Odd Wisconsin Archives

One of my favorite pages to browse on the Wisconsin Historical Society’s website is Odd Wisconsin – a collection of archival documents and artifacts that tell a strange but true story about Wisconsin history.  Some of the strangest objects (ex. an X-ray shoe fitting machine, the “Monster Knife” of John Fox Potter, and skunk grease medicine) even made their way to the Wisconsin Historical Museum on Capitol Square as part of an exhibit of the same name.

 However, the artifacts are just part of the oddities.  The Odd Wisconsin archive also includes reflections written about the bizarre documents and manuscripts housed at the Wisconsin Historical Society.  The stories are incredible, humorous, and thought-provoking, and must certainly be fun for the archivists at the Society to put together on a regular basis.

In honor of Halloween, I will share Odd Wisconsin’s post about “The Giant Rat of Fond du Lac” (originally posted on October 14, 2010):

Back in 1879, a saloon-keeper in Fond du Lac exploited a customer's weakness in order to save him from bad habits.

According to the press, a prominent citizen of that city had been coming into the bar a bit too often for his own good. The owner of the tavern appreciated the patronage but thought that his friend ought to pay more attention to his business than his benders. So he executed a fantastic plan to curb his customer's over-indulgence.

A large rat had got into the habit of sneaking into the tavern in the afternoon to scrounge for crumbs left on the bar after lunch, and the good-natured owner had tolerated it. The next time that the businessman came in for a few drinks, the barkeep kept him there until the rat appeared.

Seeing the giant rodent on the bar, the man was naturally disturbed and called his host's attention to it. The bartender, however, protested that he didn't see anything at all. The businessman, alarmed that he was hallucinating about gigantic rats, hurried out and didn't touch another drop for a long time.

Or so it was told by Milwaukee journalist George Peck. But he was known for his comic tales and humorous exaggerations. In fact, Peck became so widely known for telling stories like this that his fame carried him all the way to Wisconsin's executive mansion. You can read more about Gov. Peck here.

[Post Created by Ellen Hassel]