September 2023
September 25, 2023
Ill-Treating Prawns
We've previously posted about a British case involving cruelty to goldfish. Here the British courts took up the question of whether it's possible to be cruel to prawns (aka shrimp), but dropped the case when it decided that prawns were insects and so not covered by anti-cruelty laws. They're actually crustaceans, but close enough I guess.
Feb 28, 1974 - Minneapolis Star
Posted By: Alex - Mon Sep 25, 2023 -
Comments (2)
Category: Insects and Spiders, Law, Sadism, Cruelty, Punishment, and Torture, United Kingdom
“Fighting the Flames” at Dreamland
The Dreamland amusement park had a spectacle that consisted of a street scene of building facades which would erupt in flames, allowing a mock rescue by fireman-actors. Ironically, the whole park died in a giant inferno.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Sep 25, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Fairs, Amusement Parks, and Resorts, Firefighting, Arson, Wildfires, Infernos and Other Conflagrations, Simulations, Make-Believe, Cosplay and other Pretend Situations, 1900s, 1910s
September 24, 2023
Run over by parmesan cheese
We posted a few weeks ago about a man who died recently after thousands of wheels of a "parmesan-style cheese" fell on top of him.Then I came across the case below from 1972 of two twin sisters whose legs were broken after they were struck by a wheel of parmesan while hitchhiking along a road in Italy.
Evidently there's a minor genre of weird news involving parmesan-related injuries.
Vancouver Sun - Aug 3, 1972
Posted By: Alex - Sun Sep 24, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Accidents, 1970s
The Distant Galaxy
Spacey, man!
Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 24, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Music, Space-age Bachelor Pad & Exotic, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Vinyl Albums and Other Media Recordings, 1960s
September 23, 2023
Combination Pillow and Crash Helmet
"The device thus formed is useful as a courtesy pillow for the comfort of airline passengers, and doubles as a crash helmet which may be put over the head of the passenger when he is forewarned of an impending crash landing."More info: Patent No. 3,538,508
Posted By: Alex - Sat Sep 23, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Patents, Air Travel and Airlines, 1970s
Mystery Girl of 1947
Pulp International reveals:The Mystery Writers of America, which was founded in 1945 in New York City and soon expanded to other locations, in its early years used to throw what they called a Clues Party. In November 1947 the party was in Chicago, and the MWA awarded the title of Mystery Girl to the woman who performed best in a scream test—as opposed to screen test. Four contestants—Marybeth Prebis, Betty Rosboro, Bobby Jo Rodgers, and Portia Kubin—let fly with their most bloodcurdling screams, and the winner was Kubin, above.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 23, 2023 -
Comments (4)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Literature, Books, 1940s, Screams, Grunts and Other Exclamations
September 22, 2023
Project Uplift
1967: Eighty freshmen at Harvey Mudd College proposed that, as their engineering project, they undertake the design of a better brassiere. They named their proposal 'Project Uplift.'The students who made this proposal were, somewhat obviously, almost entirely male. As far as I can tell, Harvey Mudd was coed at the time (1967), but was mostly male.
Los Angeles Times - Mar 23, 1967
Posted By: Alex - Fri Sep 22, 2023 -
Comments (3)
Category: Engineering and Construction, Underwear, 1960s
Follies of the Madmen #576
Posted By: Paul - Fri Sep 22, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Celebrities, Innuendo, Double Entendres, Symbolism, Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink and Subliminal Messages, Sports, Advertising, 1970s, Women
September 21, 2023
EZ Nabber Cat Grabber
"perfect for catching the unruly feline." Available for purchase from Campbell Pet Company.
via What They Think
Posted By: Alex - Thu Sep 21, 2023 -
Comments (4)
Category: Inventions, Cats
Touch, The Generation Gap Musical
This dated abomination seems to have all but vanished from the annals of stage history, so far as googling can determine.
Enjoy the whole performance, thanks to the capacious memory of the Internet Archive.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Sep 21, 2023 -
Comments (3)
Category: Music, Stereotypes and Cliches, Theater and Stage, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, 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 |
