Category:
Food
Food
The White Castle Experiment
However, the idea of conducting a fast-food diet experiment wasn't original to Spurlock. That honor goes to Jesse McClendon, a researcher at the University of Minnesota, who in 1930 fed a volunteer a diet of only White Castle hamburgers for 13 weeks. From the U of M Medical Bulletin:
McClendon knew that earlier studies had shown that adult dogs fed for a month on only lean meat appeared to fare well, and that humans on temporary all-meat diets lost calcium and phosphorus but didn't develop deficiency diseases. He planned to feed a single experimental subject only White Castle hamburgers—including the bun, onions, and pickles—and water for 13 weeks.
A willing subject presented himself: Bernard Flesche, a U of M medical student working his way through school. Flesche kept a diary during the ordeal. "He started out very enthusiastic about eating 10 burgers at a sitting," notes his daughter, Deirdre Flesche, "but a couple of weeks into it, he was losing his enthusiasm." His sister frequently tried to tempt him with fresh vegetables, but Flesche allowed nothing but White Castle Slyders™ to pass his lips.
A willing subject presented himself: Bernard Flesche, a U of M medical student working his way through school. Flesche kept a diary during the ordeal. "He started out very enthusiastic about eating 10 burgers at a sitting," notes his daughter, Deirdre Flesche, "but a couple of weeks into it, he was losing his enthusiasm." His sister frequently tried to tempt him with fresh vegetables, but Flesche allowed nothing but White Castle Slyders™ to pass his lips.
Flesche survived his ordeal without developing any significant health problems. The owner of White Castle interpreted this to mean that a hamburger diet is healthy and heavily promoted the experiment in advertisements. Flesche, however, who had once been a hamburger lover, developed a permanent aversion to them. He never willingly ate a hamburger again.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Aug 04, 2008 -
Comments (0)
Category: Food, Experiments, 1930s
Divorce Deli
Minister Chuck points me toward the Divorce Deli. It remains a question as to whether pickles are extra.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jul 31, 2008 -
Comments (2)
Category: Business, Advertising, Domestic, Divorce, Food
Annoying Gadgets
We all love gadgets. Except for the truly useless and frustrating devices. Those we hate and ridicule. The Japanese actually have a term and category for such items: Chindōgu.Recently, while browsing through the catalog for WHATEVER WORKS, I found two examples of Chindōgu.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jul 30, 2008 -
Comments (5)
Category: Business, Products, Domestic, Food, Inventions, Travel, Hotels
Follies of the Mad Men #6
Of course, the very first thing you'll load aboard your interstellar ship is a new Frigidaire. What's that you say? These women are not astronauts, but rather futuristic housewives, and the Fridge remains earthbound? Then why are they wearing those bubble helmets? Future pollution? But what about the helmet that features a cutout? And the slit glasses? If only the geniuses who created this ad were still around, we could ask them to explain....
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 29, 2008 -
Comments (13)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Domestic, Fashion, Food, Futurism, Literature, Science Fiction, Travel, Space Travel
Peruvian Guinea Pig Festival
Every year the residents of Huacho, Peru hold their Guinea Pig festival. First they dress the guinea pigs in cute costumes. There's a fashion show to decide the best-dressed guinea pig. Then they cook 'em up. The Telegraph notes that "Guinea pigs can be served fried, roasted or in a casserole... The meat tastes like rabbit or the dark meat of chicken, in case you were wondering." (via J-Walk)
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 23, 2008 -
Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Food, Parades and Festivals
The Cow Whisperer
I suspect cows are going to become a theme here at WU. They're ubiquitous and silly and important. Those are three good criteria for inclusion here. Hey, if cows were good enough for Gary Larson humor, they're good enough for us!The latest news is that they're demanding headphones as they graze! Not sure if iPods are included. Read the article here.
Then watch the video of "The Cow Whisperer" here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jul 23, 2008 -
Comments (5)
Category: Agriculture, Food, Science, Experiments, Technology, Cows
Obscene Torture
Cruel, sadistic prison guards subjecting inmates to horrible excruciations. It's a sad practice as old as history. But seldom before today has the vile ritual reached such depths as reported in this story.What exactly is the new nadir of torture? Here's the quote:
"Houghton also said that Botas and Viveiros forced him to watch a Burger King cartoon on his office computer and sing along to a jingle that accompanied the commercial. He said that all three officers laughed and 'were getting a kick out of it … that they could take advantage of me.'”
Oh, the humanity!
Recovering my senses, and getting over the evident confusion on the prisoner's part between "cartoon" and "commercial" (his mind is obviously shattered, after all), I had to ask, "Which Burger King commercial?" Not watching much TV, I'm unsure what's currently on the airwaves that might have registered on the radar of the abusive guards. But they were after all using a computer, presumably to visit YouTube. So I found five possible torture jingles.
Which one do you find most excruciating? Or do you have another candidate?
See them after the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jul 17, 2008 -
Comments (3)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Crime, Stupid Criminals, Food, Government, Officials, Prisons, Torture
Radiation Cookery Book
Back in March I wrote an article for Smithsonian magazine about pseudo-scientific terms that have gone out of fashion. For instance, it used to be all the rage to affix "electro-" to everything, as in "electro-lumps" (one marketers inspired term for coal).A term I definitely could have included in my article is "radiation." Once upon a time it didn't have the negative connotations it does today. Witness the "Radiation Cookery Book" from 1934. It didn't actually use radiation for the cooking (except in so far as heat itself is a form of radiation). Instead "Radiation" was the name of the company that made the gas cooker for which the recipes were designed.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 16, 2008 -
Comments (2)
Category: Fads, Food, Cookbooks, Science, Weird Names
Simulated S**t Happens
Alex's Jesus Toilet post reminded me of this great WIRED article from a few years ago, about toilet technology.It so happens that toilet engineers need to simulate excrement for testing purposes. Here's just a couple of the things they use:
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jul 09, 2008 -
Comments (1)
Category: Bathrooms, Domestic, Food, Hygiene, Inventions, Scatology, Science, Technology
Foo Kin Chinese Food
My pal Pete Kaplan stumbled across this one. Who knew that up in Cooperstown, NY, they had such pronounced Liverpudlian accents?
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jul 09, 2008 -
Comments (7)
Category: Business, Advertising, Food, Restaurants, Weird Names
| 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 |