1940s
Tirza’s Wine Bath
The original Tirza was not always available, and so Mary Hood often substituted.
Source.
Source.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 19, 2017 -
Comments (5)
Category: Entertainment, Innuendo, Double Entendres, Symbolism, Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink and Subliminal Messages, Public Indecency, Sex Symbols, Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods, 1940s
Follies of the Madmen #341
Sweeping up the crumbs from a toast carpet is a thankless task.
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Dec 14, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Domestic, Appliances, 1940s
Atomic Hairdos
How the atomic bomb inspired hairdressers.
La Grande Observer - July 30, 1946
(AP Wirephoto — Mar 2, 1951)
Mansfield News-Journal - Apr 29, 1946
Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 24, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: Atomic Power and Other Nuclear Matters, 1940s, 1950s, Hair and Hairstyling
Virgin Hospitals
1945: Mrs. Lenora Hawkes Jones came up with the idea of having a network of "virgin hospitals" throughout America which would house lovely and brainy women willing to bear children by suitable men in order to "improve the race." Suitable men would be those who didn't drink or smoke, and who weren't 'evil-minded.'Didn't the nazis have some kind of scheme like this going?
Brooklyn Daily Eagle - Mar 7, 1926
Piqua Daily Call - Nov 2, 1945
-acme photo caption
Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 17, 2017 -
Comments (7)
Category: Eccentrics, Crackpots, 1940s
The Fountain of the World Cult
"Members of Fountain of the World cult in Chatsworth are pallbearers and mourners at funeral of their leader Krishna Venta and two other cult members killed in dynamiting of their headquarters."
Read a long fascinating article on this Manson precursor at the LA WEEKLY.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 16, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Cult Figures and Artifacts, Death, 1940s, 1950s
The Chocolate Choo-Choo
Despite what the YouTube poster writes, this song was issued to the marketplace, as you can see from the pic of the physical record and the advert.But those circumstance do not make the song, with its faintly scatological title, any less weird.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 07, 2017 -
Comments (0)
Category: Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, Music, Chocolate, 1940s
Follies of the Madmen #333
To me, this ad at first seems to imply that people used whisk brooms on their scalps when they had dandruff. Then I got the meaning that they were always whisking the shoulders of their clothes. But in any case, a liberal application of Listerine--to the scalp, not the shoulders of the clothes--solves everything!
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 06, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Hygiene, 1940s, Head
Air Raid Noise Experiment
These pictures in the Google Arts picture archive don't come with any explanatory text, except that they're from an "Air Raid Noise Experiment" conducted in Nuneaton in 1941. But I suspect that the experiment was part of a series of psychological experiments conducted in the UK in 1941 that attempted to "harden Britons to bomb shock." The idea was to expose people to the sounds of air raid sirens and battle sounds so that they would lose their fear of them. As described in the news clipping below:
The Greenfield Daily Reporter - Nov 28 1941
I've been aware of these experiments for a while. I previously posted something about them back in 2009. But I just came across these photos and realized they must be from one of these experiments.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 02, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Noises and Other Public Disturbances of the Peace, War, Experiments, Psychology, 1940s
Miss Most Titles
Actress and singer Janis Paige earned the reputation of having the longest list of 'misses' in show business. Her career as a Miss began at the age of 9 when she was awarded the title of Miss Olive Oyl in a Popeye contest. She went on to be named (among other things) Miss Valley Aviation, Miss National Buddy Poppy, Miss Damsite, Miss Front Paige (named by Boston newspaper editors), Miss Delicious Apples, Miss Best Table Decoration, Miss Atomic Energy, Miss Airmail Parcel Post, and Miss Hollywood Canteen.According to wikipedia, she's currently 95 years old.
Miss Atomic Energy, 1948
Reno Gazette Journal - Apr 14, 1947
Des Moines Register - Jan 16, 1949
Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 06, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, 1940s
Traffic pins with double meanings
From the Feb 1947 issue of Hit Parader magazine. via Kitsch-Slapped.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 05, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Innuendo, Double Entendres, Symbolism, Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink and Subliminal Messages, Jewelry, 1940s
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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 |