Saturday, May 17, 2014

A Glimpse at The Odd Fellows


On a recent trip to the Milwaukee Art Museum, I saw a really intriguing collection of objects from the Odd Fellows fraternal organization. The Odd Fellows were one of those mysterious fraternal groups, kind of like The Freemasons or Shriners. I find these sort of groups mysterious, anyway. The more secret the meetings and the more unique items are used in their ceremonies, the more I'm going to wonder what's going on. I know many of these groups do good deeds and I imagine some of them served a social or community purpose. But sometimes, I hear stories about fraternal organizations that make me imagine a group of guys in cloaks, chanting in a circle, performing secret rituals. What I've heard about The Freemasons in general ranges from a social group for important men in the area, to surprising ceremonies, to a lot of good fuel for a conspiracy theory.

 
 

With those thoughts and stories in mind, I went into a small room built in the middle of the museum's gallery space. The room was dark, and some antique objects used by the Odd Fellows group were uplit in a spooky way. These objects ranged from a skull and crossbones plaque to what looked like an Eye of God or Eye of Providence symbol. There was a full artificial (but plenty real looking) skeleton standing in a coffin. There were staffs, one of which had a snake wrapped around it. The other featured a religious looking symbol with a hand holding a heart. Plenty mysterious!


So, who were The Odd Fellows? Well, a lot of the groups were made up of guys who worked in a specific trade. According to the description on the gallery wall, the Odd Fellows worked in less common trades, where there were less people. So it makes sense that a few guys from a trade here and a few guys from a trade there would team up to form their own club.


The symbols you see here would have been used in their ceremonies. The sign on the gallery wall explained that the full skeleton would have been used during initiation as a reminder of mortality (ouch) and also to remind the initiated of the group's discount burial rate! I'm not kidding. Perhaps one of the "odd" trades included in the group was mortician. Belonging to the group offered a form of burial insurance. I'm not sure if there were discount rates for anything else, but it would have been a good idea!

 


It might seem morbid to have a skeleton involved with an initiation ceremony, but a lot of things from the 1800s seem morbid by today's standards. People were a lot more pragmatic in the way they looked at death. Probably because they were surrounded by more death. I read that every Odd Fellows lodge owned a skeleton for the initiation ceremony. Unlike the one pictured above, some of these skeletons were real. If you search online for the words "Odd Fellows + skeleton" you'll find countless articles, many about the skeletons turning up nowadays. Modern people are getting a real surprise as they run across these things in old lodges. I even saw some of the skeletons up for auction online. I have to wonder where the skeletons came from. Perhaps from lodge members who donated their remains to the group?

The Odd Fellows are still in existence, and I just visited their web site. According to their web site, the "odd" part comes in not only because of odd trades, but because it was considered odd to be that helpful and altruistic to society. It's sad when helping people is considered odd. You can read more here:

About The Odd Fellows

I can tell this is the same group of Odd Fellows, since both the museum and the group web site mention their three link emblem standing for Friendship, Love, and Truth. I got a completely different perspective of the group from reading their web site. The museum showed the more more mysterious, ritualistic side of the group. The web site described more of a kind, giving, spiritual, volunteer group. They stated that their group was the first national fraternal organization to include women and that was in the year 1851. They won some points with me for that.

This video gives a nice overview of the history of the Odd Fellows:



Doesn't the narrator sound like Ron Swanson?

Every time I learn a little about a fraternal organization, I'm left with a complex view. Those of us who don't belong to the group will probably never know what happened behind the closed doors of their meetings, but it sounds like the Odd Fellows have done something good for their communities!


*Update as of July 28, 2014 *

I had another run-in with some Odd Fellows antiques! I was browsing a local antique shop with my mom and saw a homemade set of The Ten Commandments. I thought it was kind of weird so I went over to investigate.


I didn't even look closely at what the tablets were on. Suddenly, my mom said "Umm... Justine, look down." I looked down and saw this directly below me.


I jumped up and said "EEK!" I had been leaning over a replica coffin with a painted head inside. I know that on closer inspection the head doesn't look all that realistic. Still, it really freaked me out because I wasn't expecting it! For a split second I actually thought there was a body right below me.

On top of the coffin was a label stating that it was used in Odd Fellows initiation proceedings. I wonder how it was used, because this thing was seriously scratched! There are some interesting metal details on the coffin.


