Do-It-Yourself Coffin/Bookcase

"For $9.95 he'll mail you plans for a do-it-yourself coffin that also works as a bookcase."

I guess when you die your family wouldn't even need to remove the books. Just throw you in there with them.

Oshkosh Northwestern - Mar 23, 1993

Lincoln Star - Mar 23, 1993

Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 16, 2018 - Comments (4)
Category: Death, Books, 1990s

Carrying the cross against feminism

Given the point she was trying to make, seems like it would have been more appropriate to drag her husband as he reclined in a rickshaw, or something along those lines.

Baltimore Sun - July 21, 1997

The Guardian - July 22, 1997

Posted By: Alex - Fri Apr 13, 2018 - Comments (6)
Category: Religion, Gender, Women, 1990s

Serb, the men’s cologne

In the midst of the Bosnian War, two Serbian designers came out with "Serb" the cologne. I can't think of any other cologne inspired by a war.

Arizona Republic - Apr 17, 1994

St. Louis Post-Dispatch - May 9, 1994

Posted By: Alex - Wed Mar 28, 2018 - Comments (2)
Category: 1990s, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents

Automatic Pancake Machine

Invented by J. Clarence Sebring of Dundee, New York, circa 1990. It could make one pancake every seven seconds.

Elmira Star-Gazette - Jun 5, 2006

Posted By: Alex - Tue Mar 20, 2018 - Comments (2)
Category: Food, Inventions, 1990s

The Smile Machine

Invented by artist Dick Turner in 1992. The organizers of the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer then got wind of it, and decided it would be "the perfect way to make light of Norwegians' reputation as a dour people and ordered 100,000 of them for Olympic workers and town residents to wear."

But they did this without crediting Turner at all. Nor did they order the smile machines from him. When Turner complained, someone from the Norwegian embassy in Washington called him "and acknowledged that the Smile Machine was his idea but said nothing further could be done about it."

More info: Baltimore Sun (Feb 7, 1994)
Image source: ideoideo

Posted By: Alex - Wed Mar 14, 2018 - Comments (4)
Category: Inventions, 1990s

Norma Jean Almodovar:  Cop to Call Girl

Her Wikipedia page.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Mar 10, 2018 - Comments (0)
Category: Law, Sexuality, Books, 1990s

Playful Swans

Original article here.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 02, 2018 - Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Death, Children, Parents, 1990s

Church of the holy lawn

In 1994, Jeff Goldstein, who described himself as a “semi-active pagan-Jewish minister,” got into trouble with the city of Madison, Wisconsin because he refused to mow his lawn. He claimed that to do so would violate his religious beliefs since he worshipped plants. He said he actually prayed to his lawn, and that to mow it would be a “holocaust against the green creatures.”

Goldstein explained that he had formed his beliefs after reading The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tomkins and Christopher Bird. I’ve read that book. If you like strange science, it’s a good read, full of plant-science weirdness. Though I didn't come away from it believing plants are sacred.

The court didn't buy Goldstein's argument, but I don't know if he ever ended up mowing the lawn.

Seems that Jeff died recently, in 2015. You can read his online obituary here.

Appleton Post-Crescent - Mar 13, 1994

Louisville Courier-Journal - Aug 30, 1994

Jeff Goldstein

Available from Amazon

Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 23, 2018 - Comments (7)
Category: Nature, Religion, 1990s

Ruff wedding

In 1994, guests at a wedding reception were expecting to see footage of the ceremony replayed. Instead they were treated to scenes of Derek Jeffrey in flagrante delicto with a dog, Ronnie. Because, oops, Jeffrey had lent his camcorder to a friend to video the wedding, but he accidentally left the wrong tape in the camcorder, and it didn't get fully taped over. He received a six-month suspended jail sentence for bestiality.

The whole scene sounds so outlandish that I suspected it might have been an urban legend reported as news. But Snopes confirms that the story is true.

Sydney Morning Herald - Apr 21, 1994

Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 16, 2018 - Comments (3)
Category: Dogs, 1990s, Weddings

Useful Tip

Original article here.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 17, 2018 - Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Annoying Things, 1990s, Pain, Self-inflicted and Otherwise