Weird Universe Archive
April 2021
April 10, 2021
Cow-Tongue Baldness Cure
Several sources have independently reported that the way to cure baldness is to have a cow lick your head.
Regina Leader-Post - Mar 8, 1984
Colombian hairdresser says he can lick baldness
November 29, 2000
PEREIRA, Colombia -- Want to lick hair loss? A Colombian hairdresser says he has found a way to lick baldness -- literally. His offbeat scalp treatment involves a special tonic and massage -- with a cow's tongue. "I feel more manly, more attractive to women," says customer Henry Gomez. "My friends even say 'What are you doing? You have more hair. You look younger.'"
November 29, 2000
PEREIRA, Colombia -- Want to lick hair loss? A Colombian hairdresser says he has found a way to lick baldness -- literally. His offbeat scalp treatment involves a special tonic and massage -- with a cow's tongue. "I feel more manly, more attractive to women," says customer Henry Gomez. "My friends even say 'What are you doing? You have more hair. You look younger.'"
Posted By: Alex - Sat Apr 10, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, Cows, Hair and Hairstyling
10-Four, Good Buddy Board Game
Did any fad ever evaporate as quickly as CB radio?
Learn details here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Apr 10, 2021 -
Comments (3)
Category: Fads, Games, Motor Vehicles, Technology, 1970s
April 9, 2021
Marilyke Fashion
In 1953, Reverend Bernard Kunkel of Bartelso, Illinois launched the Marilyke fashion movement. Dresses that were sufficiently modest, like the Virgin Mary would have worn (i.e. 'Marilyke'), were given a seal of approval in the form of a Marilyke tag they could display. The tags were "there to guide the Catholic girls."It seems that only wedding dresses and formal gowns were tagged. As Kunkel noted, "There's not much to be done about bathing suits... We strongly disapprove of the trend in modern bathing suits."
More info: Aliens in this world
source: University of Dayton
Detroit Free Press - June 13, 1955
Posted By: Alex - Fri Apr 09, 2021 -
Comments (3)
Category: Fashion, Religion, 1950s
The Mimi Award
The Wikipedia entry for MECHANIX ILLUSTRATED tells us:A long-running feature of Mechanix Illustrated was "Mimi," a shapely young woman dressed in skimpy overalls with blue and white vertical stripes; and, in the early sixties, a matching railroad engineer's cap (later discontinued). She was in a picture holding, standing beside, sitting on, lying on or just in the picture with a new product each month. Each "Mimi" held the job for a year. Their names were never given except for the announcement of a new "Mimi" in the January issue. One Mimi did, however, hold the job for a few years in the sixties. An actress from Southern California, she left to live in Hawaii, and a readers' poll was conducted to choose a replacement from a short list. The readers' choice only lasted a short while, and was replaced by one of the runners-up. "Mimi" was discontinued with the change to Home Mechanix.
Ten more Mimi's after the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Fri Apr 09, 2021 -
Comments (3)
Category: Hobbies and DIY, Magazines, Technology, Sex Symbols, Twentieth Century
April 8, 2021
Avoid Undie Odor
Throughout the 1930s and 40s, the marketing team for Lux soap repeatedly warned consumers that if they didn't wash their clothes everyday, they risked having "undie odor". Some details from Suellen Hoy in her book Chasing Dirt: The American Pursuit of Cleanliness:Lever Brothers, the makers of Rinso, Lifebuoy, and Lux soap, revised its advertising copy over the years to reflect the changing cultural meanings of soap itself... In 1916, Lux was "a wonderful new product" for "laundering fine fabrics:; by the mid-twenties it could also preserve "soft, youthful, lovely feminine hands" and, by the early thirties, prevent "undie odor" as well—"She never omits her Daily Bath, yet she wears underthings a SECOND DAY."
Francis Countway, the president of Lever Brothers and the individual most responsible for the "discovery" of body odors and the "stop smelling" ad pitch, was inspired by Listerine's successful advertising campaign against the previously unknown halitosis. Countway and his associates admitted, while Lever Brothers' business boomed, that they cared little "about the opinions of softies who think that the Body and Undie Odor copy is disgusting." They were simply doing their job, "bringing cleanliness into a dirty world."
Francis Countway, the president of Lever Brothers and the individual most responsible for the "discovery" of body odors and the "stop smelling" ad pitch, was inspired by Listerine's successful advertising campaign against the previously unknown halitosis. Countway and his associates admitted, while Lever Brothers' business boomed, that they cared little "about the opinions of softies who think that the Body and Undie Odor copy is disgusting." They were simply doing their job, "bringing cleanliness into a dirty world."
Lux soap was also responsible for the "undies are gossips" campaign.
Wilmington Evening Journal - Feb 9, 1932
Kansas City Star - Apr 24, 1940
Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 08, 2021 -
Comments (4)
Category: Hygiene, Advertising, Underwear, 1930s, Smells and Odors
Unlikely Reasons for Murder No. 4
Being the victim of hypnotism pretty much qualifies as unusual cause for murder.The scan of the story at this source is defective, so some text missing. The second scan gives a condensed version without reference to hypnotism. There is a discontinuity in the text in the second piece as well, and a truncated ending--but that's the way the article appeared.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 08, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Death, Hypnotism, Mesmerism and Mind Control, Nineteenth Century
April 7, 2021
Chair Safety
1999: Due to a spate of "chair-related injuries", the employees in the Seattle Police Department's Identification Unit all had to take a training session on how to safely sit in a chair.
I guess chair safety is one of those things that sounds silly, until you hurt yourself sitting down wrong. Below, Regina Cochrane, "professional accident preventer," offers some chair safety tips.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Apr 07, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Accidents, Furniture, 1990s
An Obvious Case of Entrapment
Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 07, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Domestic, Burlesque, Exotic Dancing, Stripping and Other Forms of Staged Nakedness, Stupid Criminals, 1940s
April 6, 2021
Answer Songs
Wikipedia defines an answer song as "a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist." For example, "Yes, I'm Lonesome Tonight" by Dodie Stevens was the answer to Elvis Presley's "Are You Lonesome Tonight?"Frank Hoffmann and William Bailey, in their book Arts and Entertainment Fads, note:
Answer songs were released in particularly large numbers during 1960-1962. The impetus for this deluge of recordings appears to have been the notable success of Jeanne Black's "He'll Have to Stay" (Capitol). Based upon Jim Reeves' "He'll Have to Go," Black's record entered Billboard's "Hot 100" on May 2, 1960, peaking at number four.
In this case, there was even an answer to Jeanne Black's answer: "I'm Gonna Stay" by Johnny Scoggins.
The Original: "He'll Have To Go" (by Jim Reeves, 1960)
The Answer: "He'll Have To Stay" (by Jeanne Black, 1960)
The answer to the answer: "I'm Gonna Stay" (by Johnny Scoggins, 1960)
Posted By: Alex - Tue Apr 06, 2021 -
Comments (5)
Category: Music, 1960s
Christina Gregg, “Sex Exercise”
Just one cut from the whole album, as seen here at Discogs.
A little clip of our instructress.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 06, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Exercise and Fitness, Movies, 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 |
