1940s
1948 Valvoline Ad
The connection between "the girl" in the swimsuit and the "faultlessly lubricated" car seems a bit of a stretch. But hey, who needs a logical reason when you've got a girl in a swimsuit in your ad!Source: Time - Feb 16, 1948
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jul 25, 2015 -
Comments (9)
Category: Advertising, 1940s
Creepy 1948 ad for electro-shock therapy
Back in the 1940s, electro-shock therapy (or "electro-tonic therapy") was promoted as a breakthrough treatment for depression. But it never managed to live up to the hype and was eventually mostly replaced by chemical treatments (popping pills). Though, from what I understand, it's still used in certain situations.If the medical industry was promoting electro-shock therapy today, I imagine they'd show pictures of happy people running through fields and playing with grandchildren. But this 1948 ad (Time - Sep 20, 1948) offered a slightly more realistic and disturbing image.
Note the line: "Brain disclosed for illustration only." Glad they clarified that.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jul 11, 2015 -
Comments (7)
Category: 1940s, Mental Health and Insanity
Mystery Illustration 7
What is the meaning of this display?
The answer is here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jul 08, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Children, 1940s
Hilton Tupman’s Pedestrian Horn
Los Angeles auto dealer Hilton Tupman wanted to level the playing field between motorists and pedestrians. So he invented a horn that pedestrians could use to honk at motorists. And he made it loud enough to be heard within a 1-mile radius.
Source: Popular Mechanics, May 1948
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jun 19, 2015 -
Comments (7)
Category: 1940s, Cars
Windmill Car
Ecowarriors love 1) electric cars and 2) wind turbines. A stroke of genius to combine the two!
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun May 24, 2015 -
Comments (2)
Category: Environmentalism and Ecology, 1940s, Cars
Your Town: A Story of America
Don't be a "tearer-downer," always causing a "rumpus!"
Posted By: Paul - Fri May 22, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: PSA’s, Civic Duties, 1940s
Judy the Dog: Only Canine POW of WWII
Judy the dog survived internment in a Japanese POW camp. Her story is told in No Better Friend (see sidebar).
Posted By: Paul - Thu May 21, 2015 -
Comments (3)
Category: War, Dogs, 1940s, South Pacific
Follies of the Madmen #248
Stops spies from sweating during torture.
Posted By: Paul - Mon May 11, 2015 -
Comments (2)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Hygiene, Spies and Intelligence Services, 1940s
Tomorrow: Television!
Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 30, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Technology, Television, 1940s, Yesterday’s Tomorrows
Balloon Girl
1947: The entertainment at gunmaker Melvin Johnson's dinner party was a balloon-clad model whom guests (apparently a bunch of old men) shot at with a pellet gun between courses. To the guests' great frustration, the balloons failed to break.
Source: Life - June 30, 1947
Posted By: Alex - Tue Mar 31, 2015 -
Comments (6)
Category: Entertainment, 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 |