October 2020
October 16, 2020
Hanes Legs
A collection of seemingly unattached body parts.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 16, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Advertising, 1950s, Head, Legs
Follies of the Madmen #491
"Our gum will alter your irises!"
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 16, 2020 -
Comments (5)
Category: Body Modifications, Business, Advertising, Junk Food, 1910s, Eyes and Vision
October 15, 2020
How to raise a genius
According to Harold G. McCurdy, a professor at the University of North Carolina, the first step was to not send your kids to public school.Not that he had anything against public schools, having sent his own kids to one. And he questioned whether raising kids to be geniuses was a desireable goal, since he believed that geniuses often led isolated, unhappy lives.
Nevertheless, based on his study of the childhoods of 29 geniuses, conducted back in 1960, he determined that "three striking factors seemed to be typical of the childhood pattern of genius":
"Public school education," he declared, "works against these three things."
Apparently McCurdy's study has been embraced by some proponents of home schooling. Although I don't get the sense that it was his intention to promote that.
You can read McCurdy's full study here: The Childhood Pattern of Genius
The Oklahoma Daily - Feb 17, 1961
Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 15, 2020 -
Comments (5)
Category: Education, Intelligence, School, 1960s
Have a Good Day, Dear
The office as deathtrap.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 15, 2020 -
Comments (1)
Category: Antisocial Activities, Bad Habits, Neuroses and Psychoses, Business, Death, Destruction, 1970s
October 14, 2020
Ruby Barnett, machine-gun tester
Mrs. Ruby Barnett was one of 1000 women employed at the Aberdeen Proving ground during World War II. Her job there was to test guns, and she attracted quite a bit of media attention because she was a grandmother and didn't exactly look like the kind of person one would expect to see behind a .50 caliber machine gun.Apparently she was only 40, but she already had three grandkids.
Source: Google Arts & Culture
Mrs. Ruby Barnett, 40, said today as she went about her job of testing all kinds of guns—except 16-inch cannon—that she found nothing inconsistent in gun-firing by day and rocking the cradle of her third and newest grandchild by night.
"Hitler hasn't respected grandmothers or little children in this war and I guess American grandmothers will have to pitch in and fight him any way they can," she said, as she turned from the anti-tank gun, loaded a .50 caliber machine-gun and banged away with nonchalance and a terrific din.
The youthful grandmother, wife of a World War veteran, is employed by the Army, along with 1,000 other women, to test ordnance materiel at the government's oldest and largest proving ground here.
Wilmington Morning News - Oct 2, 1942
Source: OldMagazineArticles.com
Posted By: Alex - Wed Oct 14, 2020 -
Comments (8)
Category: 1940s, Weapons
The Hyper-realistic Dolls of Michael Zajkov
Many more photos here, with link to the creator's Instagram page.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 14, 2020 -
Comments (2)
Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Russia, Dolls and Stuffed Animals
October 13, 2020
Brain worm
An Australian woman had been suffering from headaches for seven years. Doctors suspected a brain tumor. The good news was that, after operating, they found she was tumor free. The bad news was that she had a cyst full of tapeworm larvae in her brain.More info from cnn.com. Or read the full case report in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Oct 13, 2020 -
Comments (1)
Category: Health, Medicine, Brain
Flagpole Rock
Posted By: Paul - Tue Oct 13, 2020 -
Comments (5)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Buildings and Other Structures, Eccentrics, Music, Unauthorized Dwellings, 1950s
October 12, 2020
Sing along with Khrushchov coloring book, an update
Eight months ago I posted about a coloring book published in 1962 titled The Sing Along with Khrushchov Coloring Book. I noted that, although I had come across references to the book in newspapers, I hadn't been able to find any images of it online. Nor were there any used copies for sale. And only two libraries in the U.S. had copies of it. It was really obscure!But I was just contacted by Elaine Woodward who revealed that her grandfather, who was on the American Hungarian Federation in DC, had once given her a copy, which she still had. She was kind enough to scan it and send it to me. So here it is, rescued from obscurity!
I've posted two sample images below. Or click here to read the whole thing (pdf file).
Note that the book spells Khrushchev with an 'o' rather than an 'e'... so the title was misspelled in my original post.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 12, 2020 -
Comments (4)
Category: Art, Dictators, Tyrants and Other Harsh Rulers, Politics, Books, 1960s
Abandoned Shoe House, Isle of Wight
Posted By: Paul - Mon Oct 12, 2020 -
Comments (2)
Category: Regionalism, Myths and Fairytales, United Kingdom, Ruins and Other Abandoned or Shuttered Structures
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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 |
