Half an hour ago, I was outbid for a unique piece of comics memorabilia. Such a thing had never been sold before, so I had no way of gauging its value or eventual price. I was willing to pay a couple of hundred bucks, but it ended up going for $1,000, far too rich for my blood, especially considering the plans I had, about which more below.

So what just sold for $1,000? Why, this—

Any idea, before you scroll down, exactly what that is? Well, yes … hair. Anyone could tell that.

But whose hair?

None other than that of Jerry Siegel, the co-creator of Superman. ComicConnect, which handled the auction (in addition to another auction for Nic Cage’s copy of Action Comics #1), had this to say about the item:

Jerry was very interested in history and the legacies left behind by famous people. On a trip to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington DC he and his wife Joanne were particularly fascinated by a display of hair from George Washington and other early U.S. Presidents. They learned that in the nineteenth century it was common to honor famous Americans by preserving locks of their hair. Besides being interesting, it triggered Jerry’s sense of humor. After that when Joanne gave him a haircut, they decided to keep some of his hair in a container, because one day, who knows, fans might be interested to see the hair that grew out of the head that came up with the idea for Superman! He wrote a humorous note on a small piece of paper and tucked it inside this box with some locks of his naturally wavy, black hair.

The winner of the auction (who … sigh … wasn’t me) will also get the following note in Siegel’s hand—

I imagine that whoever’s won this will take pleasure in it, but I assure you, he or she will not have anywhere near as much fun with it as I was intending to.

Oh, did I have plans for that lock of hair!

Here are some of the things I considered doing had I but won:

Hiring an artist to create a portrait of Superman and have him or her apply the lock in place of Superman’s hair.

Sewing a mini Jerry Siegel doll and making the hair into its wig.

Baking the hair into a batch of brownies and serving them at San Diego Comic-Con.

Separating the strands into small glassine envelopes and distributing them to my 50 closest comics friends.

And I had plenty more ideas … none of which included just keeping the bottle on a shelf … and none of which I’ll get to put into motion.

Which, when you come to think of it, is probably why the universe made sure I didn’t win.