Cryptomundo » Olaf, Grover Krantz and Bigfoot

Olaf, Grover Krantz and Bigfoot

Posted by: Loren Coleman on February 14th, 2007

Do you know the story of Olaf the Giant and the Anthropologist?

Grover Krantz

This Valentine’s Day, as I mentioned here, is the 5th anniversary of the death of Professor Grover Krantz, Bigfoot researcher, who passed away at the age of 70. Krantz, it will be recalled, was the author of Big Footprints (Boulder: Johnson, 1992), revised as Bigfoot Sasquatch Evidence (Seattle: Hancock House, 1999), and the editor of The Sasquatch and Other Unknown Hominoids (Calgary: Western Publishing, 1984, with archaeologist Vladimir Markotic). Grover’s special type of academic vinegar is missed today.

As many people know, Krantz would leave no stone unturned when investigating possible Bigfoot-related items. One story that is little known about Grover Krantz, which I ran across from Doug Higley, involves Krantz and his desire to examine the famed Olaf the Giant. (Please note, no photographs of Olaf the Giant have surfaced in my search. Do you have one? I’ve interviewed various “roadside America” photographers, and none has one. People did share that they had seen the exhibit during its heyday, but can’t recall taking its picture, due to the poor lighting.)

Doug Higley, a specialist in gaffs and creating displays to show them, once had an old time dime museum next to the casinos near Lake Tahoe, Nevada. He tells this story about Olaf the Giant, and its relationship to the Bigfoot Mystery and Grover Krantz:

In 1993, I owned a big museum (5,000 square ft.) that went bust in Tahoe, called “True Wonders Old Time Museum.” Had rooms and rooms of great stuff including Grover Krantz’s papers and prints among TONS of other things. Grover was demanding we turn over Olaf The Giant to him for study. Olaf was 9 ft 3 inches tall! Grover wanted to study it for Bigfoot locomotion possibilities.

Olaf the Giant had been shown for countless years on the sideshow circuit. His biggest splash came during the Seattle World’s Fair where he was on display as part of Doc (Walt) Jones gregarious collection of bizarre artifacts and gag filled props. Bought by a private collector he was moved to Redmond, Oregon, and was on display at the Fantastic Museum there, until I built my place in Tahoe, where he was moved to be the star attraction.

Grover Krantz evidently had seen Olaf the Giant at the World’s Fair and again in Redmond. In my exhibit of Olaf hanging directly behind his huge coffin was the framed letter we got from Grover Krantz demanding (no other word for it) that Olaf be turned over to Washington State University for scientific study. (Read that disassembled.)

Olaf looked fantastic for an ancient preserved “specimen.” Huge head with the skin retreating back from the jaws…sunken eyes…gigantic hands withered and skin shriveled around the large bones. Krantz was entranced and thought that if he had his hands on Olaf the Giant he might discover how this Viking Giant walked and moved his bulk around his ancient world. This reasoned Krantz would be an interesting look at what a large biped like Bigfoot might have going on in the locomotion department. Problem was Olaf the Giant was MADE (manufactured) at the turn of the Century (late 1800’s) by the Nelson Supply Company. Olaf can be seen in the old Nelson Supply catalog of gaff attractions.

Grover should have seen that BUT he was full of “true believer” stars in his eyes…and it just didn’t dawn on him, that though the Giant was an awesome gaff, the legs were far too fleshed out for Olaf to be real. Real close inspection through the thick glass of the coffin revealed other minor flaws which “gave it away.” Olaf had been made of real skin and real bones in some areas but in others his skin was some type of “oil cloth”…a magnifier could reveal the threads and weave…but the large long fully fleshed out and non desiccated legs were the big give away that Krantz should have picked up on. But he didn’t.

Olaf the Giant was one of a kind and really spectacular. And a hundred years after he was built he fooled another “one of a kind,” Grover Krantz.- Doug Higley
Phantom Of The Midway

Doug Higley, even though he exhibited Olaf the Giant, has no photographs of the infamous Viking Giant. None appear in Grover Krantz’s books. Do you have any?

Personally, I tend to understand Krantz, regarding his pursuit. In searching for more answers that impact on the Bigfoot mystery, I would have wanted to examine Olaf a bit closer too.

Indeed, that’s why I interviewed Higley and now want to see the missing photographs of Olaf the Giant, even if it is a gaff. If nothing else, this is an incomplete segment of Krantz’s Bigfoot research that has now been brought closer to being concluded, on the 5th anniversary of his passing, with all due respect.

