Weird Universe Archive
February 2016
February 5, 2016
Arrested for eating grapes
April 1988: Albert Culberth of Miami ate a few grapes as he and his wife were doing their grocery shopping. An off-duty cop saw him, put him in cuffs, and took him to jail, despite Culberth's insistence that he had every intention of paying for the grapes during checkout.If the grapes were charged by weight, then yes, he would have been stealing. But from what I can gather, the grapes were part of a set-price pack in his cart. So if he had been given the chance to pay during checkout, the store would have had no loss. The charges were eventually dropped for that reason.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Apr 26, 1988
Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 05, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Crime
Two Weird People Find Each Other
I cannot embed the song that goes with this title, but you should be able to listen it in its entirety at this site. Rather pleasant Fairport Convention-style music with odd lyrics. Seems like a potential theme song for WU.
Alternately, you can hear a snippet at the Amazon link.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Feb 05, 2016 -
Comments (1)
Category: Eccentrics, Love and Romance, Music
February 4, 2016
Breast milk jewelry
Texas mom Bridgette Boudreaux has figured out a way to turn breast milk into jewelry, allowing mothers to permanently "commemorate the bond between mother and child." She calls her business JoBri Milk Charms, and she boasts, "You're getting what came from you." She can also add some placental blood to the jewelry, upon request.I have the nagging feeling that we've seen breast-milk jewelry before here at WU, but I searched and can't find it anywhere. So maybe not.
More info at kutv.com.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Feb 04, 2016 -
Comments (11)
Category: Jewelry
February 3, 2016
Bus Driver Asks Kids If He Should Hit Dog, Then Does
January 1994: A school bus driver in Port Washington, Wisconsin insisted he was only joking when he shouted out "Should I hit the dog?" seconds before he hit a dog on the road. The animal belonged to two of the children on the bus. It often came up to the road to meet them. The driver, who later resigned, blamed the accident on icy conditions.
The Journal Times - Feb 4, 1994
Posted By: Alex - Wed Feb 03, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Accidents, Animals, Dogs, 1990s
Johnson Smith Catalog Item #37
Click to enlarge. From the 1930s catalog.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Feb 03, 2016 -
Comments (5)
Category:
February 2, 2016
The Continuing Adventures of Rayo
After being ignored by most people when he nailed his tongue to a wooden board, Rayo the Fakir sealed himself with a snake inside a glass "bottle," in which he toured Europe. By the time he emerged, a year later, the snake had died.Life magazine reported that the year-long stunt almost didn't happen because city authorities in Linz filed a temporary injunction, citing the act as "counter to the dignity of man... liable to produce panic... and creating an unhealthy condition for the inhabitant of the bottle."
I'm guessing Rayo wasn't actually Indian. He just pretended to be an Indian fakir as part of his act. (Basically, he was the David Blaine of the early 1950s.) Also, I think his last name was spelled "Schmied," though a lot of papers reported it as "Schmidt."
Newsweek - Jan 12, 1953
Bottled Up: The Austrian Fakir, "Rayo," whose real name is Rudolf Schmied, plans to tour Europe for an entire year while sealed with his pet snake in this glass bottle. He'll practice yoga, massage himself with special oils, and subsist on vitamin tablets and glucose. He hopes to be in London for the Coronation. (Newsweek)
The Circleville Herald - Dec 26, 1953
Posted By: Alex - Tue Feb 02, 2016 -
Comments (6)
Category: Human Marvels, 1950s
Bob Gaffner, Fishermen’s Helper
That Bob! "He's full of the old mick!" Huh? That expression summons up a mere two Google hits. I suspect it's a euphemism for "full of the old Nick," which in turn was a euphemism for "full of the Devil."
Posted By: Paul - Tue Feb 02, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, Work and Vocational Training, Children, 1950s
February 1, 2016
No one cared about Rayo
1952: Rayo the Fakir nailed his tongue to a wooden board, but no one cared about the feat.
Lethbridge Herald - Feb 29, 1952
Franklin News Herald - Mar 28, 1952
Fredericksburg Standard - Jun 18, 1952
Posted By: Alex - Mon Feb 01, 2016 -
Comments (12)
Category: Human Marvels, 1950s
Conception Days Indicator
It's the Swiss engineering that sold me!
Original ad here. (Page 55.)
Posted By: Paul - Mon Feb 01, 2016 -
Comments (5)
Category: Technology, 1960s, Pregnancy
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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 |
