Tidbit Thursday: Erzsebet Bathory
25 Friday Mar 2022
Posted Famous People, Not Haunted--But Cool, Tidbit Thursday
in≈ Comments Off on Tidbit Thursday: Erzsebet Bathory
25 Friday Mar 2022
Posted Famous People, Not Haunted--But Cool, Tidbit Thursday
in≈ Comments Off on Tidbit Thursday: Erzsebet Bathory
15 Tuesday Feb 2022
Posted Artists, Artwork, Mummies, Not Haunted, Not Haunted--But Cool
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During the 16th century, a new, transparent paint pigment hit the market. Called Mummy Brown (Caput Mortuum or Egyptian Brown), the pigment quickly became a favorite amongst artists who used it for shadows and flesh tones. The source of the paint wasn’t a real concern. See, the pigment was made from ground up Egyptian mummies—human and feline. If unavailable, corpses of slaves and criminals were ground up.
Roberson & Co. of London made the pigment and sold it in tubes. White pitch and myrrh were combined with the ground up Egyptian mummies. Since the mummies were embalmed, they also contained trace elements of ammonia and fat. Scholars state that the color fell between burnt umber and raw umber on the color scale. Over time, however, the paint cracked and faded. Further, the ammonia and fat affected other pigments. This was a restoration nightmare. You know, in addition to the obvious.
The 19th century Pre Raphaelite artists favored it. Some who were to have purchased a tube included Sir William Beechly, Edward Burne-Jones, and Eugene Delacroix. Once word of the ingredients surfaced some artists discarded. Famed author and nephew of Burne-Jones, Rudyard Kipling retold the story of when Burnes-Jones found out about the ingredients. He supposedly ceremoniously buried his tube in his garden.
It is difficult to assess whether any of them actually used the paint. Experts believe Mummy Brown was used in L’Interieur d’une Cuisine, (Interior of a Kitchen, 1815) by Martin Drolling. Researchers speculate that Delacroix used Mummy Brown in La Liberté quidant le people (Liberty Leading the People, 1830) and Salone de la Paix at the Hotel de Ville (1854). As for Burne-Jones, researchers believe Temperantia (1872) and The Last Sleep of Arthur in Avalon (1881-1898) were painted with Mummy Brown.
Production ceased in the 1920-1930s with the last tubes selling in 1964. By that time, Roberson’s stated that interest in using the pigment had wain so much that one mummy could supply 20 years’ worth of tubes. The Egyptian mummy supply had dried up, as well.
There are better substitutes to Mummy Brown. For instance, Daniel Smith sells Bauxite Mummy.
If you’re interested in other historical paint colors and their origins, check out this amazing blog: http://www.veritablehokum.com/comic/mummy-brown-and-other-historical-colors/.
14 Monday Feb 2022
Posted Mummies, Museums, Not Haunted, Not Haunted--But Cool, Universities
in≈ Comments Off on Tulane University’s Two Mummies Have Attended 3 Super Bowl Games
Tulane University hosted 3 Super Bowl games: IV in 1970, VI in 1972, and IX in 1975. The crowds of 80,000+ people never knew that underneath the bleachers tucked in a storage room were two Egyptian mummies. Theirs was a lurid story.
George Robbins Gliddon (1809-1857) was the former US vice consul in Egypt. He fashioned himself an Egyptologist and assembled the “Gliddon’s Transparent Panorama of the Nile” exhibit that traveled the United States in the mid-1800s. The panorama was a beautifully illustrated painting that measured 900 feet long and 9 feet high. Gliddon was a master salesman and signed up subscribers who funded his traveling show. These subscribers attended mummy unwrapping parties, where Gliddon unwrapped a mummy and displayed any funerary items contained within the coffins.
While in Boston, Gliddon, who prided himself on his ability to translate hieroglyphics, misidentified one of the mummies. He claimed that the mummy contained in the case was a female of noble lineage. He claimed she was a high priestess or of that level. Unfortunately, upon the reveal, the mummy was most certainly a male. His erect penis had been carefully wrapped. Gliddon talked himself out of this uncomfortable situation and planned his exit from the field. He shortened his traveling itinerary, making New Orleans his final stop.
