December 2015
December 17, 2015
Peels and All
June 1997: Mait Lepik won Estonia's first banana-eating contest thanks to a time-saving strategy. Instead of wasting precious moments peeling the bananas, he simply ate the bananas peels and all. His first-place prize was a free trip to the Canary Islands.That's how the story was widely reported back in 1997 (such as here and here and below), but I have a hard time believing that it could be quicker to eat a banana with its peel still on, rather than taking a brief moment to remove the peel. After all, the skin is full of fiber and takes time to chew. I think it should have been reported that he managed to win the contest despite not peeling the bananas first.
In the video below the article, professional competitive eater Kevin Strahle (aka L.A. Beast) eats six unpeeled bananas. It's not easy for him. So I don't see how it could have been an easy way for Lepik to win a banana-eating contest either.
San Bernardino County Sun - June 22, 1997
Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 17, 2015 -
Comments (12)
Category: Food, Sports, 1990s
Advertising Spokesmen Least Likely to be Viewed as Kid-Friendly
[Click to enlarge]
Original ad here (on page 9).
Posted By: Paul - Thu Dec 17, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, Comics, 1950s
December 16, 2015
Earmuff Parade
The people of Farmington, Maine recently held an earmuff parade. They've been doing this annually for the past 39 years to honor their most famous one-time resident, Chester Greenwood, inventor of the earmuff. He came up with the idea at the age of 15, while ice skating. WMUR.com
Posted By: Alex - Wed Dec 16, 2015 -
Comments (3)
Category: Parades and Festivals
Christmas Tune Co-opted
Curse you, Halo Shampoo, for tricking me into thinking I was going to hear a nice rendition of "Jingle Bells."
Also, smart move you made, covering up the majority of the hair in your hair-centric commercial with hats.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Dec 16, 2015 -
Comments (10)
Category: Holidays, Advertising, 1950s, Hair and Hairstyling
December 15, 2015
Won’t need any clothes
I can't find any other information concerning what became of Matthew Wilson. But I assume he ended up at that great nudist colony in the sky.
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner (Fairbanks, Alaska) - Dec 19, 1952
However, a search of Alaska papers pulled up this item from earlier the same year (1952), about a Matthew Wilson also in Juneau. So I assume it must be the same guy. Sounds like his circumstances had been difficult before he disappeared naked.
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner - Feb 18, 1952
Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 15, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: 1950s
Turnip Rock, Lake Huron, USA
More info here.
For a picture from 1900, visit here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 15, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: North America, Natural Wonders
December 14, 2015
Power of the Flesh
Posted By: Paul - Mon Dec 14, 2015 -
Comments (3)
Category:
His wife’s brother was really her husband
A bizarre love triangle on a Wisconsin farm.
Freeport Journal-Standard - Dec 13, 1952
WAUSAU, Wis — Farmer Walter Brandt was married six years, he testified Friday, before he learned that the man living with him and his wife was his wife's undivorced husband, not her 'brother."
Brandt, 36, told County Judge Frank G. Loeffler that his wife, Minnie, had identified Joseph Ruddock as her brother before they were married in 1946. Brandt said Minnie and Ruddock at that time were living on a farm near Vesper.
But when Brandt married Minnie and moved to his farm in Town of Eau Plaine, he said, Ruddock moved in with them. Last July Brandt said Minnie's sister told him Ruddock was Minnie's husband, not her brother.
Joe and Minnie admitted deception but claimed they had been divorced, Brandt stated. But, he said, he "blew up" and started annulment proceedings.
Judge Loeffler told Ruddock his story of how he got a divorce was implausible and that he and Minnie still were married. Brandt was granted his annulment.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 14, 2015 -
Comments (2)
Category: Marriage, 1950s
December 13, 2015
Swimsuit became transparent when wet
Mrs. Muncy of Redondo Beach was shocked and humiliated when her white swimsuit got wet and showed everything. So she sued the maker of the suit for $10,000.Unfortunately I can't find any record of the outcome of her lawsuit.
That info is probably available somewhere in the archives of the L.A. County Superior Court, but their archives aren't searchable online. It's too bad that courts, for the most part, don't make any effort to put their archives online. It would be a gold mine for the history of weird news if they did.
Freeport Journal Standard - Nov 19, 1953
LA Times - Nov 19, 1953
Posted By: Alex - Sun Dec 13, 2015 -
Comments (9)
Category: Lawsuits, 1950s
Rare Hallucination
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Dec 13, 2015 -
Comments (8)
Category: Dreams and Nightmares, 1950s, Alcohol, Brain Damage
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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 |
