Body
Blew Nose, Eye Fell Out
In September 1942, a young miner, Ronald Cutler, had finished his shift, so he blew his nose to get the coal dust out. His eye fell out onto his cheek. A superintendent was able to pop it back in, and Cutler appeared "little the worse for the occurrence."
News of the World - Sep 20, 1942
Kingston Daily Freeman - Oct 29, 1942
In April 1899, a similar case was reported in the Southern California Practitioner (which in turn got the story from a German-language paper, the Illinois Staatz Zitung). A glass blower blew his nose violently, and his right eyeball came out of its socket. A colleague was able to put it back in, but on the way to the doctor's office the same thing happened again... and then a third time at the doctor's office.
There's an old legend that if you sneeze with your eyes open, your eyeballs will come out. Mythbusters says that's not true, noting, "although a sneeze can erupt from your nose at an explosive 200 miles per hour, it can't transfer this pressure into your eye sockets to dethrone your eyeballs. Plus, there's no muscle directly behind the eye to violently contract and push the orbs outward."
How then do we explain these odd cases of eyeballs coming out when people blow their nose?
Update: I just found a third case of eyeball dislocation following nose blowing, reported by Dr. John Tyler of Kansas City in 1888. His patient, upon waking in the morning, "felt the need of a good, hard blow, and said he really was making an extra effort, when to his horror and amazement he felt his left eye pop right out between the lids, and stick!" His wife popped the eye back in, and the man suffered no apparent damage from the incident.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 10, 2016 -
Comments (1)
Category: Body, Eyes and Vision, Health
The Tubby Hubby Diet
Original ad here.
Original ad here.
I just cannot believe the arrogant sexism and objectifying behavior of Josephine Lowman! I feel cheap and soiled, on behalf of all tubby hubbies.
LATE ADDITION TO THE POST: I could not resist adding this new term I just thought of: "schlub-shaming."
Posted By: Paul - Thu Dec 01, 2016 -
Comments (1)
Category: Body, Dieting and Weight Loss, Public Humiliation, 1950s
The Frozen Woman
Original article here.
Alas, two years after the coverage above, she was gone.
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 17, 2016 -
Comments (6)
Category: Body, Human Marvels, Medicine, Nature, 1950s, Alcohol
Follies of the Madmen #296
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 07, 2016 -
Comments (1)
Category: Body, Business, Advertising, Products, Dreams and Nightmares, 1930s
Go Topless Day: August 28, 2016
Needless to say, bare chestal areas of XX-chromosome carriers in video and at homepage.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Aug 28, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Body, Censorship, Bluenoses, Taboos, Prohibitions and Other Cultural No-No’s, Holidays, Parades and Festivals
Chinese Fingernail Reading
I had been unaware until now that Chinese Palmistry interpreted one's fingernails as well.
A modern guide is here.
But I rather like these interpretations from 1905.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Aug 09, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Body, Superstition, 1900s, Asia
The Anatomical Venus
This new book about the "Anatomical Venus" looks to be fascinatingly weird. Lots more photos at the link.
Posted By: Paul - Sat May 21, 2016 -
Comments (2)
Category: Art, Body, Surgery, Women, Eighteenth Century
Mystery Illustration 20
Why is this woman encased like this?
The answer is here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu May 12, 2016 -
Comments (11)
Category: Body, Technology
Corpse In 3D
A Chinese funeral home is now using 3D technology to restore the deceased when the body has been badly disfigured in death. It is said to be much better than just makeup to make the person who has passed on look presentable for the bereaved family. It is expensive, of course.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Apr 05, 2016 -
Comments (6)
Category: Body, Dismemberment, Death, Technology
Falsies
Posted By: Paul - Sat Feb 20, 2016 -
Comments (7)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Body, Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Music
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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 |