Travel Poster
The problem with places like the International Cryptozoology Museum is that it’s hard to capture what would make a great poster or postcard. The museum is in the back of a small bookstore in Portland, Maine and is only a room and a half big. Filled with mostly toys and gaffs the room and adjacent hallway (the half) displays hundreds of cryptids. Although the tour is fantastic, you’re not likely to find the evidence of the existence of the Jersey Devil. It is fun, however, to see Bumble the Yeti from Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer sitting next to the molds used to perpetrate yet another Bigfoot hoax.
So what to do for a Travel Poster?
The big draw when you walk into the museum is the bear sized Sasquatch. No seriously, he’s like one of those black bears you would find in the lobby of a hunting lodge, and like a hunting lodge he’s right out front for you to take a photo with. You really can’t be a cryptozoology museum without one, nor can you make a poster for a cryptozoology museum a leave him out. So even though Bigfoot isn’t native to the Northeast I knew he had to be included.
Luckily Maine has it’s own fair number of unknown species. They have their on Loch Ness type of monster, and the Mothman is rumored to vacation there when he’s not down in West Virginia. I had two more cryptids for the poster! The question quickly became, what to do with them?
One of the things that’s most interesting and beautiful about Maine is Maine itself. I figured I’d make the backdrop of the poster something very picturesque. The type of travel poster you would have seen for the state. I figured I would focus on Maine and the number one draw for tourists who like the boring more normal things in life, the lighthouse.
Though Maine tends to be moody, even in the summer months, I figured night time would be the best for poster. Afterall, it’s not too often you hear reports of cryptids walking around in broad daylight. So there it was! A way to communicate the fun of the Cryptozoology Museum paired with the beauty of Maine.
Personally, my favorite part of the poster is the Mothman circling the lighthouse. They’re the reason I image he likes to hang out in Maine more then West Virginia.
Prints Available
Purchase a travel poster print over at Society6.
Postcard
Since I had more horizontal space on the postcard version I wanted to cut down some of the openness of the space. Originally I thought I’d just keep adding cryptids, ideally an army behind Bigfoot, but I’m just not that well versed in cryptozoology or what they look like when Google returns a list and no pictures.
I settled on the chupacabra, a giant octopus, and the Jersey Devil. The thought of Bigfoot taking a chupacabra out for a walk tickled me, so he was the first thing I drew. Next I tried to add in the giant octopus, but the scale was off (how do you know he’s giant?) I had him hugging a buoy, but in the end he felt very much like he was just plopped in there. I didn’t even bother taking the Jersey Devil beyond the sketch stage because without the army it just felt like some cryptids thrown on the page.
In the end I decided to create a forest. That is where Bigfoot lives so it only made sense that it would be where he would be walking his chupacabra.
Random Fun Facts
Cryptids spell check does not believe in:
- Chupacabra
- Mothman
- Cryptids
- Cryptozoology
Cryptidssp spell check is cool with:
- Bigfoot
- Sasquatch
- Loch Ness Monster
- Jersey Devil
And since Loch Ness, Monster, Jersey, and Devil are all words in the English language it’s really on Bigfoot and his people, the Sasquatch.
It is always intriguing to read what people come away with after visiting the International Cryptozoology Museum (http://www.cryptozoologymuseum.com). Before I comment on that, however, I have to mention right off the bat (pun intended) that we have moved. As of October 30, 2011, we have re-located to 11 Avon Street, Portland, Maine, around the corner from our old location, next to the parking lot behind Joe’s Smoke Shop. We are now in a generous space, upwards of 5 larger that where we were formerly.
As to what is here, we have authentic fecal, hair, and fur samples from Yeti, Bigfoot, Yowie, and Orang Pendek expeditions from 1959 through the 21st century. We have original and first generation copies of footcasts of Sasquatch/Bigfoot, Yeti/Abominable Snowmen, Orang Pendek, Yowie, Swamp Apes, Tasmanian Tiger, Mystery Cats, and other cryptids. The museum contains life-size replicas of the 1990 Crookston Bigfoot (8 ft tall), 1938 South African coelacanth (5.5 ft long), 1937 Naden Harbor/Caddy carcass (12 ft long), 1967 Minnesota Iceman model (5 ft long), 1999 Freaklink’s Civil War flying creature (14 ft long), and other similar items.
One area is completely devoted to fakes (to assist critical thinking), like the Barnum FeeJee Mermaid, the jackalope, the Wolpertinger, and the fur-bearing trout, as well as popular cultural artifacts (toys to some people) and movie props from some of the founder’s and/or museum’s appearances on television/in the movies. But most of our exhibits relate directly to the evidence of actual cryptids.
We also have a new wall of paintings by local and international artists who have donated their contributions to our museum. We look forward to displaying yours too, especially as you have honored the museum as the focus of your work.
I hope you decide to revisit us in our new location, and give yourself the time to absorb the overall content of our collection.
Best wishes,
Loren Coleman
Director
International Cryptozoology Museum
11 Avon Street
Portland, Maine 04101