There is something a bit odd going on in Oshkosh. Mel Schettl’s business is a menagerie of strange and peculiar things. It is an eccentric collection that grew from his curiosity and imagination as a designer. He has spent a lifetime collecting the unusual oddities to outfit stores, bars, and restaurants for visual impact.
The one question people always ask is, “Where do you get all this stuff?” The items come from old amusement parks, businesses, and even movie sets. Some of his favorite items are a statue of Atlas holding up the world from a health club in Chicago (which he’s had six of), a giant ‘Elsie The Cow’ which he believes came from an old Borden’s milk factory in Manitowoc, and finally he also has a larger than life, ten-foot-tall Remington statue that pays homage to the old west.
The hodgepodge collection has expanded to more than five acres of quirky, head-turning décor that Schettl has termed his “oddity park.” The unique collection is spread out across two locations and visitors come from as far away as Alaska, New York, and Canada. When visitors ask if he sells any of the zany items Schettl says, “No, I don’t really sell too much of it, but the guy that sells it to me, man, he sells a lot of it, and they look at me just baffled.”
