August 2024
August 6, 2024
Man in a bottle
We previously met performance artist Abraham Poincheval back in 2017 when he sat on a dozen eggs until they hatched.Now he's enclosed himself in a giant bottle that's floating on the Canal Saint-Denis outside of the Olympic Stadium. His plan is to stay in there for ten days.
More info: SmithsonianMag.com
Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 06, 2024 -
Comments (4)
Category: Boats, Performance Art
Electro-Vibratory Bodysuit
A full suit of electrical stimulators and vibrators to cure your charley-horses.Full patent here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Aug 06, 2024 -
Comments (2)
Category: Body, Inventions, Patents, Technology, Twenty-first Century
August 5, 2024
Citizens Against Lawn Mower Madness
Mike Tidwell of Takoma Park, Maryland founded Citizens Against Lawn Mower Madness (CALMM) in the early 1990s.He's moved on since then, and is now head of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network.
I think his first group had the better name.
Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune - July 23, 1994
Greenville News - Aug 21, 1994
Posted By: Alex - Mon Aug 05, 2024 -
Comments (4)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations
The Halloween Costumes of Ken Tanabe
It's not too soon to begin preparing your homemade Halloween costume!See many more at the link.
since 2003, designer ken tanabe has been creating his own unique halloween costumes using inexpensive materials and his own body. flying in the face of conventional, store-bought outfits, which typically focus on pop culture icons or ghastly ghouls, the designer decided to unleash his imagination to create a series of eye-catching costumes.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Aug 05, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Costumes and Masks, Hobbies and DIY, Holidays
August 4, 2024
100 Photos That Aren’t Horse Photos
The title of Claude Closky's 1995 book, 100 Photos Qui Ne Sont Pas De Photos De Chevaux (100 Photos That Aren't Horse Photos), is totally accurate. His book consists of 100 photos of chickens.You can view all the photos on his website.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Aug 04, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Photography and Photographers, Books
The Soybean Car
The "Soybean Car" was actually a plastic-bodied car unveiled by Henry Ford on August 13, 1941 at Dearborn Days, an annual community festival. The frame, made of tubular steel, had 14 plastic panels attached to it. The car weighed 2000 lbs., 1000 lbs. lighter than a steel car. The exact ingredients of the plastic panels are unknown because no record of the formula exists today. One article claims that they were made from a chemical formula that, among many other ingredients, included soybeans, wheat, hemp, flax and ramie; while the man who was instrumental in creating the car, Lowell E. Overly, claims it was "…soybean fiber in a phenolic resin with formaldehyde used in the impregnation"
See more pix and text here.
Or at the Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Aug 04, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Inventions, 1940s, Cars
August 3, 2024
Waited Too Long
Birmingham Post Herald - July 31, 1964
Posted By: Alex - Sat Aug 03, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Divorce, Marriage, 1960s
Don’t Fool with Fu Manchu
The group's Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Aug 03, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Mad Scientists, Evil Geniuses, Insane Villains, Music, Stereotypes and Cliches, Books, 1960s, Asia
August 2, 2024
French vs. American vacuum desire
Different takes on vacuum desire from the 1950s. The French ad is more blatant, but the American ad has pink octopus arms extending from the vacuum and promises that "Only $69.95 fulfills your longing."
1958 French ad for the Samy vacuum cleaner
source: periodpaper.com
Aspirateur de conception révolutionnaire tout plastique alliant la légèreté et la robustesse … A la portée de tous par son prix le SAMY est vraiment l’aspirateur de DEMAIN!
Translation:
A revolutionary all-plastic vacuum cleaner combining lightness and robustness... Within everyone's reach due to its price, the SAMY is truly the vacuum cleaner of TOMORROW!
Life - Feb 9, 1953
via The Vacuum Cleaner by Maud Ellmann
Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 02, 2024 -
Comments (2)
Category: Advertising, Appliances, 1950s, Europe
1951 Car Wash Beauty Pageant
Many more great photos at the link.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 02, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Advertising, 1950s, Cars
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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 |
