COMPREHENSION TOOLS Name: Develop a Summary TEXT B The Man Who Made Monsters DIRECTIONS Read the story, and underline key details. 1 If you drive along Interstate 10 near Tucson, Arizona, a series of Then, complete the bright yellow billboards might catch your eye: activity on page 6. 2 "The THING? Mystery of the Desert!" "The THING? What Is It?" "The THING? Don't Miss It! Exit 322" 3 You can't help but wonder-what could it possibly be? The truth is, it's not a mysterious creature captured in the desert. It isn't an alien from outer space. The Thing is the work of Homer Tate, an artist who made monsters for a living. Roadside Attractions 4 As a boy, Homer liked to make art and sculpt figures out of wax and clay. When he grew up, he found work as a miner, a farmer, and even a sheriff-but he still loved to create with his hands. Then he saw something that sparked an idea for a new way to make money. 5 In the 1930s and 1940s, families often took road-trip vacations. Stores along the highways posted colorful signs to attract attention. The owners hoped parents and kids who stopped to see something like "the Bamboozle Bat" might buy a souvenir or want a snack. Carnivals and fairs also used "rare creatures" to bring in customers. People came to ride rides, play games, and ooh and aah over curiosities like a squid in a jar or a "unicorn horn." 6 One day, Homer Tate went to a carnival where he saw a tent advertising curiosities. He couldn't resist going inside. As he curiosities: something looked closely, Tate noticed the creatures weren't real-someone strange or interesting had made them. He was sure he could make even better ones. And it would be fun! 7 Tate had never taken art classes, so he experimented. He mixed his own papier-mache out of paper and homemade glue. At first, papier-mache: mixture of Tate made dioramas, small models of everyday scenes. Then he pieces of paper and glue @ by Cricket Media, Inc. Re realized people would rather look at fantastic beasts than dioramas. So, Tate began to build monsters.COMPREHENSION TOOLS Name : TEXT B Develop a Summary Mail-Order Monsters 8 All of Tate's creations started with a base of papier-mache. After the papier-mache dried, he colored it with paint or shoe polish. Tate was especially creative in adding details. He rubbed dirt on some to make them look old. When a creature like the Wampus Cat needed a furry body, he used hair swept from beauty salon and barbershop floors. For the claws of the Two-Toed Galoot, he hired a farm boy to find chicken and turkey toenails in a coop where birds were kept. Once he got good at making monsters, Tate opened his very own monster store: Tate's Curiosity Shop in Phoenix, Arizona. 9 Tate spread the word that his beasts were for sale-and he would ship them anywhere by mail. He put ads in newspapers and sent out catalogs listing the kinds of creatures and prices for each. He guaranteed that his creations would attract a crowd. The catalog guaranteed: certain to promised, "We make your ideas. If you have something in mind happen that you want made, tell us about it!" 10 His advertising worked. Nobody knows exactly how many beasts Tate made, but he shipped hundreds every year for 20 years. He was proud to call himself "the man who has made more curious things than any other man." Some were creepy and scary. Others were just odd, like rabbits with horns. Did people believe his monsters were real? It's impossible to say, but plenty paid a dime or a quarter to see one. Others paid as much as $55 to own one. 11 Today, not many of Tate's creations are left-the paper and glue have fallen apart over time. But a few, like The Thing (a fake mummy), still exist. So, if you see a flashy sign promising a mysterious creature at a rest stop along a dusty highway, it might just be one of Homer Tate's homemade monsters. by Cricket Media, Inc. Reproduced with permissionCOMPREHENSION TOOLS Name : Develop a Summary ACTIVITY B Organizing Text Details Fill in the chart with important details from the text. Put them in the same order they appear in the text. Then, using the details, write a summary that lows logically. Details 1 Homer Tate 2 Tate liked to made The Thing. make things with his hands and thought of a way to make a living making things. 5 7 8 Summary