April 2021
April 5, 2021
Manly Bosoms Indecent
1934: Coney Island police continued to crack down on male bathers who adopted the new fashion of topless bathing suits.As for the female bathers:
"But if it's indecent we won't allow it," he said.
Windsor Star - May 15, 1934
Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 05, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Censorship, Bluenoses, Taboos, Prohibitions and Other Cultural No-No’s, Fashion, Swimming, Snorkeling, and Diving, 1930s
The Kiddie-Koop
Children in cages!
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 05, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Babies, Domestic, Inventions, Chindogu, Advertising, 1950s
April 4, 2021
Fire-Breathing Woman
In April 1940, Linda Lancaster Dodge Stratton was granted a patent for the "cigar or cigarette lighter" shown below. Its novel feature was that it was shaped like a fire-breathing woman. Or, as Stratton put it, "in the shape of a human figure artistically posed with the igniting means located in the mouth and ignited and extinguished by the movement of the head to open and close the mouth thereof through the manual movement of the arms toward and from the mouth."It kinda looks like a fire-breathing Barbie. Though it predates Barbie by almost 20 years.
The patent said this woman was to be "constructed in a pocket or a table size." It would definitely be a conversation piece to have a table-size version of her in your home.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 04, 2021 -
Comments (4)
Category: Inventions, Patents, Smoking and Tobacco, 1940s, Women
Liquid Dividends
What else could you do with your inventory on the eve of Prohibition?
Source: Fall River Daily Evening News (Fall River, Massachusetts) 14 Jan 1920, Wed Page 7
Posted By: Paul - Sun Apr 04, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Censorship, Bluenoses, Taboos, Prohibitions and Other Cultural No-No’s, Freebies, Come-ons and Loss Leaders, 1920s, Alcohol
April 3, 2021
Dodge La Femme
1955: Chrysler introduced the Dodge La Femme, a two-door, pink-and-white sedan "for the discriminating modern woman".
source: DodgeLaFemme.com
In an attempt to make the car irresistible to women, Dodge also threw in a pink leather handbag that contained "cigarette lighter and case, compact, lipstick and other feminine items covered in matching pink leather." Plus, "a vinyl raincoat and stylish sou'wester hat, printed in the same pink shade and pattern as the Jacquard upholstery." And a matching pink umbrella!
But even with all this, the car failed to appeal to consumers. However, because fewer than 2500 of them were ever made, the car is now sought after by collectors.
More info: wikipedia
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Apr 10, 1955
Posted By: Alex - Sat Apr 03, 2021 -
Comments (3)
Category: Gender, Women, 1950s, Cars
“Oh! How She Could Yacki Hacki Wicki Wacki Woo”
Not a song about Wikipedia.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Apr 03, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Innuendo, Double Entendres, Symbolism, Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink and Subliminal Messages, Music, Regionalism, Foreign Customs, 1910s, Slang
April 2, 2021
Spray-Paints face as a disguise
2009: in order to disguise himself while robbing a phone store, Thomas James spray-painted his face gold. He later began having trouble breathing and died.It's not clear to me if he actually died because of the spray paint, though it must have been a contributing factor. His accomplice, who also spray-painted his face, was apparently fine.
Either way, spray-painting your face doesn't seem like much of a disguise. It reminds me of those guys who tried to conceal themselves from surveillance cameras by rubbing lemon juice all over their faces.
source: wistv.com
Posted By: Alex - Fri Apr 02, 2021 -
Comments (3)
Category: Stupid Criminals
Bock Beer Ads
The fact that Bock Beer allowed in the German language for a pun with "goat" (bock) meant that the drink had a handy visual icon as symbol. But since goats had an alliance with Pan and Satan, many of these ads seem in my eyes to have lewd and devilish connotations. Also fitting for drunkenness, I guess.See more ads here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Apr 02, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Gods, Religion, Advertising, Europe, Nineteenth Century, Alcohol
April 1, 2021
Profit in Potato-Digging
Undated. I'm guessing it's late 19th Century. From OddBook.ca:Maybe I should give up this blogging gig and start digging potatoes!
Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 01, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Self-help Schemes, Books, Vegetables, Nineteenth Century
Mystery Illustration 99
What fairly high-tech product--for 1911--would require such a vast factory?
Answer after the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 01, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Architecture, Buildings and Other Structures, Technology, 1910s
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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 |
