Dallas’s Texas Woofus, Hand Collection & Giant Robots

Dallas is a city filled with great art and elaborate museums that can keep one occupied for hours on end, from aquariums to art museums to concert halls and more.

But in addition to these great establishments are a few smaller, lesser-known sights that tell just as much of Dallas’s story as any other, and they’re certainly one-of-a-kind, too! Check out these Dallas oddities and unusual spots to find some of Dallas’s favorite hidden treasures!

The Texas Woofus and other Dallas oddities

The Texas Woofus

If you think you’ve seen it all, think again.

Nestled in the heart of South Dallas’s Fair Park and beside such greats as The Hall of State, the Texas Star Ferris Wheel, the BIG TEX and other significant sights is a 1930s sculpture dedicated to memorializing Texas’s greatest livestock staples: The Texas Woofus. It’s also the subject of great debate, mystery and legend since its inception nearly a century ago.

There’s no easy or graceful way to describe this creature other than just diving straight into the terrifying anatomy of this piece-of-art-crossed-with-a-lucid-dream-induced statue. For what better way is there to honor all of Texas’s great livestock than by creating a creature that blends all six species into one, even though absolutely nobody asked anyone to do it?

This chimera perched atop a concrete plinth features a turkey tail set upon a pig’s body, a duck’s wings, the neck and mane of a horse and, to top it all off, a dazzling set of Texas longhorns from a sheep’s head. A patterned blanket that spouts water rests over the pig-sheep-duck-turkey-cow-horse’s back completing the whole look.

The statue was designed and created by artist Lawrence Tenney Stevens in 1936 at the height of the Dallas Fair Park’s Art Deco remodel for the Texas Centennial Exposition, so it features similar geometric and patterned designs commonly found in the art style. 

The statue we see today, though, is a replica of the original made in 1998. The original was damaged in 1941 and taken away for repairs but, quite mysteriously, was never seen or heard about again. There’s no concrete theory or answers to its current whereabouts, but the statue did cause controversy among religious groups who found the statue too pagan for their liking. Local legend says it was destroyed by one of these groups, but no one knows for sure.   

The Traveling Man

Walking through the Deep Ellum area of Dallas, you might find yourself face-to-face with one of three sculptures known as “The Traveling Man” series, featuring a giant, sweet-looking robot awaiting passage on a train out of the city.

The story goes like this:

One day, an old locomotive buried under an elm tree came to life after someone splashed some gin onto its roots. The locomotive rose from the ground and emerged as a robot, much to the surprise of three birds who also called the elm tree home. The robot, now acquainted with his feathered friends, sat on the round and waited for a train to arrive, his guitar in hand and avian friends fluttering around. Eventually, the robot grew tired of waiting and arose, standing tall above the ground and began walking toward the railroads with his birds in tow.

The three stages of this story can be seen in art form around the Deep Ellum Rail Station. First there is “Awakening” where the robot begins to emerge from the Earth. Next, there is “Waiting on a Train,” which depicts the gentle giant patiently serenading his bird friends as they await transport. Finally, “Walking Tall” shows us the friendly robot striding toward his destination – a smile on his face and a bird on his arm. 

The art displays were created to emphasize Deep Ellum’s strong connection to the 19th century railroads and the neighborhoods that nurtured jazz and blues musicians like Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter and Bessie Smith. Today, Deep Ellum is still recognized as a hub for culture, art, music and cuisine in Dallas, and The Traveling Man is the visual representation of the junction between art, history, industry and, of course, the people of Dallas. 

The Hand Collection at Baylor Medical Center

Not real hands, thank goodness, but real enough to make you just a little uncomfortable. 

The Adrian E. Flatt, M.D., Hand Collection is just that – a collection of bronze-casted hands from  a wide variety of subjects done by an orthopedic surgeon who was fascinated with the study of hands. 

English-born Flatt began his orthopedic career in the 1950s when he arrived in the United States, and a few decades later was known as one of the most prominent hand surgeons not just in the country, but in the world. As part of his surgical practice he would make plaster casts of his patients’ hands in order to better study them before surgery, and those molds later became useful for teaching students or giving lectures.

At some point, Flatt became interested in casting the hands of his fellow surgeons as part of an experiment to see if there were any similar characteristics that made for a good surgeon. This collection of bronze-cast hands soon grew to include prominent surgeons, famous athletes, musicians, artists, actors and more!

His impressive repertoire of over 120 sets of hands includes the likes of Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower, astronaut Neil Armstrong, actor Andre the Giant, Doctor Seuss and Walt Disney, to name a few.

The collection is displayed at Baylor University Medical Center where Flatt worked until his retirement in 1992.

Next time you’re looking for something a little more unique to see and do, why not check out these three unique Dallas oddities that you most certainly can’t find anywhere else in the world! If anything, it will make for a good story and a fun outing near your Dallas apartments.

Enjoy!

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Feature photo courtesy Pixabay/Cris_F