February 2018
February 9, 2018
The McGuire Twins
Many of you might already know about the McGuire Twins, since they appeared on both Family Guy and The Simpsons. But when I realized they hadn't yet been mentioned anywhere on WU, I thought I should correct that.The two claimed to be the world's heaviest twins. And they probably were. They both weighed well over 700 lbs at their heaviest.
They were born Billy and Benny McCrary. The McGuire Twins was a stage name they adopted later during their professional wrestling career.
Apparently they were of normal weight until age 10, when a case of measles left both of them with malfunctioning pituitary glands, and their weight started to balloon.
They're best known for riding around on their Honda mini-bikes.
More info: goodsparkgarage.com and wikipedia.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 09, 2018 -
Comments (0)
Category: Eccentrics, Human Marvels
MONTEZUMA: the Opera
Ambitious failure, or noble travesty? Decide for yourself!
"The opera contains human sacrifice, burning at the stake, stabbing, stoning, rule by terror, cannibalism, a love story, war, homesickness, intrigue, a ritual dance, and the supernatural...[T]he opera's greatest defect is its libretto, a 'farrago of poetasty', which is 'a ghastly example of self-parody that even a Robert Benchley could not have topped.'"
Source of quote.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Feb 09, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Music, 1960s, North America, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults
February 8, 2018
Afraid she’d look like a horse
At the International Beauty Congress held in Los Angeles in August 1963, when Miss Luxembourg (Catherine Paulus) learned during rehearsals that she was expected to appear in a bathing suit during the contest, she started laughing hysterically and was reported to have said, "I will look like a horse. The people will all laugh at me. And then I will laugh. I can't do it... I can't do it."The judges had to give her a tranquilizer to calm her down.
Somehow she was nevertheless talked into wearing a bathing suit the next day. And, of course, because of her outburst the picture of her wearing it then ran in papers nationwide.
She received a round of applause during her appearance, but didn't make it through to the finals. However, she was awarded the title of "Miss International Friendship" during the contest.
Detroit Free Press - Aug 16, 1963
image: historicimages.com
clipping: Corsicana Daily Sun - Aug 19, 1963
Posted By: Alex - Thu Feb 08, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, 1960s
The Presidential Comedy Albums of Earle Doud
Everyone knows the famous JFK-Vaughn Meader album. But how many realize the producer Earle Doud went on with that theme, to much less acclaim?I can't seem to find any clips on YouTube of the later ones.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 08, 2018 -
Comments (3)
Category: Government, Humor, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s
February 7, 2018
The editor who featured herself
The undergrads at Tampa University had major complaints about their 1967 yearbook. For a start, all their yearbook photos were destroyed in a warehouse fire. So they didn't appear in it at all. And then, the yearbook they got was dominated by pictures of one person, the yearbook editor Carmen Gonzalez. Her picture appeared 24 times in it, including a six-page spread devoted to her as yearbook queen.When people complained, Gonzalez explained, "I got into every section because I was in everything." She elaborated that she was not only yearbook queen, but also belonged to at least 10 clubs, was named a member of Who's Who, and had the highest scholastic average at the university. Therefore, it was only natural that she gave most coverage to herself.
The students responded by holding a rally at which they burned 500 of the 2000 yearbooks that had been printed.
Sounds to me like Gonzalez was a woman ahead of her time. She would have thrived in the age of social media.
Racine Journal Times - May 27, 1967
The Tampa Tribune - May 27, 1967
Battle Creek Enquirer - May 27, 1967
Posted By: Alex - Wed Feb 07, 2018 -
Comments (4)
Category: 1960s, Universities, Colleges, Private Schools and Academia
Mystery Illustration 67
What institution or organization typically offered these rather tasty-looking meals?
The answer is here.
Or after the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Wed Feb 07, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Food, 1940s
February 6, 2018
Name That List, #46
What is this a list of? The answer is below in extended.- vagabonds
- discharged soldiers
- discharged jailbirds
- escaped galley slaves
- swindlers
- mountebanks
- lazzaroni
- pickpockets
- tricksters
- gamblers
- maquereaux [pimps]
- brothel keepers
- porters
- literati
- organ grinders
- ragpickers
- knife grinders
- tinkers
- beggars
More in extended >>
Posted By: Alex - Tue Feb 06, 2018 -
Comments (7)
Category: Name That List
Salad Beauty Treatment
Posted By: Paul - Tue Feb 06, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, 1960s, Europe
February 5, 2018
Robert F. Kennedy Bubble Gum Cards
After the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in June, 1968, the Philadelphia Chewing Gum Corp. rushed out with a commemmorative, 55-card set of RFK bubble gum cards. It presented "the story of Robert F. Kennedy... with bubble gum."Kids must have been rushing out to get these.
The cards seem to have appreciated reasonably well in price. Individual cards now range from $3 to $26 in price. You can get an unopened pack for about $65.
image source: Huggins and Scott
Bridgeport Post - Aug 28, 1968
Posted By: Alex - Mon Feb 05, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Collectors, 1960s
Super-Greater New York
We can still do this. A nice walk to the Statue of Liberty on Landfill Manhattan.
Source of document.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Feb 05, 2018 -
Comments (6)
Category: Engineering and Construction, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Urban Life, 1910s
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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 |
