November 2022
November 15, 2022
The Crocker-Henderson Odor Classification System
In the early twentieth century, odor researchers Ernest Crocker and Lloyd Henderson created a classification scheme that allowed them to number and catalog every smell in the world. Kind of like a Dewey decimal system for smells. Every different odor was assigned a four-digit code.Their system was based on the premise that every smell is a combination of four "primary odors." So the four-digit code was created by judging and listing the relative strength of each primary odor.
The problem was that judging the relative strength of each primary odor in any one smell turned out to be a very subjective process. Other people struggled to replicate the numbers that Crocker and Henderson came up with. So their system was never adopted by other researchers.
More info: NadiaBerenstein.com
Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 15, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Science, Smells and Odors
Whore to Score
How times have changed. Now, "whore" is practically G-rated.The album cut below retains "whore."
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 15, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Censorship, Bluenoses, Taboos, Prohibitions and Other Cultural No-No’s, Music, 1970s, Swears
November 14, 2022
Turtle-Tater
Sheila Stiltner sure seemed fascinated by the turtle-tater.
Newport News Daily Press - Aug 8, 1964
Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 14, 2022 -
Comments (4)
Category: Vegetables, 1960s
Mystery Gadget 103
What's this device do?The answer is at the link.
Or beyond the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 14, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Inventions, Nineteenth Century
November 13, 2022
Wingless Chickens
Because he disliked "gnawing on stringy chicken wings," Peter Baumann bred wingless chickens. This was back in the 1940s. Evidently his wingless chickens failed to interest the chicken industry. I haven't been able to find out what became of his flock.To illustrate the helpless quality of these wingless birds, photographer Francis Miller dropped one from six feet to show how it failed to fly, as opposed to a winged chicken that glided downwards.
Images from Life - July 18, 1949:
"Wingless chicken (below) plummets helplessly downward when dropped from 6-foot height, while normal bird settles gently with wings spread"
Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 13, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Farming, 1940s
RIP Mehran Karimi Nasseri
Airport dweller Mehran Karimi Nasseri has passed away. His Wikipedia entry offers a good summary of his life.An obit is here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Nov 13, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Domestic, Eccentrics, Emigrants, Immigrants and Borders, Air Travel and Airlines, Europe
November 12, 2022
Bio-Control
At the 1956 National Electronics Conference in Chicago, engineer Curtiss R. Schafer predicted a future in which people would be enslaved via "bio-control."How is this possible? Schafer said that a few months after birth a surgeon would equip each child with a socket mounted under the scalp and electrodes reaching selected areas of brain tissue. A year or two later, he said, a miniature radio receiver and antenna would be plugged into the socket.
"From that time on," the speaker declared, "the child's sensory preceptions and muscular activity could be either modified or completely controlled by bio-electric signals radiated from state-controlled transmitters."
More details from the conference press release:
Time - Oct 15, 1956
Posted By: Alex - Sat Nov 12, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: AI, Robots and Other Automatons, Conspiracy Theories and Theorists, 1950s, Brain
Miss Magnetic Fly Reel of 1959
Source: The Times Dispatch (Richmond, Virginia) 09 Nov 1958, Sun Page 49
Posted By: Paul - Sat Nov 12, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, Sports, Fish, 1950s
November 11, 2022
The new Perth Museum
In order to find a name for the new museum opening in Perth City Hall, city officials surveyed the public and considered over 450 ideas before deciding to call it "Perth Museum." bbc.com
This recalls the time, in 1973, when the Army Materiel Command (AMC) held a contest to name its new headquarters and, after considering 524 different proposals, awarded the prize to the guy who suggested calling it the AMC Building.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 11, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Museums, Odd Names
1970s Flight Simulator
Posted By: Paul - Fri Nov 11, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Toys, Simulations, Make-Believe, Cosplay and other Pretend Situations, Air Travel and Airlines, 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 |
