Benjamen Walker's Theory of Everything - Iron and Lies (Wisconsin part II of II)

Episode Date: October 16, 2017

The ToE  family Wisconsin road trip wraps up with a visit to the House on the Rock. Even though Alex Jordan’s tourist attraction is one of the most visionary unique places in the world you still won’t find it on any of the official Wisconsin art environment maps. This never bothered the guy who put it together  Alex Jordan Jr, in fact the whole place was built on the idea of sticking it to the official arbiters of culture, plus it pulls in millions of dollars a year in admissions fees! Your host also visits the Forevertron, a place built on the idea of escape from pain, suffering, and failure. ********* Click on Photo for detailed show notes ************ And special thanks to our tour guide Tom Kupsh who wrote books on both Alex Jordan Jr and Dr. Evermor.      

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Episodes every other week at neverpo.st and wherever you find pods. This installment is called Iron and Lies, Wisconsin Part 2. When I told my friends who are from Wisconsin, or who spent time there, about my plans to visit some art environments in the state for my podcast, every single one of them said the same thing. Make sure you visit Alex Jordan's House on the Rock. I don't think anything can actually prepare you for the scale of the place. You come upon the chamber with, you know, that's devoted to sort of depictions of the sea, and there's like a 200-foot large sea monster in there,

as well as the walls lined with chips in bottles, hundreds and hundreds of them. It's just kind of absurd and overwhelming. That's my friend Wayne Marshall. He got his PhD at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and the House on the Rock, he insisted, was an art environment I had to see with my own eyes. In that room with the giant sea monster, there was a little sort of octopus band of, you know, automata, musical automata playing the Beatles' Octopus's Garden. And that was just one of, you know, many, many, you know, examples of these kind of musical automata. And it doesn't quite seem like all the instruments are producing their own sound. And, you know, some of them seem like they're maybe piped in or not real, and the whole experience is kind of like that. This is pretty much what I got from all my friends with Wisconsin roots.

This place that Alex Jordan filled up with stuff was a must-see. I was definitely intrigued, but the House on the Rock was not on the itinerary I got from the Kohler Art Center. That's the museum-slash-foundation that invited me to tour Wisconsin and respond to some of the art environments they've helped preserve. So I did a little more research, and I stumbled on the House on the Rock's amazing origin story. Basically, Alex Jordan's father, Alex Jordan Sr., took some plans for a building that he was working on

to show to the famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright at his Wisconsin home. According to the story, they got an appointment with Frank Lloyd Wright out at Taliesin, and Frank Lloyd Wright looked at the plans and said, I wouldn't hire you to build a chicken coop, and dismissed them. Alex's father was so embittered and so resentful of Frank Lloyd Wright that he drove up the road and spotted the rock on which the house on the rock would eventually be built, and said that he'll show, right? He'll build a house that they won't forget on this rock. An incredible story, right?

But this meeting never happened. The story is totally fake. Tom Kupsch, the guy you just heard, wrote a book about the house on the rock, and he cites tons of evidence as to why this story is BS. The date the Jordans purchased the land is off. Frank Lloyd Wright was in Japan when this meeting supposedly took place. But to be honest, the most compelling piece of evidence is the person responsible for the story. A man named Sid Boyum. Sid Boyum, the one who made it up and was saying he introduced Frank Lloyd Wright and Alex's father.

Sid would have been nine years old at the time. Sid Boyum was one of Alex Jordan's fixers. He connected Alex with workers and materials needed for the House on the Rock. And Sid was an artist himself. Like the folks we met in part one of this series, Sid built concrete sculptures in his backyard. Sid Boyum was also a liar. I found this great photo of him online,

holding up his 1976 World Championship Liar Medal. So, we have this art environment-esque art environment with an origin story that, while fake, is still the first thing you'll find on its Wikipedia page.

Of course, I added the House on the Rock to my Wisconsin itinerary. The House on the Rock to my Wisconsin itinerary. The House on the Rock is not like any place you've ever been. No matter what you've seen, no matter where you've been, this place, the House on the Rock, is unique in the world. Here's something true from the history of the House on the Rock. In 1939, Alex Jordan Jr. couldn't find a job, so he came up with a con. He had his girlfriend lure rich businessmen to their apartment, and while they had sex, Alex would take photos from his hiding place in the closet.

