1950s
Mystery Illustration 113
What famous actress is this? HINT: her most notable role involved even more makeup than she wears here.The answer is here. Or after the jump.
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Posted By: Paul - Fri Feb 16, 2024 -
Comments (2)
Category: Cosmetics, Hollywood, 1950s
Nervous Norvus, “The Blackout Song”
The creator's Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Feb 10, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Emotions, Music, 1950s, Screams, Grunts and Other Exclamations
Amazons of the Year 2000
THE DAILY SENTINEL of Colorado predicts in 1950 that all the women of the year 2000 will be giants.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Feb 09, 2024 -
Comments (3)
Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, 1950s, Women, Twenty-first Century
Hubert the Goober
In the early 1950s, McColl's Fine Foods adopted 'Hubert the Goober' as the mascot for its peanut butter. But by the late 1950s, it had dropped him.Thanks to Hubert, I just learned that a 'goober' originally meant a peanut before it came to mean a foolish person. Apparently it's a Southern term. Maybe that's the reason Hubert didn't last long as a corporate mascot. McColl's was a Canadian company, and how many people in Canada would have known that a goober was a peanut?
More info: A Legume With Many Names: The Story Of 'Goober'; Historical Information Service
Vancouver Sun - Apr 21, 1951
image source: eBay Canada
Posted By: Alex - Thu Feb 01, 2024 -
Comments (9)
Category: Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, 1950s
Hurricane Honeys
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 31, 2024 -
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Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Regionalism, 1950s, Weather
The Armadillo Armored Suit
Apr 1958: Inventor Harvey Freeman looked a bit like a space alien in his "armadillo" armor, as Police Inspector Beryl Pace shot at him. The Detroit police bought four of Freeman's suits, but I have no idea if they were ever used.Freeman lived to be 100 years old, dying in 2022. You can read his obituary here.
Santa Cruz Sentinel - Apr 30, 1958
Holland Evening Sentinel - Apr 30, 1958 (click to enlarge)
Below is what appears to be an early version of Freeman's suit.
Mechanix Illustrated - Sep 1956
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jan 25, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Inventions, Police and Other Law Enforcement, 1950s
The Avrocar Military Flying Saucer
If only this project had succeeded, we'd all have Jetson-style flying saucers today!Here is the Wikipedia page.
But I do think the version patented by one C. P. Lent right around the same time has a classier shape.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 25, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Flight, Military, Technology, Patents, 1950s
Worried Mother
Birmingham Post - May 9, 1958
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 17, 2024 -
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Category: Parents, 1950s
Are Manners Important?
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 16, 2024 -
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Category: Etiquette and Formal Behavior, PSA’s, 1950s
Koko the smoking poodle
"Taking a break from soliciting support for the Arthritis and Rheumatism Foundation, 'Koko' the poodle pauses for a cigarette."
New York Journal American - Jan 18, 1952
Rapid City Journal - Feb 18, 1950
New York Daily News - Nov 8, 1953
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 15, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Smoking and Tobacco, Dogs, 1950s
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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 |