Elderly and Seniors
Miss America 1886 (Contest of 1936)
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jun 30, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Elderly and Seniors, 1930s, Nineteenth Century
Multiple wives for men over 60
April 1966: Noting that there are more women than men over the age of 60, and that women over age 60 often are widowed and may "subsist on inadequate diets and live in a state of sexual frustration," Utah physician Victor Kassel proposed a solution: allow men over age 60 to have more than one wife. In this way, many lonely, older women might once again have a husband, albeit one they're sharing
The Baytown Sun - Apr 19, 1966
In later remarks, Kassel complained that the publicity which his proposal received overemphasized the sexual aspects of his proposal. But to be fair to the media, he himself drew attention to some of the sexual benefits (for men) of polygyny:
left: Idaho Daily Statesman - Sep 11, 1966; right: Fort Lauderdale News - Apr 16, 1966
One English wife offered the following response to Kassel's proposal:
Sunday Mirror - Apr 24, 1966
Some general remarks:
- I don't know why many news articles referred to him as "Victory Kassel". His name was Victor.
- The media frequently said he was promoting polygamy (multiple spouses), when he was actually, more specifically, advocating polygyny (multiple wives).
- One might assume that because Kassel lived in Salt Lake City and was promoting polygyny, that he was Mormon. He was actually Jewish, born in New York City.
- According to his obituary published in The Deseret News (Mar 11, 2005), he later admitted that his proposal was "tongue-in-cheek". I managed to find a reprint of his article and made a pdf copy of it. Parts of it do seem like he was trying to be intentionally outrageous, such as the passage below. But judge for yourself.
It can be argued that the jealousy aroused as the result of the competition would be carried to an extreme by the women and would disrupt the quiet, peaceful home. This may occur. But when there is a choice between uninterested, dowdy, foul-smelling hags and alert, interested, smartly dressed ladies, the selection is obvious.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 18, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Elderly and Seniors, Marriage, 1960s
Senior Center King and Queen
A rather more-famous photo to join our legion of "Strange Beauty Queens."
Diane Arbus The King and Queen of a Senior Citizens Dance, N.Y.C., 1970
Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 06, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Elderly and Seniors, 1970s
Octogenarian Teetotalers
Published by the National Temperance League of London in 1897. It contained 113 portraits of teetotalers who were over the age of 80.Unfortunately, there was no companion volume of Octogenarian Tipplers.
image source: Bizarre Books
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jul 29, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Elderly and Seniors, Inebriation and Intoxicants, Books
Old Age Rejuvenator Centrifuge
It would probably work about as well as any other anti-aging treatment.More info: Modern Mechanix
Science and Mechanics - Aug 1935
Posted By: Alex - Tue Mar 02, 2021 -
Comments (3)
Category: Elderly and Seniors, Inventions, 1930s
“Pregnancy forces granny to quit work at age 101”
In October 1990, the Sun ran a story about a 101-year old woman who supposedly had to quit her job as a newspaper carrier because she got pregnant after being seduced by a reclusive millionaire on her route. The story, of course, was totally false. However, the Sun also ran a picture with the article of a real woman, 96-year-old Nellie Mitchell of Arkansas.Mitchell sued, charging invasion of privacy (she had never given them permission to use her photo) and emotional distress, because she now had to endure people asking her when the baby was due. During the trial, the editor of the Sun explained that they had needed a picture to go along with the fake story, and had found in their archive a photo of Mitchell taken in 1986. They had used it, assuming she must have been dead by then. And dead people can't sue for damages.
Mitchell won and was awarded $150,000 in compensatory damages and $850,000 in punitive damages.
Baxter Bulletin - Oct 19, 1993
Posted By: Alex - Sun Dec 20, 2020 -
Comments (7)
Category: Elderly and Seniors, Journalism, Lawsuits, 1990s
The Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome
The Wikipedia page.
Anger is still with us, as of this writing, and looking pretty scary.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jul 13, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Elderly and Seniors, Movies, Avant Garde, 1950s
Wearable Airbag
Designed to prevent elderly people from injuring themselves when they fall.Interesting idea, though I imagine getting people to wear these things often enough to make a difference would be a challenge.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Apr 15, 2020 -
Comments (3)
Category: Elderly and Seniors, Inventions
Anti-Aging Chair
Hattie Wiener received patents in 1991 and 1993 for an anti-aging chair. The two patents were basically variations on the same theme. The 1991 version of the chair is on the left below, and the 1993 version is on the right.Actually, in the patent write-ups she didn’t mention the anti-aging properties of the chair, but that’s how she described it to the media. She also promoted herself as an “anti-aging consultant.”
The idea was that the chair would force a person to sit upright, and thereby improve their posture and circulation. And this, in turn, would help a person stay healthy as they aged.
She hoped to sell the chair for $600. A lot for a fairly minimalist piece of furniture. But as far as I can tell, it never made it to market.
(left) The Desert Sun - Oct 27, 1991; (right) Austin American-Statesman - Nov 10, 1991
Hattie was in her 50s when she patented the chair. Fast-forward almost thirty years, and now, in her 80s, she's still in the news, but for a very different reason. She's become known as the "Tinder Granny," due to her enthusiasm for using the dating app Tinder to find hookups with younger men.
She's certainly defying the stereotypes of age. But I'm disappointed that in none of the recent pictures of her is she using her anti-aging chair. In fact, in the photo below she's totally slouching.
Hattie Wiener, age 83
Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 12, 2020 -
Comments (2)
Category: Elderly and Seniors, Furniture, Inventions, Patents
Cabin Pressure
Cabin Pressure from Matthew Lee on Vimeo.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Apr 20, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Antisocial Activities, Bad Habits, Neuroses and Psychoses, Death, Elderly and Seniors, Experts and Authority Figures, Regulations, Stop-motion Animation, Air Travel and Airlines, Alcohol, Goofs and Screw-ups
| 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 |