It was a straight-up blackmail con, but their very first target went to the police and Alex was hauled in front of a judge. Lucky for him, his father, the guy who supposedly yelled at Frank Lloyd Wright, bailed him out. Now, it's unclear if it was Senior's fury or encouragement that pushed Junior to build his hideaway out on top of Deer Shelter Rock. But by the 1950s, the house Junior built was legendary for its wild parties. And often people would just show up unannounced,

hoping to get a closer look. By 1959, Senior had had enough. He wanted his son to get a closer look. By 1959, Senior had had enough. He wanted his son to get serious about business. Legend has it, Senior stood at the entrance with a paper bag and started charging curious visitors 50 cents for admission. That's how Alex Jordan Jr.'s House on the Rock became a tourist attraction. You won't find any mention of this story at the Alex Jordan Jr. Center, which you hit when you walk into the House on the Rock today.

Nor do you find any mention of the many artists, sculptors, and artisans who over the years helped Alex Jordan turn his house on the rock into one of the biggest tourist attractions in Wisconsin. Alex installed his house in Don Parkmore, and the other players built a house on it. Most people who worked there understood, especially the creative people, that they were not creating art. What they were doing is working within the aesthetic language of Alex Jordan, as one might work in the aesthetic language of Disney. Tom Kupsch spent decades working at the House on the Rock, and in his book, he shares some of his first-hand recollections. Alex erupting in anger at an artist who deviated from his instructions.

Alex firing someone who got the notion in his head that he should have a hand in the creative process. For Alex Jordan Jr., all the hands toiling away at the House on the Rock were his hands. It goes without saying that any work they did belonged to him. That was part of the contract. So he did not really hog all of the credit, but no credit was given. Alex Jordan Sr. passed away a few years after the House on the Rock opened to the public, leaving Junior firmly in charge. He was now free to do whatever he wanted with the place. And that was to make it bigger. Alex was making so much money that he couldn't stop creating.

He had to, every year, something new. That's what he did. He kept expanding and culminating in huge metal buildings that cascade down the hill of Wyoming Valley. Alex Jordan didn't just collect stuff. He collected collections of stuff. And his metal buildings are overflowing with these collections of musical instruments, miniature ships, dolls, guns, toys, organs, carousels. These collections are the

foundation of the House on the Rock's reputation for having the most and the biggest. But come on, how many coin bank replicas can you really take in on one day? How many self-playing musical ensembles can you listen to? Carpet on the ceiling, carpet on the floor. To be honest, we quickly tired of the world's largest unvacuumed carpet. We ended up skipping entire sections, like the building dedicated to aviation. It was just too much. This is stuff that really people loved.

Replicas of famous ships. The biggest and the most weren't enough for Alex Jordan though. He also invented stories for some of the objects in his collection. My favorite are these self-playing instruments supposedly built by talented bored prostitutes in the 19th century. I don't think they're old because otherwise they would have been labeled as old. So I think they're probably because of old. One day in 1978, the government showed up.

They wanted Alex Jordan to provide them with proof for some of the outlandish claims stated on his labels. Alex Jordan never admitted to lying, but a number of his exhibition labels did come down, and he signed a document stating that he would never do this again. In many ways, Alex Jordan is a direct descendant of the showman and carnival huckster P.T. Barnum. But if you ever pointed this out, his temper would flare up. He resented this comparison to P.T. Barnum because he didn't consider himself a liar. He didn't consider himself somebody who exaggerated. Well, not too much anyway. For all of the labels that were false, there are a million objects that aren't labeled at all.

