Strange As It May Seem

An Indiana newspaper in 1936 reported a visit to a strange decorated
farm near Farmersville, Ohio, southeast of Eaton, Ohio. So odd and
outstanding in a grotesque way is this farm that it was recently
exploited by Robert Ripley in his "Strange As It May Seem" stunt.
There are hundreds of poles stuck in the ground and decorated with old
tin cans, kettles, etc. One great high pole is covered from top to
bottom with bleached cow skulls.
There are crude carvings of different animals from wood, one of these
being a very large camel. In another place a sort of scaffold which
looks like an old Indian burial platform has been built into a rude
resemblance of a cow.
In another place he has placed iron bedsteads and covered the iron
frame with many dinner bells of many descriptions big and little.
At the top of the residence there is a big American Eagle with wings
out-spread. The interior of the house is also filled with all kinds of
odds and ends, intrinsically practically worthless and the only interest
that attached to them is that one man collected them and stored where
they are. It would be a big task to enumerate all the odds and ends for
the entire farm is covered with them.
The strange name of this strange man is Winter Zero Swartzel.
Hundreds of tourists visit the Winter Zero Swartzel curiosity farm but
this doesn't mean anything to Winter Zero excepting maybe publicity for
he charges no admission and the only thing he gets out of it is the
pleasure of allowing his crazy inclination or fad.

Submitted by: Billy J. Baker

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