In the early 1960s the frozen body of what was said to be a tall, hairy, man-like creature that was frozen in a block of ice began appearing in roadside carnivals and shopping malls across the United States and parts of Canada. The promoters called it the “Missing Link”.

Inside the tents, they had on display a 6 foot tall, hairy creature with hands, feet, and facial features that were strikingly similar to those of a human. The creature, with its iconic pose, froze for thousands of years before ending up as a sideshow attraction. It became a national phenomenon and many rushed to catch a glimpse of the man that time forgot. Or so the story went.

While the promoters were busy selling tickets, a prominent primatologist named John Napier. Napier, along with help and funding form the Smithsonian Institute, set out to once and for all put the mystery behind the Minnesota Iceman to rest.In short, the promoters refused the offer and eventually hid the Iceman away from the public’s eyes. Only to replace it with a crudely made replica months later.

Napier, in conjunction with the Smithsonian, made preliminary investigations of Hansen’s affairs, claiming to find that Hansen had commissioned the creation of the Iceman from a West Coast company in 1967, leading Napier to quickly conclude there was only ever one Iceman latex model that he theorized was repositioned and refrozen between appearances. Napier stated that “The Smithsonian Institution…is satisfied that the creature is simply a carnival exhibit made of latex rubber and hair…the ‘original’ model and the present so-called ‘substitute’ are one and the same.” —Wikipedia

Fast forward several decades. Museum of the Weird has recently obtained the original Minnesota Iceman and confirmed their possession in the following post:

Museum of the Weird owner Steve Busti announced today that the original Minnesota Iceman is currently in his possession, still frozen, and will soon be exhibited to the world once again in his Austin, Texas tourist attraction.  Busti is aiming to have the Iceman set up in his museum and open to the public within a week, with plans for a special Grand Opening event on Saturday, July 13th in cooperation with eminent cryptozoology site Cryptomundo.com.

The Museum of the Weird is an homage to dime museums made popular by the likes of P.T. Barnum, and features everything from real mummies, shrunken heads and oddities, to wax figures of classic movie monsters, to live giant lizards.  They even boast a live sideshow on stage every day, where one can see magicians, sword-swallowers, human blockheads, and even an “elecrticity-proof” man.

In addition to the Minnesota Iceman taking up permanent residence at the Museum of the Weird however, Busti also plans to loan the Iceman for display to Loren Coleman’s International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine (cryptozoologymuseum.com) for a special limited future engagement. You can follow Coleman’s blog at cryptozoonews.com for forthcoming information.

I’ll tell you what, if the attraction ever comes out to California, I’ll buy a ticket. Just so that I’ll be able to say…”The Minnesota Iceman? Yeah, I’ve seen it…“