1900s
Spanking Toy
Although cats are featured in the drawing, the inventor wants you to know the figures may be generalized to other animals or humans.The patent is here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jul 27, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Inventions, Patents, Toys, Sadism, Cruelty, Punishment, and Torture, 1900s
Combined Oscillator, Go-Cart, Sled and Step-Ladder
Sometimes you want to rock, sometimes you want to roll, sometimes you want to slide, and sometimes you want to climb.Full patent here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jul 10, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Inventions, Children, 1900s
Nipper Runs Amok!
Harder than you might imagine to get Nipper to respond correctly to His Master's Voice.
Posted By: Paul - Sun May 08, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Technology, Advertising, Dogs, 1900s
The New Century Standard Letter-Writer
You might have fun browsing through this book on correspondence.
The section on Love Letters is lots of fun.
Also, for some reason there are four pages on Etiquette, reproduced below. I would hope every lady and gentleman among us would follow these enlightened precepts.
Posted By: Paul - Sun May 01, 2022 -
Comments (5)
Category: Etiquette and Formal Behavior, Correspondence, Telegrams, Letters, and Other Written Communications, Books, 1900s
The Mystic Swing
Posted By: Paul - Sat Apr 23, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand, Movies, 1900s
Follies of the Madmen #529
Synesthesia in advertising.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 07, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Business, Advertising, Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, Children, Cereal, 1900s
The Farmer’s Anti-Automobile Society of Arkansaw
I'm going to assume that there never was a "Farmer's Anti-Automobile Society of Arkansaw" (or any other state) and that the list of road rules they supposedly adopted was early twentieth-century humor meant to poke fun at car-hating farmers.Although some blogs, such as here, seem to think that this list of crazy road rules might have been real.
The Carmen Headlight - Sep 10, 1909
Posted By: Alex - Mon Mar 07, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, 1900s, Parody, Cars
The Princess Rajah Dance
Man, that gal's got some strong jaws--as you will see!
Posted By: Paul - Sun Mar 06, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Furniture, Human Marvels, 1900s, Dance
Patented by an insane person
Many patents might seem like they've been invented by an insane person. But as far as I know U.S. Patent No. 711,566 is the only patent that actually describes the inventor (Clark D. Hazard) as "an insane person".The invention itself is unremarkable. It's for a "heating furnace". Evidently Mr. Hazard must have been institutionalized, or otherwise incapable of filing for the patent without assistance. So given this, it's impressive he was able to invent the furnace. But his description still stands out as a curiosity of the patent office.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 25, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Patents, 1900s
Buster’s Joke on Papa
Posted By: Paul - Mon Feb 21, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Movies, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, Comics, 1900s, Pranks
| Who We Are |
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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, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. 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. Contact Us |