Gliddon arrived in March of 1852. He opened his show at Tulane University. He unwrapped the second mummy, that of a female, at what is now Gallier Hall. When the show closed, Gliddon donated the mummies to Tulane. He attempted to sell the vast panorama, even suggesting it be divided into 50-foot sections; however, it probably didn’t sell. There aren’t any records as to its fate. Thanks to Tulane’s football stadium’s demolition, we now know what happened to the two mummies.
Tulane’s former stadium was a popular venue. The Third Tulane Stadium, as it was known, was built in 1926 with a capacity of 35,000. Four expansions followed with capacity reaching 80,985 in 1955. On July 17, 1976, ZZ Top performed to a raucous audience which led to the university banning all concerts inside the stadium. (The ban remains in effect) The stadium became known as the Sugar Bowl, based on its form as resembling a sugar bowl lid, and the Queen of Southern Stadiums. Professional and college football teams played there up until 1979.
Sections of the stadium were declared unsafe, and demolition commenced on November 18, 1979. Demolition finished in June of 1980. It was during the early stages of demolition that the mummies were discovered ensconced in glass cases sitting above their coffins.
The mummies were displayed initially in a museum at the university’s medical school. Next stop was the museum of natural history in Gibson Hall. That museum closed in 1955, and the mummies were placed into storage, underneath the stadium. Somehow, they ended up at a Charity Hospital museum and then to a physician’s home. (Not sure I would take them home) They were then placed back in storage until their discovery. They were kept in the Howard-Tilton Memorial Library basement until 1979, when they relocated to their final resting place: Dinwiddie Hall in the Department of Anthropology.
University professors, along with graduate students, have learned a lot about the mummies. The male’s case had his name inscribed. It is often written as Djed-Thoth-iu-ef-ankh or “Thoth says that he will live.” He was a priest and “overseer of artisans” at the Temple of Amun in Thebes. He suffered from dental decay and spinal issues. He was around 50 when he died and was embalmed.
Initially, Gibbons, among others, believed that the female was Djed-Mut-iu-es-ankh; however, her skull is housed at Penn Museum at the University of Pennsylvania. At some unknown time, this 13.5-15.5-year-old female was placed inside the other’s case. Even though she is better preserved, little is known about her.
More has been discovered about George Gliddon. Some Edgar Allan Poe scholars have theorized that Gliddon was the inspiration for Doctor Ponnonner in Poe’s satirical short story “Some Words with a Mummy,” first published in April 1945. The main character procured a mummy and plans to unwrap it at his home in front a of few friends in the name of “scientific discovery.” The inept doctor instead revives the mummy they christen Allamistakeo. The story centers around Egyptian mummy mania that captured the imaginations of people in Europe and the United States.
Tragedy did not escape Gliddon in real life. He abandoned his research in Egyptology and shifted, instead, to proving polygenism, the belief that each race came from a distinct, individual source. (It is racist conjecture and shunned by science and scientific communities) Gliddon was in Panama in 1857 where he contracted Yellow Fever. He died before reaching the age of 50.
Ultimately, the Tulane mummies are more interesting. While visiting the university, I will attempt to visit them. I’ll post images if I am successful.
13 Sunday Feb 2022
Posted by The Haunted Librarian | Filed under Abandoned Locations, Ghost Towns, ghost village, Not Haunted, Not Haunted--But Cool
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12 Saturday Feb 2022
Posted Animals, Not Haunted, Not Haunted--But Cool
in≈ Comments Off on The Great Potoo, Mother Nature’s Incredibly Spooky Bird
Yes, the strange bird of epic memes is real. It is the great potoo, a nocturnal large-mouthed, large-eyed bird that emits the creepiest of moans.
The great potoo is a fascinating bird. It sits in camouflage for extended periods of time, which makes it difficult to spot. Young birds learn to sit quietly alongside their parents for hours. Even though their eyes are closed, they sense movement with their “magic eyes.” Despite the resemblance, they are not related to owls. They are closely aligned with frogmouths and nightjars. The seven species are located throughout Central America and Bolivia and Brazil.
Their large mouths scoop up insects and small birds. They’re called “monstrous nightbirds’; however, they’re kind of cool.
They appear in an Amazonian folktale.
In Ecuador, the Shuar people tell the story of a married man and wife who have a disagreement. The wife, Aóho, failed to make a satisfying dinner with the pumpkins. Her husband ran away in anger. He began to climb with Aóho following. She fell to the earth, scattering her pumpkins. Upon impact, she turned into a potoo. The husband turned into the moon. Every night when the moon appears in the sky, Aóho calls “aishirű, aishirű” (translated as “my husband, my husband”). Her calls can be heard throughout the night.
