“Life-sized” Alien Facehugger & Egg

Too bad this won't be available until April 2016. Imagine the screams of terror, as depicted, when your lucky first-grader opens this under the Xmas tree.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Nov 20, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Aliens, Death, Toys, Children, Eggs

Killed by washing machine while reading comics

A number of things puzzle me about this 1955 news story. First of all, why was the washing machine outside beneath a tree?

Second, was the kid really so lazy that he felt the need for an elaborate method of supporting his head while reading? Or was he trying to kill himself?

Finally, what kind of washing machine has a lid that rotates? I found a picture (below) of a washing machine from the late 1940s that may have a lid that could rotate, but it doesn't look like it would have been comfortable to sit on, which would support the suicide theory.

But whatever happened to John Mattson, his death clearly demonstrates the danger of reading comic books.

Gettysburg Times - July 20, 1955

Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 06, 2015 - Comments (9)
Category: Death, 1950s

Mao’s Crystal Coffin

Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 28, 2015 - Comments (6)
Category: Body, Celebrities, Death, Politics, 1970s, Asia

Punching Cadavers

University of Utah researchers rigged up a "pendulum-like apparatus" in which they placed cadaver arms, and then proceeded to make the arms punch a padded dumbbell with clenched or unclenched fist. The idea was to test the theory that the human hand evolved its shape so that men could "fistfight over females" — aka the "pugilism hypothesis of hominin hand evolution."

The researchers believe that their experiment supported the pugilism hypothesis.

More info: Science Daily and the Journal of Experimental Biology.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 24, 2015 - Comments (6)
Category: Death, Experiments

Funeral Traffic Control

1948: Chicago's Mt. Carmel cemetery sought FCC approval so that it could operate a two-way radio system to direct funeral processions, so as to avoid traffic jams in the cemetery.

I wonder if they had to build a traffic control tower as well?

Freeport Journal-Standard - Apr 14, 1948

Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 17, 2015 - Comments (3)
Category: Death, Jobs and Occupations, 1940s

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