1930s
Rev. irwin Moon, Science Preacher
Obituary here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 15, 2016 -
Comments (0)
Category: Eccentrics, Religion, Science, 1930s
Trick Valise
March 1937: A tricked-out payroll satchel foiled would-be robbers. From Newsweek (Apr 3, 1937):Quite ingenious, but seems like it would work only once, since after that everyone would know what the trick was. So how did they protect the payroll subsequently?
Newsweek - Apr 3, 1937
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Mar 26, 1937
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jun 18, 2016 -
Comments (5)
Category: Crime, Inventions, 1930s
Three Thousand Deer Trophies
[Click to enlarge]
Original pic here.
Wikipedia entry here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri May 27, 2016 -
Comments (8)
Category: Animals, Hunting, Trapping and Other Wilderness Activities, Royalty, 1930s, Europe
That Sly Old Gentleman from Featherbed Lane
Charming song about elderly neighborhood Peeping Tom.
Posted By: Paul - Sun May 22, 2016 -
Comments (1)
Category: Eccentrics, Myths and Fairytales, 1930s
Art by random people approached on the street
1937: As an experiment, art teacher Helen Beach approached random people on the streets of Chicago and offered them a free 12-week art course. Among the 75 volunteers who accepted her offer were train guards, an iceman, a school teacher, postmen, a scrubwoman, and policemen. Later that year she exhibited some of the works her students created, offering them as proof that anyone, with a little training, can release their inner artist. Examples below.Of course, there has to be some selection bias here — weeding out those whose lack of talent was beyond help.
Helen Beach
"Flannel Night Gown" by Edna Hirt, housewife
"Sunday Night Supper" by Edith Willett, Sunday-school teacher
"Indian Summer" by John Golden, dogcatcher
"Abstract of Sewing Machine" by Maude Hopkins, (no career specified)
"Typewriter" by George Prochmow, letter carrier
Image source: Newsweek - Dec 13, 1937
Posted By: Alex - Fri May 13, 2016 -
Comments (7)
Category: Art, 1930s
Only man never to have seen a woman
October 1938: 82-year-old Mihailo Tolotos died. He had lived his entire life in Greece's Mt. Athos monastery, which women were (are) not allowed to enter, and he was therefore believed to have been the only man in the world never to have seen a woman — or rather, the only man never to have been in the presence of a woman (except his mother, who died giving birth to him), because as the folks over at The Straight Dope point out, anyone who is born blind will have never seen a woman.
The Edinburg Daily Courier - Oct 29, 1938
In 1949, the Nixon Furniture Company featured the story of Mihailo Tolotos in one of their ads. They were worried that just as Tolotos had never seen a woman, perhaps the readers of the Raleigh Register hadn't seen all of Nixon's new furniture.
The Raleigh Register - Jan 7, 1949
Posted By: Alex - Wed Apr 20, 2016 -
Comments (7)
Category: Gender, Men, Women, 1930s
Mystery Gadget 36
What was stored in this tank?
The answer is here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 18, 2016 -
Comments (10)
Category: Technology, 1930s
The Science of Craps
If this is true, I assume the effect isn't significant enough to overcome the house advantage.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - Sep 7, 1937
Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 10, 2016 -
Comments (9)
Category: Science, 1930s, Gambling, Casinos, Lotteries and Other Games of Chance
Hitler the Snowman
Adolf Hitler snowman created by Tokyo children, January 1937.At the time, Nazi Germany and the Empire of Japan had recently become allies, with the signing of the Anti-Comintern Pact.
Source: Newsweek - Jan 23, 1937
Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 04, 2016 -
Comments (7)
Category: Dictators, Tyrants and Other Harsh Rulers, Children, 1930s
More Art of the Insane
Following up on Paul's post yesterday about the Electric Pencil. Here's some art created by patients in the criminally insane ward of St. Elizabeth Hospital in Washington D.C., mid-1930s.
A "working model of the fourth dimension," examined by Dr. John E. Lind.
A lion (top) and a man on a horse (bottom), created by a "shellshocked, cop-killing veteran" out of chewed toilet paper, hair from clothes and blankets, and cellophane. "Jealous of his accomplishments, the veteran guards his work as assiduously as a setting hen; it must be taken from him while he is asleep."
A locomotive (top) and "something that looks like a caricature of a capitalist" (bottom) drawn by "a mental 10-year-old."
Source: Newsweek - Jan 9, 1937
Also see the earlier post, Art of the Insane, to compare artwork from patients at St. Anne Hospital in France, mid-1940s.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Mar 30, 2016 -
Comments (5)
Category: Art, 1930s
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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 |