While cleaning out her attic space, a woman stumbled upon something that she had almost forgotten about but had no way to get rid of it.
It's not unusual to find some forgotten belongings in the back of your storerooms and attics. It almost feels like opening a time capsule when we do a little cleaning and end up rediscovering something we almost forgot about having at our homes. Jo Jacob—who goes by @benellahomeorganization—shared an interesting video where she stumbled upon something strange in her attic. "I am clearing my attic and I've just found something that's gonna be very difficult to deal with," she began her video and then she brought a certain object into the frame.
"Let me show you what I've just found and explain. I have a massive elephant tusk and let me explain," she held up the giant piece of ivory in front of the camera and spoke. "I had a client who passed away and I worked with them and they had lived in India. I found this and obviously I cannot throw it. I cannot sell it nor do I want to. Jacob finds it awful that the piece of elephant's tusk is lying in her attic and collecting dust and she has no idea what exactly she can do with it.
"There is a charity in London that you're meant to be able to donate them to and a couple of years ago they weren't taking donations and as I said I can't throw it and I can't get rid of it, so I have it. I've checked again and I still can't donate it to this charity," Jacob concluded. "So I have a blooming great elephant tusk in my attic which on my downsizing journey, looks like it's gonna come with me. If anyone knows what I can do with it that would be amazing."
Newsweek reached out to Jacob for further comments on possessing the ivory. Jacob lives in Hampshire and has been on a decluttering journey and moving to a smaller house lately. Her primary job is to help her clients organize their homes and in her line of work, she ended up acquiring the tusk. "My long-term clients passed away and I had to clear their large home during lockdown," she recalled to the outlet. "They were elderly and I knew they had lived in India, so assumed they had gotten it in the 1950s when they were there. I found it in 2020 and due to lockdown, couldn't donate it anywhere." The TikTok community dropped in to spare some ideas to Jacob on how she could possibly get rid of the tusk through a legal route.
@taters478 commented, "My first thought would be to speak with some museums, see if they'd like it for a display if you didn't want to keep hold of it." @warwickarmstotel quipped, "I wonder if a natural history museum or a similar museum or charity with exhibits about hunting and protected species might take it?" @gemimapixiewitch shared, "I know the feeling. I have 2 real fur coats in storage that were my mum's from many decades ago. I have no idea what to do with them." @vickytaylor28 suggested, "I work at a zoo and zoos can accept this sort of thing as a donation for education purposes but you need to write a letter explaining how you came to have it, as much history as you know about it and then address, dated, signed confirming that you will hand it over."
@benellahomeorganisation What to do with an elephant tusk that i inherited when I cleared my late clients home. #ivory #downsizing #professionalorganiser ♬ original sound - Benella Home Organisation
You can follow Jo Jacob (@benellahomeorganization) on TikTok for more videos on home organization.