Sunday, March 29, 2009

Alligator Man

Jake the Alligator Man is an alleged half-man, half-alligator on display in apparently mummified condition at Marsh's Free Museum, a tourist trap in Long Beach, Washington. He was acquired by the Marshes for $750 in 1967 from an antique store.
His image was used by the Weekly World News on November 9, 1993 for front-page article, "Half-human, half-alligator discovered in Florida swamp." The periodical subsequently reported on his escape from captivity, killing of a Miami man, and giving birth.
Jake has acquired a cult following in Northwestern popular culture. Bumper stickers featuring the oddity can be commonly seen throughout Washington and Oregon.

Is Jake the Alligator Man for real? At Marsh's Free Museum in Long Beach, Wash., visitors wonder. He's enclosed in a glass case so you can't touch. But people approach the case all day long, staring, not quite knowing for sure. Legend has it that Jake is half human, half alligator, which certainly seems a stretch as in "how the heck could that happen without the human getting eaten?" Anyway, Jake postcards are popular items at the checkout stand as are Jake bumper stickers and tee-shirts. Across the street is a small park with the "World's Largest Frying Pan." Long Beach is on a long, thin peninsula on the southwest coast of Washington. The peninsula's wide beach is an official state highway, so you can drive your car or RV right on it.

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