285-YEAR-OLD LEMON SOLD AT AUCTION

A 285-year-old lemon found in the back of an old cabinet drawer was auctioned for $1,780 in England. The auction house, Brettells Auctioneers, received a 19th century cabinet to sell. A photographer was taking pictures of the cabinet when a hard, black, rock-type object was discovered in the back of a drawer. It was a lemon, inscribed with the message: “Given By Mr P Lu Franchini Nov 4 1739 to Miss E Baxter.” The auction house decided to try and sell the old lemon. It got a high bid of $1,780. Meanwhile, the cabinet sold for just $40.
* In 1739, giving an engraved lemon to the one you love was all the rage. They called it the Lemon Pledge.
* So did the relationship between Mr. Franchini and Miss Baxter bear fruit? Apparently.
* Unless she soured on him.
* Maybe it was some sort of weird ‘Buy a cabinet, get a free lemon’ promotion at the furniture store: “It’s a Citrus of Savings at Ye Olde Bosworth’s Furniture Barn!”
* When life gives you lemons, try to sell them to some sucker for hundreds of dollars.