Thomas Wedders was known to have the longest nose in the world back in the early 1700s. Even after hundreds of years, no one has been able to beat his record.
We can all probably think of someone with a big nose, whether it’s a friend, a famous person, or a cartoon character. But we’re almost certain that no one you think of will have a nose as big as Wedders’.
Except maybe for Pinocchio, but only after he’s lied a lot.
Wedders’ nose was said to have been so big that he showed it off all over Yorkshire for everyone to see, but there were no cameras around to catch it in all its glory.
The best way to say it was in a piece from The Strand Magazine, Vol. XI, which came out in 1896:
Thus, if noses were ever uniformly exact in representing the importance of the individual, this worthy ought to have amassed all the money in Threadneedle Street and conquered all Europe, for this prodigious nose of his was a compound of the acquisitive with the martial.
But either his chin was too weak or his brow too low, or Nature had so exhausted herself in the task of giving this prodigy a nose as to altogether forget to endow him with brains; or perhaps, the nose crowded out this latter commodity.
At all events, we are told this Yorkshireman expired, nose and all, as he had lived, in a condition of mind best described as the most abject idiocy.
So, how big was Wedders’ nose, really?
To be exact, it was a whopping 7.5 inches or 19 centimeters. If you were wondering, that’s longer than the iPhone 14.
The incredible nose was remembered in Ripley’s Believe It or Not cartoon and a wax figure that showed how long his nose really was. Wedders has also been given a Guinness World Record for having the longest nose.
We don’t know much about Wedders’ personal life, but it’s said that before he died in his early 50s, he worked as a performer in various circus sideshows.
He lived long before the internet, but when a picture of his wax figure was posted on Reddit, it got a lot of attention.
One shocked Redditor replied to the post by writing:
They say your brain automatically ignores looking at your own nose but yeah I don’t know about that guy.
Another questioned:
What is actually happening here? Tumor? Growth? Random genetic mishap? Do the nostrils extend all the way to the tip?? I have so many questions…
We probably won’t find out much more about Wedders’ nose, but maybe someone will break his record someday.
