Bulletin from Johnny Cake Hill - New Bedford Whaling Museum

The Grinnell desk, at the New Bedford Whaling Museum Research Library (1983.58.1)18Hollywood Blooper continued from page 17The British magnanimously waivedtheir claim to the Resolute. HoweverCongress, goaded on by Henry Grinnell(a wealthy businessman with NewBedford ties who had funded severalrescue attempts for the Franklinexpedition), decided to buy the Resolutefrom Buddington for $40,000 andreturn it as a gift to Queen Victoria,symbolizing the friendship between thetwo countries.Buddington never received a pennyof that $40,000—by the time it wasdisbursed in 1857, the company whoowned the George Henry had beenbought up by Henry P. Haven, who leftBuddington completely out of the loop.The Queen graciously accepted thesalvaged Resolute with a characteristic“I thank you, sir.” In 1879, the entireship was dismantled, and its timberswere fashioned into a number of artifactswhich the Queen presented to someof the parties involved with the ship’sexploits.Back to Nicolas Cage, standingonscreen in front of the Eiffel Tower.After talking to a few French policemenand performing some impressiveacrobatics of free association, Cagesolves the latest riddle in the film’s plotand determines that the “twin Resolutedesks” contain his next clue.Cage correctly identifies the firstdesk—it’s in the Oval Office of theWhite House. The Queen gavethis large, robust desk to PresidentRutherford B. Hayes, and it has beenused by just about every President since(notable exceptions: Johnson, Ford andNixon).Cage figures that the second desk(containing the second half of the ancientOlmec treasure map) is located inBuckingham Palace. Not so, Mr. Cage!The second desk, which is considerablysmaller and modest in comparison tothe President’s desk, has been on loan tothe Royal Naval Museum (Portsmouth,England) since the 1980s. However Cagemakes a far greater mistake by assumingthat there are only two desks. What hefails to consider is that the HMS Resolutewas constructed from fine aged Englishoak—and a lot of it. Theoretically,there should be enough wooden artifactsto account for the entire ship, minussawdust and shavings.The third desk, a delicately fashionedlady’s desk known as the “QueenVictoria Desk” or the “Grinnell Desk”was a gift from the Queen to HenryGrinnell’s widow (Henry died in 1874),in gratitude for his contribution towardthe Franklin rescue attempts.And just where do such pricelesswhaling artifacts end up when they’verun their course?You guessed it: the Whaling Museum.In 1983, Peter S. Grinnell was kindenough to donate the Grinnell desk to thecollection.