Truman Capote's ashes will be auctioned off this month – our consumerism is out of control

Autographs, first editions, unreleased albums – these often have monetary value in and of themselves, lending them a “collector’s item” status and the chance of selling them on for a profit. But surely none of that can apply to ashes – or indeed, any other body part

Julien's Auctions in L.A. is set to auction off the ashes of Truman Capote and Marilyn Monroe's iconic dress in September (Getty Images)

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single person in possession of a few thousand dollars must be in want of dead celebrity memorabilia – and a life. Or is it?

Is it still a freakishly macabre practice to purchase the memorabilia of a long-gone star, or in these eBay loving days, is it becoming increasingly normalised and socially acceptable?

L.A. based Julien’s Auctions is launching an Icons & Idols: Hollywood auction event to take place this September, offering “collectors and fans a chance to peek inside the lives of some of Hollywood’s most private stars.” One of the items up for sale? Marilyn Monroe’s dress.

The flesh-coloured garment, which she wore when singing at JFK’s birthday celebration in 1962, is expected to fetch up to $3million – according to the president of the auction house, Darren Julien. And it seems a fair estimate: the dress was last sold in 1999 for $1.26million. Happy Birthday, Mr. Julien.

You might be wondering how spending vast amounts of money on an old dress is going to give you an insight into the troubled mind of a long-dead super-starlet. It’s not as if anyone else can even wear it – the barely-there dress was so form-fitting that Monroe had to be sewn into it. But it could be considered a historic piece of fashion, so there might be some rationale there, you think. Perhaps by possessing the dress, you might intuit what remains of her allure and elegance.

But then you take a closer look at your press release – and you do a double take.

The other headline-grabbing item on the sale list is literally remains. The ashes of Truman Capote, to be exact. Yes, you read that right.

The Breakfast at Tiffany’s writer is currently residing in a carved Japanese box, and will be going on sale 32 years after his death, when his ashes were left to closest friend Joanne Carson.

For years they lay undisturbed and enshrined in a room in Carson’s house. She often admitted to talking to them, because apparently they brought her great comfort. After her death last year, her estate’s executors decided to put them up for auction, after some “ethical deliberation”, and presumably in cold blood.

It’s actually only half his ashes, as Carson split the cremated remains with novelist Jack Dunphy. There’s no half off on the price though - bids open at $2,000, and he is expected to sell for up to $4000. $4000 for human ashes. Unless someone is expecting the burnt cinders of half a notoriously difficult writer to save them thousands in therapy by comforting them, this seems a remarkably illogical purchase.

Especially when you consider that his ashes have already been stolen – twice. After Carson’s 57^th birthday party in 1988, she went into the shrine room to bring Capote balloons, only to find her friend missing from his shelf. But he was returned mysteriously a few days later, coiled up in a garden hose. After that, the ashes were stored at a cemetery, ironically very close to Monroe’s remains. Apparently, Capote was a huge fan. So unless they’re providing a DNA document, who knows what fireplace sweepings you might end up buying?

Celebrity memorabilia has always attracted attention, particularly from the legendary and long dead. Even more so when a star has just died – you only need look at the astonishing spike in record sales in the days and months following the deaths of Bowie, Prince, and especially Michael Jackson.

Autographs, first editions, unreleased albums – these often have monetary value in and of themselves, lending them a “collector’s item” status and the chance of selling them on for a profit in later years. But surely none of that can apply to ashes – or indeed, any other body part. Napoleon’s penis, or what was believed to be so, was auctioned off in 1977 to a private New Jersey home.

So what on earth or ash is going on? Why the fixation on the personal effects – or parts – of a long dead human with no inherent value other than the memory of a long gone star? One wonders what kind of person is bidding on these items, or where the financial profits go – relatives? Descendants? The auction house itself? Do people really believe that a pile of old ashes will let them see into the mind of one of the last century’s greatest novelists? Or have the rich simply run out of things to buy…