October 2022
October 31, 2022
Death by Halloween costume
Redlands Daily Facts - Nov 2, 1981
Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 31, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Death, 1980s, Halloween
Happy Halloween 2022!
Posted By: Paul - Mon Oct 31, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Holidays, Supernatural, Occult, Paranormal, Coffee and other Legal Stimulants
October 30, 2022
Upside-Down Mondrian
Art historian Susanne Meyer-Büser argues that a 1941 work by Piet Mondrian has been hung upside-down for the past 75 years. The work, made with colored adhesive tape, has traditionally been hung with the closely-spaced bands at the bottom. Meyer-Büser says that these should be at the top, "like a dark sky." A photo of Mondrian's studio from 1944 supports her interpretation.However, there are no plans to turn the work around, due to its fragile condition.
I'll be adding this to my Gallery of Art Hung Upside-Down.
More info: BBC, Town and Country
The traditional orientation
The correct orientation (according to Meyer-Büser)
Posted By: Alex - Sun Oct 30, 2022 -
Comments (6)
Category: Art
A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Brewery
Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 30, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Destruction, History, Stereotypes and Cliches, Advertising, 1970s, Alcohol
October 29, 2022
Dome living
I imagine a house like this might be possible to build nowadays, but the monthly electric bill would be a small fortune.
Related post: The Winooski Dome
Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 29, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Architecture, Utilities and Power Generation, 1950s, Yesterday’s Tomorrows
Jason Crest, “Turquoise Tandem Cycle”
Their Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 29, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Music, Psychedelic, 1960s
October 28, 2022
Fat Distributor
"Mary Ellen Sage is using a gadget called a fat distributor."The image appeared in the Oklahoma City Times (June 5, 1972), accompanying an article titled "Medical Gimmicks, Magic Potions Trap the Unwary." Unfortunately the article didn't elaborate on how exactly the fat distributor was supposed to work, beyond what the caption said. But I suppose it's self-evident. You rolled it over your body, and it distributed the fat!
Source: Oklahoma Historical Society
Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 28, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, 1970s, Dieting and Weight Loss
Follies of the Madmen #545
Sleepwear for hungry insomniacs.Several others in this series here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 28, 2022 -
Comments (6)
Category: Fashion, Food, Sleep and Dreams, Advertising, Twentieth Century
October 27, 2022
Circular Boxing Rings
In 1975, Marvin Jenson received a patent (No. 3,876,197) for a circular boxing ring. As he noted in his patent, a circular ring is safer than a square one due to the lack of corners:In a newspaper interview, Jenson further explained that the idea for the round boxing ring had occurred to him after watching the 1961 fight between Benny Paret and Emile Griffith, during which Paret got trapped in a corner and took such a beating that he fell into a coma and died.
Jenson's patent drawing
Jenson's circular ring in use
Jordan Valley Sentinel - June 10, 1976
Jenson was hardly the first person to come up with the idea of a circular boxing ring. The idea has been around for a long time. In fact, way back when fighters used to compete in circles drawn on the ground, which is why boxing rings came to be referred to as 'rings' in the first place, rather than 'squares'.
So how did boxing rings end up being square and continue to be so?
As far as I can tell, it's mostly a matter of convenience. It's easier to string rope in a straight line rather than a circle.
An earlier attempt at a circular ring
Newsweek - May 8, 1944
Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 27, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Sports, Martial Arts, Patents
Newana Gayfish, Native American Flapper
Get the full story here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 27, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Domestic, Fads, Wives, Hair Styling, 1920s, Native Americans
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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 |
