show its been recycled. There hasn’t been one to come to auction yet that will do more than spark debate between believers and doubters in such “antiques”.
Had they actually been made back when all (or at least most) the parts would be of the same time and place and at least one would have been mentioned or advertised prior to Stoker. Read the 1700s newspapers and post-Civil War papers; EVERYTHING gets mentioned in ads no matter how rare or unusual from gilt sedan chairs to porn. No ads, no evidence, no way I’m buying it.
Not everyone. Post #16.
Dope verdict: busted
But my US Army issue theory still stands. 
Wooden bullets I understand, but silver bullets? I believed that was for werewolves.
There --------- there wolf. There castle.
[quote=“kopek, post:29, topic:819901”]
There --------- there wolf. There castle.
[/QUOTE]What knockers!
Ooh, got any pics? This thread has made me want to make one, myself. I might even base a LARP off it afterwards - I’m thinking a gathering of vampires and vampire-hunters, but each vampire has a different set of folklore weaknesses…I might include a vampiric watermelon for shits and giggles.
also thinking of a werewolf hunter kit…
Let’s take a look at them in detail…
The knobbly brass things everywhere are modern upholstery pins. They are not structural, but have been added to give the whole set an antique effect.
The box is made from plywood.
Could be a genuinely old box that was formerly an artists case or a medicine kit or something. The garlic bulbs look a bit fresh.
[/QUOTE]
PLywood box - I guess that could be authentic for 1917. Green foam rubber insert, fake blood on the stakes…
Slight nitpick - plywood was around in the late 1800s.
From Wikipedia: “Plywood was introduced into the United States in 1865[6] and industrial production started shortly after. In 1928, the first standard-sized 4 ft by 8 ft (1.2 m by 2.4 m) plywood sheets were introduced in the United States for use as a general building material.”
Hunh.
I knew this because the V&A had alovely exhibition on plywood last year, that I was cheesed off I didn’t get to go to when a London trip was cancelled.
Yes, I have weird interests.
Looking at the pictures, these are pretty cool regardless. That said, they’re not worth thousands of dollars.
All he has to do is find a wealthy person who thinks that is cool.
Noted, however, boxes of this size and general function would typically be made from boxwood, right through into the 20th century, even after the invention and widespread use of plywood.
… or oak or mahogany, but if you look at apothecary boxes and cases for surgical instruments, etc from the period, they’re not made of plywood, even though it may have been available as a material.
If the function was the assumed professional use, sure.
If the function was a tawdry turn-of-the-century tourist souvenir, I’m not so sure. Plywood was already in use by then for e.g. sewing machine covers and tables (Singer was perhaps the biggest plywood user pre-20th C), tea crates and other mass-produced items. I could see cheap Balkan tat being made from recycled wood sourced from that stream.