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This caption on this poster from Portland's Freakybuttrue Peculiarium reads: "Portland, Oregon was the sight of the first professional staring contests West of the Mississippi, in 1903. Pictured here, reigning champions Alice T. Mundy and Baxter Burnside square off in a championships match to the death. In 1904, bloody rivalries erupted between the Southeast and Southwest staring gangs that ended in numerous arrests, several deaths and countless strained eyes."

(Freakybuttrue Peculiarium)

Mike Wellins doesn't necessarily peddle the truth. Co-owner and co-creator of the Freakybuttrue Peculiarium - Portland's home of "off-center" oddities - Wellins is more a man of myth and legend.

So when he tells you that he's reviving Portland's century-old tradition of professional hyper-competitive staring contests, you might have to take it with a grain of salt.

That's the mythology behind his 109th Annual Staring Contest (it's actually the Peculiarium's first), coming to the northwest Portland gallery on Saturday, May 30. The history might be dubious, but it will be a legitimate competition, open to contestants of all ages, staring each other down, unblinking, until one comes out on top.

A poster of an alleged Portland staring contest from the Freakybuttrue Peculiarium.

Wellins said the event was inspired by a poster at the Peculiarium of a man and a woman staring fiercely at one another. The caption says the pair is Alice T. Mundy and Baxter Burnside, squaring off in a championship staring contest "to the death."

"Portland, Oregon was the sight of the first professional staring contests West of the Mississippi, in 1903," the caption reads. "In 1904, bloody rivalries erupted between the Southeast and Southwest staring gangs that ended in numerous arrests, several deaths and countless strained eyes."

It's clever, but as you might imagine, it's probably not historically accurate.

I took the claim to Doug Kenck-Crispin, resident historian for Kick Ass Oregon History. He said he knew nothing about it, and directed me to a search of Oregon's historical newspaper archives that yield no mention of any staring contests in Portland.

While entertaining, any bloody staring wars across the Willamette appear to be little more than a gag.

That hasn't stopped the poster from becoming wildly popular at the Peculiarium. Wellins said the gallery has sold a lot of postcards of the image, finally deciding to "revive" the staring contest as a local part of Atlas Obscura's international Obscura Day this year.

"'Keep Portland Weird' is such a big phrase we hear all around town," he explained. "We're actively, actively trying to keep Portland weird."

The rules for the competition will be simple: Two people at a time stare into each other's eyes. Whoever blinks first loses. No interference, no eye drops, no "stare-oids." Competitors will go head-to-head until a champion is determined.

Wellins said he doesn't expect contestants to last much longer than a minute, but he might be underestimating the power of the human eyeball.

According to a 2011 story by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, two competitors in a local staring contest lasted nearly 41 minutes, shattering the alleged Guinness World Record of 17 minutes.

"That's great!" Wellins wrote when he saw the story. "We'll put on the coffee and go on all night if we have to!"

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109TH ANNUAL STARING CONTEST

When: Saturday, May 30, starting ay 5 p.m.

Where: Freakybuttrue Peculiarium (map it)

Admission: $4 to compete, register online

--Jamie Hale | jhale@oregonian.com | @HaleJamesB