Animals
Train delayed by elephant
The Bakersfield Californian - Jan 23, 1937
McCOOK, Neb., Jan. 23 — A Burlington Road passenger train was four hours late getting into Denver because an elephant kept the engineer and conductor guessing.
The engineer, officials of the road said, kept stopping the train, and the conductor repeatedly signaled for him to proceed, each wondering about the frequent stops.
Investigation disclosed an elephant in the baggage car was pulling the airbrake rope with his trunk.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Mar 18, 2016 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Trains and Other Vehicles on Rails, 1930s
Frog Postcards
Please consider the usefulness and attractiveness of having frogs convey your birthday, Xmas, Valentine's Day or New Year's wishes.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 02, 2016 -
Comments (10)
Category: Animals, Holidays, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century, Postal Services
From Cretin to Genius
In the 1920s, Doctor Serge Voronoff famously decided that grafting monkey glands onto the testicles of human males would rejuvenate the recipients. His ludicrous failed experiments provided the punchlines for innumerable jokes thereafter.But what I did not realize was that twenty years later, Voronoff was still at it. Now he claimed, in his book FROM CRETIN TO GENIUS, that transplanting monkey glands would alter the intelligence of the subjects. Below is the start of a review from 1943.
Below: the Doc and Missus.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Feb 15, 2016 -
Comments (7)
Category: Animals, Eccentrics, Mad Scientists, Evil Geniuses, Insane Villains, Sexuality, 1920s, 1940s, Genitals
Bus Driver Asks Kids If He Should Hit Dog, Then Does
January 1994: A school bus driver in Port Washington, Wisconsin insisted he was only joking when he shouted out "Should I hit the dog?" seconds before he hit a dog on the road. The animal belonged to two of the children on the bus. It often came up to the road to meet them. The driver, who later resigned, blamed the accident on icy conditions.
The Journal Times - Feb 4, 1994
Posted By: Alex - Wed Feb 03, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Accidents, Animals, Dogs, 1990s
Mystery Illustration 15
Why was this horse brought inside a house, if not just as a photo stunt?
The answer is here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jan 31, 2016 -
Comments (8)
Category: Animals, Interior Decorating, 1960s
Coyotes High on Mushrooms?
Why is a coyote staring at motorists? One theory is that the animal ate some hallucinogenic mushrooms, and the cars have become "some sort of coyote vision, a dark vision of human interlopers."
Another, more mundane, theory is that someone fed the coyotes by throwing food from their car, and so the coyotes are now sitting and waiting for more food.
More info: Pacific Sun
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jan 28, 2016 -
Comments (14)
Category: Animals
Tanuki
The adorable little guy above is not what you may think. He's a Tanuki, a raccoon dog. They are indigenous to Japan and while they are a bit different than other canines they are still in that family. They exist in the wild, but are also kept as pets like the one in the story at the link. I'd have sworn the little guy was an actual raccoon.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jan 26, 2016 -
Comments (9)
Category: Animals, Dogs, Asia
Cobra Skins for Sale
Original ad here.
How much are you willing to bet that these snake skins were a) not cobras and b) were not imported from "British India"...?
And by the way:
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 20, 2016 -
Comments (8)
Category: Animals, Taxidermy, Scams, Cons, Rip-offs, and General Larceny, 1950s
Kenny The Tiger
Of course Kenny the tiger did not have Downs syndrome, his deformities were due to inbreeding. He was an interesting looking cat though. Unfortunately, Kenny's lifespan was significantly shortened as well, he only lived for 10 years. So to the breeders, in the words of Kyle and Stan on South Park, "They killed Kenny!" "You bastards!"
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jan 16, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Freaks, Oddities, Quirks of Nature, Health, Nature
Turkey Flight
I am sure you have heard of emotional support animals. They soothe people with mental issues and are afforded the same exemptions to enter places as service animals such as seeing eye dogs. Most often emotional support animals are dogs and cats, but not always. When someone has an unusual support animal like, say, a turkey, that animal is also allowed to accompany the person. Everywhere, even on an airplane. A turkey on an airplane, I wonder if the TSA patted down that passenger.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jan 14, 2016 -
Comments (8)
Category: Animals
| 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 |