Is that Norm?

We all know Norm Abram can work wonders with woodworking tools to turn ordinary wood into beautiful pieces of furniture, or renovate an old house to make it the envy of the neighborhood. But, has Norm now renovated himself? Or has he mastered time travel? You be the judge...

The picture on the left was taken from a May 2006 edition of The Washington Post. The man in the picture is a happily married suburbanite going by the name of "Ben". The picture on the right is a picture of Norm as he appears on the cover of the book "Ask Norm", published in 2001. A striking similarity? Or, could it be the same Norm in both pictures? Has Norm recast himself by losing weight, dying his hair a bit, and trading in his trademark flannel shirt for a stylish polo shirt? A younger looking, hip Norm as it were.

Hold on, you say: "the direction of the hair part is different in each picture". Well, check out these other recent pictures of Norm:

Note that he parts his hair to the left -- just like in the first picture above. More proof that the man is no stranger to reinventing himself...

What about the time travel scenario? Could it be that a younger, trimmer Norm from the past has figured out a way to journey forward in time to live among us? Well, our crack research team managed to dig up an old photo of Norm and Steve Thomas that seems to disprove that theory (not that Norm isn't technically capable of building a time machine). It appears that young Norm was beefier and wider in the face than the Norm look-alike. And not a hint of gray in the beard. (see what 14 years of dealing with Steve's inane questions can do to a man...)

But, check out this Civil War era picture that we came across at Worth1000.com. Isn't there something a tad familiar about the soldier in the middle of the picture? Note how the business end of his rifle seems to be pointed right at him (reminiscent of how modern day Norm seldom uses the safety guards on his power tools). Are you getting goose bumps yet?

If you think you've seen Norm, or a "Norm-like" person in your neighborhood, let us know and we'll dispatch the research team pronto. There's no telling where he'll show up next...