July 2022
July 16, 2022
Why does Daddy look at television?
According to Redbook magazine (June 1951) it was because Daddy was a dirty old man.
The article provoked an angry letter to the editor published in a subsequent issue.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jul 16, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Television, 1950s, Men
Chopin A La Moog
Fair Warning: You will not be able to unhear this, thus ruining Chopin forever for you.Player at bottom.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 16, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Music, 1970s, Parody, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults
July 15, 2022
Darrell Johnson’s Mechanical Listener
Darrell Johnson knew that, if you have to give a speech, it helps to practice it first in front of someone. But sometimes you can't find a willing listener. That's where his 'mechanical listener' came in. It was a sculptured head with eyes that would light up and eyelids that would flutter in response to the sound of a human voice. These movements, he reasoned, would "portray a feeling of life, participation, and cooperation to thereby stimulate expression relative to the topic or subject under consideration with resultant improvement and intensity of such expression."He was granted Patent No. 2,948,069 for this invention in 1960.
It would be interesting to know if a prototype of this thing still survives, hidden away in someone's attic.
Arizona Daily Star - Aug 14, 1960
Springfield Daily News - Oct 16, 1960
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jul 15, 2022 -
Comments (4)
Category: Patents, AI, Robots and Other Automatons, 1960s
The Disputed Measurements of Miss France
Article source.
Article source: Philadelphia Daily News (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) 07 Feb 1964, Fri Page 14
The New Miss France 1963 Muguette Fabris and her Dauphines Daniele Chevalier (L) and Michele Fourtain Povel (R) January 01, 1963
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 15, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Body, Lies, Dishonesty and Cheating, Lawsuits, 1960s
July 14, 2022
Auditory Memory
Auditory Memory was the title of a 1975 album by Jerry Cammarata. It consisted of 52 minutes of silence.According to New York Magazine (Oct 16, 1995), "Cammarata promoted the album by holding a press conference with an orchestra composed of bowed instruments that lacked strings, drums with no skins, and woodwinds devoid of reeds."
Scrantonian Sun - Feb 9, 1975
image source: discogs.org
We've previously posted about an earlier silent record, "The Sound of Silence," released by students at the University of Detroit in 1959. I was curious how many other silent albums have been released. Some googling revealed a list of many more.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jul 14, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Music
Corky and Corkette, the Cypress Gardens Clowns
Wikipedia page for Cypress Gardens.Videos below the snapshot.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jul 14, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Clowns, Fairs, Amusement Parks, and Resorts, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, 1960s
July 13, 2022
United States v. 350 Cartons of Canned Sardines
This case is known in legal circles primarily because of its odd name.It occurred in 1934 and involved 350 cartons of canned sardines shipped from California to Pennsylvania. The FDA examined some of the cans at its lab in Washington DC and decided that they contained "decomposed animal substance." Therefore, it ordered all 350 cartons to be destroyed.
The sardine company challenged this order in court. It lost the initial case, but won on appeal. Though, by that time, two years later, the sardines may already have been destroyed.
As far as I can tell, the case represented a power struggle between the California inspectors (who had approved the fish for shipment) and the federal ones. The FDA's decision seems to have been somewhat arbitrary. Its inspector decided the fish were decomposed not because of how they smelled or tasted. He said they smelled fine. He concluded they were 'decomposed' simply because they looked slightly pink — which was probably because they had been cooked in tomato sauce.
Read more about the case here.
Case and Comment - Autumn 1934
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 13, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Odd Names, Lawsuits, 1930s
Joie Chitwood’s Auto Show
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jul 13, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Daredevils, Stuntpeople and Thrillseekers, 1950s, Circuses, Carnivals, and Other Traveling Shows, Cars
July 12, 2022
Fly Swatter Vogue
Boston Globe - Mar 24, 1927
via Useless Information
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jul 12, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, 1920s, Dieting and Weight Loss
Unauthorized Dwellings Twenty-Four
Full story here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 12, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Family, Museums, Unauthorized Dwellings, Weapons
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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 |
