Fashion
Shelter Suit
From 1939. Something casual to throw on when the air-raid signal sounds. Plus, "the wearer is safe from mustard gas, because it will stand penetration for one hour."Wear it in a blast-resistant house and you'd have no worries.
Derby Evening Telegraph - Oct 24, 1939
New York Daily News - Oct 2, 1939
Related post: Air Raid Apparel
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 04, 2023 -
Comments (4)
Category: Fashion, War, 1930s
Follies of the Madmen #550
Posted By: Paul - Mon Dec 19, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Fashion, Shoes, Advertising, Public Indecency, Twentieth Century
The Outre Costumes of Louise Glaum
The silent-screen star Louise Glaum had a reputation for eccentric fashions onscreen and off, as well as for odd pets.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Dec 05, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Eccentrics, Fashion, Movies, Pets, 1910s
Miss Miniskirt of 1969
Your choice.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 21, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Fashion, 1960s, Europe, United Kingdom, Attractiveness, Sexiness, Allure and Personal Magnetism
The Acoustics of Miniskirts
October 1969: UCLA Professor Vern O. Knudsen assembled ten young women wearing miniskirts in a reverberation chamber and fired a blank cartridge from a pistol. He did this to prove his hypothesis that bare legs revealed by a miniskirt will reflect more sound than legs covered by a long skirt.His hypothesis confirmed, he warned that miniskirt wearers might disturb the carefully engineered balance of sound in concert halls by reflecting more sound. He noted: "We must be acoustically thankful that they don't wear bikinis."
Rock Island Argus - Oct 29, 1969
Orangeburg Times and Democrat - Oct 29, 1969
Oddly enough, this wasn't the first time a scientist had warned of the acoustic danger of short skirts. Back in 1929, Colgate University Professor Donald A. Laird had issued a very similar warning: "He quoted scientific reports to prove that shortening of women's skirts has added to noise by removing some sound deadening surface."
San Bernardino County Sun - July 4, 1929
Related posts: Miniskirts for road safety, Nun in a miniskirt
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 03, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Fashion, Science, Experiments, 1960s, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults
The right to wear a bikini while mowing the lawn
May 1966: The charges of indecent exposure, brought against 21-year-old Mary Lou Hood for mowing her lawn while wearing a bikini, were all dropped. The judge determined there was insufficient evidence of lewdness or indecent exposure to support the charges.The case was said to be the hottest issue in the college town of Edmond, Ohlahoma "since canned beer." The judge delivered his decision to a standing-room-only crowd. The case also received widespread national media coverage even though, as Hood's lawyer noted, the case didn't actually establish a legal precedent for a right to wear a bikini while mowing the lawn.
Muncie Evening Press - May 20, 1966
Spokesman Review - May 20, 1966
Ogden Standard Examiner - May 20, 1966
Mary Lou Hood, with her husband, at the courthouse
May 20, 1966. Source.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 01, 2022 -
Comments (9)
Category: Fashion, Law, 1960s
Follies of the Madmen #545
Sleepwear for hungry insomniacs.Several others in this series here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 28, 2022 -
Comments (6)
Category: Fashion, Food, Sleep and Dreams, Advertising, Twentieth Century
The New Eyelashes
Posted By: Alex - Wed Sep 21, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Fashion, 1930s, Eyes and Vision
Armored Shorts
According to info on quora.com, there's been a long, ongoing effort to develop armored shorts. However, soldiers inevitably find them uncomfortable, even though they appreciate the effort to protect their private parts.Such shorts are sometimes referred to as 'tactical diapers' or 'battle nappies'.
I like the detail that the armored shorts (below) developed during the Korean War were "capable of deflecting about 65 per cent of all missiles."
Louisville Courier-Journal - Dec 11, 1952
Posted By: Alex - Tue Sep 20, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Fashion, Military, 1950s
Inflatable Woman’s Bathing Suit Top
We've all seen those famous vintage ads that show inflatable bras.
But I had not realized that the gimmick had been applied also to bikinis. I cannot find any such currently for sale, however, which seems to show the idea was...a bust!
Source of article: The Paducah Sun (Paducah, Kentucky) 30 Jul 1992, Thu Page 11
Posted By: Paul - Tue Sep 20, 2022 -
Comments (9)
Category: Fashion, Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, 1990s
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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 |