Friday, November 7, 2014

Hobbit Doors

Fountain City Wisconsin on the last day of October, 2014.  As I walked down the sidewalk I stopped, noticing something odd:


A strange little door:

I didn't think that much about it really, this was a 19th century commercial building, perhaps a tavern. Sometimes there would be a special hatch for delivering kegs, or more prosaically coal.  Until I looked at the other side of the building:


Another half sized door, this one with its own address!

I think there is only one logical explanation.  This place was designed in the same fashion as The Prancing Pony from The Lord of the Rings.  As it was explained by one Barliman Butterbur:

"If you weren't hobbits I doubt we could house you.  But we've got a room or two in the north wing that were made special for hobbits, when this place was built.  On the ground floor as they usually prefer; round windows and all as they like it."

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Addendum.  A week later in another small river town I ran across this:


Obviously one of those round windows. I had not realized that hobbits were so widespread in Western Wisconsin.  Well, it is as Professor Tolkien said:

"Even in ancient days thy were, as a rule, shy of 'the Big Folk', as they call us, and now they avoid us with dismay and are becoming hard to find".

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