1963: In response to polls indicating that a majority of the public disliked billboards along highways and were in favor of banning them, the O'Mealia Outdoor Advertising Corp. began displaying fine art masterpieces on a handful of its billboards throughout New Jersey. The idea was to show that billboards could be educational and instructive, and that they should be thought of as "the public's art gallery." Among the masterpieces displayed were Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and Gainsborough's Blue Boy.
Cute idea, but it must have been difficult for motorists to fully appreciate a masterpiece as they sped by it at 60 mph. Perhaps those stuck in traffic jams could admire the art.
The animated mouth of Jesus, who speaks with a robot voice, is tops!
As for Bob Harrington himself, am I cynical for imagining that hanging out with the hookers and party-animals of Bourbon Street was more fun than ministering to Jim and Jane Normal in the suburbs?
Imagine the courage of that Rev, to actually speak with "members of the cult." He should have gone undercover, with a "hippy wig" makeover, as in the second video.
As our poor abused planet whipsaws between extreme cold and extreme heat on a minute-to-minute schedule, only Coke can help soothe our pain. The "melting glacier" allegory at the end is effective, albeit unsubtle.
This looks like it would roast you to a nice golden brown.
Human Hothouse: For comfortable sunbathing in the city or during cold weather, a California firm offers a Plexiglas bubble which lets in ultraviolet rays but keeps out sand, soot, and wind. The Fabor Sunbathing Capsule is 7 feet long and measures 3 feet wide by 18 inches high at the shoulders; it tapers to 30 inches by 15 inches at the feet. Hooded ventilators at the four corners provide fresh air. Fabor Robison Productions, Inc., of Burbank makes it and sells it for $67.50.
Back in 1964, Dr. Erwin O. Strassmann of Houston kicked up a controversy by suggesting there was a correlation in women between bust size and I.Q. And he managed to get his opinion published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Kingsport Times-News - Aug 30, 1964
Curious to see exactly what he said, I tracked down his article. Turns out he was an enthusiastic follower of the now-discredited theory of "constitutional psychology." This was an effort to establish a link between body type and personality traits. Critics have dismissed it as an extended exercise in dressing up cultural stereotypes (such as, if you're overweight, you're lazy) in scientific language. For devotees of weird science, the entire field is a goldmine of strangeness.
Here's the relevant section of Strassmann's 1964 article:
Strassmann, E.O. (1964). "Physique, Temperament, and Intelligence in Infertile Women." International Journal of Fertility. 9:297-314.
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.