While traveling through southern New Mexico and Arizona, I saw signs for “The Thing.” What is it?

John Chambers

San Jose, California

“The Thing” is in a tourist store at Texas Canyon on I-10 between Benson and Willcox, Arizona. For a dollar,
you can take a walking tour through a small museum and see the mummified body of “The Thing.” The truth is: “The Thing” was the creation of Homer Pate, who owned Pate’s Curiosity Store in Phoenix. Homer specialized in creating weird, fake mummies to sell to carnivals.

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