December 2020
December 21, 2020
The Rain
Is that actually rain, or is someone spraying him with a hose?
Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 21, 2020 -
Comments (1)
Category: Performance Art, Absurdism and Dadaism, Writers, 1960s
Mystery Illustration 98
What is this a statue of?The answer is at the link (scroll down).
Or after the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Mon Dec 21, 2020 -
Comments (5)
Category: Statues and Monuments
December 20, 2020
“Pregnancy forces granny to quit work at age 101”
In October 1990, the Sun ran a story about a 101-year old woman who supposedly had to quit her job as a newspaper carrier because she got pregnant after being seduced by a reclusive millionaire on her route. The story, of course, was totally false. However, the Sun also ran a picture with the article of a real woman, 96-year-old Nellie Mitchell of Arkansas.Mitchell sued, charging invasion of privacy (she had never given them permission to use her photo) and emotional distress, because she now had to endure people asking her when the baby was due. During the trial, the editor of the Sun explained that they had needed a picture to go along with the fake story, and had found in their archive a photo of Mitchell taken in 1986. They had used it, assuming she must have been dead by then. And dead people can't sue for damages.
Mitchell won and was awarded $150,000 in compensatory damages and $850,000 in punitive damages.
Baxter Bulletin - Oct 19, 1993
Posted By: Alex - Sun Dec 20, 2020 -
Comments (7)
Category: Elderly and Seniors, Journalism, Lawsuits, 1990s
W. C. Rice’s Cross Garden
More pics here.An account of the place here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Dec 20, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Eccentrics, Regionalism, Religion, North America
December 19, 2020
The Camouflage Bat
On April 9, 1932, Leon "Goose" Goslin of the St. Louis Browns stepped up to the plate with a striped "camouflage bat" during an exhibition game against the Cardinals. The bat was "designed to confuse the pitcher and fool the infield players." The Cardinals didn't object so Goslin used it.But when he tried to use the bat again three days later during the opening game of the season against the Chicago White Sox, the umpire declared "That's not our kind, Goslin!" and forced him to use a regular bat.
The next day, William Harridge, President of the American League, ruled out any further use of the camouflage bat.
Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Apr 14, 1932
Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 19, 2020 -
Comments (6)
Category: Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand, Sports, 1930s
Solon Bushi
In the old days before "cultural appropriation," a Black R&B group could sing a "Japanese folk song."
Posted By: Paul - Sat Dec 19, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Music, Foreign Customs, 1960s, Asia
December 18, 2020
The Peanut Butter Story
As reported by Sherry Gershon Gottlieb in Hell No, We Won’t Go! Resisting the Draft During the Vietnam War:
via Legends & Rumors
Posted By: Alex - Fri Dec 18, 2020 -
Comments (4)
Category: Food, Military, Excrement
Family Planning, Disney Style
Or: Donald Duck's Vasectomy
Posted By: Paul - Fri Dec 18, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Family, PSA’s, Birth Control , Cartoons, 1960s
December 17, 2020
Covid Religions
Thanks to Covid, new religions are popping up.In Poland, the "Church of the Healthy Body" was recently founded. Members meet at a fitness club. And in Nottingham, England, members of the newly created Church of the 400 Rabbits gather at the 400 Rabbits tequila bar.
The religions are a longshot strategy by businesses to avoid covid restrictions. Because if they're a church they might be able to stay open, whereas if they're a fitness club or bar they're closed. The Polish fitness club/church has already reported that the local police weren't buying the rebranding.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 17, 2020 -
Comments (4)
Category: Religion, Diseases
The World’s First Color Commercial
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Dec 17, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Business, Advertising, Television, Tobacco and Smoking, 1950s
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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 |
