A cabinet of lovable weirdos
Tiny true stories,
lovingly odd.
Weird science, forgotten history, and human quirks — each one true, each under a minute, each a little stranger than you’d expect.
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Grandma Moses
Ribbons for the Jam
At the Cambridge Country Fair, Anna Mary Robertson Moses entered her paintings alongside her preserves, and won ribbons for the jam.
At seventy-six, arthritis ended her embroidery, so she took up painting — house paint on Masonite, glitter for snow. She entered canvases beside her preserves at the county fair and won ribbons for the jam. Her name was Anna Mary Robertson Moses.
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The Woman Who Became Her Own Mystery
If the world's greatest mystery writer vanished for eleven days and registered at a hotel under her husband's mistress's name, what exactly was she solving?
The Ghost Portrait
What kind of inventor dies with $275.05, an unmarked grave, and no verified photograph — but a machine the world still uses 150 years later?
The Man Who Couldn't Do Anything He Did
What kind of person collects boats but can't swim, collects cars but can't drive, and flies six continents while terrified of planes — and what cartoon character did he accidentally become?
Peter the Hermit and the Donkey
What kind of person gets caught deserting during a famine, weeps, is pardoned, and then gets promoted to diplomat?
The Dog Got Clean Too
What happens when a woman who holds thirty-six patents and hates cleaning drags a garden hose into her kitchen?
The Viking of Sixth Avenue
What happens when a blind composer in a Viking helmet stands on the same Manhattan corner for thirty years and becomes more famous silent than playing?
The Man Who Buried His Car
What kind of person buries a 1927 Hudson in their backyard and denies owning a car?
The Witch of Wall Street
What kind of woman eats cold oatmeal for lunch, sleeps with a revolver tied to her hand, and gets a personal visit from J.P. Morgan asking for financial advice?
The Man Who Built a Robot Band
He invented the crankshaft to water a garden, then spent the rest of his career building a programmable robot drummer for palace drinking parties.
The Bucket List
A college dropout found him in four days with a bucket list.
The Shoemaker Who Became a Bear
A grizzly attack left him with a silver-dollar-sized hole in his skull — and that bear ended up on the California state flag.
The Woman Who Got the Moonlight by Accident
The most famous piano dedication in history was a last-minute substitution, named by a man who never met her, for a woman who was busy doing other things.