November 2022
November 25, 2022
Miss Formula
Miss Formula, who made her debut in 1964, was said to be "a computer's idea of how the perfect female should look." Though she was actually what the engineers at California Computer Products, Inc. thought the perfect female should look like. They designed her and the computer printed her out.California Computer Products (CalComp) was eventually acquired by the Lockheed Corporation. I wonder if Miss Formula still resides somewhere in their computer systems.
Tampa Tribune - July 31, 1964
Pittsburgh Press - July 29, 1964
Pomona Progress-Bulletin - July 29, 1964
Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 25, 2022 -
Comments (4)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Technology, Computers, 1960s
Hair Coloring Calculator
Pity the poor inventor of the 1980s, who had a notion for something not supported by the clunky digital tech of that era. This elaborate device is today just a free app.Full patent here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Nov 25, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Inventions, Patents, 1980s, Hair and Hairstyling
November 24, 2022
Thanksgiving Hair Tonic Cocktail
In 1909, Friedrich Wilhelm Emil Müller of Chicago received a patent for a hair tonic that, so he claimed, would cause hair "to grow on bald spots of the head." All you had to do was thoroughly rub it into the scalp with the tips of the fingers several times a day.The tonic struck some at the patent office as sounding quite tasty. So it was served as an aperitif at the 1936 Thanksgiving-week banquet in Washington DC celebrating 100 years of the American patent system.
Tacoma News Tribune - Nov 24, 1936
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 24, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Inebriation and Intoxicants, Patents, Thanksgiving, Hair and Hairstyling, Alcohol
Happy Thanksgiving 2022!
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 24, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Food, Holidays, 1900s, Cars
November 23, 2022
The Barrett Eye Normalizer
Perfect vision through eyeball massage. At least, that was the claim.
Hearst's International-Cosmopolitan - Oct 1926
Source: American Artifacts
Boston Sunday Globe - Oct 8, 2017
Posted By: Alex - Wed Nov 23, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Frauds, Cons and Scams, Eyes and Vision
Allan Bryant, “Space Guitars”
Let us all know how far you get before tossing in the audio towel.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Nov 23, 2022 -
Comments (5)
Category: Space Travel, 1970s, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults
November 22, 2022
How to fool a legman
"The legman is an artist."Maybe so, but the picture sure makes him look weird and creepy.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 22, 2022 -
Comments (6)
Category: Advertising, 1960s, Legs
Unauthorized Dwellings 26
Source: The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California) 14 Nov 1966, Mon Page 7
Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 22, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Unauthorized Dwellings, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, 1960s, North America
November 21, 2022
How much do you need to chew your food?
British dentist John H. Farrell spent much of his career studying the relationship between chewing and digestion. This involved repeated experiments in which he put bits of food in small, cotton-mesh bags, had subjects chew the food (or not), and then swallow it. The next step was more unpleasant:The years he spent doing this convinced him that "very little chewing is required for maximum digestion."
More info: "The effect on digestibility of methods commonly used to increase the tenderness of lean meat"
Bedford Times-Mail - Apr 17, 1964
Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 21, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Food, Experiments, Stomach, Teeth
Miss Miniskirt of 1969
Your choice.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 21, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Fashion, 1960s, Europe, United Kingdom, Attractiveness, Sexiness, Allure and Personal Magnetism
| Get WU Posts by Email | |
|---|---|
| Who We Are |
|---|
| 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 |
