1980s
E.F. Hutton Coloring Book
Back in 1987, the financial firm E.F. Hutton had just suffered some bad years that included scandals and major losses. So the senior executives came up with what they thought was a great idea. They'd boost the morale of all their 18,500 employees by sending everyone a coloring book (with crayons) that laid out the problems faced by the company in grade-school language. The book included "cute drawings of houses, racing cars and children" while warning employees that they all had to work harder because "we're no longer the nicest house on the block." The gesture was received by the Hutton employees about as well as you might think it would be. [google news archive]Those coloring books are now collector's item. The going price on eBay is $125.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jan 15, 2013 -
Comments (7)
Category: Books, 1980s
Pre-internet Underground Book Distribution
Original ad here.
Gather around, children, and you shall learn of an ancient time, before the internet. A day of paper fanzines and weird information obtained only via books delivered by snailmail.
The main purveyor of such good stuff was the Loompanics catalog. Alas, they were driven out of business in 2006. The current website using their domain name is a shell and a scam by cybersquatters.
Over one hundred Loompanics books have been tagged as a Goodreads collection. You can get a small sense of what they were all about there.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 11, 2013 -
Comments (9)
Category: Drugs, Avant Garde, Books, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, Conspiracy Theories and Theorists, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s
Worst Failure to Predict Global Warming Ever!
Read the whole issue here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 09, 2013 -
Comments (3)
Category: Futurism, Magazines, Children, Science Fiction, 1980s
Woodsy Owl
Woodsy in the 70s, the 80s and the 90s. The newest look is horrifying, in my opinion, like some creature from THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Dec 02, 2012 -
Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Authorities and Experts, Government, Nature, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, Fictional Monsters
1980s Cartoons
Part 3, for which embedding is senselessly disabled.
By the 1980s, I was an adult and beyond the purview of these cartoons. Looking at the intros now, I do not detect what anyone would would label a "Golden Age" of animation. But surely, many of them qualify as "weird."
I hope these stir some nostalgic moments for those WU-vies who are younger than this old fart.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Nov 17, 2012 -
Comments (7)
Category: Cartoons, 1980s
Little and Large
Samantha Fox dances with Chris Greener. The picture must have been taken sometime in the 1980s.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 27, 2012 -
Comments (9)
Category: 1980s, Dance
What goes up must come down
On Sept. 27, 1986, 1.5 million balloons were released above Cleveland's Public Square. The world-record-setting event was intended as a fundraiser for the United Way. But the publicity turned negative when all those balloons that had floated up eventually came right back down, creating a massive mess throughout the region. Read more about it on cleveland.com.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 12, 2012 -
Comments (9)
Category: 1980s, Goofs and Screw-ups
Calamity Board Game
Gosh, this looks like a really not boring, laugh-a-minute game. And perfect for these economic times!
Stick to your kitty cats, Andy!
More pix and info here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 19, 2012 -
Comments (9)
Category: Celebrities, Games, Insurance, 1980s
Reign of Terror
Can you prove these are four different songs? Present your thesis and proof in 10,000 words or less in the comments section.
Also, nominate one version to be played at your wedding.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Aug 19, 2012 -
Comments (4)
Category: Bombast, Bloviation and Pretentiousness, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Music, 1980s
| 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 |