1950s
Robo-mower!
"Go, Robo-mower, and bring me the shapely form of my next-door neighbor's sunbathing wife!"
Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 21, 2009 -
Comments (9)
Category: Business, Advertising, Utilities, Landscaping, 1950s, Yesterday’s Tomorrows
Trader Thorne
Maybe the ailing car retailers of 2009 could benefit from watching this old training video. It's short, but in six parts, the subsequent five of which are after the jump.More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 02, 2009 -
Comments (3)
Category: Business, Advertising, 1950s, Cars
Dolphin High Jump
Most sources I've looked at maintain their capacity is five meters, or sixteen feet.
The performance in the video below is posted twice on YouTube, by different folks. And one poster claimed the rope was set at twenty meters. That would be over sixty feet, or as high as a five-story building.
I don't think so. They might have meant twenty feet.
But if we look at the photo to the right (from the Life archives of a Marineland performance from 1958), we see that the dolphin has jumped about three body-lengths out of the water for its treat. (Unless of course it's been lifted up there by humans and nailed by the snout to the pole.) According to Wikipedia, dolphin species vary from four feet to thirty feet long. If we assume this dolphin is ten feet long, then it's jumped thirty feet straight up!
Amazing!
Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 18, 2009 -
Comments (11)
Category: Animals, Fairs, Amusement Parks, and Resorts, 1950s, Natural Wonders
The Show-Off
I suspect that most WU readers will identify with the bad boy, rather than with the prissy narrator here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 11, 2009 -
Comments (11)
Category: Clowns, Education, Movies, Documentaries, Teenagers, 1950s
The Veil
Television has lots of weird practices. Surely, creating ten episodes of a series and never broadcasting them is pretty weird. Yet that's what happened with the Boris Karloff spooky series titled THE VEIL in 1958.Here's the first part of one of the episodes, with five remaining segments easily found on YouTube, if this portion appeals.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 06, 2009 -
Comments (3)
Category: Horror, Television, 1950s
Ostrich Racing
Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 05, 2009 -
Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Parades and Festivals, 1950s
Balancin’ Fool
From Life magazine for March 10 1952, we get eight photos of one Robert Dotzauer, who liked to...well, balance things.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Feb 27, 2009 -
Comments (9)
Category: Eccentrics, Human Marvels, 1950s
Unchained Melody x 7
One of these seven versions of UNCHAINED MELODY does not belong with the others. Using your best Sesame Street training, try to guess which one, and register your vote in the comments!Unchained Melody - Zamfir
Posted By: Paul - Mon Feb 23, 2009 -
Comments (6)
Category: Music, 1950s
Molly Bee, RIP
Her NYT obituary here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 12, 2009 -
Comments (3)
Category: Movies, Music, 1950s
Motor Patrol
For those of you who are wondering about the possible ancestors of the famed TV show CHiPs--and there must be at least six of you--here comes the 1950 film MOTOR PATROL. I watched it recently, and it's not as goofy as many cheap films of this era. But the fact that ninety percent of the action and intrigue does NOT involve motorcycles has to count for something.Isn't that fellow in the white suit really channelling Clark Gable pretty badly?
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 28, 2009 -
Comments (1)
Category: Crime, Stupid Criminals, Movies, Regionalism, 1950s, Motorcycles
| Who We Are |
|---|
| 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 |