Original Cabinet Card - CC019 Ironjaw McCullough

Thomas “Ironjaw” McCullough was the pride of Chicago’s stockyards — not for his work ethic (which was questionable) but for his ability to intimidate an entire saloon with the sheer geometry of his facial hair. His moustache, locals swore, could sweep a poker table clean in a single turn of the head.

During the 1893 World’s Fair, Ironjaw earned his nickname in the Midway’s Strongman Tent, where he shocked the crowd by biting clean through a railroad spike. The feat became less impressive when it was discovered the spike was made of chocolate, but Ironjaw never let the truth spoil a good legend.

In later years, he toured the country selling patent “Moustache Fortifiers,” claiming they were “guaranteed to put the fear of God in man and beast alike.” No one knows what was in them, but rumors persist that the Chicago River hasn’t fully recovered.

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Colin Batty is an artist from Manchester, UK. He has worked on countless cool projects including Tim Burton's, Mars Attacks, the Oscar nominated short, The Sandman, Eddie Murphy's, The PJ's and many, many more. Colin has contributed to Freakybuttrue for many years and graces this site with his amazing designs, incredible sculptures, comics and his world famous cabinet card paintings and so much more.

Each original cabinet card is a genuine one hundred year old (or more) photograph on which Colin directly paints. Photographs of this age are often creased, scratched, deteriorated, and otherwise worn. Colin often utilizes the character of the wear to find inspiration.

Each card is signed and dated by the artist.

High quality prints of this original can be purchased HERE.