Caroling Goats

Move over cats and dogs. Its goats turn to perform the classic Christmas carols this year.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 12, 2015 - Comments (6)
Category: Animals, Holidays, Parody

Paleo Diet of 1916

The idea that we'd all be healthier if we lived and ate like the cave man did has been around a long time. It long predates the current "paleo diet" trend.

For instance, back in 1916, the makers of Nujol wanted everyone to believe that if you pooped a lot, like the cave man did, you'd be a model of health. Nujol was basically raw petroleum, which is why it was sold by the Standard Oil company. It's name meant "New Oil." Read more of Nujol's history here.

Source: Oregon Daily Journal - Sep 21, 1916

Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 12, 2015 - Comments (4)
Category: Medicine, 1910s

Midwest Furfest 2015

Posted By: Paul - Sat Dec 12, 2015 - Comments (8)
Category: Eccentrics, Pets, Public Indecency, Fetishes, Foreign Customs

The Duoscopic TV

In 1954, DuMont came out with a "Duoscopic" TV set that allowed two people to watch different programs on the same set, simultaneously. From Newsweek (Jan 11, 1954):


It was priced at $600. So in 2015 money, that would be approximately $5304 (according to the US Inflation Calculator). At that price tag, it made more sense for couples with different viewing preferences to just buy 2 TV sets and sit in separate rooms.

There's more info about the Duoscopic TV at the Early Television Museum. On that site, there's also speculation that DuMont originally developed the Duoscopic TV as a 3D TV, but decided they couldn't get that to work fully, so they repackaged it as a "watch 2 channels simultaneously" TV.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Dec 11, 2015 - Comments (11)
Category: Technology, Television, 1950s

Big Role for Rock

Here's my question: who the hell ever first thunk up this elaborate, non-intuitive processing of gypsum, a rock out of the ground? The ingenuity of mankind and our genius ancestors is awesome and baffling.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Dec 11, 2015 - Comments (4)
Category: Technology, Industry, Factories and Manufacturing, 1950s, Natural Resources

Dolphin for Christmas Dinner

Arthur Boyt considers himself a "roadkill connoisseur." He'll eat just about any dead animal that he finds (weasel, badger, hedgehog, squirrel, etc.), and he recently had the find of his life. A dolphin washed up dead on a beach near his home in Cornwall (so that would be oceankill?), and he's decided to eat it for Christmas dinner. He's going to "casserole it with potato, beetroot, carrots, garlic and herbs."

He's already eaten part of it and says that it tastes pretty bad. But he's eating it for Christmas anyway because he believes eating roadkill, as opposed to a purposefully killed animal, is "more in keeping with the spirit of Christmas."

More: Leader Standard, Daily Mail

Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 10, 2015 - Comments (14)
Category: Food, Holidays

Kattle Kaller Auto Horn

I would definitely buy one of these today.

Given digital technology, would it not be easy to install a speaker under your hood which broadcast an infinite number of digital sound files on command?

Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Dec 10, 2015 - Comments (10)
Category: Animals, 1950s, Cars, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults

The Dark Underbelly of Bingo

Over at about.com, I did a two-part series exploring the dark underbelly of bingo — articles here and here.

My favorite story was the 1990 case of a grandmother who started having non-stop orgasms and developed lesbian tendencies after a bingo scoreboard fell on her head.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Dec 09, 2015 - Comments (3)
Category: Gambling, Casinos, Lotteries and Other Games of Chance

Atom Bomb Toys

Italian toy maker Brumm normally makes miniature models of fancy sports cars (Ferraris, Alfa Romeos, etc.). But in 2006, the company decided to release models of the "Fat Man" and "Little Boy" atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. They sold, at the time, for around $10 — but now go for around $36, if you can find any in stock.

When the company debuted them at the International Toy Fair in Nuremberg, the bomb models generated a lot of controversy. The media described them as "Atomic bombs for the children's bedroom," and critics said they were in poor taste.

The company defended itself, insisting that its intent was to "provide a small historical contribution so as not to forget what generated the worst catastrophe of the twentieth century” and that the bomb models were actually a protest "against the insanity of nuclear war."

Of course, these weren't the first atomic-weapon toys ever produced. See this earlier post: Make nuclear war in your own home.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Dec 09, 2015 - Comments (6)
Category: Toys, Atomic Power and Other Nuclear Matters, Weapons

The Tallest Man

Perhaps you would like to spend some time at The Tallest Man website, which is devoted to giants and giantesses. As a teaser, below are the male and female recordholders from the historical archives.



ROBERT WADLOW



ZENG JINLIAN

Posted By: Paul - Wed Dec 09, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Body, Freaks, Oddities, Quirks of Nature, Human Marvels