The topper

Back in 1983, Michael Jackson revolutionized the world of music and dancing when he was performing on a Motown TV special. He was truly at the height of his celebrity status then, and when he tossed off his black fedora and began moonwalking to "Billie Jean," the hat landed off to the side of the stage, and no one has thought much about the topper since then.

But now, it's been up for auction in Paris at the Hotel Drouot, with the hoped-for pricetag of $64,000 to $107,000.

Arthur Perault of the Artpeges gallery has some 200 items of rock memorabilia to sell off, and he will tell you, the prices of Jackson-related relics have fallen lately "due to the sale of fakes and the accusations against him." 

Those allegations of child sexual abuse will continue to dog Jackson's legacy, sad to say. 

The story on this hat is that a man named Adam Kelly picked it up from the stage, figuring that one of Jackson's people would come and take it back, but they didn't, and after several years, he sold it off, and it's passed through the hands of several collectors since.

I love museums and that sort of thing. Seeing old bits of history is interesting to me.

But...there's the old story of someone claiming to own the hatchet with which young George Washington legendarily chopped down a cherry tree. Someone was selling it, goes the story, but admitted that the handle broke years ago, and was replaced, and then the head, having been honed and sharpened so many times, was really down to nothing, so a new one was installed on the new handle. 

Same hatchet, though!

I hope it's the same hat, for the sake of interested buyers.