The Tail of the Richmond Rat Boy!
It looks like Mickey Mouse got char-broiled, and has certainly seen better days…I’m referring, of course to the Richmond Rat Boy, a small, seemingly-mummified object anonymously donated to the Wayne County Historical Museum in Indiana. The Rat Boy appears to sport a rodent’s head atop a humanoid body that boasts details such as claws and teeth…
Now sadly, Rat Boy was never alive, but has been determined to have been crafted of plaster of Paris and clay over an armature. Animal claws, pointed teeth, and hair were added to lend a touch of realism to the figure. A note was left with the figure saying that it was found long ago in the basement of a local hospital, and once belonged to a circus-worker friend of the donor’s late grandfather…
Now Rat Boy is thought by museum staff to have been a gaff, a cryptid fabricated as a sideshow attraction in circuses that toured America in the 1910’s to the 1930’s. A more memorable example was the notorious Fiji Mermaid once exhibited by P.T. Barnum. They might have charged you a dime to a quarter to see such draws back in the day. Nowadays we can laugh at those gullible people of an earlier time, having reality television and conspiracy theories today…
So while Rat Boy may not be real, you can still buy your very own Rat Boy T-shirt to remember him by. “Be the first one on your block, every cat in the neighborhood will be in shock,” to recall the late great Soupy Sales in his song, Do the Mouse!
Tags: famous fakes, The Richmond Rat Boy
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
FOXSYLVANIA 
May 30, 2023 at 12:57 am
Rat Boy, huh? Wasn’t that also the title of a 1970’s low-budget indie satire that starred Sondra Locke (of ex-Mrs. Eastwood fame)?
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 30, 2023 at 3:38 pm
Yes! That Rat Boy was actually an alien who combined the least attractive and interesting features of both species!
Perhaps a “Rat Boy” could have also resulted from a coupling of “Willard” and “Ben,” but that’s getting a bit disgusting… 🙀
LikeLiked by 1 person
May 31, 2023 at 3:22 am
You should try to see if there’s a Youtube posting of “Pickman’s Model” (an early 1970’s TV adaptation of the HPL story for Rod Serling’s “Night Gallery”). From what I vaguely remember, it implied just such a hybridization…of a non-asexual nature.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 2, 2023 at 11:30 am
Why can’t the museum open the so-called rat boy and reveal what it is composed of? There’s a fear that it was made with a real rat or actual boy. It is important.
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 2, 2023 at 10:25 pm
Apparently the teeth, claws, and a scattering of hair are the only organic components. The rest is clay and plaster of Paris over an armature…it’s a paste job! 🐀
LikeLiked by 1 person
June 6, 2023 at 3:43 am
Yeah! Like the “Jenny Hanovers” of Bermuda.
LikeLike
June 12, 2023 at 3:54 pm
For further info, see “The Bermuda Depths” (a 1978 made-for TV Rankin/Bass production).
LikeLike
June 12, 2023 at 4:01 pm
It was one of their few forays into live-action sci-fi!
LikeLiked by 1 person
July 27, 2023 at 5:01 am
Thanks for the interesting post! Rat Boy is certainly an interesting figure and I’m glad the Wayne County Historical Museum has it. I’m amazed by the level of detail, from the rodent’s head to the animal claws and teeth. Fascinating! Thanks for sharing this.
LikeLiked by 1 person
August 3, 2023 at 11:02 am
Wow, this Rat Boy is quite a fascinating figure! It’s amazing to think that it was crafted with such detail- animal claws, pointed teeth, and hair- and it’s even more interesting to consider the context of the circuses of the past. Thanks to the author for sharing this intriguing story!
LikeLike