Archivist and folk-art collector Jim Linderman is the author of the book In Situ: American Folk Art in Place, in which he curates some the odder things you can see, or could have seen at one time, across the U.S. Some of these wonders only existed for those who knew where to look.
“One trick during my folk-art picking days was to stop at the local post office and say I was a working photographer sent to document a place I could not find. ‘You know, he is kind of eccentric, and his yard is full of all sorts of things.’ As often as not, the clerks would come up with an answer. ‘Oh, yeah, the one on Jackson Street with the carvings!’ Many towns had a fellow who qualified and many still do.”
You can see a gallery of vintage postcards and pictures of curious finds, along with Linderman’s photographs of found art at Collectors Weekly.