Weird Universe Archive
January 2013
January 11, 2013
Wood comes back into style
The latest fashions were on display recently at the Topman Design's autumn/winter show in London, and I for one am eager to start sporting the look below. It consists of what looks like a cream-colored cotton sweatshirt to which planks of wood have somehow been attached. I suppose the logic is that if you get cold during winter, you can simply detach one of the pieces of wood and build yourself a fire to stay warm. (via metro.co.uk)Or perhaps the designer had in mind those wooden bathing suits from the 1930s but got confused and produced something slightly less functional.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jan 11, 2013 -
Comments (10)
Category: Fashion
Pre-internet Underground Book Distribution
Original ad here.
Gather around, children, and you shall learn of an ancient time, before the internet. A day of paper fanzines and weird information obtained only via books delivered by snailmail.
The main purveyor of such good stuff was the Loompanics catalog. Alas, they were driven out of business in 2006. The current website using their domain name is a shell and a scam by cybersquatters.
Over one hundred Loompanics books have been tagged as a Goodreads collection. You can get a small sense of what they were all about there.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 11, 2013 -
Comments (9)
Category: Drugs, Avant Garde, Books, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, Conspiracy Theories and Theorists, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s
Kansas Kills Sperm Donation
The state of Kansas has single handedly put sperm donation as a option for conception in jeopardy. The state is going after a man who donated his sperm to a lesbian couple for child support since the couple broke up and the custodial parent applied for welfare. The man did deliver his sperm to the couple without going through a doctor, but there was also an agreement signed by all parties relieving him of parental responsibility. Why not hold the other half of the couple accountable? Would the same thing be done by the state if a woman surrogated for a male gay couple and the same situation occured? With equal rights comes equal resposibilities don't you think?
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jan 11, 2013 -
Comments (7)
Category: Babies
January 10, 2013
What cigarette would your doctor recommend?
An ad campaign for Camels from the mid 1940s. The Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising site (where I found them) notes:
The none-too-subtle message was that if the doctor, with all of his expertise, chose to smoke a particular brand, then it must be safe. Unlike with celebrity and athlete endorsers, the doctors depicted were never specific individuals, because physicians who engaged in advertising would risk losing their license. (It was contrary to accepted medical ethics at the time for doctors to advertise.) Instead, the images always presented an idealized physician - wise, noble, and caring - who enthusiastically partook of the smoking habit. All of the "doctors" in these ads came out of central casting from among actors dressed up to look like doctors.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jan 10, 2013 -
Comments (11)
Category: Addictions, Advertising, 1940s
More Than A Little Creepy
A woman in Washington state was having issues with her home heat. When the repair guy came and checked things out he found that someone had been living in the crawl space under the house. The intruder had made him(or her)self at home by diverting the heat to the crawl space. There were also numerous alcohol containers strewn around the area. Enough to freak someone out don't you think?
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jan 10, 2013 -
Comments (7)
Category: Scary Criminals
Joe Magarac
The steel mill equivalent of Paul Bunyan? Who knew?
Original comic strip here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 10, 2013 -
Comments (7)
Category: Regionalism, Industry, Factories and Manufacturing, Myths and Fairytales, Superheroes, 1930s, 1950s, North America
January 9, 2013
How to Apply Blackface
Denison's make-up guide (1926) was a catalogue of the various products sold by Denison, but it also offered detailed instructions on how to use their products. Below is their guide for "blacking up" using their Superfine Minstrel Black make-up paint. There were similar how-to's for other ethnic types such as the 'Ghetto Jew,' the Japanese, Irishman, Chinaman, etc. See more images from the catalogue at UVA's online exhibit, Uncle Tom's Cabin & American Culture.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 09, 2013 -
Comments (8)
Category: Clowns, Costumes and Masks, Racism, 1920s
Worst Failure to Predict Global Warming Ever!
Read the whole issue here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 09, 2013 -
Comments (3)
Category: Futurism, Magazines, Children, Science Fiction, 1980s
January 8, 2013
Johnson Smith Catalog Item #28
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 08, 2013 -
Comments (6)
Category: Johnson Smith Catalog, 1930s, Weapons
January 7, 2013
This Is Kirk—Report
When the commander of the star-ship Enterprise requests a response from space -- he might not get it from his communicator.Just from Twitter.
When William Shatner tweeted Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, inquiring if he was in space, he received the reply:
"Yes, Standard Orbit, Captain. And we're detecting signs of life on the surface," from the International Space Station.
Here's a picture of the two from a 2D encounter, which was also discussed.
Click here to read the invitation for Shatner to go to Canada for a live interaction.
http://todayentertainment.today.com/_news/2013/01/04/16348921-william-shatner-tweets-at-astronaut-who-replies-from-space?lite
Why can't they just beam him up?
Posted By: gdanea - Mon Jan 07, 2013 -
Comments (7)
Category: Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy
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| Alex Boese Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction books such as Elephants on Acid. Paul Di Filippo Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1. Chuck Shepherd Chuck is the purveyor of News of the Weird, the syndicated column which for decades has set the gold-standard for reporting on oddities and the bizarre. Our banner was drawn by the legendary underground cartoonist Rick Altergott. Contact Us |
