1920s
Tony Sarg
Tony Sarg, "America's Puppet Master," did some weird stuff, among which were early Macy's Thanksgiving Parade balloons; the cartoon below; and his inflatable beach monster on Nantucket.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 12, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Puppets and Automatons, Cartoons, 1920s, 1930s
Psychic Baseball Game
No supernatural abilities actually required.
Original ad here.
Further information here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 10, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: Games, Sports, 1920s, 1930s
Paid to teach empty classroom
An early example of the "teacher paid to do nothing" phenomenon. Nowadays we've got the Rubber Room.
Portsmouth Daily Times - Jan 16, 1926
Posted By: Alex - Sun Aug 13, 2017 -
Comments (0)
Category: School, 1920s
Toilet Tissue Illness
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Scott Tissues ran an advertising campaign that sought to convince the American public that there was such a thing as 'Toilet Tissue Illness,' and that it was one of the great public health crises of the time. Toilet Tissue Illness was caused by using cheap toilet paper. It could lead to serious complications, possibly requiring rectal surgery to fix. So the ads suggested.The most notorious ad in the campaign was the 'black glove' ad below.
Here's some background info about the Scott Tissue campaign from Richard Smyth's Bum Fodder: An Absorbing History of Toilet Paper:
And a few of the other ads featured in the campaign:
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jul 20, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Health, Advertising, 1920s, 1930s
Mystery Gadget 50
Purpose of this device revealed here.
And after the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jun 26, 2017 -
Comments (5)
Category: Technology, 1920s
The Life and Death of 9413
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jun 22, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Body Modifications, Culture and Civilization, Money, Movies, Surrealism, 1920s
Joan Lowell and CRADLE OF THE DEEP
In 1929, Joan Lowell published an autobiography, Cradle of the Deep, published by Simon & Schuster, in which she claimed that her sea captain father took her aboard his ship, the Minnie A. Caine, at the age of three months when she was suffering from malnutrition. He nursed her back to health. She lived on the ship, with its all-male crew, until she was 17. She became skilled in the art of seamanship and once harpooned a whale by herself. Ultimately, the ship burned and sank off Australia, and Lowell swam three miles to safety, with a family of kittens clinging by their claws to her back. In fact, the book was a fabrication; Lowell had been on the ship, which remained safe in California, for only 15 months. The book was a sensational best seller until it was exposed as pure invention.[1] The book was later parodied by Corey Ford in his book Salt Water Taffy in which Lowell abandons the sinking ship (which had previously sunk several times before "very badly") and swims to safety with her manuscript.
Her Wikipedia page.
An article on the hoax.
Read the book here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jun 18, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Movies, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, 1920s
The Funeral of Mike Merlo
Original picture here.
A wax and flower effigy of the deceased featured at his funeral, attended by ten thousand people.
His Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jun 16, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Death, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, 1920s
Cosmetic Frame for Bent Legs
The vanished horrors of the past.
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jun 15, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Technology, 1920s, Differently Abled, Handicapped, Challenged, and Otherwise Atypical
Emperor and Empress of Streeterville
Once upon a time, this couple claimed to own a large chunk of Chicago.
Original story here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jun 05, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Eccentrics, Real Estate, 1920s, 1930s
| 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, 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 |