Weird Universe Archive

July 2015

July 23, 2015

Give a Party for the Party!

A 1930s party-planning manual for members of the American Communist Party, downloadable as a PDF here. Let's just say, those guys knew how to throw a cheap party.

More info from a 2003 article in the NY Times:

Published in the late 1930s by the party's New York state branch and recently rediscovered by a Brandeis University historian, it's a 15-page illustrated tutorial in the art of ideologically correct fraternizing. Among the suggested high jinks: cutting editorials from The Daily Worker into pieces and having guests see who can put them back together fastest, or holding a mock convention on, say, nonintervention in Spain. "One guest is made chairman. Another is Chamberlain, another Leon Blum, a third Mussolini," the pamphlet cheerfully explains. Or why not try a round of anti-Fascist darts? "Draw a picture of Hitler, Mussolini, Hague or another Girdleresque pest. Put it on a piece of soft board with thumbtacks. Six throws for a nickel, and a prize if you paste Hague in the pants, or Trotsky in the eye," the pamphlet instructs.

Also, advertise "All the free beer you can drink!" but charge expensive admission at the door ("Yes, people will pay!"). And then:

Pour your beer in the center of the glass not down the inside. POURING IN THE MIDDLE GIVES MORE FOAM AND LESS LIQUID — STRETCHES EACH BARREL FURTHER.

Posted By: Alex - Thu Jul 23, 2015 - Comments (2)
Category: Games, Politics, 1930s

Lemon Incest



Background info here.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Jul 23, 2015 - Comments (4)
Category: Family, Music, Sexuality, 1980s, Europe

July 22, 2015

Bearly Conscious


Must not have been able to find any pic-a-nic baskets.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 22, 2015 - Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Sleep and Dreams, Eating

Banana and Mayonnaise Sandwiches

I recently learned that banana and mayonnaise sandwiches are considered a southern delicacy. A variant is the peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwich. Or combining all three: the peanut butter, banana, and mayonnaise sandwich.

There's a Facebook community dedicated to Banana and Mayonnaise Sandwiches. Also, this is apparently one of Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s favorite foods.

The Garden & Gun blog traces the popularity of peanut butter and mayo sandwiches (and presumably also of banana and mayo) back to the Great Depression:

Through the hardships of the Great Depression and the lean years that followed, peanut butter and mayonnaise kept many struggling households afloat. They were also the ingredients in a sandwich that was once as popular as peanut butter and jelly in parts of the South...
Newspaper clippings from the national heyday of the peanut butter and mayonnaise sandwich, a period that seems to have begun in the 1930s and continued through the 1960s, provide evidence that the practice of adding mayonnaise to peanut butter could have originated as a way of transforming rough-hewn nut butters into spreadable pastes.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 22, 2015 - Comments (14)
Category: Food, Mayonnaise, Bananas

July 21, 2015

Stripping Striker, 1964

The artists' models at Rome's Academy of Fine Arts... sent their negotiator, Anna di Vetta, out onto the streets to press their claims. In girdle, bra, and high heels, Anna paraded through the city with a sign promising complete exposure of her 40½-31-40½ figure if her union's demands were not met. Instead of bravely meeting the challenge, the combined ministries of Labor and Public Instruction crumbled. They promised a fixed salary of $150 a month and fringe benefits—but only, reported a triumphant Anna, "if I promised not to take off all my clothes."


Source: Newsweek - Dec 28, 1964

Posted By: Alex - Tue Jul 21, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Riots, Protests and Civil Disobedience, 1960s

Pens for Men

Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 21, 2015 - Comments (9)
Category: Stereotypes and Cliches, Television, Tools, Advertising, 1950s, Men

July 20, 2015

#womenon10

image

[Click to enlarge]

Further suggestions welcome.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jul 20, 2015 - Comments (6)
Category: Money, Scary Criminals, Women

The Embalmed Head of Oliver Cromwell

Marc Hartzman, author of the weird classic God Made Me Do It (featured here on WU back in 2010) is back with a new journey into the bizarre — The Embalmed Head of Oliver Cromwell - A Memoir. Marc writes:

This historical fiction book follows the real history of Cromwell's head through 300 years of posthumous journeys across England (1661-1960), all told from the head's perspective. Imagined anecdotes complement the true historical notes, which include many real historical characters and events, such as the rise of Spiritualism, phrenology, the Elephant Man, surgeon John Hunter, and a lot more. 

Not only is it the first memoir of an embalmed head, but it is also, I believe, the first book to come with a theme song. It was written and performed by singer/songwriter/pianist Stephie Coplan, whose song, “Hey Oliver Cromwell!” is now available on iTunes and Spotify, and here on Soundcloud [below].

The cover was fully illustrated by Brooklyn artist Vi Luong.

More details at the publisher's site: CuriousPublications.com.


Posted By: Alex - Mon Jul 20, 2015 - Comments (3)
Category: Literature, Books

Follies of the Madmen #254

image
image

Having little mannikins of the performers standing on their records is a vivid metaphor about the living quality of the sound. But then to set those records and their passengers rafting down the river--well, the metaphor gets a little jumbled, to say the least.

Original advert here.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jul 20, 2015 - Comments (10)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Music, 1950s

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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.

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