1980s
Goat coughs up diamond ring
And the only thing my cat coughs up is hairballs...
The White Plains Journal News - June 9, 1984
There's a few more details about the diamond-coughing goat here.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 01, 2016 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Jewelry, 1980s
Compu-Chick
A mid-1980s alternative to Compuserve.
It was actually an interactive exhibit at the I.Q. Zoo, the famous animal training facility and tourist attraction in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Founded in 1955 by Marian and Keller Breland (students of the psychologist B.F. Skinner), it stayed open until 1990.
Apparently you typed in questions, and the chicken would type a response. From the "official online home of the IQ-Zoo":
I'm not sure, but maybe Google's "PigeonRank" technology, which the company revealed on April 1, 2002 to be the secret behind their search results, could have been inspired by Compu-Chick.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 29, 2016 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, 1980s
Watered her lawn non-stop
1984 - Richmond, California: After 71-year-old Alice Richie's husband died, she began watering her lawn. And she didn't stop. She kept the sprinklers on 24 hours a day, for over a year. Rain or shine. Using over 20,000 gallons of water a day.Her yard turned into a swamp, breeding mosquitoes. The runoff poured over onto her neighbor's properties, damaging the foundations of their homes and causing algae to grow on driveways. The city had to put up caution signs on the sidewalk in front of her home.
Richie ignored pleas to turn off the water. When asked why she was watering so much, she replied, "It's none of your goddamn business." People speculated that she believed she was washing away evil spirits.
However, she paid all her utility bills on time, so the water company couldn't simply cut her off. Finally, her neighbors took her to court.
Even in court she wouldn't explain why she watered so much. But the court ordered a flow restrictor put on her waterline, limiting her to 500 gallons a day (which still sounds like a lot for a single person). This finally put an end to the non-stop watering, after a year-and-a-half. A utility spokesman said, "She'll have just enough water to do her laundry, dishes and bathe. But she'll have to make some sacrifices if she decides to water her lawn."
Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find any photos of Richie's front yard, or of Richie herself. Nor, to my knowledge, was her mania for watering ever explained.
St. Louis Post-Dispatch - May 17, 1984
The New London Day - June 10, 1984
Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 21, 2016 -
Comments (1)
Category: Eccentrics, 1980s
Nation’s Ugliest Students
Holy Microaggressions, Batman! Imagine the stink such a stunt would cause today. Which generation of students seems more resilient, well-adjusted and good-natured to you?
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Sep 27, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, 1980s, Universities, Colleges, Private Schools and Academia
Inedible Egg Products
Original article here.
Even after reading this article about the big change in export rules for inedible egg products that occured in 1983, I still have no idea what these products are, or what they are used for.
Apparently, the baffling subject is still being thrashed out by the USDA thirty years later.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 17, 2016 -
Comments (10)
Category: Food, Eggs, 1980s, Twenty-first Century
Lord Littlebrook, RIP
Obituary here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 14, 2016 -
Comments (1)
Category: Entertainment, Human Marvels, Wrestling, 1980s, 1990s
Gold & Fizdale
A gay couple who were also a professional piano duo playing classical music, while at the same time writing a food column for Vogue and publishing a cookbook? Nothing weird here, move along now!
Posted By: Paul - Mon Sep 12, 2016 -
Comments (1)
Category: Food, Music, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, 1980s
Pope performs a miracle
May 1984: Jan Lavric was wheeled forward in a wheelchair to receive a blessing from Pope John Paul II. Blessing received, he was wheeled back, at which point he promptly stood up, folded the chair, and carried it away. "It must be a miracle," someone in the crowd gasped.
Lavric later explained that it was no miracle. He was fully able-bodied. He had sat down in the wheelchair because it was the only seat left in the audience chamber, and he had been too embarrassed to say anything when a Swiss Guard unexpectedly wheeled him forward.
Southern Illinoisan - May 3, 1984
Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 09, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Religion, 1980s
Death by Myopia
Click to embiggen.
Original story here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Aug 07, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Death, Law, 1980s, Eyes and Vision
Follies of the Madmen #290
Worst. Pun. Ever.
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 05, 2016 -
Comments (1)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Music, 1980s, Puns and Other Wordplay
| 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 |