Ebay Indignities and Rebekah's Well

If you are ever bored, and feel like a chuckle, try something for me.

I've been collecting cameos for years now. One of the most common, popular, and lovely themes is Rebekah at the Well, a story from the bible. Briefly, Abraham wanted a wife for his son who was not of his own clan, so he sent a servant to a different area to look for a wife. The servant and his 10 camels hung out at the town well, where women gathered water once a day, figuring a good judge of feminine character would be whether the lady in question would get both him and his camels a drink. Becky passed the test.

In any event, this bible story is a common cameo theme. Generally there is a woman (absurdly clothed in Victorian dress), a building that would be over the well, and sometimes a bridge or some trees. In rare instances a camel or some donkeys will be in the foreground, perhaps even the servant.

To find these cameos on ebay one would type in cameo, well, rebekah, rebeckah, or similar, correct?

Usually I find them under completely different listings. Very few people who have a Rebekah at the Well to sell know what it is. The fun starts when I type in the usual "hits" and read the descriptions.

Poor Becky! She's been misidentified in some hysterical ways. To name a few:

woman beside outhouse

chicago fire (this one had the much coveted camel, mistaken for the famous cow that started the fire... trees were mistaken for flames)

granny by the woodshed

japanese lady

old woman in nightgown near house


You get the idea. It isn't bad enough that poor Rebekah, whom we are told in scripture wore a lovely gold nose ring and carried her jar on her shoulder, is shoved into petticoats and stays. No, she has to linger through eternity, immortalized in shell, by outhouses, woodsheds, and pagodai.

Next time you get very bored, log on to ebay and type a search for "cameo scene" or "cameo scenic."

Enjoy the chuckles and be sure to share the results!