In the 1960s and '70s, a big banner hung over the Greybull blacksmith shop that proclaimed "Wyoming’s Ugliest Man" worked there.
Foreign tourists on their way to Yellowstone National Park would detour to the shop where Reuben Reifschneider would entertain them by popping out an eye and his teeth, showing exactly how he had won that title.
Reifschneider, who lived in Basin and had his shop in Greybull, won nationwide acclaim when he earned the title “Wyoming’s Ugliest Man” on Art Linkletter’s popular CBS variety show "House Party" in 1964 and 1965.
The June 12, 1965, the Casper Morning Star reported that defending champion Reifschneider was voted “the ugliest man in Wyoming” by the audience, whose wild applause “was overwhelming.”
“It isn’t the glass eye that gets them,” Reifschneider said after his second win. “It’s my winning smile.”
Ralph N. Gillett of Greybull and Reifschneider were flown to Hollywood to appear on the Friday program to compete for the title in front of millions of viewers.
It was a running gag and guest feature, and the colorful blacksmith earned it, according to the locals who remember Reifschneider as a gregarious storyteller.
“I remember him as a kind and patient man,” Pam Richardson told Cowboy State Daily. “He had to work at the ugly. He wasn’t handsome, but he wasn’t scary to us kids.”
No Costume Needed
Dan Zavorka said Reuben was one of the nicest guys in the world and embraced his title.
“I recall him telling my folks that he took out his glass eye and false teeth for the contest,” Zavorka said. “Reuben was just himself. He didn't need a costume at all.”
According to Zavorka, the other contestants competed for the title by dressing in outrageous costumes. He recalls seeing one man with a big scruffy beard pretending to be a caveman.
Earline Oset said her dad, Buck Caldwell, competed against Reifschneider in the first contest by growing a beard and pretending to be a prospector.
“My dad could never have been the ugly man,” Oset said. “He had gotten a little black and dirty from working and he crawled on a burro. It was pretty cute.”
Oset said Reifschneider deserved the title because he didn’t need a costume. He just had to take out his eye and teeth and it changed his entire appearance to a “natural ugly.”
After his second win, the June 17, 1965, Casper Morning Star said Reifschneider proudly boasted on TV, “We’ll show those bearded fellers that we baldfaces ain’t sissies!”
Baldfaced Vigilantes
Reifschneider was referring to a special group to which he belonged: The “Baldfaced Vigilantes.” According to the Morning Star, the group, known as the BFV, were beardless, terrorist rebels. Their agenda was to demolish the Diamond Jubilee beard-growing promotion among Wyoming men.
To achieve their goal, the BFV were known to kidnap and shave bearded individuals.
“Last Sunday night, bearded whiskerino Walter Johnson of Lander was waylaid on a lonely country road outside town and shaved with a cordless electric razor,” the Casper paper reported. “And to add insult to injury, the masked desperadoes who perpetrated the deed painted the letters BFV in bold, black strokes across Johnson’s cheeks and forehead.”
Reifschneider’s title of Wyoming's Ugliest Man was a huge boost to the cause of the BFV since he won against a bearded individual.
The taunts between the groups continued for the rest of the summer and the Wind River Mountain Men joined in to defend beards in Wyoming.
“If we don’t get help, the beard-growers might just be in the minority this summer in Wyoming,” the bearded men told the newspaper.
Goofy Blacksmith
Reifschneider took his title in stride and for decades would entertain both the young and old with his special talent of “ugly.”
Jeral Preis wrote on the “10 Things I remember about Greybull, Wyoming” Facebook page that his dad told him a story about Reifschneider.
“He bet dad a beer that he could bite his eyeball,” Preis wrote. “He popped his eye out and bit it. He then bet dad another beer he could bite his other eyeball, popped his teeth out and bit it. Dad told me 'never bet a man at his own game.'”
Wade Werbelow remembers Reifschneider with his big ears and bigger smile. His grandpa, Lyle Kenyon, had a shop next to Reifschneider’s, and Werbelow spent a lot of time with the men as a youngster.
“My grandpa and Reuben would go in the bowling alley on coffee breaks at 10 in the morning and 3 in the afternoon,” Werbelow said. “I can remember he'd blow out his teeth, and put his glass eye in a cup of coffee just to get a reaction from people.”
Zavorka said Reifschneider always had time to talk and he always had time for children.
“I was probably 8 years old, and he would just sit down, tell me a story, laugh, and carry on, and, and just keep on talking,” Zavorka said.
Paul Vinzant remembered that it was Reifschneider who was responsible for Greybull’s fireworks display every Fourth of July.
“He had the fireworks stand,” Vinzant told Cowboy State Daily. “I was just a kid who bought firecrackers from him.”
The Storyteller
Greybull Historian Tom Davis said that in his early years as a farmer, he had lots of old equipment that Reifschneider would fix up for him in his welding shop.
“Reuben loved to tell stories, and he would tell me how busy he was — then he would stop working and spend 15 or 20 minutes or more telling me stories,” Davis said. “One of his favorite stories was from World War II when he was in General Patton's 3rd Army.”
Reifschneider told Davis he was busy repairing a Jeep when his sergeant rushed over, telling the men to clean up a bit, because General Patton was there inspecting his troops. Reifschneider replied that he was too busy repairing a Jeep to mess around waiting for the General--and he crawled back under a Jeep and kept working.
Pretty soon, Davis recounted that Reifschneider noticed a pair of highly polished boots standing beside the Jeep. He heard a voice saying "Soldier! What are you doing? Why aren't you ready? Fall in for Inspection."
"I'm too (explative) busy getting this Jeep fixed so that it can go all the way to Berlin without breaking down!" Reifschneider said.
Then, according to Reifschneider, he heard the general say, "Carry on soldier. We need more men like you in this outfit."
Davis said Reifschneider continued to live in Basin, even after moving his welding shop to Greybull in 1958-59.
In March 1977, Reifschneider died unexpectedly and both Greybull and Basin mourned the passing of Wyoming’s Ugliest Man.
Jackie Dorothy can be reached at jackie@cowboystatedaily.com.
