Weird Universe Blog — October 28, 2020

Demoralize Nazis with tea

1940: Stephens Fothergill of London had a very British plan to defeat the Nazis:

"I would allow the German army to march into London, and instead of greeting them with machine guns, I would give them cups of tea. That would completely demoralize them."

St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Feb 15, 1940

Posted By: Alex - Wed Oct 28, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: Military | War | 1940s

Music to Be Murdered By

Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 28, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Celebrities | Death | Hollywood | Music | 1950s

October 27, 2020

Doctor needs money

An unusual list of what a country doctor in 1924 was willing to accept as payment. I wonder if my doctor would accept some goose feathers and soft-shell turtles as a co-pay?

St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Mar 13, 1924



Letter sent out by a doctor at Paige, Tex.:

I expect a prompt settlement of all accounts due me. If not possible to settle in cash, any of the following named articles will be acceptable, viz.:
Cotton seed, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, billygoats, live catfish over 1 lb. each, bulldogs, registered bird dogs, skunk hides (dry), deer hides, shotguns, cedar posts, watches, gold teeth, diamonds, cream checks, pine trees (2 ft. in diameter, 30 ft. long), automobiles, new or secondhand; peanuts, black-eyed peas, Liberty Bonds, land notes, bacon, lard, country hams, clean goose feathers, soft-shell turtles over 5 lbs. each. Anything that can be sold for cash legally.
I need the money.

I have no idea what "cream checks" are. Google doesn't provide an answer.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Oct 27, 2020 - Comments (4)
Category: Medicine | Money | 1920s

A Horse with No Name in Latin

Posted By: Paul - Tue Oct 27, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: Animals | Humor | Parody | Languages | Music | 1970s

October 26, 2020

Mini skirts for road safety

1970: Liverpool officer Lionel Piper urged young women to wear mini skirts. In the interests of road safety. Sure, that was it... road safety!

The Hackensack Record - Jan 14, 1970



Young women in the 1970s dressed for road safety

Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 26, 2020 - Comments (3)
Category: Fashion | Highways, Roads, Streets and Traffic | 1970s

Viktor Wynd



Read the whole article here. His new book about his collections is behind the link below.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Oct 26, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Eccentrics | Museums | United Kingdom

October 25, 2020

Glue-On Sweat Diverter

Rosecroft Components recently (Dec 2019) was granted a patent for a glue-on "sweat diverter". From their patent:

When undertaking an activity causing sweating, a person can suffer from the effects of sweat dripping into his eyes. Many devices have been developed to address this problem, such as absorbent sweatbands. Such devices fail to prevent sweat from reaching the eyes once they become saturated, and must be dried or wrung out in order to restore their effectiveness...
Described herein are sweat-diverting devices which may be affixed to a wearer by an adhesive, such as a pressure-sensitive adhesive...
A sweat-diverting device may be reusable, with an adhesive reapplied for each wearing, or may be single use and disposable, with the adhesive integrated with the device during manufacturing.







Posted By: Alex - Sun Oct 25, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Fashion | Headgear | Inventions | Body Fluids

My Old Flame

A song that goes rapidly off the rails around the one-minute mark, with some Halloween relevance.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 25, 2020 - Comments (4)
Category: Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators | Horror | Music | 1940s | Parody

October 24, 2020

Have a nice day

Officials said the 17-year-old driver delivered a pizza to a local mobile home park late Friday, and after collecting payment and making change he urged the customer to "have a nice day."
The driver said the customer responded with one punch to his face and six to his stomach.

Casper Star-Tribune - Nov 23, 1983

Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 24, 2020 - Comments (6)
Category: Antisocial Activities | 1980s

Bambi Play Bags

I sure hope there are air-holes in these repurposed drycleaner bags.

Source.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 24, 2020 - Comments (10)
Category: Death | Movies | Children | 1950s

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All original content in posts is Copyright © 2016 by the author of the post, which is usually either Alex Boese ("Alex"), Paul Di Filippo ("Paul"), or Chuck Shepherd ("Chuck"). All rights reserved. The banner illustration at the top of this page is Copyright © 2008 by Rick Altergott.

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