The Smithsonian Institution is often called
America’s attic, and within its vast collections can be found items ranging from mundane to
utterly unique. Over 150 million items are contained within
the Institution’s collections, scattered throughout its many museums, affiliated museums,
temporarily displayed at other locations on loan, or carefully stored. It should be no surprise that, considering
the size of the collections, an accurate inventory has been elusive at times. In 2010 an independent study revealed discrepancies
in the Smithsonian’s inventories that indicated approximately 10% of items claimed by the
Smithsonian were unaccounted for; that is, they were missing. Across the 19 museums operated directly by
the Smithsonian, the number could be much higher. The Smithsonian fields queries from collectors,
salvagers, and archaeologist both professional and amateur, evaluating items and documents
for their authenticity and historical significance. In doing so it runs into the occasional, shall
we say, quack. These queries and of course the spread of
unconfirmed reports across the internet have led to the belief of items in the institution’s
care which are wholly unfounded. Others seem to be true. Since only a tiny percentage of the Smithsonian’s
collections are actually on display, there is an opportunity to assign to them the holding
of objects which cannot be confirmed visually by a visit to one of their facilities. Denials of possession from the Institution’s
docents are treated with a conspiratorial wink. Here are 10 items believed to be in the possession
of the Smithsonian, and whether or not such possession is true. 10. John Dillinger’s sex organ Where and when the story of John Dillinger’s
improbably large penis being housed in the Smithsonian Institution began is elusive. It has been debunked by writers and fact checkers,
denied by the Institution itself, and still the story won’t go away. The Smithsonian has for years maintained a
form letter denying its possession of Dillinger’s member, which it sends in response to queries
regarding its existence and asking for confirmation of its size. During the 1960s the story was spread further
to explain that the organ was actually on display at the Institution, with hundreds
claiming to have personally examined it as it lay pickled in a jar of formaldehyde. Embellishments to the story had the organ
displayed, in its jar, in the office of J. Edgar Hoover before it found its way into
the nation’s attic. The story of Dillinger’s penis being, shall
we say, larger than life began shortly after photos of the dead criminal awaiting his autopsy
were seen by the public. A large bulge in the sheet covering his lifeless
body was the culprit. Dillinger had more than his share of admirers
in the Depression years, including those who admired his many known trysts with attractive
women. How the item in question moved from his autopsy
room to a place in the Smithsonian, and why it did, are both questions with an array of
answers, none of which can be confirmed. But nobody has been able to prove that the
item doesn’t exist in the Smithsonian’s collections either, though the museum has
long maintained that it has no record of possessing the curious article. 9. George Washington’s missing bed Within the inventory of the collection held
by the National Museum of American History is George Washington’s bed, which he slept
in while at home on his Mount Vernon Plantation. During an inventory review in the early 21st
century the inspectors reported that parts of the bed in question, surely significant
as it was likely the bed in which the Father of His Country breathed his last, were missing,
and had been for many years. The Smithsonian responded that the bed had
in fact never been delivered to the Institution, and although it was not in their material
position, they knew where it was. It was on display in Washington’s bedroom,
at Mount Vernon, where visitors could view it when touring the estate. Technically the bed is in the possession of
the Smithsonian, though there is dispute over whether the Institution ever had physical
custody of the bed. The bed and another item in the Smithsonian’s
collections – George Washington’s uniform – can be used to answer another often debated
feature regarding the Virginian. Washington’s height has been reported as
being as tall as 6-foot-6 by some historians, with others stating he was just over 6-feet
tall. Washington indicated the latter when ordering
suits from London tailors. Measurements of the uniform, and the longer
than average length of the mattress of the Mount Vernon bed, indicate his height was
6-foot-2; not a giant, but considerably taller than the average height for his day. 8. A steam engine lost in the Titanic disaster
may be owned by the Smithsonian Hiram Maxim was a British inventor (though
he was born in America) who held a multitude of patents, including one for the invention
of a better mousetrap. He is most famous for the advances he made
in automatic weapons. Among his interests was the invention of a
heavier than air flying machine, powered by a steam engine. When the aircraft experiments ended in failure,
Maxim donated the engine, which was of his own design, to the Smithsonian Institution. The engine was shipped to the United States
in the hold of the new White Star Lines steamer, RMS Titanic. Although the ship’s manifest did not specifically
list a shipment made by Maxim, unidentified crates and cartons arriving at the docks just
prior to departure could have included the engine. Officially the Smithsonian has not confirmed
ownership of the engine. Nor has it denied it. Numerous items from the wreck of Titanic have
been displayed by the Smithsonian; however, the Institution insists that the items were
