Holidays
Joke Beer
It's April Fool's Day. Have a beer!From Patent No. 2,140,327:
Posted By: Alex - Fri Apr 01, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Holidays, Patents, 1930s
Happy Evacuation Day
On March 17, 1776, British troops evacuated from Boston.To commemmorate this event, in 1901 the city of Boston declared March 17 to be a holiday called "Evacuation Day".
By happy coincidence, March 17 was also, of course, St. Patrick's Day.
More info: wikipedia
Source: NY Public Library
Posted By: Alex - Thu Mar 17, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Holidays
Happy Valentine’s Day 2022!
Posted By: Paul - Mon Feb 14, 2022 -
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Category: Death, Holidays, Hollywood, Magazines, Love & Romance
Happy New Year 2022!
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jan 01, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Holidays, Chiropractic, Massage and Other Physical Therapies, 2020s
Merry Christmas 2021!
Have a wonderful holiday!
Posted By: Paul - Sat Dec 25, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Holidays, Christmas, Music, Technology, 1970s
The Living Christmas Tree
Alex and I will be making an announcement soon, about where all WU-vies can meet up to form such a seasonal tribute. Bring your own robe.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Dec 15, 2021 -
Comments (4)
Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Holidays, Christmas, Human Marvels, Twentieth Century
Happy Thanksgiving 2021!
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 25, 2021 -
Comments (3)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Food, Holidays, Air Travel and Airlines
The Santa Claus Statue in Santa Claus, Indiana
I thought that in the midst of summer heat (for some of us) we could use a little wintertime.
Here is the town's official page for the statue.
But Roadside America has a much more interesting tale. More details at the link.
It was purposely built on the highest hill in Santa Claus by businessman Carl Barrett, who wanted to antagonize his arch-rival Milton Harris, who was building his own attraction a hundred yards down the road. It was dedicated on Christmas Day 1935, less than a week after Harris had opened Santa's Candy Castle.
Barrett felt that Harris was commercializing Christmas. In contrast, Barrett claimed that the Santa statue had been built with the pennies of American schoolchildren. That may have been true, but he also claimed that the statue was built on the spot where a meteor had crashed (he hinted that this was a sign of divine guidance), and that it was made of solid granite. In fact there was no meteor, and the statue was later found to be made of concrete.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Aug 03, 2021 -
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Category: Cult Figures and Artifacts, Holidays, Regionalism, Rivalries, Feuds and Grudges, 1930s
Uncle Sam Eagle
Happy Fourth of July!Mary E. Harris of San Francisco was so proud of her patriotic idea of grafting the face of Uncle Sam onto the body of a bald eagle, that she decided to patent it, receiving US Design Patent No. 51415 in 1917.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jul 04, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Art, Holidays, Patriotism, Patents
UK Shopping: 1949
Halfway to Christmas!
Source: Wilkes-Barre Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) 29 Jun 1949, Wed Page 3
Uncle Holly apparently dates to 1950:
Source.
Info on Ginger Nutt here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jun 02, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Holidays, Advertising, Retailing, Myths and Fairytales, Cartoons, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, United Kingdom
| 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 |