Dear Lee,

Recently it was discovered that more than 40 articles written by a New York Times reporter were filled with fictitious quotes and “facts.” Nothing new. The world of collectors and history is filled with myths. Here are a few of those myths, followed by what we know today: 1) Manhattan Island was sold in 1626 for $24 worth of beads. New research says the first mention of the beads was in an 1877 book-probably a story made up at the time. 2) George Washington admitted he chopped down a cherry tree. The story was concocted by Parson Weems as part of his biography of Washington. All those metal hatchets that have a picture of Washington and the year 1789 are actually 1889 souvenirs from the centennial of Washington’s inauguration. 3) You can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. A silk purse made from sow’s-ear gelatin was sold recently by Kaminski Auctioneers & Appraisers for $3,400. 4) Plastic lasts forever and will be filling our dumps hundreds of years from now. Plastic starts to deteriorate the day it is made. Plastic purses, especially those that are clear or look like tortoiseshell, will self-destruct into a foul-smelling liquid after about 50 years. 5) The 18th-century cabinetmaker created each chair from start to finish by himself. In fact, a single chair could be the work of many experts in carving, cutting, designing, or upholstery. 6) Only 144 sets were ever made of the Weller Mammy kitchen set. The set was a commercial product and thousands were made.

And then there is the myth that Millard Fillmore had the first bathtub installed in the White House in 1851 (a fiction made up by journalist H.L. Mencken in 1917), the famous photographs of fairies that fooled author Arthur Conan Doyle, and the Wells Fargo belt buckles purportedly made by Tiffany-one of the great antiques frauds of the 1970s. Lesson: Don’t believe everything you read and only half of what you see.