Weird Universe Archive
October 2020
October 26, 2020
Mini skirts for road safety
1970: Liverpool officer Lionel Piper urged young women to wear mini skirts. In the interests of road safety. Sure, that was it... road safety!
The Hackensack Record - Jan 14, 1970
Young women in the 1970s dressed for road safety
Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 26, 2020 -
Comments (3)
Category: Fashion, Highways, Roads, Streets and Traffic, 1970s
Viktor Wynd
Read the whole article here. His new book about his collections is behind the link below.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Oct 26, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Eccentrics, Museums, United Kingdom
October 25, 2020
Glue-On Sweat Diverter
Rosecroft Components recently (Dec 2019) was granted a patent for a glue-on "sweat diverter". From their patent:When undertaking an activity causing sweating, a person can suffer from the effects of sweat dripping into his eyes. Many devices have been developed to address this problem, such as absorbent sweatbands. Such devices fail to prevent sweat from reaching the eyes once they become saturated, and must be dried or wrung out in order to restore their effectiveness...
Described herein are sweat-diverting devices which may be affixed to a wearer by an adhesive, such as a pressure-sensitive adhesive...
A sweat-diverting device may be reusable, with an adhesive reapplied for each wearing, or may be single use and disposable, with the adhesive integrated with the device during manufacturing.
Described herein are sweat-diverting devices which may be affixed to a wearer by an adhesive, such as a pressure-sensitive adhesive...
A sweat-diverting device may be reusable, with an adhesive reapplied for each wearing, or may be single use and disposable, with the adhesive integrated with the device during manufacturing.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Oct 25, 2020 -
Comments (1)
Category: Fashion, Headgear, Inventions, Patents, Body Fluids
My Old Flame
A song that goes rapidly off the rails around the one-minute mark, with some Halloween relevance.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 25, 2020 -
Comments (4)
Category: Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Horror, Music, 1940s, Parody
October 24, 2020
Have a nice day
Officials said the 17-year-old driver delivered a pizza to a local mobile home park late Friday, and after collecting payment and making change he urged the customer to "have a nice day."
The driver said the customer responded with one punch to his face and six to his stomach.
The driver said the customer responded with one punch to his face and six to his stomach.
Casper Star-Tribune - Nov 23, 1983
Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 24, 2020 -
Comments (6)
Category: Antisocial Activities, 1980s
Bambi Play Bags
I sure hope there are air-holes in these repurposed drycleaner bags.Source.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 24, 2020 -
Comments (10)
Category: Death, Movies, Children, 1950s
October 23, 2020
Unicorn Hunters
In 1976, a group at Lake Superior State University, calling itself the 'Unicorn Hunters,' released a "banished word list" that cataloged words they felt should be banished from the English language "for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness." Every year since then this group has released an updated new list. Words and phrases for 2020 include 'Quid pro quo,' 'Artisanal,' and 'Mouthfeel'.'Unicorn Hunters' is an odd name, and as far as I can tell, the origin of the name had nothing to do with the banished word list. It was invented by Wilmer T. Rabe, the public relations director at LSSU, who felt the school needed to let people know it was about more than just engineering. (It was best known, at the time, as a feeder school for Michigan Technical University). More info from the Des Moines Tribune (Aug 2, 1976):
To emphasize the college's non-engineering aspects, Rabe proposed a 'poet's fortnight.' Professor Peter Thomas, Lake Superior's poet in residence, embellished the Rabe proposal and 'Unicorn Hunters' — later refined into Unicorns Ltd., Conglomerate — was born.
"From there," says Rabe, "it kind of just grew and began to embrace more and more things."
Loosely put, unicornism — Lake Superior State style — is an abstraction seemingly devoted to the pursuit of joy.
Conglomerate stationery explains: "The Hunters are dedicated to the proposition that every man has a unicorn which he is predestined to hunt. It is not necessary that he actually find or slay this unicorn, merely that he diligently seek it."
"From there," says Rabe, "it kind of just grew and began to embrace more and more things."
Loosely put, unicornism — Lake Superior State style — is an abstraction seemingly devoted to the pursuit of joy.
Conglomerate stationery explains: "The Hunters are dedicated to the proposition that every man has a unicorn which he is predestined to hunt. It is not necessary that he actually find or slay this unicorn, merely that he diligently seek it."
To this day, you can still download a Unicorn Hunting License from the school's website. The Banished Word List was one of the ideas created by this group.
The irony is that, in recent years, the term 'Unicorn Hunters' has come to acquire a very different meaning. Googling the term now brings up this definition:
"Unicorn hunting" is where a male/female couple look to find one person who they can permanently invite into their relationship. They form a "triad" with the couple and the three people have group sex.
Maybe it's time for LSSU to add 'Unicorn Hunters' to its banished word list.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 23, 2020 -
Comments (2)
Category: Languages, 1970s
Twenty Minutes of 1960s Hygiene Commercials
If all these products had been properly employed, Americans would have had perfect lives!
Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 23, 2020 -
Comments (1)
Category: Business, Advertising, Hygiene, 1960s, Hair and Hairstyling
October 22, 2020
She dreamed she was an eskimo
What exactly is going on here? Is the polar bear playing peekaboo with the woman who's dressed inappropriately for Arctic weather? Or is it about to rip her face off?
Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 22, 2020 -
Comments (4)
Category: Advertising, 1950s
Mystery Gadget 88
What's going on with these airplanes?The answer is here.
Or after the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 22, 2020 -
Comments (3)
Category: Technology, Air Travel and Airlines, 1950s
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