Clean Those Valves!

1) Wooden Bridge Inspection

2) Arrow Dipping

3) Cranberry Bog Tour

Have we found a contender to match those in boredom? The speech is out of sync with the lip movements, and there's annoying media broadcast in the background. Plus, the test notes he blows are atrocious!

Winner!

Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 26, 2012 - Comments (5)
Category: Annoying Things, Boredom, Hygiene, Music, Technology

What makes Gay Edna happy?

Only Midol... washed down with a couple of shots of whiskey, I assume.


via Beatrix Elizabeth Groves

Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 26, 2012 - Comments (10)
Category: Advertising

The Husband Detector

Dr. Gordon Volkenant seems like he was quite the character. In 1947, he invented a gadget he called the "husband detector." It was basically a motion detector, designed to help wives catch their husbands who were trying to sneak unheard into the house after a late night at the bar. When it sensed someone coming through the door, it set off a loud siren. link: Pittsburgh Press



Volkenant promptly became the first husband to be caught by his own device, when it rang the alarm as he tried to sneak into his house at 3 a.m. link: Washington Reporter

And based on the look of him, I'm guessing he wasn't just at the bar until 3 a.m. Here he is in 1948 demonstrating another of his gadgets, which he called an "electronic humidistat." He claimed it could detect hosiery defects in nylon stockings when he waved it up and down a woman's leg. It looks a lot like a regular lightbulb to me. I'm sure he found it necessary to test on many women.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Apr 25, 2012 - Comments (7)
Category: Inventions, Lies, Dishonesty and Cheating, Husbands

Cinderella Penguin

The tale of a glass flipper.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 25, 2012 - Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Family, Myths and Fairytales, Cartoons, Shoes, Parody

Chessboxing

Well, you fellas would have a longer break to run to the kitchen and elsewhere between boxing rounds anyway.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Apr 24, 2012 - Comments (2)
Category: Martial Arts

Lenin’s Cats

"Don't trust anyone who doesn't like cats."

Okay.

But does that imply "Trust everyone who likes cats"...?

Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 24, 2012 - Comments (12)
Category: Historical Figure, Cats, 1910s, 1920s, Russia

Helen Keller Sunglasses

Yeah, she was blind and socialist. But the important question is -- can her name help sell sunglasses? A Chinese eyewear company thinks the answer is yes. Which proves, I guess, that the Chinese have become just as adept as us Americans at recycling cultural heroes into hawkers of overpriced crap. (Thanks to Bob Pagani for the link!) Check out the Helen Keller Sunglasses ad below:

Posted By: Alex - Tue Apr 24, 2012 - Comments (4)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products

Superman Blowup

The, ah..... um... ah... action starts around the 2:20 mark.

Posted By: Expat47 - Tue Apr 24, 2012 - Comments (4)
Category: Boredom

ATM Machine Unveiled in 1966

According to Wikipedia, this wasn't the very first ATM, but it was among the earlier, prototype models. I like how the caption presciently refers to the machines as "future monsters." Google news link: Saskatoon Star Phoenix, October 31, 1966.

I'm young enough that I can't remember the first time I used an ATM machine. Their presence was something I always took for granted. But people 50 or older probably remember when these machines started to appear in the 70s.



Better quality picture:

Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 23, 2012 - Comments (13)
Category: Money, Technology

Unsafest Skies Ever!

[Click on either half of the image to enlarge.]

Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 23, 2012 - Comments (5)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Confusion, Misunderstanding, and Incomprehension, Surrealism, Air Travel and Airlines