According to a legend, the city's unusual name[5] resulted from a marathon poker game between Corydon E. Cooley and Marion Clark. The two men were equal partners in a 100,000-acre (400 km2) ranch; however, the partners determined that there was not enough room for both of them in their settlement, and agreed to settle the issue over a game of "Seven Up" (with the winner taking the ranch and the loser leaving).[6] After the game seemed to have no winner in sight, Clark said, "If you can show low, you win." In response, Cooley turned up the deuce of clubs (the lowest possible card) and replied, "Show low it is."[7] As a tribute to the legend, Show Low's main street is named "Deuce of Clubs" in remembrance
Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 07, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Regionalism, Weird Names, Gambling, Casinos, Lotteries and Other Games of Chance, Nineteenth Century
James Wyman Johnson attended a Union army recruitment meeting at the Vail country schoolhouse in October 1861, about five months after the start of the Civil War. As he was mowing with his scythe the next morning, he decided to enlist. When he returned to the house, he hung his scythe in the small tree, about 8 inches in diameter and just a few feet tall, near the kitchen door. He told his parents he was going to enlist and remarked that the scythe was to stay hanging on the tree until he returned from war.... He died on May 22, 1864, from his wounds and was buried in an unknown grave.... Years passed and the handle fell away, the tree grew and gradually surrounded the blade. The long scythe blade only protruded a few inches outside the mammoth tree trunk.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Nov 03, 2023 -
Comments (2)
Category: Agriculture, Death, Family, War, Fables, Myths, Urban Legends, Rumors, Water-Cooler Lore, Nineteenth Century
Scribner's Monthly - Apr 1875
Posted By: Alex - Sat Sep 30, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Music, Science, Nineteenth Century
Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 30, 2023 -
Comments (2)
Category: Literature, Magazines, Nineteenth Century, Mental Health and Insanity
Under Bertha [Peter’s] care, Rose Percy aided worthy causes for a sixty-year period. In 1919, near the end of her life, Bertha placed Rose on temporary loan to the American Red Cross Museum in Washington D.C. The very next year, Bertha gifted Rose to the organization, and with that gift, she became the official mascot of the Junior Red Cross. Rose served in that capacity for over eighty years, and during that time greeted visitors from all over the world.
The year 2010 found the American Red Cross facing deficits, so the decision was made to sell off valuable assets in order to reduce their debt. Countless historic artifacts were sent to the auction block, including Rose Percy, who is in fact, older than the Red Cross itself.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 04, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Charities and Philanthropy, Medicine, Dolls and Stuffed Animals, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century, Twenty-first Century
Posted By: Alex - Thu Aug 03, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Advertising, Smoking and Tobacco, Nineteenth Century
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jul 30, 2023 -
Comments (2)
Category: Drugs, Nineteenth Century, Hair and Hairstyling
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jul 27, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Frauds, Cons and Scams, New Age, Supernatural, Occult, Paranormal, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 14, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Food, Poetry, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jul 10, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Hygiene, Excrement, Regionalism, Anthropology, 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 |