T.T. Wentworth

T.T. Wentworth has been called the poor man’s Ripley (of Believe It or Not fame).  He made a collection of all kinds of weird items.  Later he donated his collection to make a new museum in Florida.  In additional to a shoe from the World’s Tallest Man and the Petrified Cat, one of the coolest items is a combination brass knuckles, knife and gun (top left in picture).  How did they put this all together and, more important, how did they think of it?

While the clock doesn’t look amazing (though it reminds me of Back to the Future), I loved the story with it. “In 1919, when T.T. Wentworth, Jr., first ran for County Commissioner, his campaign platform included the promise to keep the county courthouse clock running at the correct time. In this pre-radio era, timekeeping was an important issue to voters.  Watches had to be wound daily, and the only reference available to determine the correct time was the county court house clock.  An eight-day clock, it required someone to climb the tower and wind it once a week.  As the youngest and fittest of all the candidates, Tom Wentworth was the obvious choice, and he won.”  Perhaps this is the way we should select politicians now.