There's the standard All Seeing Eye symbol, what looks like a beehive, and then IOOF or The Independent Order of the Odd Fellows. I just looked up the beehive symbol and read that is associated with the Rebekah Lodge, which is the female counterpart to the fraternal organization. The lily is also associated with the Rebekahs and there is a Fleur de lis at the top of this. So this may have been used in a ladies initiation ceremony!

28 comments:

  1. That looks like a pretty cool exhibit! Secret societies are one of those things I've always been kinda interested in but never really dove into more info about them. Maybe I just prefer to let them be mysterious :)

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    1. Dex ~ It was! I was surprised that the museum was able to compile this much from the Odd Fellows. There was even more that I didn't take pictures of. These pieces were displayed perfectly in that dark little space.

      I know what you mean. I have only general knowledge of some groups - probably like most people. Unless you're in the room while these ceremonies are taking place, it's probably hard to get details. I read some explanations of the initiation ritual online, but I'm not sure how accurate those were. They could be correct. It's a lot harder to keep a secret now that the internet exists!

      It's true - some things seem more exciting and exotic when you aren't privy to the details!

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    2. Oh, I forgot to post this too: http://youtu.be/OExykL5QnXY

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    3. Dex ~ Haha! Oh my Gosh. That's great. "The Stonecutters" :) I need to watch that episode! I'm always surprised when I find out there's a Simpsons episode I haven't watched. OK, I found the name of that one - "Homer the Great". I'll have to see if I can find the whole episode online.

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  2. There's an oddfellows graveyard outside of town here. We almost used it for the cemetery in our movie (Got the pioneer graveyard instead)

    The skull and crossbones, or "Jolly Roger" is "Baphomet", the strange deity supposedly worshiped by the "Knights Templar". Once the Pope destroyed the organization, some of them escaped to sea and became pirates, hence the association of jolly rogers with pirates.

    The staff with a serpent is called the "Rod of Ascelpius", it's the Greek symbol for the medical profession. But the one we're used to seeing has two snakes and a pair of wings, but that's actually the symbol for commerce, not medicine.

    "Mysterious" is right, and that's the point. The idea is, that if you join one of these secret societies you'll get secret information, they'll reveal the "mysteries" to you. In actuality, what they do is get you to tell them your secrets, which they then use to keep you in line.

    And the skeleton is more than a reminder of mortality, it's there to remind you why you won't be telling any of the secrets you may learn.

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    1. Very interesting single vs double snake. I have a walking stick of my GPA that I thought was Masonic..now I'm think IIOF

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    2. Phays ~ Welcome to my blog! That's really interesting. I'd like to see a photo of the walking stick if you'd like to share. My email address is on the side of my blog. I'd like to compare it to the other Odd Fellows walking sticks I've seen.

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  3. Mantan ~ Thanks for your thoughtful and detailed comment! What are the chances that you'd live near an Odd Fellows' cemetery? I bet there are some interesting symbols on those gravestones. If you ever visit it again, please take some photos for me.

    That's something I never heard about the Jolly Roger. It's interesting to think of the Knights Templar being connected with pirates. Although, they were probably connected with a lot of surprising groups.

    Yeah, the medical symbol of the snake on the staff is familiar. I didn't know if this one was symbolic or just a cool snake on a staff, but it's probably a safe assumption that all of this was symbolic. Perhaps there were doctors in this group, or maybe it was symbolic of a group medical plan the way the skeleton was connected with the group burial rate. It's funny to think of some of these items representing more or less an insurance plan, because they give a first impression of being spooky, even sinister.

    Have you known anyone who belonged to one of these groups? I ask since you're near to that cemetery and have some knowledge of these symbols. There's a lot of gray area in my mind between those groups I view almost as cults and those that seem to be mostly a social lodge community. I view them sort of the way I view organized churches - with a range between extreme/controlling/cult-like to what is mostly just a social meeting place and everything in between. I tend to think of the Illuminati and the local Moose Lodge a little differently. :)

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  4. "I hear stories about fraternal organizations that make me imagine a group of guys in cloaks, chanting in a circle, performing secret rituals." That sounds like a great description for a horror movie. "The Satanic Rites of Dracula" by Hammer films comes to mind. And of course the song, "A Dangerous Meeting" by Mercyful fate also comes to mind. I love that kind of stuff.

    I'm always thinking of secret organizations that I never start. I guess I am my own secret organization. Ha!

    Oh, I love the skeleton!

    Nice post!

