Follies of the Madmen #262

Posted By: Paul - Sat Oct 17, 2015 - Comments (9)
Category: Annoying Things, Business, Advertising, Products, Death, Insects and Spiders, 1960s, Australia

Postmortem Tattoo Preservation

The National Association for the Preservation of Skin Art recently launched. Its mission is to preserve the tattoos of any of its members who have died. They claim they have a "new proprietary process" of preservation which helps them to do this.

Of course, to preserve the tattoo, it first has to be removed. The Association doesn't send someone out to do this. Instead, they ship a kit to the funeral home and have them do it. The end result is a nicely framed piece of tattooed human skin.

We've discussed postmortem tattoo preservation before here on WU. For instance, we've noted that as far back as 1950 the Imperial University of Tokyo was collecting tattooed skins. And more recently, tattoo enthusiast Geoff Ostling bequeathed his skin to the National Gallery in Canberra.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Oct 07, 2015 - Comments (10)
Category: Art, Death, Skin and Skin Conditions

Wrong Date

Leroy Irwin, a 92-year-old farmer living in Allegan, Michigan, decided to have the dates of his life carved on his gravestone before he died, because (having no children) he wasn't sure who would pay to do it after he died.

He carved the dates 1856-1950, but it turned out he was a little too optimistic. He died in November 1949, seven weeks shy of reaching 1950.

The Escanaba Daily Press - Apr 25, 1949

The Escanaba Daily Press - Nov 14, 1949

Update: To answer Patty's question (in the comments), the incorrect date wasn't changed. Leroy Irwin's grave (with the wrong date) remains standing in Hudson Corners Cemetery.

Image via Findagrave.com.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 03, 2015 - Comments (13)
Category: Death, 1940s

Cheerleader drops dead after team loses

1953: Diane Rinkes, 15-year-old cheerleader for East Lansing high school in Michigan, gave it her all for her team, but it wasn't enough. Her team lost, and then she dropped dead.

When I first read this story, I assumed that there must have been some kind of underlying medical condition that caused her death. 15-year-old girls don't simply drop dead for no reason.

But in a follow-up report it says that the Coroner diagnosed the cause of death as "acute shock and acute circulatory collapse... brought on by overexertion." He elaborated that Rinkes worked herself up into such a "tremendous pitch of excitement during the football game" that it caused her death.

So she died of over-excitement. You have to wonder if she would have lived if her team had won.

The Anniston Star - Sep 25, 1953

The Holland Evening Sentinel - Sep 25, 1953

Posted By: Alex - Wed Sep 30, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Death, Exercise and Fitness, 1950s

Savage Catfight

Can I say it before any other WUvie does? That boyfriend must have been some cocksman!






Original article here.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Sep 11, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Death, Women, Nineteenth Century, Love & Romance

Shortest Man Who Ever Lived, RIP

Please mourn the passing of Chandra Bahadur Dangi, most miniscule male human ever recorded.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 05, 2015 - Comments (3)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Death, Freaks, Oddities, Quirks of Nature, Asia

Death By Flowers

This is either a case of the unluckiest spouse ever, or a perfect murder by the husband.

Original article here.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 28, 2015 - Comments (11)
Category: Death, Nature, Husbands, Wives, 1970s

Men of Mortuaries

Following up on yesterday's post about the sexy mortuary calendar from 1948, here's a more recent example of the same kind of thing, but featuring sexy "men of mortuaries."

It was released as a one-off thing in 2008 in order to raise money for a breast cancer charity.

Sociological Images posted an article about how the calendar could be seen as an attempt to "humanize funeral directors."

Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 25, 2015 - Comments (6)
Category: Death, Sex Symbols

Beautiful Bodies by Chambers

The Washington DC mortuary of W.W. Chambers caused a scandal when it issued a calendar for 1948 featuring scantily-clad models to advertise its embalming business. Tagline: Beautiful Bodies by Chambers.

Time magazine (Jan 12, 1948) criticized it as "frank vulgarity." Although that didn't stop them from reprinting a page of the calendar (below) for the benefit of its readers.

You can read an obituary of Chambers himself here. He died in 1954 and was quite a character.

Posted By: Alex - Mon Aug 24, 2015 - Comments (8)
Category: Death, 1940s

Pistol-Packin’ Mouse Trap

I am just going to go out on a limb and say that this is the best goddamn mousetrap ever invented!

Original article here.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Jul 16, 2015 - Comments (7)
Category: Animals, Death, Hygiene, Appliances, 1930s