Charles Louis Richter: Goats start on the linked page in this catalog from the DeMoulin Brothers, purveyors of the finest initiation paraphernalia, hoodwinks, and the most culturally appropriating (not to say racist [no, let's say racist]) costumes imaginable:

learning that the founder of Woodmen was a guy named ROOT!!!!

when my siblings and I were kids, we were obsessed with Woodmen of the World, in the way that some people are about Freemasons. we especially loved visiting the graves of local Woodmen, which were often styled to resemble felled trees.

source: Kaylyn F. Mabey, Statesman Journal

"The organization sold insurance, especially for people in high-risk occupations, and many of the policies included riders for a tombstone. In Colorado, the very common high-risk occupation was mining. The organization was committed to the motto 'no Woodmen shall rest in an unmarked grave.'"

Is this headstone a Woodman of the World marker?www.colorado-cemeteries.com Cemeteries in the United States are filled with Woodman of the World headstones. What is the Woodman of the World, and how do you identify a Woodman headstone.

OH MY GOSH THEY HAD GOAT ORDEALS

an initiation rite for prospective Woodmen involved THE FERRIS WHEEL COASTER GOAT (source: Lisa Hix, Collectors Weekly)

There are catalogs of fraternity/fraternal order supplies that are full of various "goats" that were deemed necessary for initiation rituals. Not sure why it was so often a goat.

Goats start on the linked page in this catalog from the DeMoulin Brothers, purveyors of the finest initiation paraphernalia, hoodwinks, and the most culturally appropriating (not to say racist [no, let's say racist]) costumes imaginable:

[Catalogue] : Demoulin Brothers and Company (Greenville, Ill.) : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archivearchive.org

thank you for this source, which I will absolutely check out!!!

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