Holidays
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 -
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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 -
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Category: Holidays, Advertising, Retailing, Myths and Fairytales, Cartoons, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, United Kingdom
A Family Circus Christmas
I was going to save this for Christmas 2021, but then realized I should not deprive anyone of immediate viewing of this masterpiece.The IMDB page.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Mar 07, 2021 -
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Category: Family, Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, Holidays, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Newspapers, Cartoons, 1970s
Groundhog Detector
Feb 1947: the residents of Quarryville, Pennsylvania used strange, new technology in an attempt to detect and communicate with groundhogs.
Chairman of the Hibernating Groundhog Lodge in Quarryville, Pa. calibrates the "ultra-secret invention" that will be used to contact "10,672 registered groundhogs in Lancaster County" on Groundhog Day.
image source: Temple University Library
Louisville Courier-Journal - Feb 2, 1947
Brooklyn Daily Eagle - Feb 2, 1947
Posted By: Alex - Tue Feb 02, 2021 -
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Category: Holidays, Inventions, 1940s
Father Christmas Training School
It's still kinda the holiday season, right? Orthodox Xmas was just a few days ago!
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 11, 2021 -
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Category: Holidays, School, United Kingdom
Happy New Year’s Day, 2021!
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 01, 2021 -
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Category: Holidays, Miniature People in Ads, Nineteenth Century
Merry Christmas 2020!
Otherwise known as "Santa Claus's Mistake."
Posted By: Paul - Fri Dec 25, 2020 -
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Category: Holidays, Toys, Gender, Goofs and Screw-ups
World’s Largest Gingerbread House
Seven years ago. What ever happened to it, I wonder.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Dec 09, 2020 -
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Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Food, Holidays, Regionalism, World Records
Happy Thanksgiving 2020!
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 26, 2020 -
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Category: Food, History, Holidays, Myths and Fairytales
| 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 |