Mokapzu Park

Mokapzu Park from Art&Graft on Vimeo.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 10, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Armageddon and Apocalypses, Humor, Science

Rodney Fertel’s Gorilla Campaign

1969: Rodney Fertel ran for mayor of New Orleans on what he called the "primate platform". He promised that, if elected, he would "Get a gorilla for the zoo." This was his primary campaign issue. He campaigned by standing on street corners, sometimes dressed in a safari outfit, sometimes in a gorilla suit, handing out miniature plastic gorillas to passers-by.

Rodney Fertel with a baby gorilla

Fertel lost the election, receiving only 310 votes, but he kept his promise by donating a pair of West African gorillas the following year to New Orleans' Audubon Zoo, at his own expense.

Incidentally, Rodney was the former husband of Ruth Fertel, who founded Ruth's Chris Steak House. Fertel's son has written a book about his parents titled The Gorilla Man and the Empress of Steak: A New Orleans Family Memoir.

More info: nola.com

Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 03, 2020 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Politics, Strange Candidates, 1960s

A Horse with No Name in Latin

Posted By: Paul - Tue Oct 27, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Humor, Parody, Languages, Music, 1970s

Henry the Home Run Chicken

No explanation available.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 03, 2020 - Comments (6)
Category: Animals, Sports, Tourists and Tourism, Natural Wonders, Twentieth Century

Where Would You Hide Two Elephants?

Source.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Sep 29, 2020 - Comments (6)
Category: Animals, Crime, Eccentrics, 1980s

Dr. Organic’s Snail Gel

The home page.

Harvested from free-roaming snails under controlled conditions, this moisturising, soothing ingredient combines the unique properties of Helix Aspersa Muller with organic Aloe vera and a blend of bioactive plant ingredients. This secretion is produced from snails that are farmed humanely and are free to roam. On their travels, they move over glass panels which are used to safely collect the mucus secretion, which is then filtered and concentrated by vacuum evaporation to reduce its water content, before a mild preservative is added to maintain its shelf life.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 23, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Cosmetics, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, Nausea, Revulsion and Disgust

Revolt of the Beavers

The more things change, the more they stay the same...

Revolt of the Beavers was a children's play put on by the Federal Theater Project by Oscar Saul and Louis Lantz. One critic described the play as "Marxism a la Mother Goose".[1] The show ran at the Adelphi Theatre in New York City from May 20, 1937, to June 19 of that year.[2] Jules Dassin [3] and John Randolph [4] were among the play's cast. The play involved a worker beaver named Oakleaf, who leads a revolt against "The Chief" Beaver who was exploiting the workers. Though the play was a fantasy fable intended for children, it was attacked by the HUAC for promoting Communist ideals.

Wikipedia page (source of quote).

More photos here.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Sep 22, 2020 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Anthropomorphism, Politics, Theater and Stage, 1930s

Teacher fired for in-class castration

June 1992: Dick W. Pirkey Jr., a teacher at Harmony High School in Texas, was fired from his job after a student in his animal husbandry class castrated a pig with his mouth. Pirkey acknowledged that he had described such a procedure to his students, but insisted that the 17-year-old had performed the procedure without his permission and before he could stop it.

Seven months elapsed between the incident and Pirkey's termination. Explaining the delay, the School Superintendent admitted that when the board had first heard about the in-class oral castration they had thought it was a joke and that someone was trying to play a trick on them.

Pirkey appealed his termination, noting that oral castration was described in a state-approved textbook, and that it was also "routinely practiced throughout the state, but not in our locale, and is normally performed on sheep."

However, his firing was ultimately upheld by the State Commissioner of Education who pointed out that instead of stepping in to stop the student from performing the procedure, Pirkey had actually taken pictures of him as he did it. In fact, Pirkey even took a picture of the student "holding the testicle overhead in a victory stance."

Tyler Morning Telegraph - June 20, 1992

Longview News Journal - Feb 26, 1994

Posted By: Alex - Tue Sep 15, 2020 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Farming, Education, 1990s

Merchant’s Gargling Oil

A small article here.

And another one here.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 09, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, Nineteenth Century

Follies of the Madmen #486

Just a sample of the horrors you'll see after you drink enough of our booze.



Source.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Sep 04, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Business, Advertising, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, Delusions, Fantasies and Other Tricks of the Imagination, Horror, 1950s, Alcohol