Update

Images sent in to Cryptomundo of Olaf the Giant will be placed here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 14th, 2007 at 8:14 am and is filed under Artifacts, Bigfoot, CryptoZoo News, Cryptozoology, Evidence, Folklore, Forensic Science, Hoaxes, Museums, Obituaries, Pop Culture, Sasquatch. You can follow responses via our RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is not allowed.

Spread the Word!

del.icio.us Digg Furl Reddit StumbleUpon Help

Similar Phenomena:

10 Responses to “Olaf, Grover Krantz and Bigfoot”

peterbernard responds: February 14th, 2007 at 10:13 am
That’s an excellent, really funny article.
DWA responds: February 14th, 2007 at 10:19 am
A laugh for sure!

Guys, I think field research will stand a better chance of getting to the bottom of this.
fredfacker responds: February 14th, 2007 at 10:59 am
Are the current whereabouts of Olaf unknown?
J.Vac responds: February 14th, 2007 at 11:01 am
I’m sure the pictures would be cool to see. But even if there was evidence of a real “Olaf,” I can’t really see how that would have anything to do with Bigfoot research.
Loren Coleman responds: February 14th, 2007 at 11:06 am
Whereabouts unknown.
Doug Higley responds: February 14th, 2007 at 11:17 am
I would think, through this piece on such a popular blog ‘Olaf’ will turn up again. It would be hard to believe such a spectacular exhibit would be put away in some storage unit. Once the Museum closed, I have no idea where he went (he had been on loan) but I assumed he was either taken back to Oregon or to Yakima, Washington where there was another ‘Fantastic Museum’. Soon as I get a new scanner I’ll dig through some old boxes and find a photo or two. I might mention that the ‘owner’ of Olaf also believed it was real at the time (maybe still does) and paid a fortune to get it.
Loren Coleman responds: February 14th, 2007 at 11:54 am
Update

Images sent in to Cryptomundo of Olaf the Giant will be placed here.
Doug Tarrant responds: February 15th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
Loren, does anyone know the location of the “True Wonders” museum at Lake Tahoe in l993?

I was at the north end of the Lake at Incline Village, doing gunfighting reenactments at the “Ponderosa Ranch” where TV’s “Bonanza” was filmed. It’s was a big tourist attraction that was in full swing then, but is closed now.

I had never heard of such a museum, back then, unless it was in some obscure off-the-beaten-path section.

The Lake is devided. Half is California and the other half is Nevada. The Casinos are on the Nevada half. North and south ends only.

The Lake rim was about 72 miles all around the water’s edge. The two areas were either Emerald Bay at the north end, or Stateline, south end.
Both are on the Nevada (Gambling) side of the entire lake.
Doug Higley responds: February 16th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
Well, if you consider right next door to the casinos at Stateline an obscure location! haha.

My Museum was on the California side, on the same side of Hwy 50 as Harvey’s. Actually it was right across 50 from Cecils and the Crecent V Center area. I had a huge beautiful sign (broke the ordinance too by a few inches.) I’m not surprised you didn’t know it was there, nobody did really. I had ads in the paper, was featured on Reno TV and Sacramento TV etc. Did everything I could to no avail.

Still a trauma thought when I have to discuss it. But yes, Doug, it was there. Sorry you (and everyone else) missed it.
Doug Tarrant responds: February 17th, 2007 at 12:55 am
Geez, Doug Higley… Never saw it.
How did I ever miss that?
There was a steak house on the south side of the street (Calif. side) almost on the corner at the traffic light that WAS the state-line.
So much has changed in that area today.
l993 was a few too many years back.
I reside in Virginia City, on this mountain range now. Back then I was in Reno.

Leave your comments

You must be logged in to post a comment.

|Top | Content|

Cryptomundo
for Bigfoot, Loch Ness, and More

Olaf, Grover Krantz and Bigfoot

Spread the Word!

10 Responses to “Olaf, Grover Krantz and Bigfoot”

Leave your comments

Main Page

Join The Search

Mystery Pages

Login

Advertisement

Syndication

Donate Today

The Beyond

Advertisement

T 84 Viagra

taking viagra after the expiration date

cheap gerneric viagra

generic viagra levitra and cialis pills!

cheap gerneric viagra

cheap gerneric viagra

cheap gerneric viagra

Non Prescription Viagra

Viagra Illegal Phillipines

Side Affects Of Viagra

Buy Viagra Online At

taking viagra woman

Viagra And Cannabis

generic viagra levitra and cialis pills!

Viagra Bon Marche

taking viagra woman

Impotence Viagra

cheap gerneric viagra