COOL ROADSIDE ATTRACTIONS
Wilbur D. May Museum
aka: The Museum with the Elephant Foot Trashcan
If you are ever in or around Reno, Nevada, take a stop at a really interesting hunting museum called the Wilbur D. May museum. Wilbur was a guy with a rich dad, who instead of joining the family business or hobnobbing in society, preferred to go on safari in different places around the world. While on these extended vacations he would hunt and visit with the locals and acquire some really interesting artifacts which he would bring back to the United States.
The museum is housed on a large ranch that Wilbur purchased just south of Reno. He moved to Nevada to escape the personal income tax that California had enacted. Upon his passing, his collection became the museum.
One of the most famous of the artifacts was the elephant’s foot trashcan, but that isn’t the only thing to see. There are pieces of real scrimshaw which is etched whale bone that whalers would make while on long voyages at sea.
As Wilbur would visit the natives in all the places he would go, he would trade with them for things he found unique and interesting. There are Japanese swords, African spears, Navajo rugs and scarabs from Egypt. One of the museum’s most prized possessions was a shrunken head from a tribe in Ecuador. The types of things found in the museum are rarely found in the same building as each other, let alone the same room.
Not just a man of travel, he also tried his hand at oil painting and has some of his art on the walls. You can also see honorary awards given to him by the Boy Scouts and other organizations. Not to be outdone in his artistic endeavors, he also wrote a humorous song that became famous for its time. You can see the lyrics and hear it played on the old radio.
Wilbur was also a hunter and you can see some of his prizes in the trophy room. For those of you that are against hunting as a sport, it should be known that these trophies all provided food for hundreds of people, so the animals did not die in vain.
Though not necessarily a museum for vegetarians, there is something there to delight almost everyone.