SUBJECT: PETRIFIED MAN, HEALING MACHINES REVEALED FRIDAY THE 13th at Nebraska State Historical Society's Museum of Nebraska History, Lincoln
There isn't a two-headed calf, but bizarre artifacts and fascinating tales abound in"Weird Nebraska: Strange Stories and Amazing Facts" opening Friday, January 13th, 2006 at the Nebraska State Historical Society's Museum of Nebraska History, 15th and P Streets, Lincoln. Sensations from Nebraska's past, including sea monsters, unidentified flying objects, and a "petrified man" are featured in this odd sampling from NSHS collections.
Tales of "mysterious air ships" and the monster of Walgren Lake fit right in with the petrified man dug up near Chadron in 1893. Visitors can measure themselves against an image of 8 foot 11 inches-tall Robert Alton, or diagnose their personality disorders by feeling the bumps on their heads.
They can see the giant knife used by the Pioneer Zephyr, the Burlington Railroad's famous streamliner, to cut its own birthday cake. The celebration of the streamliner's tenth anniversary was held at the Lincoln depot in 1944. The Zephyr's forward movement triggered a mechanism that released the knife. The ceremonies were broadcast nationwide over the Blue Radio Network originating from radio station KFOR in Lincoln. And then there's Doane College time ball, that dropped every day at noon on a shaft at the Crete college's Merrell Hall.
The exhibit also includes examples of the "healing machines" created by Emery Blagdon, Nebraska native and former hobo, who was considered just another eccentric bachelor when he died in 1986. Few of his neighbors knew that, for thirty years, Blagdon had been creating a masterpiece of idiosyncratic art in his dilapidated Sand Hills farm shed. Nearly one hundred paintings and about four hundred and fifty wire sculptures, embellished with wood, ribbon, beads, tin, and plastic filled every corner of the 800-square-foot shed, illuminated by twinkling Christmas lights. Blagdon believed that his pieces created an electromagnetic field that could treat various diseases.When asked to explain, he would simply say, "I don't know why, it just works." The rarely-exhibited Blagdon pieces are on loan to NSHS by former North Platte resident Dan Dryden.
The museum's brown bag lecture series will get off to a weird start on January 19 when Dale Bacon presents "UFO's, Monsters, and Other Nebraska Oddities: A look at Some Historic Weirdness in the Cornhusker State" and Other Nebraska Weirdness." From the 1890s accounts of "mysterious airships" to "flying saucers" in the 20th century, a variety of odd phenomena have been witnessed in Nebraska skies. Other programs scheduled include collector Dan Dryden's view of idiosyncratic artist Emery Blagdon, scheduled for April 20, "The Figgites," a look at an odd Nebraska religious sect scheduled for July 20.
"Weird Nebraska" will be on exhibit through 2006. The Nebraska State Historical Society's Museum of Nebraska History is open Tuesday-Friday, 9-4:30 and Saturday and Sunday, 1-4:30. Suggested donation for admission is $2. For more information call 402-471-4754 or visit www.nebraskahistory.org.
For more information: lireland@nebraskahistory.org or Lynne Ireland, 402-471-4758