# So, I had this shrunken head ...



## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

No, really I did. I've had it for about 40 years and decided it was time to display it properly. I thought the best way to display it would be in the original shipping container. 

Every project (at least mine) requires a backstory for verisimilitude. The backstory here is the head was collected during Mendax College's 1936 Peruvian Expedition into the heart of Jivaro country. The packing case for the head was made from wood reclaimed from an empty whiskey crate. It kicked around in the basement of Mendax College (motto: "Verum non est curandum" Try translate.google.com for a full explanation) many years later the lid was finally pried open and the artifact revealed.

I know you will be surprised to learn the original shipping container didn't exist. Now, most of you work very hard to put a fine finish on your projects using ever finer sanding grits and scrapers, followed by multiple layers of finish. I have the opposite problem: how to make new wood look old and used. I'm not sure which is easier.

The printing on the side of the box was accomplished with a t-shirt transfer printed on my ink jet printer and ironed onto the wood. The sides were roughly re-sawn out of some 3/4 cypress. The end pieces are the 3/4 stock that was ripped to size with a hand saw for texture. Fake nail holes added to show where the lid was pried open and of course a content label added.

Be thankful. I spared you a much longer backstory that had more documents involved. :sarcastic:


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## jw2170 (Jan 24, 2008)

I trust you are looking after him/her and pass on a tipple now and then?


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

It looks like the shrinker of the head cheated by using a blond. If you have enough of these inventions Oliver you could open a museum like Madame Tussauds.


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## OutoftheWoodwork (Oct 4, 2012)

:lol: Alrighty then! 

Oliver, you're worrying me buddy :laugh:


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

jw2170 said:


> I trust you are looking after him/her and pass on a tipple now and then?


We've shared many a tipple, James. How do you think I ended up with that empty whiskey crate? Besides, him/her is a great listener which makes our long conversations cheaper than actual therapy. Plus, the beverage makes it eminently more enjoyable. Hmmm. You don't suppose all those tipples could be the source of my projects do you?


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## Peter Harrison45 (Aug 26, 2013)

G'day Oliver , one way to make the wood look older is to use a solution of Vineger and steel wool , let the steel wool soak in the vineger for at least 24 to 36 hrs


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

Cherryville Chuck said:


> It looks like the shrinker of the head cheated by using a blond. If you have enough of these inventions Oliver you could open a museum like Madame Tussauds.


You may be right about cheating. It is believed the head may belong to this man who disappeared during the 1934 expedition. He was blonde and considered a marginal "thinker" by his peers. Many said he "didn't have the brains of an ant."

(I told you there was more backstory to this project. )


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

I love both your work, and the fact that you're not my neighbor. :sarcastic:


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## GulfcoastGuy (Feb 27, 2012)

I don't know about this one, Oliver. You might want to consider adjusting your medication.


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## Multiwood (Feb 24, 2013)

Oliver your just too much!!!


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

I keep looking back into this thread, looking for the missing mother-in-law joke. :sarcastic:


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## denniswoody (Dec 11, 2011)

Just a hypothetical question. If that was the head of your uncle would it be so funny? It's interesting to me how something from another culture can be taken so casually. I don't mean to offend but just thinking out loud....I'd be interested in other opinions.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Dennis; you mean like the Catacombs?
http://travelerfolio.com/travelerfolio/photos/catacombs_rome_03.jpg


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## denniswoody (Dec 11, 2011)

DaninVan said:


> Dennis; you mean like the Catacombs?
> http://travelerfolio.com/travelerfolio/photos/catacombs_rome_03.jpg


Exactly.


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

denniswoody said:


> Just a hypothetical question. If that was the head of your uncle would it be so funny? It's interesting to me how something from another culture can be taken so casually. I don't mean to offend but just thinking out loud....I'd be interested in other opinions.


For the record, this head is totally bogus and is made from goat or rabbit skin. 

Should a shrunken head ever be used for humor? Good philosophical question. A shrunken head was used for an extended joke in the movie, 'Beetlejuice' and apparently even Disney thought the answer was "yes" when the character Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End) returns to Shipwreck Cove and meets his father.

