These Trophies Are Proudly Displayed, But Not At All Where You’d Expect

When you or a loved one takes home an award, it seems like a logical choice to display it where everyone can see it. Trophies are a source of pride for many people, no matter what they’re for, from athletics to academics to growing the county’s largest watermelon. That said, the last place you’d think to find a trophy collection is under a bridge.

This is the bridge where the trophies are. You might never notice it when walking by.

This mysterious shelf full of trophies appeared last year on the Cambridge side of the Longfellow Bridge in Boston. There’s no knowledge of who installed it, or why; it just popped into existence one day. And it keeps growing. More trophies are added to it periodically, and some visitors even leave their own trophies on the shelves as a sort of offering or participation. None of the trophies are fixed to the shelves in any way, which means that hypothetically, people could just walk off with them. But they don’t.

Someone, presumably not the same person who installed the trophies, also added a graffiti mural to the wall, which adds a bright pop of color. The mural also makes the collection of trophies look all the stranger in its already strange setting.

Besides being a fun, unexpected sight, the trophy shelf is also a talking point. Whoever created it is keeping quiet, and their anonymity sparked many a conversation over how and why this whole thing came to be. (It being an art installation is the general theory, but it’s not proven.) The closest we have to an identity for the creator is from a comment on an article by someone calling themselves “trophy guy.” No further information and no link, but the mysterious trophy guy states that they placed a few more trophies on the shelves in late December, and was on the lookout for winter sport trophies. But who can really say?

(via MessyNessyChic)

Whoever created this, and for whatever purpose, might well remain a mystery forever. However, that seems like part of the fun. Countless theories could be created from this piece of art (if that’s what it is, and not awards given to a troll for each human eaten). We could also simply appreciate it for what it is: a little unexpected treasure in an unlikely place.