Welcome to the WC, wherein you’re trapped in my mind for eight to ten minutes weekly.
This week, we’re focussing on collectibles. Where are the winners today, and how do you avoid losing?
Let’s go.
Table of Contents
Climate change keeps messing with my food
Longtime WC fans probably know a lot more about olive oil than they want to because I see it every day.
The Tl;Dr is that a severe drought in Spain has led to a big spike in olive oil prices, which has further led to olive oil fraud and a difficult time for olive farmers and Mediterranean chefs alike.
Just when it looked like prices were coming back down, Italy decided to make the problem worse.
Olive trees in Italy’s main olive-growing regions have suffered from abnormal heat and severe drought ahead of this year’s harvest,
The southern regions of the country, which account for the bulk of Italy’s olive oil production, have been hit hardest by the severe weather conditions, with damage to olive groves set to cause production to fall to historic lows this year.
Locals expect to see 25% to 50% lower yields this year, which would drop Italy from the world’s second-biggest producer to perhaps fifth or sixth on the olive oil leaderboard.
Okay, so olive oil is old news, you say, and you don’t even like it.
Do you like wine?
Chilean winemakers have been forced to move south to avoid surging drought and heatwaves. The country’s biggest producers, located in the O’Higgins and Maule regions, have already scouted and purchased locations farther south in the Biobio region and beyond.
Conservative estimates say 25% of the country’s current vineyards will be useless within 25 years.
We’ve written about the opportunities to invest in wine as climate change alters the industry.
It’s probably a slow-burn thing, just like American real estate impacted by climate change, but it’s very real.
Anyway, if you’re on the same page and want to invest in this, let me know.
PS: if you want to grow your own olives, I dug into the economics of olive oil trees.
Would you like to know more?
The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move: Sonia Shah. This book delves into the impacts of climate change on global migrations, humans, and crops alike. It specifically discusses climate’s effect on agriculture, offering context for how and why regions like Spain and Italy are seeing drastic shifts in crop viability.
You can own a piece of King Kong’s complicated legacy
King Kong, released at the height of the Great Depression, was a blockbuster.
It was a perfect storm of awesome at a time when people needed a boost:
- It gave the downtrodden a fantastical story to escape their misery.
- Its use of stop-motion, rear projection, and miniature models produced groundbreaking special effects that were copied for years to come.
- The film’s innovative techniques, including miniatures, matte paintings, and trick photography, showcased the possibilities of what cinema could achieve.
It spawned numerous remakes and laid the groundwork for other Giant Monster Films like Godzilla, and its Beauty and the Beast allegory endures today.
But the film isn’t without its issues, as you’d expect from something produced in 1933.
Its portrayal of the indigenous people on Skull Island is…pretty awful…and you don’t need a keen eye to notice everyone else in the film is white (NYC was 5% black in the 1930s).
While it’s no Gone with the Wind or Birth of a Nation, viewers today will probably wonder why a middle-class white lady says, “We are sick of having gorillas in the city,” when presumably King Kong is the first giant ape to terrorize the Big Apple.
If you love the film despite its complicated legacy, an extraordinary poster (above) is up for auction next week at Propstore.
It’s one of only three known copies of the piece, which is mounted on this Japanese paper and features vibrant coloring nearly 100 years on.
Propstore has loads of Golden Age posters available, but my favorite is this gem from 1930.
It’s one of only two known copies, and the other one is in the Academy’s Library.
Would you like to know more?
King Kong: The History of a Movie Icon from Fay Wray to Peter Jackson: Ray Morton. Morton’s book deeply explores the impact of King Kong on cinema, from its production during the Great Depression to its monumental influence on special effects and monster movies. It also touches on the racial imagery that complicates its legacy, making it an essential read for understanding the film’s full cultural impact.
Monsters in the Movies: 100 Years of Cinematic Nightmares: John Landis. This book is a visually stunning survey of monsters in cinema, placing King Kong alongside other memorable creatures and exploring their cultural significance. Landis, a filmmaker himself, provides insights into how monster movies reflect societal fears and prejudices, a useful lens for understanding the racial and cultural issues in King Kong.
Morrison’s Missing Mustang
Ok let’s lighten the tone as we finish strong.
I present you with two indisputable facts:
The 1967 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang is inarguably the finest autobile ever produced.
The GT500 came with a 428 cubic inch “Police Interceptor” V8 engine, which produced massive torque and horsepower for its time. Its blend of aggressive styling, including the fiberglass hood with functional scoops and dual racing stripes, combined with its raw power and Shelby’s racing pedigree, made it an instant classic.
Jim Morrison is one of the finest humans to ever attend UCLA.
As the lead singer and lyricist for The Doors, he left an indelible mark on music and popular culture. His work transcended the boundaries of rock music to become a profound embodiment of 1960s counterculture. His lyrics, imbued with rich poetic imagery and philosophical depth, explored themes of love, death, freedom, and existentialism. These themes resonated deeply with a generation grappling with social upheaval, the Vietnam War, and the quest for personal and collective identity.
So it may not surprise you to learn that Morrison only owned one car, and it was a 1967 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustang. He called her The Blue Lady.
What may surprise you is that the car has gone missing.
No one knows what happened to her.
The most popular explanation is this: One night, Morrison was driving recklessly and hit a telephone pole on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. After inspecting the damage, he walked to the Whiskey A-Go-Go and partied the night away. When Morrison returned, the car was gone. Then there’s this version: Morrison parked the car at Los Angeles International Airport while The Doors went on tour, and when he returned the car had been towed. There’s also speculation that the car was sold and resold multiple times—with the owners unaware of what they had—before it was driven into the ground and eventually crushed in the 1980s.
Only 2,048* 1967 Ford Shelby GT500 Mustangs were ever produced, and every loss is catastrophic, but Morrison’s machine was particularly special.
PS: Nicholas Cage also attended UCLA, completing the circle.
*Did Ford choose this number because it’s 2^11?
That’s all for this week; I hope you enjoyed it.
Cheers,
Wyatt
Disclosures
- This issue was brought to you by our friends at Phoenix Capital Group.
