NewsNet5 reports that Bay Village's Eric Eakin has accumulated some 250 unique bed pans over the years, many of which are antiques.
"All the time I question, 'Why me?' Why did this collection end up in my basement and I have no idea how it happened," Eakin said. "It found me," he told NewsNet5's Meg Shaw.
Last year, Northeast Ohio Media Group wrote up a short exposé on Eakin who at that time said the oldest piece in his collection dated back to the 1800s.
The oldest is from the 1800s. The smallest are for a dollhouse or diorama. Many are arranged on shelves, separated depending on whether they are meant to serve male or female anatomy. Some — like one that bears tribute to former Youngstown-area congressman Jim Traficant — are simply resting in a pile, while Eakin tries to figure out how to house them all.
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His collection ranges from beautifully glazed ceramic versions to a urinal from a B-52 bomber. One is a "guitar" with a bedpan as the body and a neck strung with barbed wire. Another has a flame pattern.
And then there's that "Free James Traficant" model, replete with images of the former congressman, who served time in prison after a corruption conviction that he maintained was driven by a government vendetta.
Which one is Eakin's favorite? "I couldn't choose," he says in mock horror. "It would be like choosing your favorite child."
NewsNet5 says folks can look for Eakin's collection featured in the latest Ripley's Believe It or Not, Eye-Popping Oddities.
