Bowling Green, Ohio: Human Fingers in a Jar

The Wood County Museum displays the fingers of murder victim Mary Bach and the knife used to sever them.

The star exhibit at the Wood County Historical Center and Museum are the fingers of Mary Bach, hacked off by her murderous husband in 1881, and displayed for years in a jar of whiskey. But the alcohol eventually evaporated, leaving the fingers high and dry and imperiled. Technology to the rescue! A new preservation technique that promises to very, very slowly "rehydrate" the fingers is currently underway, and the museum, taking advantage of the fingers' absence, is remodeling their surrounding exhibit to focus more on domestic violence. According to curator Holly Hartlerode, the fingers will be back and on display -- but not until 2018.

It's more than just fingers in a jar... The museum was a poor house/infirmary/invalid home. The people there kept the museum open after closing so we could look around. Every room has a description of what it used to be (includes a morgue) and is very visitor-friendly. One highlight of the grounds is a lunatic house that you can go in. If the staff hadn't been so nice, it would be creepy.

Also present is a bird Clark Gable shot and it's not really known why it's there. As for the fingers, they were cut off by the doctor for court use, not by the killer (husband), but the knife did kill her and the rope did hang him.