Category:
Cars
Cars
Drive-Thru Funeral Home
In 1968, Herschel Thornton of Atlanta, Georgia opened the world's first drive-thru funeral home. He called it a "mortatorium." The press dubbed it the "remains to be seen" funeral home.It featured five windows in which bodies could be viewed from the comfort of one's car. Thornton noted, "Folks will be able just to drive by and view the last remains of their loved ones, and then keep going."
The Thornton Mortuary is still around. Herschel died in 1995, so the mortuary is now run by his son and grandchildren. Their website has a page about the "historic drive-thru viewing window." But based on the Google street view image of the mortuary, it looks like the drive-thru option is no longer available.
image source: professionalcarsociety.org
image source: Thornton mortuary
The Greenville News - Mar 14, 1968
However, other funeral homes eventually followed in the path blazed by Thornton. Quartz magazine reports that Japan debuted its first drive-thru funeral home in 2017. And below is an AP news report about a drive-thru mortuary that opened in Michigan in 2014.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jan 11, 2018 -
Comments (3)
Category: Death, 1960s, Cars
Hairnets for hippies
Logically their concerns should have extended to all long-haired drivers, whether hippies or not. But evidently the Automobile Legal Association simply didn't like hippies.
Belvedere Daily Republican - Dec 11, 1968
Posted By: Alex - Sun Dec 24, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Motor Vehicles, Cars, 1960s
The Hoffmann
Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Dec 23, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Design and Designers, 1950s, Cars
Follies of the Madmen #332
Wait a minute--this is my own tire on my own car that is being represented as a hideous criminal killer! And since I, the driver, am responsible for my own tires, I must be a hideous criminal killer too!
Way to make your customers feel good about themselves!
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 29, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Business, Advertising, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, Products, 1930s, Cars
More stolen lampposts
Phideaux draws our attention to yet another attempt at stealing lampposts by strapping them to the roof of a car. In Florida, this time. A month ago it was the Netherlands.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Sep 14, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Crime, Cars
Armless Driver Fights Loss of License
Ray Myers was known as the 'armless musician.' He was born in 1911 without arms, but he taught himself to play the guitar with his feet, and he became quite accomplished. Good enough that he was considered to be talented in his own right, not just as a curiosity.
Myers also taught himself how to drive a car using only his feet. Not a specially outfitted car. Just a normal one. (Though I'm assuming it was an automatic.) But in 1965, after driving without incident for 29 years, he lost his license. The reason: the state's new computer flagged his license to be revoked when it came across the notation in his file that he had been "born without arms."
Honolulu Star-Bulletin - Jan 18, 1965
Myers appealed the decision, and (probably thanks to all the media attention the case got) was allowed to take a special exam. Two weeks later he was driving again.
Sayre Evening Times - Jan 28, 1965
Myers died in 1987 at the age of 75. More info about him at missioncreep.com and Arcane Radio Trivia.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Sep 07, 2017 -
Comments (7)
Category: Human Marvels, 1960s, Cars
Art Arfons and the Green Monster
Love that rocketship design!
Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 18, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: Contests, Races and Other Competitions, 1960s, Cars
Stolen Lampposts
Police in Lelystad (the Netherlands) arrested a man who was driving with two stolen lampposts strapped to the top of his car. They posted the following picture to their Facebook page.
Google Translate provides the following translation of the picture's caption (and I think Google translate has been getting better lately, because this translation is fairly comprehensible):
This morning around 10:00 the police reported a passenger car riding from Almere to Lelystad with two huge lampposts on the roof. At the Oostvaardersdijk in Lelystad the combination was held and the driver checked.
We start with the traffic violations. That the cargo can not be transported in this way may be clear. In addition, the car was not insured and the APK had been running for more than three months. The driver's license B was declared invalid by the end of 2016. The colleagues smoke with the driver an alcoholic air. However, he refused to cooperate with a blow test on which he was arrested. Expectation is that the court will demand the highest possible penalty for driving under the influence of alcohol because the suspect did not cooperate with the investigation.
The investigation investigated the origin of the lampposts. These are most likely stolen in Almere. In addition, there appeared to be other criminal investigations to the suspect, such as refueling without paying.
The suspect is embedded in the cell complex and has now been insured. The car has been seized.
We start with the traffic violations. That the cargo can not be transported in this way may be clear. In addition, the car was not insured and the APK had been running for more than three months. The driver's license B was declared invalid by the end of 2016. The colleagues smoke with the driver an alcoholic air. However, he refused to cooperate with a blow test on which he was arrested. Expectation is that the court will demand the highest possible penalty for driving under the influence of alcohol because the suspect did not cooperate with the investigation.
The investigation investigated the origin of the lampposts. These are most likely stolen in Almere. In addition, there appeared to be other criminal investigations to the suspect, such as refueling without paying.
The suspect is embedded in the cell complex and has now been insured. The car has been seized.
In summary, seems that the guy was drunk, uninsured, had an expired driver's license, and was driving around with two stolen lampposts on top of his car.
My question is, what was he planning to do with the lampposts?
Posted By: Alex - Sat Aug 05, 2017 -
Comments (6)
Category: Crime, Stupid Criminals, Cars
Zippo Car
The Zippo Manufacturing Co. built the Zippo car in 1947 by adapting a Chrysler Saratoga. However, the weight of the lighters kept causing the tires to blow out. So in 1952 the car was sent to a Pittsburgh garage for repairs and re-adaptation. It was never seen again. To this day, no one knows what happened to the Zippo car.It reminds me of the tale of the lost Star Wars Celica GT.
In 1998, a replica Zippo car was built — fitted with modern tires that could handle the weight.
More info: post-gazette.com, NY Daily News, Zippo.
Thanks to hotsauce269 for the photo!
Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 04, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Motor Vehicles, Cars, 1940s
The King Midget
Wikipedia entry here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jun 28, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, 1940s, 1970s, Cars
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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 |