Some people like to decorate their gardens with ceramic gnomes. Others prefer bird baths, gazing balls and miniature windmills.
And then there are those who prefer all of these – plus a family of six-foot-tall velociraptors, life sized cowboys and Indians, and an old McDonalds Hamburglar jail (which, by the way, terrifies me after getting trapped in one as a kid and assuming that I would never get out).
Like the owners of the house on the northeast corner of 33rd and Cherry, which I came across like many others have before me – by accident. It immediately became my favorite yard in Milwaukee and the subject of far too many of my conversations of late. Perhaps my favorite part is how Google Maps blurs out the face of the Hamburglar.
(Photo: Google)
Back in 2014, this locale didn’t make Molly Snyder’s list of places keeping Milwaukee weird (maybe it's a kickstarter for a part two!) We have our fair share of interesting yards in Milwaukee. There are the yards with half-buried cars on Humboldt in Riverwest and on Lake Drive in Bay View. There is the ship house in Cambridge Woods, with a matching lighthouse. And the yard on Pulaski Street with the ever so helpful directional sign that tells birds how far it is to Tokyo and 40 other popular bird destinations.
But this yard is in a league of its own, and I love it.
In 2000, some genius marketing expert started a campaign to "Keep Austin Weird." It was soon followed by "Keep Portland Weird" in 2003 and "Keep Indianapolis Weird" in 2013. I don’t think we need to paint billboards with "Keep Milwaukee Weird," but I do believe that encouraging personal expression through the artistic canvas of the front yard could be a good step in creating character and definition to our neighborhoods.
It is exactly this type of eccentricity that inspires kids to be who they are – kids – and reminds adults who they are – kids. This homeowner is not a hoarder; he or she is a curator of curiosities, publicly sharing their collection. Milwaukee needs more residents like this who are unafraid to unleash their inner Mary Nohl on their neighborhood and the world.
I still have so many questions. Who does live here? How did they get this stuff? What do the neighbors think? How many accidents are caused by people passing this for the first time? And most importantly, what happened to the dinosaurs!?!
In checking on the house last week, I found that over the winter, both the dinosaurs and the Hamburglars had been removed. Are they being stored for the winter? Were they sold? Are they on loan to another art yard? If you have any information on the whereabouts of the dinosaurs or the Hamburglar, please let me know.
