Weird Universe Archive
July 2018
July 31, 2018
Hunting Groceries
For one week in 1992, German artist Christian Jankowski "hunted" his groceries in the supermarket with a bow and arrow. From his website:Jankowski shot down frozen chickens, butter, toilet paper, and various other "essentials." His game, if edible, was not just dead, it was processed on a mass scale. Thus the reaction of the woman working the checkout counter: she remained wholly unimpressed by the trophies of his "bargain hunt," which she scanned with the arrows still sticking out of them.
Imagine trying to go into a supermarket with a bow and arrow nowadays to hunt your groceries.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jul 31, 2018 -
Comments (6)
Category: Food, Shopping, Performance Art, 1990s
The Monk Calf of Freiberg
I don't recall any of this being discussed in October 2017 on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.
A misshapen calf, born in Freiberg, Saxony, on 8 December 1522, quickly became important in the German Reformation. It was born with oddly shaped legs (its hind legs straight as a human's) and with a fold of skin over its head shaped like a cowl—hence its comparison to a monk. An illustration made its way to a Prague astrologer, who "discovered that the monster did indeed signify something terrible, indeed the most awful thing possible--Martin Luther."[10] Luther himself responded quickly with a pamphlet containing a mock exegesis of the creature, Monk Calf, in which the "Monk Calf" stands, in all its monstrosity, for the Catholic church.[12] Luther's anti-papist pamphlet appeared together with a tract by Philipp Melanchthon[13] which discussed a fictional monster, the Pope-Ass, a hybrid between a man and a donkey supposedly found near Rome after the 1496 flood.[14] Circulated in 1523, Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon's pamphlet was titled The Meaning of Two Horrific Figures, the Papal Ass at Rome and the Monk Calf Found at Freyberg in Meissen.[15] Luca Cranach the Elder and his workshop provided the illustrations of the Papal Ass and the Monk Calf for the pamphlet. Variations of Luther and Melanchthon’s pamphlet eventually were circulated, including one that depicted the Papal Ass and the Monk Calf in “an encounter between the two creatures. This opening page adds a new phrase to the title of the book: ‘with signs of the Day of Judgement.'"[16]
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 31, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Anniversary, Religion, Europe, Sixteenth Century, Fictional Monsters
July 30, 2018
Microwaveable Ice Cream Sundaes
Johnston's Hot Scoop Microwave Sundae is one of those products where you have to wonder what was going through the minds of the executives who dreamed it up. Introduced in the mid-1980s, the concept was that it was an entire, frozen ice cream sundae that you could heat in the microwave, and (in theory) only the topping would melt.In practice, the ice cream also inevitably melted, leaving consumers with a soggy mix of ice cream and topping. And yet the company went to all the effort to make this thing because they figured it would be too difficult for people to just heat the topping on its own.
A review of the product:
Minneapolis Star Tribune - July 16, 1986
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jul 30, 2018 -
Comments (4)
Category: Food, Products, 1980s
Follies of the Madmen #377
That is one hard-ass kids' shoes mascot!
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jul 30, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Business, Advertising, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, Children, Shoes, 1940s, Feet
July 29, 2018
Granny’s Mini-Skirt
Released in 1968. Sung by Irene Ryan who played Granny on The Beverly Hillbillies.
The Tenessean - Mar 5, 1968
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jul 29, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Music, 1960s
Queen of Long Beach
Queen Nannette Crawford -- 20 -- of 4917 Livingston Drive, Long Beach presiding at Long Beach Community Fair. Model Lois Sullivan, 20, of 3811 West 54th Street, Los Angeles, shows Queen the bathing suit which is one of Queen's prizes.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jul 29, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Fashion, Regionalism, 1950s
July 28, 2018
Frozen Foods
Technically, their business did involve the handling and preparation of meat.
Pensacola News Journal - Nov 10, 1980
And it seems that the Elliot-Hamil Funeral Home is still around. Their website.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jul 28, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Death, Food, 1980s
Mystery Gadget 62
What did this machine do?
The answer is here.
And after the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 28, 2018 -
Comments (5)
Category: Technology, Nineteenth Century
July 27, 2018
Smart Clothes
Tommy Hilfiger’s new line of clothing includes an odd feature. You can earn reward points by wearing the clothes, thanks to a smart chip embedded in them. You can eventually redeem these points for Hilfiger gift cards or merchandise. Though I can't find any indication of how many points you need (or how many days you need to wear the clothes) before you get a reward.More info: Tommy Hilfiger, techcrunch
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jul 27, 2018 -
Comments (4)
Category: Fashion, Technology
Cheap Perfume and Candlelight
"It's so easy now to swing/When the swing set feels just right.."
So you think you're quite a man
You're taking care of all her needs
Sometimes it's even twice a weekend
At least it's every time you need
Yeah, it's so easy now to swing
When the swing set feels just right
Like a fifty dollar room
Cheap perfume and candlelight
'Cause once you thought the thrill as gone
Your passion seemed to fade and die
You left a woman back at home
Alone and so unsatisfied
You hit the street to feel the thrill
Of the hunter in the night
Your prey was out there dressed to kill
In cheap perfume and candlelight
Cheap perfume and candlelight
The situation makes the man
If you can't make it back at home
You make it any way you can
And you can, it's so nice
That now you can
Maybe you'll never stop to think
Just for the true test did it be
Love your ever loving manhood of your masculinity
If you could satisfy the woman
Right back at home there every night
Instead of now and then
The girl in cheap perfume and candlelight
Instead of now and then
The girl in cheap perfume and candlelight
Instead of now and then
The girl in cheap perfume and candlelight
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 27, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Ambiguity, Uncertainty and Deliberate Obscurity, Innuendo, Double Entendres, Symbolism, Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink and Subliminal Messages, Music, Sexuality, 1970s
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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 |
