Thursday, April 7, 2011

The Collyer brothers

Homer and Langley Collyer were compulsive hoarders during the 1940s. For decades, neighborhood rumors swirled around the rarely seen, unemployed men and their home at 2078 Fifth Avenue, in Manhattan, where they obsessively collected newspapers, books, furniture, musical instruments, and many other items They even set up booby-traps in corridors and doorways to protect against intruders. 


After an anonymous tip called that there was a dead body in the Collyer house, and much initial difficulty getting in, the police found Homer Collyer dead and Langley no where to be found. About two weeks later, after removing nearly 100 tons of garbage from the house, workers found Langley Collyer’s partialy decomposed body just 10 feet away from where they had found his brother. Langley had been crawling through their newspaper tunnel to bring food to his paralyzed brother when one of his own booby traps fell down and crushed him. Homer, blind and paralyzed, starved to death several days later.


brb, I have to obsessively clean my house now. 

43 comments:

ed said...

reminds me of that southpark episode

DerpFiles said...

My friend told me about these guys after he heard this story on NPR. It's so frightening, hoarding behavior. I've come across it once while doing some mission work when I still cared about that stuff. This old woman had a paralyzed son and they lived in rural Georgia. The yard was a literal dump. She buried trash in the backyard and when we tried to remove it so we could fix up her place, she'd go and bury it again when we weren't looking.

I can't bring myself to watch that A&E show about hoarding, looks too painful.

izzfoshizzz said...

damn thats a sad way to go...

Zombie said...

Thats a death trap filled with Indiana Jones type booby traps!! Wheres the giant rolling rock? lol.

Anonymous said...

ah! that awesoome!

CandleintheDark said...

Wow, that really sucks.

The Old Master said...

That is bloody intriguing. Yet kinda sad, haha!

Team Panda said...

not a good way to go out. bummer

Anonymous said...

that's really sad..what a way to die.

VanillaFace said...

Far out. That's crazy.
Thanks for follwing btw. Followed back :)

Schla.mp3 said...

thats a lot of stuff!

Jay said...

man, hoarding. :|

Moobeat said...

what a sad fate

baxxman said...

looks like the flat of my neighbour

Mathias najbjerg said...

What a mess to leave when dying. :/

The Old Master said...

Wow.... speechless

Anette said...

What a depressing way to die... :(

Fix PC Games Admin said...

good luck with cleaning :) that pic is interesting

ExoticBlogger said...

hmm interesting read..

Meghan Moran said...

sad story, but there's something so intriguing about hoarders.

christopherson said...

sad. but awesome fort.

D22 Zone said...

Don't forget to follow us on Youtube and Twitter! for the latest updates and game trailers!

Devon Davidson said...

Ugh, could you imagine cleaning that place out?

Nina said...

thats terrifying.

Toto said...

have fun! :D

http://all-around-toto.blogspot.com/

Matt Neumann said...

I was in a book store like that in Halifax! had to watch out for my safety! crazy how some people can live like that imho!!

Unknown said...

Sad story.

i.Mo said...

great blog
following

incredible-mo.blogspot.com

Astronomy Pirate said...

A lesson to hoarders, don't do it. Just throw that crap away, it will kill you in the end.

Wayward Disposition said...

Whhhhaaattt this beats anything else I've ever seen on the TLC show hoarders. this is insane

BTN Hip Hop said...

by god that is one hell of a mess

Voit said...

Man, this is what I call a great last-line joke. Great job.

I'm not heartless, by the way.

Something Concupiscible said...

These guys sound intense.

Blog Hunt said...

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY, THAT'S SO WEIRD

Come At Me Bro said...

This is great!

Schla.mp3 said...

i repeat that is a lot of stuff!

Kaneda said...

What a sad story...

Ender said...

lol wow thanks for posting that, it was an interesting read.

Unknown said...

huh?

The Wired said...

Wow, that is... so strange... If anything I'm the opposite of a hoarder. I detach myself emotionally from most of my shit, allowing me to toss it rather quickly. Awesome post as always!

Shutterbug said...

I've read about these guys. They are like the original hoarders!

Nemo said...

now i wanna put BOOB traps in my house

Endless said...

messy ppl

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