In my dining room there sits an antique 19th-century cabinet with a curved glass door, carved filigree, and wooden lion feet. It houses many wonders, including cartes de visite of sideshow performers, a preserved two-headed turtle, coprolite, stereoview cards, lobster claws casts, and other oddities. These strange items bring me great joy.
A recent addition, a Robert Wadlow Big Boy Memo Book, arrived from Freeman and Fugate Oddities Co. If I could, I’d buy most everything that owner James Freeman offers for sale. He’s a collector of the unusual who, unlike me, has managed to find a way to not only acquire unique treasures, but to sell them as well. This is an art I suspect I’ll never dabble in.
Freeman, based in Atlanta, has been at it full-time for five years. Beyond my Wadlow memo book, he deals a variety of oddities from Houdiniana to supremely creepy ventriloquist dummies to sideshow memorabilia, and much more. Prior to starting his business he worked a corporate job. But after winning custody of his daughter after a years-long battle, he decided to quit and work on his own terms and be the kind of father he wanted to be.
The eccentric entrepreneur recently expanded his business by partnering with longtime New York oddities dealer and star of Science Channel’s Oddities, Mike Zohn, to curate The Oddities Market. The traveling show is an opportunity to join forces with other sellers of strange pieces, like skulls, quack medical devices, taxidermy, haunted items, odd art, and other weird things.
So how does one find a constant supply of macabre must-haves? I asked Freeman that question, and more, to find out more about this purveyor of the peculiar.
What got you into collecting oddities and what continues to keep you interested?
I’ve been interested in the odd and macabre since I was a child. It started with collecting comics, and finding old Tales From the Crypt reprints. Those stories really resonated with me and they were great escapism.
To me, the whole point of collecting is the preservation of history. The items that I keep and treasure the most have some connection to historic figures and are generally one of a kind. I still get a charge holding something like a photograph signed by the San Antonio Siamese Twins Daisy and Violet Hilton, or an Egyptian artifact from 3,500 years ago. Knowing that they also held that object, and aren’t just names in a book, it really brings the past to life.
I know you’re a big Houdini fan. What first sparked your interest in him? And what aspects of his career fascinate you the most?
Houdini has been my hero since I was six years old and saw the 1953 Tony Curtis movie. I grew up in poverty in a trailer park in Stone Mountain, and Houdini’s rise from the same sort of poverty to become the world’s first Superman really inspired me. The first object of his that I was able to afford, a signed and inscribed copy of The Unmasking of Robert-Houdin from 1908, I can’t begin to describe what it felt like to hold something that he had also held, to see every pen stroke, to imagine him inscribing it an old friend, well, honestly I wept. There was nothing in my life to indicate I would ever be in a position to be this close to Houdini in a tangible way. It made a lot of my other pieces seem pedestrian almost. I mean, his name is in Webster’s dictionary. He’s a legend, a descriptive term, and a very multi-faceted and desperately driven human under it all.
I could talk about this all day, but his crusade against Spiritualism is my favorite period of his career, and led me to collecting Ouija, spirit trumpets, automatic writing planchettes, and more.
The Fugate in Freeman and Fugate is your wife. Did you meet her through collecting?
Actually I met her applying for a job as a bartender at her old restaurant years ago!
When I won custody of my daughter, she supported me in starting the business so that I could take care of Evelynn. She’s an incredibly patient, loving, understanding, hardworking and intelligent person, and she keeps me grounded, and gives me her opinion on if items are appealing aesthetically to others and not just to me. She has since adopted our daughter too, and we are very fortunate that the business funded that.
Does she have similar interests in oddities?
She had some pieces when we met, and appreciates what we have, as long as I don’t tell her how much money I wasted on it. Haha!
I gave her a human skull as one of the first presents that we exchanged. And a baby coffin, hair locket, and some post mortem. She didn’t run screaming, so I knew it was love.
