Eccentrics
Gustav Fassauer-Ferron
Although he was hardly as famous as Stradivarius, Gustav Fassauer-Ferron created some violins that still have their fans today. As one site says, "Pupil of Oswald Schaller of Frankfort (Germany), with whom he underwent a thorough training, proof of which is found in his work. Well made instruments after the Guarneri I. H. S. model, adorned with an orange oil varnish. His violins are esteemed by both artists and amateurs." You can hear one of his instruments in the video.
But when he wasn't busy making full-size ones, he turned out the occasional miniature. Don't you wish you had this for those times when you wanted to mock someone's self-indulgent hard-luck story?
Here is an image of the creator with his miniatures. Copyright prevents reproduction here.
Source of story.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jun 18, 2013 -
Comments (3)
Category: Art, Crafts, Eccentrics, Enlargements, Miniatures, and Other Matters of Scale, Music
Shirley Haycock
Back in 1973, Shirley Haycock declared her intention to cross the Atlantic in a 16-foot canoe. Some news reports initially stated that she was 86 years old, which would have made her plan really unusual. She was actually only 40. But she was the Director of Activities at a senior citizens center, and she called her canoe the "Senior Citizens Ark," which was probably the source of the confusion. Her plan was to use the publicity from the trip to raise funds for the center she worked at. [Deseret News - Feb 15, 1973]The Coast Guard tried to stop her from going, but realized that it didn't have any legal means to do so. But they needn't have worried. She set off twice, but never got very far. It wasn't until 2012 that someone actually did cross the Atlantic in a canoe.
After failing to cross the Atlantic, Haycock decided to become a coal miner, and was Utah's first female coal miner. Seems like she was a bit of a character.
Haycock as a coal miner
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jun 15, 2013 -
Comments (2)
Category: Eccentrics, 1970s
Trevor Winkfield
I rather like the weird paintings of Trevor Winkfield. Do you?
Posted By: Paul - Sun May 19, 2013 -
Comments (6)
Category: Art, Avant Garde, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Eccentrics
Herman Slater and the Warlock Shop/Magickal Childe
Starting in 1973, Herman Slater (died 1992) became a mainstay of the New York Wiccan scene.
Here he is explaining his religion. Three more parts of the documentary available on YouTube.
Posted By: Paul - Wed May 08, 2013 -
Comments (9)
Category: Eccentrics, Regionalism, Religion, Rituals and Superstitions, 1970s
Group Baptism by Firehose
Conducted under the auspices of the famous and fabulous United House of Prayer for All People, whose founder was "Sweet Daddy Grace," as depicted below.
I heartily endorse any institution whose leaders inherit the title of "Sweet Daddy."
Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 30, 2013 -
Comments (2)
Category: Crowds, Groups, Mobs and Other Mass Movements, Cult Figures and Artifacts, Eccentrics, Religion, 1910s
No water for 25 years
On July 4, 1935, Dr. Walter G. Kendall, 81, drank a glass of water. It was the first glass of water he had drunk in 25 years. He reportedly "suffered no ill effects," and followed it by several cocktails.In addition to being famous for abstaining from water, Kendall was also a well-known dentist, bicyclist, and horticulturalist. That's him in the pictures below. [image source: here and here]
Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 25, 2013 -
Comments (14)
Category: Eccentrics, Soda, Pop, Soft Drinks and other Non-Alcoholic Beverages, 1930s, Alcohol
Skywald Comics
The image above is the first cover from one of the more oddball comics firms of the 1970s, Skywald Publications.
You can read the whole of issue number one of Nightmare here, at the Internet Archive, which also features several other full comics from Skywald.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 25, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Business, Eccentrics, Comics, 1930s
Antique Bedpan Collections
1) Stella Downing.
2) Eric Eakin.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 24, 2013 -
Comments (4)
Category: Eccentrics, Kitsch and Collectibles, Body Fluids
The Original Rock Dinner
Original page here.
In 1939, Kent Knowlton of Randsburg, CA, assembled a curious meal of petrified food for his amusement and that of others.
We have a record that it was still being exhibited a year later. Then, the "Original Rock Dinner" vanishes from history--until this very year!
An article on the "ghost town" of Randsburg features what appears to be a photo of the petrified food, nearly 75 years after its debut. I'd recognize that "cauliflower" anywhere!
Posted By: Paul - Tue Feb 26, 2013 -
Comments (2)
Category: Eccentrics, Collectors, Food, Regionalism, 1930s, 1940s, Natural Wonders
Gary Usher: Driven Insane
The YouTube user who goes by the handle "Mr. Teenagedreams" has nearly 2000 rare TEEN AND WHITE DOO-WOP videos up at his channel. Some of them are delightfully weird and demented, but all are utterly captivating glimpses of a strange and remote, now vanished era.
More on Gary Usher here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 31, 2013 -
Comments (2)
Category: Eccentrics, Music, Outsider Art, Teenagers, 1950s, 1960s
| 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 |