Category:
Collectors
Collectors
An unusual deck of cards
On Feb. 15, 1890, a short article appeared in the Chicago Tribune, telling the story of a man who had an unusual deck of cards. He had found every card lying on the street. It took him twenty years to collect the entire pack. Here's the article:
A Chicago Sport Has Spent Twenty Years in Picking up a Pack
Frank Damek, a member of the sporting fraternity of Chicago, has probably the queerest deck of cards in the world. He has been twenty years collecting the pack and is exceedingly proud of it. He first began by picking up playing cards in the street when he happened to run across them. In this way he got fifteen or more before he began striking duplicates. Some days he would find two or three, and then it would be months before he would see another stray pasteboard. But he persevered and always kept his eyes open to add to his strange collection.
In ten years he had all but thirteen cards necessary to complete his deck. In the next three years he considered himself lucky in finding all but four. The missing ones were the jack of clubs, the deuce of diamonds, and the trey of spades. In the course of another year he picked up the eight of diamonds and six months later was overjoyed to find what he at first thought was a full deck of cards lying on the sidewalk on Dearborn street, between Adams and Jackson streets.
He thought his long search was at an end and that he could easily complete his wonderful deck. The jack of clubs and the trey of spades were there all right, but five or six cards were missing, and among them the deuce of diamonds. It seemed as though he would never be able to secure his fifty-second card, but the other day he entered one of the suburban trains on the Northwestern, and almost the first thing he saw was the deuce of diamonds face upwards in the aisle. It was gilt-edged and glossy backed, the finest of them all. He had been searching for it for five and a half years, and breathed a sigh of relief. The pack is composed of cards of all qualities, from the cheapest to the highest prices. Some are clean and bright and others are soiled and well worn.
I'll add this to the list of weird collections. Though, honestly, I have some doubts that the story is true. It reads like the kind of thing that reporters back then routinely made up to fill column space.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Aug 14, 2013 -
Comments (6)
Category: Collectors, Nineteenth Century
The Original Rock Dinner
Original page here.
In 1939, Kent Knowlton of Randsburg, CA, assembled a curious meal of petrified food for his amusement and that of others.
We have a record that it was still being exhibited a year later. Then, the "Original Rock Dinner" vanishes from history--until this very year!
An article on the "ghost town" of Randsburg features what appears to be a photo of the petrified food, nearly 75 years after its debut. I'd recognize that "cauliflower" anywhere!
Posted By: Paul - Tue Feb 26, 2013 -
Comments (2)
Category: Eccentrics, Collectors, Food, Regionalism, 1930s, 1940s, Natural Wonders
Never Enough Cats?
"Woman with over 150 cats in one house shows how she feeds them."
My one wish is that this video was in High Definition and showed us all 24 hours of this woman's average day.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 19, 2012 -
Comments (6)
Category: Eccentrics, Collectors, Cats, Russia
The Collector
Nowadays, stories about men, women and children being kept prisoner in strange circumstances--sometimes for years or decades--are so common that I'm certain Chuck will soon declare them "no longer weird."
But fifty years ago, such stories seemed more rare. One such inspired the classic novel by John Fowles, The Collector, which appeared in 1963.
The trailer of the film version can be seen above.
Fowles was inspired in part by a true story. I believe I've found that account, as seen below.
Enjoy the debut of what was to become a whole category of weird news.
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 02, 2012 -
Comments (7)
Category: Eccentrics, Collectors, Scary Criminals, Stupid Criminals, 1950s, 1960s
This Is My Home
This Is My Home from Mark on Vimeo.
Many thanks to WU-vie filmmakers Mark Cersosimo & Kelsey Holtaway!
Posted By: Paul - Wed Feb 29, 2012 -
Comments (3)
Category: Reader Recommendation, Collectors
La Napoule
According to this LIFE magazine article, art collector Henry Clews had a taste for the bizzare, as seen in the statue above. His French Mediterranean home is now a museum, and you can visit, or even apply for an arts residency there!
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 09, 2012 -
Comments (5)
Category: Aliens, Art, Avant Garde, Surrealism, Dreams and Nightmares, Eccentrics, Collectors, Museums, 1950s, Europe
Two New Weird Books
The book on the left proves that for every conceivable product in the human consumerist culture, there exist fanatical collectors.
The book on the right shows that you don't have to travel to exotic lands to discover weird things.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 18, 2012 -
Comments (4)
Category: Regionalism, Weird Studies and Guides, Books, Collectors
Weird Salt & Pepper Shakers
Can anyone explain the iconography here? Note that they do originate in Japan, source of much strangeness.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Apr 25, 2010 -
Comments (5)
Category: Agriculture, Art, Surrealism, Domestic, Interior Decorating, Collectors, Asia
A Little Light Weirdness – 8
More successful were the thieves that managed to steal several US landmarks, including the Palace of Fine Arts, USS Pampanito and Ghirardelli Square. Models of course, part of an exhibition of Mark and Jannet Benz’s Lego creations on display at the Palo Alto Museum of American Heritage, and worth several thousand dollars. A reward of $500 has been offered by the Benzes (SF Weekly).
But if Jan and Mark are thinking of upping their home security, they should perhaps avoid following the example of Alexander Skopintsew of Primorye in Russia, who decided to deter intruders by planting homemade landmines around his garden. He was inevitably found out when a trespasser was injured when setting off one of these devices, and charged with possession of illegal weapons, receiving a suspended sentence (ABC News).
Of course another alternative might be to have nothing worth stealing. Perhaps something similar occurred to retired lorry driver Ken Strickland, who amassed a collection of over 3000 watering cans, each meticulously documented. Sadly Mr. Strickland died last month aged 78, bequeathing the entire assortment to his niece, who is at a loss as to what to do with them and may in fact sell them on behalf of a charity. One watering can however will not be up for sale, it contains her uncle's ashes (Metro).
Meanwhile hundreds of other women up and down the UK might be feeling a little let down this Monday, after British department store Debenhams recorded a 76% surge in sales of their range of “anatomy boosting” underwear for men ahead of Valentine’s day. Turn around is fair play, I say (Reuters).
More in extended >>
Posted By: Dumbfounded - Mon Feb 15, 2010 -
Comments (5)
Category: Buildings and Other Structures, Crime, Stupid Criminals, Eccentrics, Collectors, Explosives, Geeks, Nerds and Pointdexters, Government, Officials, Kitsch and Collectibles, Weird Theory, Goofs and Screw-ups
Cult Magazines
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 28, 2009 -
Comments (2)
Category: Eccentrics, Collectors, Magazines, Subcultures, Books
| Who We Are |
|---|
| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Contact Us |