November 2017
November 10, 2017
Dirty-Talking Microwave
Wanda Hooper claimed that various electrical appliances around her home (her microwave, curling iron, TV set) were picking up and broadcasting obscene CB radio chatter. Is this really possible? I have no idea. Any radio experts care to weigh in with an opinion?
Alexandria Town Talk - May 1, 1987
Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 10, 2017 -
Comments (5)
Category:
Photographer Leslie Jones
Leslie Jones (1886-1967) seems to have had a quirky sense of humor. I like his series of shots titled "Odd Fences."You can see more at this link.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Nov 10, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: Architecture, Eccentrics, Photography and Photographers, Regionalism, Twentieth Century
November 9, 2017
Smile Mirror
Visual Arts student Berk Ilhan has created a mirror that will only work if you smile. His idea was that this would help cheer up cancer patients by forcing them to smile. He's hoping to sell these for between $2000 and $3000 each. So far, the reaction to his invention has been, shall we say, not positive.Some of the reviews: guardian, smh.com.au
Smile Mirror site
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 09, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: Inventions
The Annals of State-Sponsored Corporal Punishment
Kids these days--so unreasonable!
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 09, 2017 -
Comments (9)
Category: Body, Screams, Grunts and Other Exclamations, Education, 1970s
November 8, 2017
Tiffany Tin Can
If you have $1000 to spare, you can buy a tin can from Tiffany. As far as tin cans go, it's a very nice one. It's made with "Sterling silver and vermeil with Tiffany Blue enamel accent." But at the end of the day, it's still a tin can.
They also offer a $1500 coffee can.
via bloomberg.com
Posted By: Alex - Wed Nov 08, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Overpriced Merchandise
The Atmos Clock
If only you had invested in an Atmos Clock in 1982, the date of the B&W ad, you could have saved a bundle!
Posted By: Paul - Wed Nov 08, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Nature, Technology, 1980s
November 7, 2017
Name That List, #43
What is this a list of? The answer is below in extended.- Adventurous
- Clever
- Crafty
- Cunning
- Deep
- Full of resources
- Ingenious
- Many-sided
- Much-versed
- Of many a turn
- Of many fortunes
- Of many wiles
- Of twists and turns
- Of wide-ranging spirit
- Prudent
- Restless
- Sagacious
- Shifty
- Skilled in all ways of contending
- Various-minded
- Versatile
- Wary and wise
More in extended >>
Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 07, 2017 -
Comments (5)
Category: Name That List
The Chocolate Choo-Choo
Despite what the YouTube poster writes, this song was issued to the marketplace, as you can see from the pic of the physical record and the advert.But those circumstance do not make the song, with its faintly scatological title, any less weird.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 07, 2017 -
Comments (0)
Category: Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, Music, Chocolate, 1940s
November 6, 2017
Starved for 11 months
Nov 1959: Helen Putnam, a performer who went by the stage name "The Ten Ton Fun" (her theme song was 'All of me') was accepted into a weight-loss experiment conducted by Frank Tullis of the University of Tennessee. For the next 11 months she was restricted to a liquid diet consisting of nothing but black coffee, tea, water, and 900 calories a day of a milk and soy-based formula."I thought I was starving. I thought the doctors didn't know what they were doing," she said. She wept. Some days she sulked in her room. On others she ranted and raved and several times threatened to leave.
She dropped from 318 pounds to 151, and in doing so became the first woman to ever complete a metabolism experiment of this kind.
I wonder if she managed to keep it off. I haven't been able to find any follow-up info about her.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Jan 21, 1961
Springfield News Leader - Jan 18, 1961
Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 06, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: 1960s, Dieting and Weight Loss
Follies of the Madmen #333
To me, this ad at first seems to imply that people used whisk brooms on their scalps when they had dandruff. Then I got the meaning that they were always whisking the shoulders of their clothes. But in any case, a liberal application of Listerine--to the scalp, not the shoulders of the clothes--solves everything!
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 06, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Hygiene, 1940s, Head
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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 |