recovered from the surface following the sinking, or were washed ashore. The Smithsonian has steadfastly refused to
accept or display items retrieved from the actual site of the wreckage of Titanic, citing
the principle of sanctuary. The Smithsonian does hold a patent model of
a steam pump donated by Maxim in 1874. The possession of the Maxim pump and the letters
covering the donation lost on the Titanic have been confused into the belief that a
steam engine retrieved from Titanic’s wreck is in the Smithsonian’s collections. 7. John F. Kennedy’s brain has been rumored
to be held in the Smithsonian’s collections During the autopsy on the body of President
John F. Kennedy in 1963, his brain, or rather what was left of it, was placed in a steel
box and put in the custody of the Secret Service. It was taken to the White House, where it
remained until 1965, when it was transferred to the National Archives for safekeeping. During an inventory of medical evidence from
the Kennedy assassination, conducted in 1966, the National Archives could not locate the
late President’s brain. Besides giving fuel to the conspiracy theorists
who speculated on the reasons for the brain’s disappearance, it revealed a mystery which
has yet to be solved more than 50 years later (what happened to the portion of skull and
brain matter retrieved by Jackie Kennedy from the trunk of the limousine remains unknown
as well). Rumors regarding the reason Kennedy’s brain
vanished into seemingly thin air abound, with some speculating that it was ordered by Robert
Kennedy to prevent the press from learning the truth regarding the number of physical
ailments suffered by his brother, from the drugs used to treat them. Others believe the brain was hidden from public
sight, as it were, to prevent the revelation that JFK had been hit from the front during
the fatal shooting. Was the President’s brain transferred to
the Smithsonian for safekeeping? If so the fact has never been confirmed by
either the Kennedy family, the National Archives, or the Smithsonian Institution. It’s possible that the box was simply lost,
though how likely such an event could be is subject to debate as well. 6. Ghosts might be found in the Smithsonian in
several of its buildings For those who believe in the supernatural
and the haunting of ghosts, the Smithsonian Institution is a natural place to expect the
visitations of the dead. In the past, reports by employees and visitors
of spectral visitors have been common. As early as 1900, the Washington Post reported
on ghostly visitors, former officials of the institution returned in the night to keep
watch over the work they had supervised in lives long since ended. The Post reported that several Smithsonian
watchmen had encountered the spirits of former – and deceased – secretaries who vanished
when approached and spoken to. They were described as being attired as they
had been when they were at their jobs in life. It wasn’t only human ghosts reported by
the Post. Numerous residents in the vicinity of the
Castle, as well as those going about their business in the city’s evening hours, told
of hearing the disembodied screams of birds and other animals emanating from the building. The newspaper recounted their claims of the
sounds coming from exotic birds and animals which had been sacrificed to fill the Institution’s
taxidermy collections. The residents were reported as being near
desperation in their attempts to silence the unearthly wail of one bird in particular. Over the decades, ghosts have been reported
in other buildings housing the Smithsonian collections, including in the Museum of Natural
History. Ghost sightings became so common that in the
1940s Secretary Alexander Wetmore dictated that all employees had to vacate the premises
by midnight. 5. The Smithsonian has a storage facility to
protect meteorites from contamination When the early Apollo missions went to the
moon, the astronauts were quarantined upon their return to earth, to prevent possible
contamination exposure from the lunar mission spreading to the general population. After Apollo 14 the quarantine period was
eliminated. In the 21st century, the Smithsonian Institution
operates a quarantine system which protects meteorites recovered from Antarctica from
earthly microbes. The storage center consists of a clean room,
with an atmosphere of nitrogen (an inert gas) which ensures that the specimens recovered
from the Antarctic are not exposed to the risks present in the air which we all breathe
to sustain life. The clean room and other complex support facilities
for the Smithsonian’s collections are located in the Museum Support Center (MSC) operated
by the Institution at Suitland, Maryland. Inbound donations to collections are examined
and prepared at the facility, which includes a facility to ensure that all biodegradable
material is examined for and treated for pest contaminations, in order to protect both new
and existing collections. For example, a piece of wood from Noah’s
Ark, long rumored to be in the Smithsonian’s possession, would be required to undergo examination
and possible treatment to prevent it from infesting other items held by the museum (the
Smithsonian officially denies holding a piece of Noah’s Ark). The MSC is not open to the public, and visitors
and staff are subject to extensive security. 4. The Hope Diamond and its curse may be encountered
at the Smithsonian The presence of the legendary Hope Diamond
within the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History is well known, and it is
one of the most popular exhibits of the entire collection. The curse of the Hope Diamond might be encountered
there as well. According to the curse, anyone possessing
