Artifact Archive

Happy early April Fools Day!

Circa 1935, this strange cage and the sign above it appeared on the side of the Cornelius Building.

The sign reads: "Alaska Red Bats. Caught near glacier. Dangerous only when in flight. Roed Flegermause Lasirius Borealis. SLEEPING - LIFT LID."

The cage was put up by Bert Cornelius as a joke for the tourists beginning to show up. Inside were not red bats, but red bricks known in the trade as 'bat bricks.' Each brick has a manufactured hole in it that allows bats access into a building for free insect control.

The photo was among materials donated from Mary C. Allen'...

 
 

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