Head to Marrakesh

Jock Lindsay’s Hangar Bar is a treasure trove of nods, personal effects, and coveted relics. Not just those of Jock and Indiana Jones, but also the Society of Explorers and Adventurers (S.E.A.) and the Adventurers Club. It is a collection of the sort of lost-and-found adventurers not seen since the Adventurers Club closed, and includes some deep cuts in newspaper clippings, maps, log books, cabinets, and several pieces of correspondence. One such item, situated behind glass with some surrounding photos, is a post card to Jock from none other than Dr. Jones himself. It reads:

 

Jock,

Take the $500 I am wiring you and head to Marrakesh. Don’t let the idol slip through our fingers again. I will get it from you after I get back from Nepal.

 

Thanks,

Indiana Jones

 

While there are many stories in Indiana’s archeological explorations that this could be referencing, sometimes the most well-known and practical answer is the right one. The idol in question must be the Chachapoyan Fertility Idol that Jones lost to René Belloq, just before escaping the Hovitos with Jock in the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark. We know that Indy heads to Nepal to acquire the Headpiece of the Staff of Ra from Marion Ravenwood, so we can assume that this is the timeframe in which the postcard had been sent. It should be mentioned that, aside from this postcard, both the headpiece and fertility idol can be found in Jock’s hangar.

 

The Golden Goddess was a two-part story from Marvel’s The Further Adventures of Indiana Jones in 1985 that told the tale of the fertility idol in Marrakesh. While it does account for Belloq offloading the idol to an antiquities dealer in Marrakesh, the story features Indy, Sallah, Marion, and a number of continuity problems, but no Jock. I think it’s safe to assume, at this point, that the story is a fantastical work of pulp fiction and that idol definitely reached Marrakesh with Belloq, but that Jock was the true savior of the artifact, not Dr. Jones and crew who were busy in Nepal and Cairo at the time.

 

The last little detail worth note on the postcard is the address for Jock: 1138 Seaten Ave., Springs, FL. Most of this clearly denotes a fictitious location, but the street number for the address, 1138, is a not so subtle nod to George Lucas’ 1971 movie, THX 1138.