The Thing

Raymond Chen[^] posted about The Thing[^] a few weeks ago.

Since we were planning to go to El Paso, Texas, for the Fourth of July holiday and our route would take us right past The Thing, what more natural than that we'd stop and take a look. As we approached exit 322 on I-10 there was sign after sign after sign advertising The Thing. The article linked above implies the signs dot the highway for hundreds of miles. Methinks that's an exaggeration; we only saw them for about twenty miles but I can understand the exaggeration; there seemed to be hundreds of the buggers in that twenty miles!

Well worth a buck a head if only for the sheer audacity of it all. Not only do you get to goggle at The Thing, you get to stare at an ancient Rolls Royce reputed to have belonged to Adolf Hitler. To underline the point they have a dummy made up to look like him, complete with toothbrush moustache, sitting on the back seat. I'm not saying it didn't once belong to Adolf but, considering it likely that he owned, at most, one or three in his lifetime, I have to wonder at the likelihood of one of them finishing up in the Arizona desert. (But sillier things have happened, just consider London Bridge over at Lake Havasu!)

A little further on in the display they have an ancient footstool with the simple caption 'Chinese: 1427'. I seriously doubt the accuracy of that date but who cares? A little further along and two faded, dusty, kitschy prints labelled 'Italian - 1820'.

Having exited the display itself, which brings you back to the gift shop, the dunnies are to the right. I availed myself of the opportunity and there, at the urinal, at just the point where ones eyes are focussed during that operation, are advertisements for the various wares on sale at the shop. Gotta hand it to the proprietors, they don't miss a chance!