For probably 200 miles we saw at least 100 "teaser" billboards about it. Supraliminal advertising at its best. Of course, we stopped.
Like many roadside attractions, there is a small fee. In this case, $1 (we read somewhere that when asked what "the Thing" was, the cashier replied that it was $1 to go find out for yourself but he'd tell you for $5). We forked over the $2, and were told that "the Thing" would be in the 3rd section.
1st section: a bizarre mix of antique cars, a diorama of ancient torture methods (with mannequins!), and cattle. Allegedly, Hitler used the Rolls Royce. See him peeping out the window?
2nd section: was lined with wooden display cases, each one full of different stuff (some might say, crap), but the diorama of the old western bar was kind of cool. Notice the "nude" over the bar (2nd from right, middle row).
3rd section: Finally. THE THING.
Even after seeing it, I still wasn't sure what to make of it (besides the obvious). So I googled it. Wikipedia has some information on the origins. There has been speculation that it came from catacombs within the Grand Canyon, by way of Egypt. Hmmm... Weird US (Arizona) doesn't mention anything about Grand Canyon catacombs or Egypt. Actually, they suggest that "the Thing" was cobbled together in the 1950s or 60s by a man who made just this sort of thing for his own attraction/museum.
You can find lots more pictures of "the Thing" by googling - most of them are better than ours.
My favorite part of the whole thing was, by far, all of these driftwood creatures. Check them out here and in the Flick stream (link above).
3rd section: Finally. THE THING.
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| the Thing |
Even after seeing it, I still wasn't sure what to make of it (besides the obvious). So I googled it. Wikipedia has some information on the origins. There has been speculation that it came from catacombs within the Grand Canyon, by way of Egypt. Hmmm... Weird US (Arizona) doesn't mention anything about Grand Canyon catacombs or Egypt. Actually, they suggest that "the Thing" was cobbled together in the 1950s or 60s by a man who made just this sort of thing for his own attraction/museum.
You can find lots more pictures of "the Thing" by googling - most of them are better than ours.
My favorite part of the whole thing was, by far, all of these driftwood creatures. Check them out here and in the Flick stream (link above).
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| the guy in the middle is my favorite. or maybe the 3rd from left on the top row; he looks like he just got caught doing something naughty. |
I had to think about the movie Rat Race when you mentioned Hitler's car. If you haven't seen that movie, you should. It'sa race!
ReplyDeleteLove all the pictures, Though it creeps me out to think of the place that would bring all these things together.