Eccentrics
Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp
The tour for squares.
The tour for hipsters.
Their home page.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 30, 2014 -
Comments (3)
Category: Eccentrics, Regionalism, Religion, Superstition
Octagon Houses
For a brief time in the USA, eight-sided houses were a thing. Based on the crackpot theories of one fellow.
The example above can be found in my native Rhode Island. I used to marvel at it all the time when I was younger.
Read the history here.
Order a book here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Oct 20, 2014 -
Comments (10)
Category: Buildings and Other Structures, Eccentrics, Nineteenth Century
Dion McGregor
Full explanation here. In short, recordings of a man unconsciously narrating his dreams.
Full album below.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 12, 2014 -
Comments (3)
Category: Dreams and Nightmares, Eccentrics, 1960s
Fat Cat
Maybe Chuck has deemed "animals inherit estate" stories NO LONGER WEIRD. But such was not the case in 1966.
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Sep 19, 2014 -
Comments (4)
Category: Eccentrics, Money, Cats, 1960s
World Carrot Museum
The thrills start here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Sep 08, 2014 -
Comments (9)
Category: Eccentrics, Food, Museums
John Braund and His Cure for Cancer
Link to newspaper article of the era.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Sep 02, 2014 -
Comments (6)
Category: Eccentrics, Medicine, 1940s, South Pacific
William Skinner’s Gravity Engine
Apparently, some 75 years on, people are still trying to prove the reality of this perpetual motion machine.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Aug 16, 2014 -
Comments (21)
Category: Eccentrics, Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Inventions, 1930s
Unique Auto Horn
Walter George Newman definitely sounds like he was a bit of a character. I like the idea of having a guy blowing on a trumpet instead of a horn.
The New York Times - Aug 17, 1910
Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 12, 2014 -
Comments (7)
Category: Eccentrics, 1910s, Cars
Otto Witte, the King of Albania
Wikipedia article here. Click text below in first article to enlarge.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jul 28, 2014 -
Comments (4)
Category: Disguises, Impersonations, Mimics and Forgeries, Eccentrics, 1910s, Europe
Lord Timothy Dexter
I just learned about a famous New England eccentric named Lord Timothy Dexter. People like this make me proud to be a Yankee.
Just one of his whimsicalities, from this write-up:
In 1798, Mr. Dexter returned to Newburyport, and August 15th of the same summer he bought the large house on High street that had been erected by Jonathan Jackson in 1771. Its situation is high, and commands an extensive view of the coast and the Isles of Shoals. The grounds were laid out by intelligent landscape gardeners. Everything about the house was in excellent order; but not to his wish. He raised minarets on the roof, and surmounted them with gilt balls. He caused it to assume a gaudiness and cheapness that was most undesirable to a person of taste.
Directly before the front door of the house, on a Roman arch, he erected a figure of Washington in his military garb, and on his left, a figure of Jefferson, and on his right one of Adams, the latter being hatless. On columns erected in the garden were figures of Indian chiefs, generals, philosophers, politicians, statesmen, and goddesses of Fame and Liberty. He changed the name of the statues by the aid of the painter's brush as he pleased. General Morgan was thus transformed into Bonaparte, and to the latter Dexter always touched his, hat. There were more than forty of these figures, including four lions, two couchant, and two passant. These images were of wood, life size, and fairly well carved. The lions were open-mouthed and looked fierce. The figures were made by a young ship carver who had just come to Newburyport, named Joseph Wilson, and were gaudily painted. The images were all in good condition when Dexter died, and the first to fall was an Indian. The remainder stood until the great September gale of 1815, when all but the presidents were cast prostrate upon the earth. The images were sold at auction, the specimen that brought the most money, five dollars, was the goddess of Fame. William Pitt was sold for a dollar, and the "Travelling Preacher," fifty cents. It is said that the arch and figures of the three presidents, all the presidents there had been in Dexter's day, cost at least two thousand dollars, the lions two hundred dollars apiece, and the other images a similar amount.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 18, 2014 -
Comments (8)
Category: Eccentrics, Landscaping, Eighteenth Century, Nineteenth Century
| 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 |