King Louis Narcisse

A type of extravagant preaching that seems less prevalent today.

His Wikipedia page here.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Jan 16, 2016 - Comments (2)
Category: Eccentrics, Ethnic Groupings, Religion, 1960s

Polesitter Wedding

More on Mad Marshall Jacobs here.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Dec 28, 2015 - Comments (6)
Category: Daredevils, Stuntpeople and Thrillseekers, Eccentrics, Weddings and Marriage, 1940s

Midwest Furfest 2015

Posted By: Paul - Sat Dec 12, 2015 - Comments (8)
Category: Eccentrics, Pets, Public Indecency, Fetishes, Foreign Customs

Morris Cleveland’s Homemade Steam Vehicle

Original article here.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Nov 14, 2015 - Comments (9)
Category: Eccentrics, Inventions, Regionalism, Technology, 1960s

The Eccentric Club

For over 230 years there has been one or more organizations known as "the Eccentric Club." I think every WU-vie should be a member by birthright.

Here is a tongue-in-cheek account of a party at an NYC branch from 1889.



Original article here.

Profile of the current London version.

Present-day USA version.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Nov 11, 2015 - Comments (11)
Category: Eccentrics, Eighteenth Century, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century, Twenty-first Century

Joe Smallbone, Eccentric

Joe Smallbone (1911-1985) was an eccentric who lived in Fenton, Michigan. He reportedly never bathed, and was always covered in soot because of the wood-burning stove in his house. He was a hoarder and visitors to his house would have to navigate a narrow path through the stuff. However, he was also a self-taught electronics genius, and everyone in town would bring him their radios and TVs to fix.

Joe Smallbone

There was only one photo ever taken of Smallbone, at the 50th reunion of his high school class. Someone cleaned him up to attend it.

Despite his oddness, the townsfolk accepted him as their local strange character. And his legend lives on today with a song and video about him created by musician Bonnie Whitehurst.

More info from the Tri-County Times: ‘A legend in his own time’ and Fenton grad’s video on Joe Smallbone going viral?

Posted By: Alex - Sun Oct 18, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Eccentrics

The Elvis Diet

Everyone knows about Elvis's penchant for fried banana and peanut butter sandwiches. But some of these other items, as instanced in the book below, have faded from popular memory.





[Click to enlarge]

Original article here.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 11, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Eccentrics, Food, 1970s, Twentieth Century, Bodybuilding, Pain, Self-inflicted and Otherwise

“The Chicken Song”

Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 01, 2015 - Comments (6)
Category: Animals, Eccentrics, Food, Music

RIP Adam Purple

American eccentric Adam Purple died last week, at the age of 84. The NY Times says he collapsed on the walkway of the Williamsburg Bridge. We've previously noted some of his achievements here on WU. He's most famous as the "original hipster" and a "Guerrilla Gardener" who created a "Garden of Eden" on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

Some of his other life details, from the NY Times obit:

• He used many aliases throughout his life, including Rev. Les Ego, John Peter Zenger 2nd, and General Zen of the Headquarters Intergalactic of Psychic Police of Uranus.
• He produced hundreds of copies of a tiny book called “Zentences!” that was meant to encourage meditation.
• He "renounced the internal combustion engine."
• "Because of his abhorrence of waste, he salvaged and repurposed everything he could, including empty glass bottles, rusty nails and even buckets of lost tennis balls found on the street."

Posted By: Alex - Sun Sep 20, 2015 - Comments (1)
Category: Eccentrics, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, Obituaries

Crosscut Saw Filer

You know, I was actually getting into this a little bit, finding the esoteric knowledge somewhat alluring. But five parts adding up to over two hours? I'm gonna call the total program a fit candidate for our "Boring Video" competition.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Aug 24, 2015 - Comments (6)
Category: Boredom, Eccentrics, Tools