And you can make up what you want to about them. Perhaps because it's 2017, I couldn't help but see the spirit of another great American huckster as we walked around the house on the rock. The ostentation, the hyperbole, the fakery, the whole con. The house on the rock is very Trumpy. Mommy, look at me! Look at me, Mama! I'm sailing! Mommy, I'm sailing! I'm going to get out. After we left the house on the rock,

we drove north to one of Wisconsin's most famous real art environments, the Forevertron. It's another roadside attraction just off Highway 12, outside of the town of Sumter. The Forevertron is hard to describe. It kind of looks like an abandoned iron playground built by aliens from another planet, or mad scientists from the future. There are gazebos, towers, spiraling staircases, and a delicate glass egg rises from the middle, creating the illusion that the whole thing might just take off into space like a rocket. The Forevertron is a truly magical place. And I have to say,

visiting this art environment after the House on the Rock only made it more special. These two places, though, they're actually connected. Remember Sid Boyum, the guy I told you about who made up the story of introducing Frank Lloyd Wright to Alex Jordan's father? Well, it turns out that Sid Boyum did introduce Alex Jordan Jr. to the guy who built the Forevertron, Tom Every. You see, Tom Every was a professional salvager. So if you were looking for big pieces of machinery or, say, hundreds of whiskey barrels to put into your tourist attraction, Tom was your man.

He was responsible for salvaging 19th century factories that had become outmoded. One more shout out for our tour guide, Tom Cupps. Not only did he write a book on Alex Jordan Jr. after working at the House on the Rock, he also wrote a book on Tom Every and the Forevertron. Tom Every was, of course, familiar with the House on the Rock long before Sid Boyum introduced him to Alex Jordan. In fact, it's where he took his future wife, Eleanor, on their first date.

I thought he was taking me to a tavern. I said, I can't go to a tavern. I was 17 then. And so, yes, we took and climbed the ladder to get in. This is the original house on the rock? The original house. Yes, that was fantastic. And in the second place, he took me to a Chinese restaurant.

After Sid Boyum made the introductions, Alex put Tom to work on a number of important projects. There's quite a bit of Tom Every in The House on the Rock. Well, when Tom and Alex were working together at The House on the Rock, it was the last half of the 1970s. Tom, first of all, was a supplier of salvage building materials and so forth, and Alex was engaged in a large expansion of his attraction. The project that they were involved in specifically was a mechanical fantasy known as the organ room. And who wouldn't be inspired as a sculptor about having a room half the size of a football field, five stories high, to fill with mechanical refuse of 19th century industry. And there was no budget.

This is when Tom Every started calling himself Dr. Buildmore. So certainly, it was the best of times. Tom would come out to House on the Rock on Sundays. He would have his cravat on and his gold-tipped cane and walk around explaining, gesticulating, pointing out what he and Alex were doing. Gradually, Tom became more than just a supplier. He became a friend and traveling companion for Alex. And they were certainly living high. It was around this time when Tom Every built something for himself.

A mobile barbecue, something he called the Epicurean. A huge copper kettle with wheels covered by a tent. It kind of looks like a circus food truck. And when he was finished with it, he invited Alex over to show it to him. In fact, the first hamburger from that particular barbecue was eaten by Alex and Alex was very, very

impressed with it. And they had a conversation about it and it seems that Alex may have promised that Tom could bring the Epicurean to the House on the Rock and use it as the centerpiece for a new food court that Alex had intended to build there.

The food court thing never happens. And in some of the versions of the tale of Alex Jordan and Tom Every's falling out, the Epicurean is the object of contention. That's what Lady Eleanor told me when I visited the Forever Tron. Well, he was supposed to get the restaurant, and the restaurant went to somebody else, so we kept the Epicurean. It wasn't to be Alex's. But the falling out had nothing to do with the Epicurean. You see, Tom Every was a subcontractor for Alex Jordan. And for some of the big jobs he did at the House on the Rock,

he would subcontract out other workers. But Tom never paid his workers taxes. And when the IRS got involved, Alex Jordan cut Tom Every loose. The relationship ended poorly. There were lawyers, there were lawsuits, the state got involved. cut Tom Every loose. The relationship ended poorly. There were lawyers, there were lawsuits, the state got involved,

Tom never denied his wrongdoing, and ended up with some jail time. But it wasn't the jail time that destroyed Tom Every, or the fact that his family lost their home, it was this abrupt ending to his relationship with Alex Jordan and the House on the Rock. Tom put his heart and soul into his work at House on the Rock, so Tom, I think, was a little bit heartbroken when he left because he left so much of himself there.

