1920s
Konjola
Read the full story here.It was a vegetable concoction with a high alcohol content that could be sold without prescription and gave comfort to many who could not or would not find a bootlegger to ease the strictures of Prohibition.
Konjola sold like bathtub gin in the Roaring Twenties. Gilbert and Roberta started Mosby Medicine by mixing up tubs of Konjola in their basement and bottling it themselves. By 1927, Mosby owned a factory on Reading Road in Avondale and was planning an even bigger complex up the road. Mosby bought a spectacular neon sign, 84 feet long and 32 feet high, to advertise Konjola on the central pier of the Atlantic City boardwalk.
And then it all fell apart.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 29, 2024 -
Comments (2)
Category: Regionalism, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, 1920s, Alcohol
The Far-out Costumes of Dancer Nina Payne
Read her story here.Source of advertisement.
Dancer Nina Payne (USA) Nina Payne doing exercises in the Elizabeth Arden beauty parlor, Paris (to prepare for her performance in the Folies-Bergere) - undated, probably 1925
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jan 20, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Eccentrics, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, 1920s, Dance, Europe
They Needed a Songbird in Heaven, So God Took Caruso Away
Never a good look for God, when He selfishly abducts entertainers for Heaven's Variety Show.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 02, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Death, Music, Religion, 1920s
National Radio Silence Day
From Wikipedia:No Martian messages were received.
More info: ufopast.com
Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 14, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Aliens, Radio, 1920s
The Psycho-Expander
Expand your inner psycho.
Popular Mechanics - June 1924
Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 02, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Advertising, 1920s
Artwork Khrushchev Probably Would Not Have Liked 53
Get the whole story here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 14, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Costumes and Masks, Avant Garde, 1920s
Mental Magnetism
Read it here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Oct 30, 2023 -
Comments (5)
Category: New Age, Supernatural, Occult, Paranormal, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, Books, 1920s
Suction-Cup Scalp Nipples for Holding a Wig in Place
The illustration shows adhesive anchoring, but he does say suction cups are an option!Full patent here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 20, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Wigs, Hairpieces, Fake Eyelashes, Implants, and other Prosthetics, Patents, 1920s, Head
Healing Mummified Hand
Although the mummified hand supposedly healed 500 people, I've only been able to find one description of a "cure":
Saskatoon Phoenix - Feb 8, 1928
Sydney Sunday Times - Feb 5, 1928
Posted By: Alex - Tue Sep 12, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Paranormal, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, 1920s
Professor Bordier’s cure for the common cold
Electrifying the nose to cure the common cold. The electrification would continue until "the patient finds it difficult to bear the treatment."If it worked, I would use it to get rid of a cold. But I'm pretty sure the best it did was to temporarily relieve symptoms.
Montgomery Advertiser - Sep 11, 1927
Posted By: Alex - Mon Aug 07, 2023 -
Comments (2)
Category: Cures for the common cold, 1920s
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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 |