Weird Universe Blog — November 7, 2024

Nati-anal Airlines

Joshua Alper's 1978 book, The Documentary Record of an Infringement, documents his "pseudovandalist" alteration of a damaged billboard to make it read "anal Airlines."

Pre-alteration and damage, the billboard was for National Airlines, which is now defunct.

The book is quite rare, but you can get a copy for $100.

I haven't been able to find a picture of the billboard post-alteration, and I'm not going to pay the money for his book.





Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 07, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Books | Air Travel and Airlines | 1970s | Billboards

Follies of the Madmen #610

"The Big Stain" would make a great title for a noir film.



Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 07, 2024 - Comments (1)
Category: Domestic | Hygiene | Neighbors, Co-tenants, Residents of a District | Advertising | Twentieth Century

November 6, 2024

Japanese Rice Festival

I haven't been able to figure out what the name of this festival was, but it included the feat of strength shown below.

But I gotta wonder, what would happen if the guy realized he couldn't actually support the 1000 lbs (or more) of weight they've got stacked on him? Were there occasional fatalities?

Des Moines Register - Dec 6, 1964

Posted By: Alex - Wed Nov 06, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Human Marvels | Parades and Festivals | 1960s | Asia

Art—People—Feelings

The heyday of the "Let's all groove together" utopianism.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Nov 06, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Art | PSA’s | Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers | 1970s

November 5, 2024

Emil Matalik for President

Wisconsin farmer Emil Matalik (1929-2008) first ran for president in 1964 but didn't get any votes. Undeterred, he kept running again and again.

His primary objective was to replace all national governments with a single world government, but he had some more bizarre proposals such as replacing all cars with bicycles "to keep the world accident rate down... and to get people out of corrupt city life and back to farm life."

He also wanted to solve the world's water shortage through birth control. His reasoning was that people are mostly water. So if there's fewer people, there'll be more water. He suggested that spanking to orgasm was a good form of birth control.

Bismarck Tribune - Mar 31, 1970



Some more details about him from the Fortean Times (May 2016):







One of his campaign flyers from the mid-1980s:

source: Kooks, by Donna Kossy

Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 05, 2024 - Comments (3)
Category: Strange Candidates

Happy Election Day 2024

Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 05, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Politics

November 4, 2024

There’s Self Respect in Soap and Water

It seems odd to come across an ad from 1928 promoting the use of soap. That is, not any brand of soap specifically, but just soap in general.

I've pasted an explanation below from The Dirt On Clean: An Unsanitized History (2014) by Katherine Ashenburg.

The American Magazine - Aug 1928



Judging from the deluge of etiquette and self-help books, magazine articles and advertisements that urged Americans to wash themselves with as much soap and water as possible, the 1920s should have been a fine time for soap makers. Instead, they anticipated a drop in sales. A buyer's market of goods was overwhelming and distracting the consumer. At the same time, Americans were getting less and less dirty. Paved streets and roads, the automobile and electricity all made for people who were cleaner than those who lived with dirt roads, horses, coal stoves and kerosene lamps. More efficient central heating made the wearing of heavy woollen clothes unnecessary. Thanks to more mechanized factories and labour-saving devices, workers and housewives did not get as dirty as before. What concerned soap makers most, however, was the Roaring Twenties' booming cosmetics industry. The most successful advertising campaigns for soap had promised that cleanliness would bring beauty. Unfortunately for them, lipstick, rouge and mascara produced the illusion of beauty more effectively than the most luxurious soap.

In 1927 the soap makers retaliated by founding the Cleanliness Institute, a trade organization devoted to inculcating in Americans a belief in the supreme value of hygiene. Eighty per cent of soap manufacturers supported the new organization, and the New York Times welcomed its initiative. Happy that "the slovenly folk, who have been going on the theory that they can take a bath or leave it, are to be brought to their senses," the Times saw the Institute as meeting a genuine social need. Using magazine advertisements, radio ads and "public service announcements," and a battery of classroom teaching aids, the Institute aimed at making Americans feel that there was no such thing as "clean enough."

Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 04, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Hygiene | Advertising | 1920s

Decorative Metal Lozenges in Place of Necktie

Many men complain about having to wear a necktie, deeming neckties useless and constraining. But who would not gladly wear a dog collar with a bunch of groovy metal lozenges hanging therefrom?

Full patent here.







Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 04, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Fashion | Patents | Twenty-first Century

November 3, 2024

The Timberjack Walking Machine

Also known as the John Deere Walking Tractor. It was like a real-life version of the walkers from Star Wars (minus laser cannons). Details from Forestry Thoughts:

It was made by a subsidiary of Timberjack, called Plustech Oy, and designing began in 1995 and the following prototype, called Plusjack was presented in 1999. Deere & Company purchased the company Timberjack in 2000. And in 2005, Timberjack Oy became John Deere Forestry Oy. Actually the designing department of John Deere´s forestry machines still is in Tampere, where they design everything.

There were few reasons why there were only two ever made. One was high price and other main one was its slowness in the field. It is a remarkable piece of engineering ahead of its time. One of these machines is at display at the Lusto, at the Finnish Forest Museum. And the other one I think, was shipped to USA to be displayed at some John Deere exhibition.




Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 03, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Robots | Technology

A Double Barrel Blast

Side 2 is particularly relevant to today's AI debate.



Posted By: Paul - Sun Nov 03, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Death | Technology | Vinyl Albums and Other Media Recordings | 1960s

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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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