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    1. Matt ~ That description does sound like "The Satanic Rites of Dracula"! I probably have that scene rattling around in my head with the rest of the Hammer horror movies. :) I'd never heard "A Dangerous Meeting" but I'm listening to it now. Nice guitar riff!

      You're your own secret organization? Haha! Well, it should be easier to keep what happens a secret that way!

      I love the skeleton too. Someone did a really good job making that. I'm guessing it's paper mache or some similar material.

      Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed this one! This was definitely a different topic to write about.

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    2. You may have already thought of this, but it occurred to me that the pictures that you take at the museum, the flowers and such, would make great pinboards.

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    3. Matt ~ Actually, I hadn't thought of that! A pin board full of the photos I post on my blog could be a cool addition to my Pinterest page. I've actually never uploaded a photo I've taken to Pinterest. What's funny is that I sometimes see photos from my blog show up on there! They're not generally pinned by anyone I chat with. I guess they're pinned by people who were just passing by my blog.

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    4. Yeah, I think it would be kinda neat. If you do decide to do it, I feel like explaining that you can't upload a photo to Pinterest, you can only link photos - the upload of Pinterest only takes links. What I have done is use Photobucket.com. It's real easy, and once you've uploaded your photo they give you about eight different ways to link it from Photobucket. I believe the "http:\\" link is the one that works. All you have to do is copy it and paste it into the upload part of Pinterest.

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    5. Matt ~ OK, Cool! Thanks for letting me know. I'll have to take a look at your Pinterest page to see which of your photos you added!

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    6. There is an option to upload directly to Pinterest. But if you have the images on your blog, I'd recommend pinninng from here as it will bring you some readers too :)

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    7. Dex ~ It could bring some attention my way! Have you been adding any of your blog images to Pinterest? You have some cool pictures on both your blog and Flickr.

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    8. I have. I use Flickr to host the photos then put them on the blog and then pin them from there :)
      I've tried uploading to Pinterest to host the pictures but it doesn't always work right and sometimes the image links break and they no longer show up on the blog.

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  5. Good post! I find it interesting that these items would be in a museum. I wish more museums would have such exhibits and include other fraternal organizations. Probably many of the items you saw represented the various careers of the members.

    When hubby & I were touring cemeteries a couple summers ago, we saw many tombstones with the linked rings on them. Most of the time IOOF members would be buried in the same area or have a cemetery of their own.

    re: Secret Society(s) Any organization which has meetings behind closed doors and doesn't speak of what happens in those meetings is going to get the reputation of being mysterious. Even a quilting group! :0) My hubby is a Freemason. Their meetings consisted of more sitting around talking than anything else. Each Lodge will usually have one main cause that they raise money for. But should anyone in need approach the Lodge looking for help, they wouldn't be turned away. I have no doubt that some Masonic Lodges in big cities have their 'finger in the pot' so to speak - influencing and steering events in the area around them.

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    1. Jeanne ~ Thank you! I was surprised to see these items in a museum too. They were enclosed in a gallery space that was showing folk art. It was pretty unexpected to walk into a dark little room filled with these items. Of course I thought this stuff looked cool, but I had no idea what I was looking at until doing some reading.

      Oh, that's interesting that you saw the linked ring symbol on the tombstones. From what I can tell, this group is a really big part of the members' lives. So it doesn't surprise me that the group symbol would be on their stones. Now I'm wondering if I've seen the linked ring symbol anywhere before, but just didn't pay attention since I didn't know what it meant. It turns out there are a whole lot more people in this group than I would have thought!

      "Even a quilting group" Haha! Hey, if you said that you were doing secret quilting rituals that no one could talk about, I bet the gossip would start flowing about the group. :) So, you have an inside Lodge perspective! I imagine a lot of sitting and chatting happens in Lodges. I know for a lot of people, there's a community spirit. I like the giving, volunteer aspect to these groups no matter what else is going on. If you mean that Masonic Lodges in big cities are a little umm... involved in politics, then I agree. From what I've read, a lot of politicians and influential people are involved in these groups. Secret meetings + rituals + politics has the potential to = something a little suspicious/corrupt/bizarre. At the super wealthy or political level, these groups are a conspiracy theory waiting to happen!

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  6. I definitely like the Odd Fellows exhibit.

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    1. Me too! I'd enjoy seeing some exhibits of objects from other fraternal groups. I'm sure there are all kinds of antiques from similar groups out there.

