Category:
1950s
1950s
Nerve Man
The giant man of nerves was part of the "Conquest of Pain" exhibit held at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry in 1955. If I had seen this thing as a kid, it definitely would have given me nightmares.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Apr 01, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Body, Museums, 1950s
Miniature Menagerie
A portrait of the once-proud USA squeaky-toy industry in its glory days, before Asia kicked our squeaky butt.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 26, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Business, Technology, Toys, 1950s
The Little Foxes Club
I can't find too much information on the "Little Foxes Club," whose mission was to promote African-American female beauty. In 1958, they had a beauty contest in Detroit.
Original article here.
And they were mentioned in this 1966 cheesecake photo.
Original article here.
I can only imagine the loud controversy such an organization would bring down upon itself in these times.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Mar 24, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Ethnic Groupings, 1950s, 1960s, Women
Erismann and Kohler: Inversion Goggles
"The movie documents a classic experiment conducted in 1950 by Ivo Kohler and Theodor Erismann at the university of Innsbruck, Austria. Erismann is the older person the movie, and Kohler, his research assistant at that time, is the person wearing the inversion goggles. Subtitles are all in German."
Full story here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Mar 15, 2015 -
Comments (2)
Category: Science, Experiments, 1950s, Eyes and Vision
Eugene Hart, Boy Stowaway
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 13, 2015 -
Comments (3)
Category: Family, Juvenile Delinquency, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, 1950s
The Elkhart Tooth Stone
Posted By: Alex - Sun Mar 08, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: 1950s, Teeth
Rev. Hansen’s Bible Birds
In 1940, Rev. Hansen started touring around the U.S. with his family, putting on a show in which he used trained birds to demonstrate lessons from the Bible. Newsweek (Dec. 10, 1951) offered this description of the act:A typical show opens with a six-canary choir accompanying Mrs. Hansen (on the vibra-harp) in "The Star-Spangled Banner," while an oriole pulls a string that hoists a flag on a tiny pole and a parakeet shinnies to the pole top to pose as an American eagle.
Other birds ride on a tiny electric train, eat at tables, and climb ladders while the Hansens appropriately quote the Bible. For example, when Tiger the canary sits on Catnip the cat while daughter Sylvia watches (see picture), Mr. Hansen quotes Isaiah 11:6, "... the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the faitling together; and a little child shall lead them."
Mr. Hansen feels that the whole act is "a demonstration of faith. Pete is not afraid of the flaming hoop because he knows I am holding it. Muggs has to stretch out his neck to swallow a sword that's as long as he is, but he has faith in us."
Other birds ride on a tiny electric train, eat at tables, and climb ladders while the Hansens appropriately quote the Bible. For example, when Tiger the canary sits on Catnip the cat while daughter Sylvia watches (see picture), Mr. Hansen quotes Isaiah 11:6, "... the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the faitling together; and a little child shall lead them."
Mr. Hansen feels that the whole act is "a demonstration of faith. Pete is not afraid of the flaming hoop because he knows I am holding it. Muggs has to stretch out his neck to swallow a sword that's as long as he is, but he has faith in us."
Amazingly, Hansen was able to continue putting on his Bible Birds show for 60 years, until he died in 2002. See Roadside America for some more info.
Hansen makes Boom-Boom eat at a table
Tiger, Catnip, and Sylvia play
Posted By: Alex - Sat Mar 07, 2015 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Entertainment, Religion, 1950s
Johnson Smith Catalog Item #33
Which is your favorite?
Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 06, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: Domestic, Johnson Smith Catalog, 1950s
Radar Scanner Hat
British fashion from 1951.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Mar 03, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Headgear, 1950s
Dolphina at Bimbo’s 365 Club
Bimbo's 365 Club is still an active music venue in San Francisco. But, according to news on their own website, they seem to have abandoned a long proud tradition: Dolphina, the miniature live nude woman who swims in a fishbowl with goldfish.
How was this illusion achieved? When Dolphina was profiled in the NY TIMES in 2011, we learned:
IT’S AN ILLUSION A catacomb of tunnels in the bowels of the club leads to a small room containing a rotating platform on which the live “mermaid” reclines, naked. A periscope with angled mirrors projects her image up into the fishbowl where it appears that a tiny mermaid, about six inches long, is floating in an underwater grotto.
One at least hopes that the statue to an ideal Dolphina, erected in 1952 inside the club, still has a place of honor.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Mar 02, 2015 -
Comments (2)
Category: Entertainment, Public Indecency, Fish, 1950s
| 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 |