Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?
Backstory below.
This photo was taken on January 23, 2005.
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fubuki, Shooz, jarednevans, gweedo, and 186 other people added this photo to their favorites.
fubuki (90 months ago | reply)
coolness! love this - could you spare a min for the backstory? sweet
Bistrosavage (90 months ago | reply)
Ok. So I love to go to garage sales. When I used to live in Champaign, some days I would put 60 miles on the car while garage sailing; I've toned it down a bit now, but I still have the bug. These days, it's rarely over 30-45 miles here in DeKalb and Sycamore IL.
Well, last summer one day I was cruising through Sycamore, on an off street that I had never been down before. It was late, around 5 PM or so, and the sales were almost gone-- I was scraping the bottom of the barrel. Anyway, on this side street I saw a sign for a sale on an even sider street. I drive there, looking at the house numbers thinking that the sale would be gone, but when I get to the number, I see an old man on the porch in a wooden rocking chair.
He looked just like William S. Burroughs. Snap brim hat-- everything. So, I pull up and get out of my car, leaving the engine running (many sales can be instantly sized up as worthless and I don't like to waste the gas on restarting the car) and ask if his sale is still open. He looks up, and in a constipated gravely drone says: "Out back." The exterior of the house was neatly kept, almost overkept. As I rounded the house I was amazed by the beautiful English country garden in the rear. There was even a stream. Someone had obviously made the garden a work of love. There were card tables, a picnic table, old kitchen tables and so on with the stuff on them.
Most of the stuff didn't interest me: old bottles, old mostly broken tools, kitchen stuff, a humidifier, some uninteresting books, etc.... It was on the last table that I saw them: Israeli military night vision goggles! For $5.00! With their case! I shit you not. I snagged them like an old lady seeing a rare procelain figurine. I was in one of those states where I hardly saw anything else on the tables. I was so excited. Well, I calmed down and looked for more killer items, but saw nothing.
Somewhat reluctantly I went back to the old man to buy the goggles. He looked up and said, "Allright, but you gotta promise me to take Baby Jane too." I'm thinking, "Baby Jane?!" He reaches down and pulls this doll out of a sack, wads up the sack and throws it in the corner, then thrusts the doll up at me. It happend so fast I was kind of taken aback. Especially by the dolls appearance. All the hair had been clipped off, leaving neat rows of stubble. The eyes had been brutally replaced: a potentiometer in the left socket with the tuner horribly facing inward and an unidentifiable metal socket in the right. The mouth was muted by some piece of circuitry. A few wires now stood in place of the hair on each side of the head in a mockery of happy-girl pigtails.
I looked at it wondering what he was going to make me pay for the "doll" so I could get the night-vision goggles. He snarled at me, "It's free! Now do you got $5.00 or don't ya?" I gave him five, accepted the doll and thanked him. He tipped his hat and winked and I went back to my still running car and drove home.
Baby Jane sits on the bookshelf beside my bed next to the clock. She speaks to me in my dreams even as I am awake. Am I slowly changing? After a while there are still the goggles for seeing in the night.
fubuki (90 months ago | reply)
homes - that is a perfect backstory! totally makes the image so much more riveting. awesome awesome!
gweedo (89 months ago | reply)
Thanks for the inspiration, B. Now I know what I'm going to do when I grow up - make creepy/cool artifacts and package them with ultra-desirable yard sale goodies. Take it or leave it!
ciro@tokyo (89 months ago | reply)
I love this, good job!
hurleygurley (89 months ago | reply)
wow, i would count that as a perfect experience! A score of a lifetime garage sailing (i share the passion for such finds, THRILLING), a Burroughs guy, a Baby Jane, a fantastic image and an equally fantastic story! All for $5.
foreversouls (89 months ago | reply)
a GREAT find!
Vida Morkunas (seawallrunner) (89 months ago | reply)
what a great picture, and what a great story.
you keep this doll near your BED?!? I'd be scared
Bistrosavage (89 months ago | reply)
Seawall-- She is a light burden, I think. She gives me energy although she takes also. She makes me stronger. Tell me you think so too. Please.
Vida Morkunas (seawallrunner) (89 months ago | reply)
she has a protective presence about her. must be that direct, unblinking gaze. I'm sure the bad dreams stopped ever since she took up residence by your bedside
lunaryuna AGAINST CENSORSHIP [deleted] (89 months ago | reply)
A precious, totally unique creation that reminds me Sebastian, the genetical engineer in Blade Runner and his funny creatures. You have quite the mind and skills to make such mind-bogging visions to come true :)
*junket* (89 months ago | reply)
Thank you for the story and amazing pic. Do the laydees' get a scare when they stay over?
