• We have updated the guidelines regarding posting political content: please see the stickied thread on Website Issues.

Minnesota Iceman

Wow ... :shock:

I feel a weird sort of "closure" at finally seeing clear acknowledgement the Minnesota Iceman was a hoax.

The 1969 _Argosy_ article was one of the most tantalizing reports on cryptozoological forteana of my youth; I remember it well.

Over the following years I'd read or heard reports of the Smithsonian inquiry and its conclusion that the iceman was an artificial figure, but none of these seemed to provide clear evidence for that conclusion.
 
I don't actually see any proof there that this is the original Minnesota Ice Man.

Besides, weren't there changes between Heuvelman's first sight of it and the second examination?
 
According to third party sources claiming to cite the Smithsonian investigation ...

There were in fact differences between the late 1960's version of the Iceman and the 1970's version. However, the Smithsonian investigator allegedly determined the Iceman figure was one and the same. The substantial changes involved the exhibition surroundings - e.g., the refrigerated case and 'ice' in which the figure resided.
 
This transcribed article (allegedly from a 1990's fanzine titled _Freaks_):

http://orgoneresearch.com/2009/10/19/th ... re-in-ice/

... gives an interesting account of the Minnesota Iceman story from the perspective of sideshow entertainment folks. If one accepts this version of the story line (Hansen created the Iceman as a sideshow artifact from the beginning) it's easy to understand how Sanderson's and Heuvelmans' publications caused Hansen to withdraw the exhibit for a while.

This article includes photos reproduced from earlier publications.

Most interestingly, this article includes photos demonstrating the Minnesota Iceman (originally promoted as "The Siberskoye (Siberian) Creature") first appeared in a print publication in a 1967 issue of _Amusement Business_ (a trade magazine for circus, carnival, and other outdoor entertainment activities).
 
Besides, weren't there changes between Heuvelman's first sight of it and the second examination?

I think it's fairly safe to say that neither Sanderson nor Heuvelmans were always that honest with themselves or their readers. As much as I loved 'On the track...' with its giant burrowing glyptodonts and hoards of central African dinosaurs much of it is so totally absurd that it's impossible to see how any adult could take it seriously. And Heuvelmans was the brains of the outfit. Sanderson was running around Florida after 15ft penguins. So I'd say that when they realised they'd been taken in by a sideshow exhibit they needed an out.

You're quite right though we've got no way of knowing if this is the original Iceman.

EnolaGaia thanks for that very interesting article, most interesting thing I've read for ages. Shame we can't verify the publication, and more interestingly as you say, that the exhibit billed as the Siberian creature back in 67 was the same one that later received so much attention.
 
I checked online for the _Amusement Business_ magazine. That trade magazine ceased publication (after over 100 years) about 6 or 7 years ago.

One reason to believe this trade article is about the same Iceman as the _Argosy_ article is that the same artist's conception drawing shown in the '67 article was used on the _Argosy_ cover in 1969, as illustrated at:

http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i47 ... iceman.jpg
 
So that drawing or portrait that I always thought was by Sanderson, got that from somewhere over the years, and that normally appears every time the thing is mentioned, was actually commissioned by the fairground folk. I'm genuinely surprised.

Thanks again, I find the direction this thread has taken fascinating.
 
As an aside over on Cryptozoology.com there's a poster there who saw it when it was doing the rounds way back when, according to him it's a very good fit with what he remembers.
 
oldrover said:
So that drawing or portrait that I always thought was by Sanderson, got that from somewhere over the years, and that normally appears every time the thing is mentioned, was actually commissioned by the fairground folk. I'm genuinely surprised. ...

I can't say for sure, but ... If you believe the timeline in the article I cited above, the photo from _Amusement Business_ clearly indicates that particular "portrait" was already in print as of 1967 - two years before Sanderson ever encountered the Iceman.

On a different note ...

I find it a lot more believable that the mysterious retreat of the Iceman from regular sideshow exhibition in the wake of all that 1969 publicity represented Hansen's (the owner's ...) apprehensions (over a gag that got out of hand when a couple of academic types swallowed it as truth) than the notion a true fortean treasure, once known to the world at large, had to be kept hidden for other (no doubt conspiratorial) reasons.
 
I find it a lot more believable that the mysterious retreat of the Iceman from regular sideshow exhibition in the wake of all that 1969 publicity represented Hansen's (the owner's ...) apprehensions (over a gag that got out of hand when a couple of academic types swallowed it as truth) than the notion a true fortean treasure, once known to the world at large, had to be kept hidden for other (no doubt conspiratorial) reasons.

For certain.
 
DCfOenKU0AAS6GF.jpg
 
Hansen has changed his backstory so many times. It's just a sideshow gaff, a good one but a gaff all the same.
 
Hansen has changed his backstory so many times. It's just a sideshow gaff, a good one but a gaff all the same.

Have you read the new translation of Heuvelman's book?

I haven't except for the Tetzoo articles.
 
This transcribed article (allegedly from a 1990's fanzine titled _Freaks_):

http://orgoneresearch.com/2009/10/19/th ... re-in-ice/

... gives an interesting account of the Minnesota Iceman story from the perspective of sideshow entertainment folks. If one accepts this version of the story line (Hansen created the Iceman as a sideshow artifact from the beginning) it's easy to understand how Sanderson's and Heuvelmans' publications caused Hansen to withdraw the exhibit for a while.

This article includes photos reproduced from earlier publications.

Most interestingly, this article includes photos demonstrating the Minnesota Iceman (originally promoted as "The Siberskoye (Siberian) Creature") first appeared in a print publication in a 1967 issue of _Amusement Business_ (a trade magazine for circus, carnival, and other outdoor entertainment activities).
interesting indeed , iv'e always been fascinated by the minnesota iceman
 
Back
Top