Product Review

A trivia treasure trove of the strange, curious, and whimsical oddities of Freemasonry is offered up for your amusement, with a ticklish dash of enlightenment. The stories include dwarfs, giants, pirates, a taxidermy-stuffed African man, a blood splattered Lodge Room, a fraternal mouse, a cod fish, a submarine that killed its crew, "Secret" American Presidents, bodies in a wooden pickle barrel, ghosts, chewing gum, a tattooed corpse, a Parisian hot air balloon, a woman dentist, duels, western outlaws, gunfights, racehorses, and the missing skull of a Presidential candidate. Each story is a thread in the tapestry of Masonic history and humor gleaned from newspaper accounts, court documents, Lodge archives, monthly trestleboards, and the traditions of Freemason Lodges from around the globe. Each page brings a head-scratching, “Wow, I didn’t know that!”