Own a Piece of History: Unabomber Possessions Auctioned Off, Carbon Footprint Savings Sold Separately

Curiously there's no mention whether his copy of Al Gore's Earth in the Balance was being auctioned off. Maybe Gore himself put in a secret bid in advance to spare further humiliation.

The first bid came in at straight-up 10 a.m. Wednesday for $50 for the manifesto that "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski typed in his 10-by-12 Montana cabin in his years-long attack on technology.

It was $150 within minutes and with 14 days and 23 minutes remaining in the first-ever online auction of a criminal’s belongings to raise money for his victims.

The bid on the handwritten version was at $5,000 by 10:30 a.m. The top bid for the typed version was at $2,525 by that time. The lot containing his birth certificate and licenses had a top bid of $1,525 by early afternoon. The familiar gray hoodie and six pairs of sunglasses had a top bid of $1,025. Only $50 had been offered by early afternoon for his bank statements.

Fifty-eight lots are being auctioned off by the federal General Services Administration and the bidding will continue until June 2.

All sorts of goodies up for sale:

The items for sale include a lot containing the gray hoodie and aviator sunglasses, typed and handwritten versions of his 35,000-word manifesto, two manual typewriters and his diplomas from Harvard University and the University of Michigan. Lesser-known items include another worn and ratty hoodie, homemade tools, a backpack he made out of poles and plastic bags and shoes with two soles, one smaller so law enforcement would be misled by smaller footprints.

“He was very concerned about getting caught,” said Turchie.

You think?

Ironically when you go to the site auctioning off the possessions of a famed environmental wacko, you discover they've gone green!

GSA has added a carbon-footprint savings tool that will quantify carbon savings that can be attributed to buying the property being offered and sold through GSA Auctions as opposed to buying newly manufactured items. This tool was developed by Cooler, Inc. The equivalencies will be displayed on the Item Description page, if a carbon savings is available, and will be located below the photo(s) with a heading, “Go Green…Reuse is Recycling!” for each auction. There are 23 equivalencies that can be selected from a drop-down which has the most meaning for you. As you select an equivalency, the page will automatically refresh showing the calculation for the selected equivalency. Carbon–footprint savings provide a new, exciting way of looking at the value of personal property.

Here's a list of the Kaczynski items up for sale.

Here's a look at some of his books. No Earth in the Balance there. Hmmm.