the diamond, no matter for how short a time, suffers from misfortunes great and small. The curse was in truth a fable embellished
by Pierre Cartier as a sales pitch, adding to the stone’s notoriety. In 1911 Evalyn Walsh McLean bought the stone,
and her own succession of unfortunate events added to the luster of the curse (her husband
abandoned her, her son was killed in an auto accident and her daughter died of an overdose). The Hope Diamond was donated to the Smithsonian
by Harry Winston in 1958. It was delivered, believe it or not, by registered
mail, and the mailman who made the delivery also suffered a run of bad luck, though he
refused to accept that it was caused by the curse. Visitors to the Smithsonian are not afforded
the opportunity to handle the diamond, merely to view it, and are thus evidently immune
to the curse which according to some resides in the Institution within the stone. In the sixty-some years the stone has been
in the museum’s possession it has certainly not brought ill fortune. Millions of visitors have gone to the museum
to view the diamond, despite the protests of many when the museum accepted it, who feared
that the curse would be extended to the nation. 3. One can still learn a lot from a dummy During the late 1980s a series of Public Service
Announcements were produced by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The PSAs appeared in print in magazines as
well as in commercials for airing on television. Two talking crash test dummies were created
as partners for the campaign, Vince and Larry. Vince was voiced by character actor and comedian
Jack Burns, who had earlier appeared as Deputy Barney Fife’s replacement on The Andy Griffith
Show. Larry, who was often a foil for Vince’s
mistakes, was voiced by Lorenzo Music, later the original voice of Garfield. The two demonstrated the proper use of seat
belts and the consequences of failing to wear them properly. “You Could Learn a Lot from a Dummy” was
their catchphrase, and became a part of the lexicon in the late 1980s. Eventually they were replaced by other dummies,
and they were so popular that a line of action figures featuring crash test dummies was marketed
by toymaker Tyco in the early 1990s. They even became the basis for a one hour
television special. Crash test dummies are still used to demonstrate
the proper use of seat belts and children’s car seats, but Vince and Larry were retired
long ago. Larry’s head, the only part of him known
to still exist, is within the collection of the Smithsonian Institution, though as of
early 2019 not on public display. Photos of the head, somewhat battered, are
visible on the Smithsonian’s website, where one may still learn a lot from a dummy. 2. The model of Lincoln’s patented device is
a replica Visitors to the Smithsonian Institution’s
National Museum of American History are able to see one exhibit which is truly unique. On display is a model depicting the invention
of a system to raise riverboats over sandbars on the inland rivers, which were not yet improved
with dams to allow continuous navigation. It was an invention of Abraham Lincoln’s,
the only president in US history to be awarded a patent. Never put into production, the device nonetheless
proved workable in theory, and on the Smithsonian website there are comments which describe
the ease with which the design could be modernized, using materials unheard of in Lincoln’s
day. The model was commissioned by Lincoln — he
did not make it with his own hands — and at any rate the model on display is not the
original he submitted. That model resided at the Patent Office during
Lincoln’s tenure in the White House, a place to which he frequently resorted as president,
escaping the cares of his office. By 1978 it was deemed too fragile for display,
and the currently displayed model was built to replace it, though the original remains
in the possession of the Smithsonian. Lincoln is not often linked with American
infrastructure, though he was a railroad lawyer, a supporter of the Transcontinental Railroad,
and of the improvement of rivers and streams. A visit to the display may serve to remind
that the 16th President was a multi-faceted man, far from the country lawyer as he is
all too often portrayed. 1. Missiles guided by pigeons along for the ride
might have worked During the Second World War missiles were,
for the most part, a point and shoot weapon, which were unguided once in flight. It took Yankee ingenuity, in the form of psychologist
B.F. Skinner, to come up with the idea of using pigeons riding inside the missiles to
guide them to their target. Relying on their pecking instinct and rewarding
them with food, Skinner trained pigeons to peck at the images of enemy ships, planes,
tanks, and other equipment. Pecks on the center of the screen maintained
the weapon on course, pecks off-center led to signals which caused the missile’s fins
to change alignment and alter the course of the weapon in flight. The pigeons rode in a capsule which was attached
to the nose of the missile. Obviously, it was a one-way trip. The pecking pigeons project was pursued for
months before it became clear that the guidance technology of the weapons available at the
time – the speed with which course could be altered – was too slow to keep up with
the little peckers, and the project was abandoned. As evidence that such a project actually existed,
the Smithsonian in its collection has a capsule in which a pigeon would have flown, attached
to a missile as he guided it to its target by pecking away at the image he had been trained
to recognize. The capsule can also be viewed on the Smithsonian’s
website, along with a description of the project. Skinner later claimed that the project would
have been successful, and was only abandoned because, “no one would take us seriously.”
