The McCulloch County courthouse square in Brady sports an actual World War 2 Howitzer cannon. I especially wanted to visit this artifact because as a boy I had assembled a plastic model of a Howitzer.
Looking up from the cannon, right across the street I saw a store entitled "D and J's Good Ole Days" and right in front was the word "Oddities." Displayed in the store front I saw a bumper car and an eclectic collection of old bicycles, toys, tools, even medical items. I wondered if they might have a large framed portrait photo of Clayton Moore as the Lone Ranger? I had to give this a try.
And the store was just like that inside. Only more so.
There's a "steam punk" Christmas tree. On the right wall, high up, hangs a Willie Nelson deer head. Only one of many deer heads, but this one has braids and a beard (made of real hair) and, well, he's smoking something.
A stuffed red fox seems to be pointing toward a large sea turtle that hangs on the wall.
I was greeted by DeAnn Evridge who knows the stories behind every one of the thousands of items in this oddities store. And she's eager to tell them. It's not just a collection. It's a collection of collections. Very odd collections.
I was admiring the Flash Gordon Spaceship bank next to the rack of yellowing comic books when she said, "Who else can say they sold a cobra, a piranha, and a kick-start washing machine in the same day?" Was the cobra a snake or a model automobile?
The bumper cars – I saw two, with extra lights and spare parts – came from Magic Springs Amusement Park in Arkansas. Other amusement park items came from Coney Island.
"We have friends all over the world who bring us curiosities. A lot of it comes from Europe, some from Russia. We've been collecting since we were married 25 years ago. We only opened the store a year ago December 22." DeAnn interrupts herself to invite a customer to visit the Alley Cat Salvage Warehouse down the block. "We have more things there. Some people like to just explore, dig through, discover treasures for themselves.'
She shows me 437 prosthetic eyeballs. "A woman brought them in a Tupperware dish." DeAnn has them arranged neatly in a display chest of drawers. I digressed to relate the scene from the John Wayne movie, The Sons of Katy Elder, where Dean Martin wins a bet in a saloon using a glass eye. He (or his character in the movie) would love to see 437 of these glass orbs.
The medical section has a vintage examination table. I wondered how many autopsies it had seen.
"D and J's Good Ole Days" schedules several store events almost on a whim. Ladies' Night Out, for instance. Not just ladies, everyone is welcome.
"In fact," DeAnn said, "we're celebrating the one year anniversary of the store the day after Christmas. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. We'll have food and live music." A daughter-in-law and a grand-daughter will sing. "They had to audition to be in this family," she jokes.
The family had a pet raccoon for many years, Rodney Raccoon. He loved Cheetos and Lucky Charms. The Evridge's couldn't part with him. So they had him stuffed, and he guards the store, today dressed in Christmas garb. "He was fat, and we liked him that way, but the taxidermist gave him a six-pack." A thin raccoon?
DeAnn introduces me to husband Joe. He has a shop in the back where he restores antiques and makes lamps out of oddities. He points out a floor lamp made of a roller from a wallpaper press. I admire a chandelier made from some kind of grappling hook suspended with a block and tackle.
The Howitzer cannon? They have a two-foot stainless steel working model. Except it has a "Sold" ticket on it. Shucks.
Passing the kegs of old nails, Joe points out nine heavy solid wood cartwheels. They were found in a field near Victoria, and must date from the 17 or 1800's. I remark on the little known fact that Santa Anna's army was near present day Victoria on the way to points north to make history, when a "blue norther" struck bringing below-freezing temperatures. Animals froze to death. The Generalissimo was forced to abandon some equipment there. Might these wheels have been his? Who can say?
What Joe can say is: he has a table made from the hatch of a slave ship, and he showed me two blubber cutters from whaling ships. He has holsters and knives, and a really fancy side saddle. Antique cannon balls and at least one mini-ball.
He was quite fond of his propeller from a WW1 Sopwith Camel. "The government saved hundreds of these in England, brought them to our shores. They sold them like war bonds; the idea was to number them and keep records, making collectibles. That is an unregistered Sopwith Camel propeller."
DeAnn points out the many vintage clothes, including a wedding dress from around 1910. Where do the customers come from? Joe says "Well, in Texas, as far as Odessa. But some we know of have taken our things to New York and Australia."
Just as I'm leaving, I notice two shark jaws hanging on the back wall. But I'll remember the bathtub full of old buttons for matching some I've lost.
And yes, they have a picture of Clayton Moore in a frame. Hi-yo Silver!