Bistrosavage (89 months ago | reply)
Haven't had any ladies stay over. Maybe Baby Jane protects my space from other ladies. Hmmm, perhaps she's not a good thing.
Update: she tells me that there "are no other ladies". Now I'm confused.
lunaryuna AGAINST CENSORSHIP [deleted] (89 months ago | reply)
ohh ohhhh, sounds like you're in trouble! Get baby Jane to wear something funky for one night and set her in some corner and invite a babe :D
Hensdill (89 months ago | reply)
i want one...lol...
w1nn (88 months ago | reply)
That doll is amazing.
zombiefried (88 months ago | reply)
The story is more remarkable than the photo.
Andy Welsh (86 months ago | reply)
Terminator Doll - Dude, you do know that this will come to life and kill us all as we sleep don't you?!
decembre (86 months ago | reply)
Dolls plays with our mind, and you show us how.
thanks
Pin Pon (85 months ago | reply)
hola,
¿1975?
Jan Tik (85 months ago | reply)
Cool picture and great story! Thanks for adding this to the Story Time group.
janinewhite (84 months ago | reply)
A perfectly distrubing photo and story.
boristheblade (84 months ago | reply)
Great story and great photo. I have picked up many an oddity on my garage sailing travels.
Rick Cummings (83 months ago | reply)
I use 1001 to flip my desktop image and then Baby Jane pops up. Instant Fave! The backstory just makes it even better.
Nyarlathotep_ St_Lazare_ [deleted] (82 months ago | reply)
Fabulous !!! I would be glad if you would add it here www.flickr.com/groups/lovecraft_fantasy/
Dagobah (82 months ago | reply)
WOW.
Jakesz Faller [deleted] (81 months ago | reply)
Cool doll, good story!
uberllama (79 months ago | reply)
Ha! Amazing photo and amazing story. Faved.
supawako (77 months ago | reply)
baby jane looks awesome. great back story.
Gry (77 months ago | reply)
scary doll... good story.
experiment-abstract-expressionism (77 months ago | reply)
interesting and beautiful
The first look is very sci-fi but is a lot of poetry inside
Chris Daniel (77 months ago | reply)
Reminds me of something by the Brothers Quay.
Dark.
zombizi prime [deleted] (77 months ago | reply)
very good. very good indeed.
umanesimo (75 months ago | reply)
scary
wdpTN [deleted] (75 months ago | reply)
This is just amazing~! Excellent shot/idea. Love ur tones as well. I can really realte to this image, Thanks for the post man.
Weston
Steve Strawn (74 months ago | reply)
That's brilliant. I absolutely need a doll like that in my collection. I've been trying to get that look for a while, and here it comes, falling right in your lap.
cviglietti (69 months ago | reply)
so i typed in "weird" in the search everyones photo on flickr and here this was. (the whole fact that i did that is a little odd huh?)
anyway.. i see that all the postings are almost 2 yrs old, but better late than never right? this is weird and i love it and your backstory makes it even better
-cat
callingchrissy (66 months ago | reply)
I loVe iT
wdpTN [deleted] (66 months ago | reply)
Interesting..Great find on the googles for 5 bucks and make a great image out of it and a interesting story. Sounds like it was a good day.
Mr. Sable™ (65 months ago | reply)
I'm pretty certain that doll is a Rene Cigler creation and therefore worth a LOT more than free. But that's a great story!
Vida Morkunas (seawallrunner) (65 months ago | reply)
this photo still gives me the willies, two years later ;)
David R Munson (65 months ago | reply)
Fucking perfect.
bgendler79 (63 months ago | reply)
Ice 18 [deleted] (63 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a new group called Weird & Wonderful The Dark Side, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
Presleyjesus (62 months ago | reply)
Might be from a Tim Burton or David Cronenberg Film....
...aaah, you mentioned Borroughs anyway.
Please consider posting to:
Interesting Weirdo
ari_vudu (62 months ago | reply)
jajaj
me gustaria saber muy bien ingles, pero me falla!
saludos!
ar!*
muy chida tu imageen!
Mr. Sable™ (62 months ago | reply)
See: The art of Rene Cigler and tell me it's made by someone else. Particularly this one.
fabbriciuse (60 months ago | reply)
Dra_Psychopomps [deleted] (60 months ago | reply)
Great picture....it was a good revenge.
GroupFounder (56 months ago | reply)
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