To listen to their moaning growl, visit: https://ebird.org/species/grepot1.
07 Monday Feb 2022
Posted by The Haunted Librarian | Filed under Cemeteries, Famous People, Not Haunted, Not Haunted--But Cool, Tombs
≈ Comments Off on Marie Curie’s Tomb Remains Radioactive for at least 1,500 More Years
03 Sunday Oct 2021
Posted Museums, Not Haunted, Not Haunted--But Cool, Real Estate
in≈ Comments Off on Scissorland: Visit Edward Scissorhands’ Real House
In 1990, director Tim Burton transformed the Carpenters Run neighborhood into a bizarre movie set for the film Edward Scissorhands, starring Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder. Although the houses have aged and regressed back to the typical Florida décor, the neighborhood has attracted fans since. On September 11, 2020, Joey and Sharon Licalzi won a bidding war and paid $230,378 for the 3 bedroom/2 bath 1432 square foot home. They’ve transformed it back into the movie set and have opened Scissorland, a free museum.
Edward Scissorhands (1990) is a cult classic. Filmed on a $20 million dollar budget, it grossed $56 million in the U.S. and $86 million worldwide. Deemed one of Burton’s best (aren’t they all?), the film was a fantasy-romance hybrid that told the story of Edward, the man with scissor hands. The movie is currently streaming on Hulu.com.
Fast forward 30 years and you can see how the neighborhood changed. Gone are the pastel color exterior house paint and topiary scrubs. However, Joey and Sharon have started the transformation.
The exterior is now a pastel blue, and the front yard is adorned with topiaries. The backyard is a whimsical playground. The original owner saved the mushroom wallpaper, which the couple reinstalled. They offer the home with the growing movie memorabilia as a free museum. Outdoor movie screenings will begin when the weather cools.
The memorabilia are an eclectic collection. There’s a license plate that the residents had to place on their cars for filming. A pack of cigarettes supposedly belonging to Depp is on display, along with an endearing mannequin dressed as Depp’s character. The collection continues to grow.
Although reservations are not required, I encourage those wishing to visit make them. Remember, not only is the house a museum: the couple actually resides there. The address is 1774 Tinsmith Circle, Lutz, Pasco County, Florida.
27 Monday Sep 2021
Posted Cemeteries, Not Haunted--But Cool
in≈ Comments Off on Missing Tombstone Used to Make Fudge
Marble is the best surface for making fudge. According to one blog, “Real fudge makers … all use marble slabs.” Apparently one family in Okemos, Michigan began making fudge on a 5-foot marble slab around 1875. The slab was passed down to future generations, who also perfected their fudge-making skills with the same old marble slab. The slab was finally turned over by an estate auction dealer who posted it for sale on the Internet. One inquiring mind reached out to the Friends of Lansing’s Historic Cemeteries (FoLHC) in Lansing, Michigan, where it was identified as the long lost—some 146 years lost—tombstone of Peter J. Weller. On Sunday, September 26th, a celebration was held to celebrate the re-installation of the tombstone. Fudge was served!
Peter J. Weller was a recent transplant to Lansing. He was born in New York in 1801 and relocated to Lansing in 1845. He died from inflammation of the bowels on December 26, 1849, at the age of 48 years, 8 months, and 22 days. He was initially buried in Oak Park Cemetery. His two daughters Christina and Lucretia were also buried there. By 1875, Lansing was growing, and the city was extending boundaries. All of the interred bodies at Oak Park were relocated to Mount Hope Cemetery. Tombstones were to be reinstalled, as well. Both Christina (4.3.1832-5.11.1854) and Lucretia (dates unknown) had individual tombstones that traveled to Mount Hope and marked their new resting place. For some unknow reason, Peter’s went missing.
The City of Lansing and the FoLHC attempted to locate any living descendants. None were found. The historic society paid for Peter’s tombstone to be clean and installed once ground penetrating radar was used to verify there were remains and a coffin buried in an unmarked grave. The daughters’ broken and aged tombstones were also clean and restored. The family are resting in a 10-plot family site. Peter’s first wife Louisa, and the known mother to Christina, is in another unmarked grave in Mount Hope. The second wife is not buried in the cemetery.