Jack: "How's mum?"
Father holds up a shrunken head.
Jack: (looking surprised) "She looks great."
Then Jack wears the head on his belt for the rest of the movie.

Replicas of it are sold as part of Official Disney Costumes for halloween on Amazon (appropriate) and other sites. 

I suspect the answer is we all have different ideas about what is funny and what is not. I find it makes an interesting Halloween prop, but that's just me.


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## JOAT (Apr 9, 2010)

Well, I thought it was funny. And, if you want your own, just visit, eBay.
Shrunken Head: Weird Stuff | eBay 
Chicken out and carve a pumkin.
Shrunken Head - Stoneykins Pumpkin Carving Patterns and Stencils
Or, learn how to make your own.
Shrunken Head Display: Tricks of the Trade Tip #4 - YouTube


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

As long as it ain't mine I have no objection...


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## TwoSkies57 (Feb 23, 2009)

DaninVan said:


> As long as it ain't mine I have no objection...


:yes4:


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## OutoftheWoodwork (Oct 4, 2012)

+1 x100 Oliver & Dan

I won't go into "something from another culture can be taken so casually" 
because every culture on some level has been the butt of a joke by some 
comedian, somewhere. Nothing is safe, as no matter the culture, there is 
something in there that if looked upon at a certain perspective, it's funny. 
Look at religion... I've seen jokes made at every single religion out there; 
and there's nothing more "sacred" than a person's religion to some people. 
And with that, I'll just go back to my little (well, not so little, it has to fit 
my fat butt in it) corner, and wish all a good day :happy:


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

denniswoody said:


> Just a hypothetical question. If that was the head of your uncle would it be so funny? It's interesting to me how something from another culture can be taken so casually. I don't mean to offend but just thinking out loud....I'd be interested in other opinions.


There are a lot of things in our own culture I don't find funny such as "America's Funniest Home Videos". I don't see any humor at all in someone injuring themself but someone must because it's been on for a long time. I just accept that I have different tastes and leave it at that.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

Interesting that you bring that point up, Charles (and I agree with you). But the truth is, 'getting hurt' is a standard of humour; look at all the comedians over time that have incorporated pratfalls into their shtick. Chevy Case has a chronic bad back due to his 'falls', and then there's Abbott and Costello, and of course the Three Stooges.
It probably has something to do with intuitively knowing the character didn't _really_ get hurt, or that the accident was the predictable result of doing something really stupid.


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## denniswoody (Dec 11, 2011)

All good replies. Just thought it would be good topic for discussion.


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## Cherryville Chuck (Sep 28, 2010)

DaninVan;
It probably has something to do with intuitively knowing the character didn't [I said:


> really[/I] get hurt, or that the accident was the predictable result of doing something really stupid.


That's the difference alright. Knowing it's real and knowing it's not real. Sometimes it's still not funny. I never laughed when Bud Abbott slapped Lou Costello. It didn't add to the gag they were doing as a rule.

Oliver's shrunken head is funny because all of the ones I've ever seen that were real were dark haired native Americans and they were worth a LOT of money. You wouldn't build a fake case for it.


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi, Oliver.

Is taht another ACME product?


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Oliver,

Love the project! I have seen these before and wondered what you would ever do with one.

If I realized they were good listeners I probably would have gotten one before now and of course I would have to buy a case of whiskey because I don't have any Ink Jet t-shirt transfers here at the house or old wood to make the crate.


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## RMIGHTY1 (Nov 5, 2014)

Oliver, I can only hope that when I am no longer among the living, I may be the object of some humor. Heck, folks can do it now if they like. I can only share in the humor.

My epitaph will prolly read, "The power is off"! Famous last words.


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## Stick486 (Jan 4, 2013)

I wonder if that is Jim's lost head...

http://www.routerforums.com/tools-woodworking/60201-rapidly-losing-my-head.html


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## eccentrictinkerer (Dec 24, 2007)

I like the humor in Gaffboat's project!

The sly reference to James Jameson's alleged odd dietary predilections is especially charming! 

I'm sorry I missed the thread the first time 'round.


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## DaninVan (Jan 1, 2012)

We all need a 'buddy' to drink with, and who agrees with everything we say.
Can't be the same guy as in the picture...moustache is too long.
Sure looks European though(?).


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