1930s
The Cellophane Wedding
Back in the 1930s, the Jockey underwear company got the idea of showing off their products by having their models wear cellophane and staging a "cellophane wedding." The first picture seems to be a trial run of this stunt, in which the company created outfits that were only half cellophane.But in 1938, they staged a wedding with full cellophane outfits at the National Association of Retail Clothiers and Furnishers convention. The story goes that a picture of this event subsequently ran in Life magazine, by which means it then came to the attention of Adolf Hitler, who used it as an opportunity to fulminate against America's moral decline.
Sources: Kickshaw Productions, Kenosha News
Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 23, 2015 -
Comments (3)
Category: 1930s, Weddings
Elektro the Robot
No need to worry about the Singularity with Elektro.
Wikipedia entry.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 23, 2015 -
Comments (2)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Fairs, Amusement Parks, and Resorts, Puppets and Automatons, 1930s
Balloon Land
Posted By: Paul - Sun Apr 19, 2015 -
Comments (3)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Death, Surrealism, Cartoons, 1930s, Fictional Monsters
The Dripping Bloody Hawk-Mummy of War
Original article here.
In 1930 we learn, from no less an authority than the founder of the Boy Scouts, about this macabre prescient bird corpse.
A followup article the same year explains more, and gives the owner's name.
Then after four years, the hawk crops up again.
Original article here.
Since then, nothing. I wonder what ever became of this talisman?
Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 09, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Superstition, War, 1930s
Apache Dance
I don't watch Dancing with the Stars. Is this kind of dance included? If not, why? It would liven up the competitions immensely, I wager. With signed waivers, real daggers could be used.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Mar 16, 2015 -
Comments (7)
Category: Death, Sexuality, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, 1930s, Men, Women, Dance
Woodward’s Gripe Water
Gripe water is what people used to give to kids to calm them down if they had colic, teething pains, etc. But what exactly was in the stuff? According to wikipedia, the main ingredients were alcohol, dill oil, sodium bicarbonate, sugar, and water. But this ad makes me think there must have been a little something extra in the Indian formulation of the stuff.
via reddit
Posted By: Alex - Fri Mar 06, 2015 -
Comments (11)
Category: Medicine, 1930s
Typing to Music
Posted By: Paul - Tue Mar 03, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: Music, Performance Art, Appliances, 1930s
The Icyclist
I am so sick of winter. But maybe if I had a nice bike like this one...
Posted By: Paul - Fri Feb 27, 2015 -
Comments (2)
Category: Inventions, Nature, 1930s
Camp Siegfried
I always wonder, when watching vintage movies from the 1930s and 1940s, about the preoccupation with Nazi spies and sympathizers in the USA. How justified were such fears? Pretty well justified, I guess, based on the video above, and this article.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Feb 20, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Spies and Secret Agents, 1930s, 1940s, North America
The hen that laid an egg shaped like a light bulb
Rural electrification brought many benefits. But one of its stranger effects occurred on the Kentucky farm of Albert Clark in 1939. One of his hens stared and stared at the new light bulb hanging in the hen house, as if hypnotized by it. Then she laid an egg shaped like a light bulb. Clark sent the egg to the Rural Electrification Administration in D.C. as proof of what had occurred. This was big news in 1939.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Feb 10, 2015 -
Comments (9)
Category: Farming, Eggs, 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 |