This is another one of those stories where tombstones are removed from cemeteries and used for odd purposes. A house in the neighborhood I grew up in had tombstone fragments in the turret in their house. Strange, indeed.
23 Thursday Sep 2021
Posted Not Haunted, Not Haunted--But Cool, Real Estate
in≈ Comments Off on Winnie the Pooh’s House is a BearBnB
Two lucky residents of the United Kingdom will spend £95 to spend one night in Winnie the Pooh’s house. The open dates are September 24th and 25th, which coincides with the 95th anniversary of A.A. Milne’s first publication of the adorable honey loving bear.
The one-room house has all the hallmarks of Pooh’s house. Kim Raymond, who has illustrated the Pooh books for 30 years, incorporated small details into the construction of the house, which sits along the Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, England. A.A. Milne lived here and based his famous Hundred Acre Wood on the forest.
The guests receive a guided tour of the wood, along with honey-inspired meals. They will also play Poohsticks on Poohstick Bridge and enjoy naps in the cozy beds.
The outside façade has Pooh’s tree and the “Mr. Sanders” sign. The mystery surrounding who Mr. Sanders was remains; however, the house has been beautifully realized. I hope that the house will be open on future dates for international tourists.
08 Wednesday Sep 2021
Posted Cemeteries, Not Haunted, Not Haunted--But Cool
in≈ Comments Off on The Angel of Grief Weeping Over the Dismantled Altar of Life (1894)
The Angel of Grief, as it is known, is one of the most iconic funerary sculptures that exist. It is also one of the most copied. The original was created by American lawyer, poet, and sculptor William Wetmore Story. The Angel of Grief would be his last major work and lovingly dedicated to his recently deceased wife, Emelyn. It captures the grief he experienced at the prospect of living without his spouse.
William Wetmore Story (1819-1895) saw an opportunity to quit practicing law and become a full-time artist. He was the son of Associate Justice Joseph Story (1779-1845) who served on the Supreme Court of the United States, also known as SCOTUS. William graduated from Harvard College and began his career in law. He was successful but unfulfilled. When his father died, William accepted an offer that changed the course of his life.
A committee set up to honor the late Justice Joseph Story wanted to commission a statue in his memory, and they asked William to create it. William was a hobbyist and accepted the commission as long as he and his family moved to Italy for him to study.
By this time, William and Emelyn nee Eldredge had married and started a family. They had two children: Edith “Edie” Marion and Joseph “Joe.” And so, the family moved to Rome, Italy where William embarked on an apprenticeship. Tragedy struck the young family when little Joe died from gastric fever on November 23, 1853. He is buried in Campo Cestio in Rome.
The family grew while William honed his craft. Thomas Waldo, born December 9, 1854, and Julian Russell, born on September 8, 1857, joined older sister Edie. (Note: All four surviving children embarked on careers in the arts: T. Waldo became an acclaimed sculptor; Julian was a famous painter; and Edit, known as the Marchesa Peruzzi di Medici, became a writer.)
Although William returned to the United States to erect the monument for his father, he would make Rome his home. During the forty years he and Emelyn resided in Italy, William created other famous sculptures and gained acclaim as a poet. They enjoyed life and each other.
Emelyn died in 1894, and William’s heart broke. He prepared and created one last sculpture: The Angel of Grief. An angel dressed in Roman attire drapes her body over the altar with her large wings slumped in despair. The sculpture personified the grief that embraced William.
William died in his sleep a year later. He is buried beneath the sculpture with the love of his life. The monument sits in Campo Cestio, also called the Protestant Cemetery or the Cemetery for the Non-Catholic Foreigners. It may be viewed during posted business hours. If you’re unable to see it in person, you can visit some of the copies in America. I cannot state if the cemetery is haunted; however, I can tell you that it has some of the most beautiful funerary monuments that I’ve ever seen in one location. It also has about 40 cats that roam the cemetery listening to classical music when the cemetery closes for the day. Well worth a visit, in our post-COVID world.
While researching this article, I wanted to find a photograph of Emelyn; however, I was unable. There are a few of William and his children who survived into adulthood, but nothing for Emelyn. That is also heartbreaking. I would love to see the woman who supported and encouraged her husband to create so many famous pieces of art, especially the most important piece that is one of his most well-known.
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