Tom never called himself Dr. Build-a-more again. But eventually, he found a way out of the darkness. He became Dr. Evermore, builder of the Forevertron. Turn right onto East Road. Then you'll arrive at your destination. Wow. It's here on the right. The art park of Dr. Evermore.

So we're there. We're here. Wow. In walking around it, the questions always arise. Everyone always asks, what is this? Who did this? What is it for? Now, Tom Every did write up a foundational myth for his project. A distant relative of his in the 19th century, the son of a Presbyterian minister. But I swear to God, every time I try to read his story about the Forevertron, my eyes glaze over. And he took refuge in a barn.

It's got time travel, Victorian ladies, lightning, his dentist. But he's just terrible with words. Doctor into the heavens and away from the evil of the world. his dentist, but he's just terrible with words. In fact, I learned from Lady Eleanor that he originally wanted to call his creation the Force, like from Star Wars. Tom is very, very visual and expresses himself better in iron than he does in words or in any other way. Tom Every was also a genius when it came to incorporating salvage into his work. He's very proud of what he calls locking them in so that they can't be taken away and that people can appreciate the spirit of the people who

use them and the manufacturing facilities in which they were. There are tons of salvage on the site. He can't even estimate how much there is. It's a lifetime of collecting the odd objects and objects of interest to him. And all of these he incorporated into the Forevertron and his other work, which relates to the Forevertron. Dr. Evermore resides in a nursing home now, not too far away from the Forevertron, but he rarely makes it out. If you do visit, though, you will most likely find Lady Eleanor there,

and she'll gladly give you a tour. Ask her to point out the Epicurean. Yeah, it's there too. After she told us about some of the meals they've used it for over the years, I can't help but see it as a memorial now, a memorial to all the people who've come to this art environment, people who have shared food, stories, pain, suffering, wonder, amazement, and joy. We have shared more with people than I can just, I can't even tell you the depth of how wonderful it's been.

Complete strangers. They're fun to share with. Thank God it's not stuck in some food court at the House on the Rock. Even though the Forevertron is widely recognized as one of Wisconsin's most important art environments, its future is unclear. The Evereys don't own the land the Forevertron was built on. There are basic preservation issues that already need to be addressed. This environment could very well disappear into the air. And while the House on the Rock may never make it onto any of the official maps of Wisconsin art environments, in a way, its fake origin story, the one where Alex Jordan's father tells Frank Lloyd Wright,

I'll show you, has become real. Because regardless of what the official arbiters of culture say, the House on the Rock is one of Wisconsin's most celebrated and famous art environments. I mean, who cares what the official arbiters of culture say when you're pulling in millions of dollars in admissions fees every year? Plus, they have Neil Gaiman now. This is the only country in the world that wonders what it is. You've been to a lot of

other countries, have you? No, no, never. Just this one. Critic-proof writer Neil Gaiman's best-selling book, American Gods, has just been turned into a TV show. And a key scene will soon be filmed at the House on the Rock. In American Gods, the carousel, or the world's largest carousel, is a portal to another world.

Americans know who they are. They pretend they know, but it's still just pretending, like I'm pretending now, just like you. One of the main characters, Mr. Wednesday, the con man played by Ian McShane, will ride a wolf. The only thing is, there is no wolf on Alex Jordan's carousel. But the folks at the House on the Rock have already made one. I found it on my visit, off to the side, ready to go. And Tom Kupsch told me that once they install that wolf on the carousel, it will be as if it was always there. You have been listening to Benjamin Walker's Theory of Everything.

This installment is called Iron and Lies, Wisconsin Part 2. This episode was produced by myself with Mathilde Biot and Andrew Calloway. Special, special thanks to Tom Cups. I put a link to both of his books on Alex Jordan Jr. and Tom Every on the show page. And thanks again to the Kohler Foundation for providing some support for this Wisconsin miniseries. The Theory of Everything is a proud member of Radiotopia, home to some of the world's best podcasts. You can find all of them at radiotopia.fm. Thanks to listeners like you and to Roman Mars for making this whole thing real. Thank you.