1940s
The Gods Were Angry With Me
Man's carnal lusts cause Armageddon and make the gods open up the Book of Revelation.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 25, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Music, Religion, 1940s, Love & Romance
Lou Bunin’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND
It's harder to be more surreal than the original, but this mixed live-actor stop-motion version by Lou Bunin tries hard.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 24, 2016 -
Comments (0)
Category: Surrealism, Books, Fantasy, Stop-motion Animation, 1940s
Mystery Gadget 40
A granite sphere sitting on a base. No moving parts. Yet it performed a useful function. What?
The answer is here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Sep 23, 2016 -
Comments (5)
Category: Statues, Monuments and Memorials, Technology, 1910s, 1940s
The Existentialist Hat
In 1948, the existentialist Parisian milliner Jean Barthet debuted the "existentialist hat" which was topped by a pair of floppy hands that were supposed to symbolize the hovering "hands of fate."For some reason, Barthet's hat didn't capture the popular imagination as a symbol of existentialist angst in the same way as, for instance, Edvard Munch's The Scream did.
However, Barthet did go on to have an extremely successful career. Wikipedia notes that he was a favorite hatmaker of Sophia Loren and Michael Jackson.
Newsweek - June 28, 1948
Des Moines Register - June 14, 1948
Posted By: Alex - Thu Sep 22, 2016 -
Comments (1)
Category: Philosophy, Headgear, 1940s
Alec Templeton
I must confess that until a few days ago, despite loving clever weird music, I had never heard of Alec Templeton. (A DJ at WQXR dispelled my ignorance.) He turns out to be one of those talented composers who could veer between serious and silly with ease.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Sep 15, 2016 -
Comments (3)
Category: Humor, Parody, Music, 1940s
Miss Stardust of 1948
A couple of points about this beauty queen.1) Mother was also a beauty queen, "Miss Brooklyn of 1928." Alas, I can find no pix of the elder Bayes.
2) Should a beauty queen who represents the "falsie" industry be considered for her natural endowments, or her falsie-assisted curves?
3) Note the loving care and extra attention that WU brings to all its posts, as we present the previous year's winner below, as a supplement.
Original pic here.
Original article here.
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Sep 01, 2016 -
Comments (3)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Body Modifications, Children, Parents, 1920s, 1940s
Plastape Poses
Poses (pronounced poh-ZAYS) were introduced in 1949 as an alternative brassiere that attached to the chest by means of adhesive strips of something called Plastape. "Place them in position, press with a forefinger — and there you are!"However, the product proved unpopular. Perhaps because women thought it seemed too much like gluing coffee filters to their chest.
Detroit Free Press - July 10, 1949
But when women didn't go for stick-on plastape bras, the stuff seems to have been repurposed to make venetian blinds.
The Hagerstown Morning Herald - Nov 2, 1951
Posted By: Alex - Sat Aug 20, 2016 -
Comments (7)
Category: Fashion, 1940s
Tanlac
Original text here.
Despite this 1915 revelation of fraud, Tanlac continued to sell for at least another 30 years. The bottle in the picture dates from 1942.
Maybe it was due to ads like this one.
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Aug 18, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, 1910s, 1940s
The High School Hair-Do Code
In the 1940s, American High School girls used hair ribbons to send coded messages about their availability for mating. From Life Magazine - May 15, 1944:In Louisville the color of the ribbon is significant. A yellow ribbon is the symbol of a man-hater. A white ribbon is a signal to the boys to lay off because the wearer is someone else's "witch" (best girl). At Highland Park H.S. in Dallas, Texas, position of the ribbon is revealing [see images].
You can also tell by the look in her eyes that Ann Mitchell was "out to get herself a man."
Posted By: Alex - Sat Aug 13, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: 1940s, Hair and Hairstyling
Stop dragging dead horses
The thought process of the ad men must have gone something like this:If you don't use Macmillan Oil your car's engine won't achieve its full horsepower. And this is kind of like dragging around a dead horse. So to really drive home this point, let's include a picture of a car actually dragging a horse!
Source: Life magazine - June 20, 1949
Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 12, 2016 -
Comments (6)
Category: Advertising, 1940s
| Who We Are |
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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 |