Category:
1960s

North to Alaska

Here's a type of song, a story ballad, that seems pretty much extinct these days. (Any WU-vie who can cite a contemporary instance gets a No-Prize!) It seems, judging by the film clips in this video, to recount the entire arc of the movie!



The Wikipedia page for the film.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 28, 2020 - Comments (4)
Category: History, Movies, Music, Regionalism, 1960s

1969 Design Proposals for NYC

A 200-MPH transit system, a dome over Times Square, and other daydreams.

Source.



Posted By: Paul - Wed Aug 26, 2020 - Comments (3)
Category: Motor Vehicles, Urban Life, 1960s, Yesterday’s Tomorrows

UK’s Central Government War HQ

The Central Government War Headquarters (CGWHQ) is a 35-acre (14 ha)[1] complex built 120 feet (37 m) underground[2] as the United Kingdom's emergency government war headquarters – the hub of the country's alternative seat of power outside London during a nuclear war or conflict with the Soviet Union. It is located in Corsham, Wiltshire, in a former Bath stone quarry known as Spring Quarry, under the present-day MoD Corsham.[3]


The Wikipedia page.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Aug 25, 2020 - Comments (3)
Category: War, 1960s, United Kingdom

Cherry Berry Wine

Biblical revisionism regarding the influence of alcohol on historical events.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Aug 24, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Music, Religion, 1960s, Alcohol

The Holie Terra

Seeking a way to use technology to win the tunnel warfare in Vietnam, Nelson Frost of Byram, Connecticut invented the "Holie Terra." Although in the write-up for the patent he received (No. 3,395,641), he referred to it more formally as a "remotely controlled tunnel exploration and destroying means."



From his patent:

In certain types of warfare, for example, insurgency as practiced in Southeast Asia, enemy infiltrators and insurgents resort to extensive tunnel networks to hide from the established forces. The tunnel system in any one area may be elaborate and may traverse several levels and numerous branches with the arrangement being such that the insurgent forces are disposed in the system in such a position that a high explosive detonated at the tunnel entrance will have little effect on those hiding in the tunnels because of their labyrinthine construction whereby the direct force of an explosion is screened from the occupants. Because of the danger of booby traps or ambush it is not practical for attacking forces to enter the tunnels with the result that heretofore there has simply been no way to kill or dislodge insurgents hiding in the tunnels and the broad object of the present invention is to provide means for exploring tunnel networks by a self-propelled device which can be safely controlled from a remote position outside of the tunnel network.

More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide a tunnel exploring device which may be maneuvered from a remote position deep into the tunnel network and there be detonated so that there is a much higher kill probability of the enemy forces with greater safety to the attackers than has been possible by any means employed heretofore.



Montgomery Advertiser - Aug 15, 1968

Posted By: Alex - Sun Aug 23, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: War, Weapons, Patents, 1960s

Hitler’s Toilet Seat

December 1969: ex-RAF pilot Guy Harris put a toilet seat up for auction that he claimed to have removed from Hitler's bunker in Berlin. He said he had found it in the private apartment used by Hitler and Eva Braun.

According to Harris, he and other British soldiers had been allowed in the bunker by the Russians, who had already removed everything they believed to be of value. But they evidently hadn't thought Hitler's toilet seat was of any value. So Harris took it.

When he got back to England, he first installed it in his 90-foot yacht on the Thames. Later he moved it to his home in Twickenham, before finally deciding to sell it.

There's no record, however, of whether he did manage sell it. At least, none that I can find.

Albany Democrat Herald - Dec 18, 1969



Los Angeles Times - Dec 17, 1969



As it turns out, Harris wasn't the only soldier to have nabbed a Hitler toilet seat. There are two more floating around out there. One was taken from Hitler's mountain retreat, the Berghof. The other from Hitler's private yacht, the Aviso Grille. This latter one is currently located in an auto repair shop in New Jeresy. More info: Anchorage News

Posted By: Alex - Sun Aug 16, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Bathrooms, Dictators, Tyrants and Other Harsh Rulers, 1960s

Sounds of War

On the heels of yesterday's post, and thanks to loyal and creative WU-vie KDP, comes this literal blast from his past. We hope it brings back childhood memories.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Aug 12, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: War, Reader Recommendation, Special Effects, 1960s

Mother Heart

Japan's "crazy inventor" Hiroshi Majima invented this odd device:

It is like a mother's real breast. A baby grabs hold of the facsimile, its nipple in its mouth, its cheek against a simulated heart that beats 70 times regularly every 60 seconds.

The tot apparently feels secure and reassured, stops yelling and drifts off to sleep without another whimper.

Bed-wetting is also greatly reduced, inventor Majima finds.

"Mother Heart" now sells abroad, not just on Japan's domestic market alone. Ready-made markets, Majima says, have been found in the Mediterranean countries, like France, Italy, and Spain, where mothers are especially close to their infants, and vice versa.



Allentown Morning Call - Sep 16, 1965



We previously featured another one of Majima's strange inventions on WU: the Cat Mew Machine.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 29, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Babies, Inventions, 1960s

Follies of the Madmen #484

Somehow not quite as humorous nowadays.



Source.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Jul 29, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: Business, Advertising, Death, Family, Photography and Photographers, 1960s

Pronouncing the Scientific Names of Seashells of North America



You can download the MP3 files here. Note: clicking the link does not initiate the download. You choose to do so at the new page.

R. Tucker Abbott begins with a statement sure to dissuade us from listening further. "Actually, there are no official correct pronunciations of these Latin names..."

Source.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 28, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: Boredom, Languages, Nature, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, 1960s

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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.

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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.

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