Vintage Old Rip House Of Webster Ceramic Wasteland Texas Horned Toad Figurine

EXCELLENT CONDITION. NO CHIPS. NO CRACKS. Near the end of the 1890s in the town of Eastland, Texas, a new county courthouse was built. As was the custom, a time capsule was assembled to be placed in the cornerstone of this new building. Someone thought it an amusing idea to toss a horned toad into the box; a slow, benign, fat-bodied lizard. Moving forward thirty-one years to 1928, the Eastland County Courthouse was replaced by a more modern structure. When the old building was razed, the time capsule was opened in a public ceremony. Reports say someone noticed "a twitch", plucked out the lizard, and with a little urging it came back to life. Newspapers of the area dubbed the horned toad "Old Rip" after the character Rip Van Winkle. It became a national celebrity and toured the country, even "visiting" President Calvin Coolidge. After two years of celebrity, Old Rip died. He was taxidermied, placed in a little bier, and put on display in the new courthouse. His shrine became a tourist attraction in Eastland.