With a house full of pieces on display, it must intrigue visitors. What’s it like in the Freeman and Fugate household?
It’s a museum filled with antique magic lithographs, sideshow banners, freak taxidermy, over 150 antique and vintage Ouija boards, rare séance items, human skulls and skeletons, Houdini owned and signed pieces, original Robert Ripley drawings, letters, and photos, sideshow performer-owned items, and decommissioned museum pieces. We are very fortunate to be the caretakers of these pieces while we are alive. Most will probably go to our daughter, she’s developed quite the interest in Houdini and Daisy and Violet!
These are hardly everyday items. How do you find all this stuff?
Countless hours of research, auctions, connections, and other dealers that know me as the “weird” guy at Scott Antique Market in Atlanta, which I vend almost monthly. I have around thirty dealers bring me items from all around the country.
What kinds of oddities are your top sellers?
Lately, occult books and antique Devil items. And sideshow banners.
How have you seen the oddities market grow and change in the past few years?
The oddities trend is huge right now, for both better and worse. There is a huge influx of new dealers, and some I don’t think get it, and aren’t coming from the proper place of collecting or selling, which is historical preservation and respect for the item. Everyone WANTS an elongated skull or a shrunken head, but half of the people that own them couldn’t tell you a detailed history of the cultures that caused them to exist. It’s more something to post on the Internet as a “look what I have” sort of prestige thing. I hate that. I also think that people sometimes let what they own define who they are, and that’s unfortunate. Don’t get me wrong, the community is filled with amazing and knowledgeable people, and it’s also ok to like something just because you think it looks neat. I just take exception when people own things to show off more than preserve or educate. The Vulture Culture thing seems to be the main focal point in Facebook groups at this point, which is perfectly fine, I’m just not into it personally. But I think it’s awesome to see people making a living that way and giving people that cheaper entry into the world of macabre collecting.
How do you decide what to keep for yourself and what to sell?
I only keep the really exceptional pieces at this point. I love everything that I sell, so I often make the analogy that it’s like being a drug dealer and a drug addict at the same time. Every piece that sells I’m ecstatic that it sold, but sad to see it go.
As a collector at heart, is it hard to part with certain items?
See above answer. Haha. I had to narrow down significantly what we keep—we are out of room! Mainly at this point I keep one of every one of our rare Ouija, séance items, Houdini pieces, sideshow performer-owned pieces, and antique magic lithographs. Basically if it’s not on display, I sell it.
Have you ever regretted selling something? If so, what was it?
Yes, mainly sideshow banners. They are just impractical to display in our home. We have five on display in our home currently, two on our living room ceiling. My friend and sideshow historian James Taylor said to me that once they made it to the ceiling “you po, po, bastard. You got the disease bad”. Haha! I love that guy. Shocked and Amazed and Joe Nickell’s book Secrets of the Sideshow were huge sources of research for me over the years. The Johnny Meah fire eater from the World of Wonders that is the cover of Nickell’s book is on my ceiling.
What are your prized possessions in your collection?
My 1890s’ Espirito talking board, a painting by Johnny Eck, original Robert Ripley drawing, my Houdini signed photograph, books, and letter, Too many to list. My absolute most prized piece is a lobby card from Houdini’s final tour in 1926. It’s Halloween themed and he died on Halloween. It’s also the printer’s proof, and has pricing for various quantities up top, meaning it was in Houdini’s possession at one time.
What items are on your wish list?
Right now? All I really want is for this public health crisis to pass and for the world to go back to normal. I’d do anything to be in The Haunted Mansion at Disney world sitting in a doom buggy with my wife and child. At the end of the day, it’s all just stuff and I’m most grateful for the people I’ve met because of our shared interests.
If you’re looking for a rare occult book, a vintage dummy, or anything else old and weird and can’t attend The Oddities Market (when they resume), you can always find the Freeman and Fugate Oddities Co. storefront on Facebook and Instagram.