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  7. Its interesting how organizations like Freemasons were linked to less savoury doings, isn't it. Nothing like exclusivity and tight lips to start folks imaginations up and tongues wagging. The idea of secret societies that make their members rich and successful, cover up criminal, depraved behaviour, topple governments etc... its really fascinating.

    Ali @ http://underanautumnmoom.blogspot.co.uk/

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    1. Alison ~ That's just what exclusivity and tight lips will do! A person could start the most boring club in the world, but people would still be interested if the goings-on were a secret. Yeah, the more money, prominence, and crime is involved, the more suspicious a group seems! I think there's something to some of the conspiracy theories at the higher group levels. Although, some of the theories I've read seem pretty out there!

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  8. Great post Justine! My husband is actually a Freemason ;) It's very interesting to see all of the documentaries on the History channel about them, in comparison to the little that I do know about the masons (he can't even tell me everything about them as they are sworn to secrecy) :) We always laugh at how dramatic and scandelous the documentaries make the masons sound! It is a secretive organization, as far as what they say in their rituals. My husband has a book that he had to memorize and it's in some code that I TRIED to read, but couldn't make out a single word lol. But it is a group comprised of great men, who carefully pick their members. We were both actually interviewed before he was considered. This is to make sure that they are getting a person of good standing and to make sure that their spouse is ok with it. They do great things for their community. The one my hubby's in does a lot of work with organizations for those with dyslexica. They also create a wonderful network amongst themselves. Good men working together to become great men :) Oh and btw, that skelly is AMAZING!!!! =)

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    1. Heidi ~ Thanks! It's amazing how many Freemasons are out there. I had a feeling that at least one person reading this would have a connection to the group. I haven't watched any Freemason documentaries, but those sound like something I'd find interesting. Oooh... a book in secret code. I wonder what was in there? How interesting that you were interviewed as well. I hadn't thought of the spouses' role in initiation. I guess it's good to make sure everyone's wife has a heads up that their husband is joining. You never know! That's nice that your husband's group does work with dyslexica. I like the volunteer aspect of the groups.

      I like that skeleton too! I've tried to imagine what it looked like propped up in the meeting room. I assume the museum did their best to recreate the scene. It was pretty spooky in there!

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  9. Great post Justine...and timely too! I have also been rather intrigued with the Free Masons for the last few years. Conspiracy sights have myriads of crazy things to say about them, and that's what makes them so interesting, ha.

    This past fall when we went to New England, we called it the vacation of the Free Masons, because everywhere we went, we kept running in to FM buildings, temples, and cars with FM stickers. One guy's car outside of an Irish Pub we at at, even had all his FM books laid out there to see in the rear window of his corvette. And interestingly too....a lot of the cars with the FM stickers on them, also had government stickers on them as well like DHS,etc. This of course lead us to the conclusion that there must be many FM's working for our government. Not sure what to make of that. ( But there are quite a few of our past presidents in the US that were freemasons too,so who knows?).

    Then to top it off, when I returned home, my niece gifted me with a metal Free Mason Medallion for the Grand Lodge of New York. The back can be engraved with the date the person became a member, but this one was blank. She found it at a garage sale and knowing that I like to collect weird objects, she decided to get it for me. Then when we went to clean out my Mom's garage, I found an old FM info manual for new recruits in a box that had belonged to my step father. All of those finds within a week's time...I started wondering if I was being bombarded with FreeMason hints by the universe for a reason! Ha :o)

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  10. The Artful Gypsy ~ Thank you! What a coincidence that you should run into so many Freemason references around the same time. I'm interested in the amount of Freemasons in the New England area. Yeah, we have a history of a lot of American politicians being Freemasons. I assume many still are. It would be a useful way for them to network, if nothing else.

    I'm surprised at your niece's find at the garage sale! I would think that the person's family would have wanted that, assuming there was any remaining family. I've found some of the most personal items at estate sales/antique stores and have wondered the same thing. You'd think that the person's family would have wanted the old photos and letters that I've seen for sale. I'm intrigued by that medallion being blank. I don't know what to think about that. Maybe someone who manufactured or sold the medallions had it? What did you think of the manual you found in your stepfather's things? I wonder what was in there. How old was it? I'd love to look through one of those. You're in on some secrets now. :)

    I'm not sure why the universe bombarded you with Freemason info, but it sounds like an in-depth history lesson in a short amount of time!

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