1940s
THE GOLDBERGS
Once upon a time, sheer Jewishness was exotic enough to supply material for sitcoms and product spokesmanship.
THE GOLDBERGS.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Apr 05, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Ethnic Groupings, Family, Stereotypes and Cliches, Television, 1940s, 1950s
Fritz von Opel
Fritz von Opel was one of those early-20th-century rocket-besotted guys who pioneered this exotic means of propulsion. Just look at his rocket car go in the film clip above! (Narration in German, but not necessary to comprehension.)
But von Opel's innocent excitement had its darker side. I give you the 1929 newspaper article below. Specifically, the enlarged sentence.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 29, 2013 -
Comments (7)
Category: Inventions, War, Space Travel, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, Europe, Cars
Lena the Hyena: (Anti-) Beauty Contest Winner
Most fans of comics, or Mad magazine, or pop culture in general know about Basil Wolverton and his famous creation, Lena the Hyena. (I put one of Wolverton's great recent books in the sidebar a little while ago.)
But did you know that Lena was the result of a contest sponsored by Al Capp for his Li'l Abner newspaper strip? She took the prize from several other contenders for ugliness.
See who she beat out here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Mar 18, 2013 -
Comments (4)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Comics, 1940s
The College of Swedish Massage
Original ad. (Scroll down.)
I wonder how one went about setting up as a freelance massage therapist in 1949. Did the College of Swedish Massage mail order course culminate with a nice diploma you could display, something along the lines of a "Bra Inspector #23" badge? And exactly how, as a student, did you practice your techniques at home, and on whom?
As the quote below tells us, the College of Swedish Massage eventually was superseded by the more proper Swedish Institute, still teaching massage therapy today. I wonder if you can take their courses online?
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Mar 12, 2013 -
Comments (10)
Category: Body, School, 1940s
Mystery Gadget 16
What can this woman be making that leaves her so joyous?
The answer is here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Mar 05, 2013 -
Comments (7)
Category: Technology, 1940s
Stone Pie
Here's something to add to Paul's Original Rock Dinner posted last week. It's a stone shaped like a piece of chocolate pie, found by Dr. Charles M. Sheldon of Kansas, sometime circa 1940. The picture comes from The Rotarian (Apr 1944).
Posted By: Alex - Mon Mar 04, 2013 -
Comments (2)
Category: Food, 1940s
Follies of the Madmen #201
The message here? Sloppy panties imperil the elderly and the nation's health care policies.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 01, 2013 -
Comments (8)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Elderly, Underwear, 1940s
The Original Rock Dinner
Original page here.
In 1939, Kent Knowlton of Randsburg, CA, assembled a curious meal of petrified food for his amusement and that of others.
We have a record that it was still being exhibited a year later. Then, the "Original Rock Dinner" vanishes from history--until this very year!
An article on the "ghost town" of Randsburg features what appears to be a photo of the petrified food, nearly 75 years after its debut. I'd recognize that "cauliflower" anywhere!
Posted By: Paul - Tue Feb 26, 2013 -
Comments (2)
Category: Eccentrics, Collectors, Food, Regionalism, 1930s, 1940s, Natural Wonders
Smoke Smoke Smoke
The first musical anti-smoking propaganda?
Posted By: Paul - Tue Feb 05, 2013 -
Comments (4)
Category: Music, Smoking and Tobacco, 1940s
Follies of the Madmen #197
As gross-outs go, the notion of a giant head raining its dandruff on helpless humans (or is that a normal-sized head raining on shrunken doll people?), is pretty far up the scale. Not sure, however, that it makes me want to buy the product.
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 24, 2013 -
Comments (4)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Disasters, 1940s, Hair and Hairstyling
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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 |