Back Rub

Posted By: Paul - Tue Sep 08, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Body, Hygiene, Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods, Medicine, Music, 1950s

Keep the mouth glands active

"unless we watch out, the mouth glands slow up and decay sets in. The formula to correct this was worked out in Pebeco Tooth Paste."

San Francisco Examiner - Aug 21, 1927

Posted By: Alex - Mon Aug 24, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Hygiene, Advertising, 1920s, Teeth

Social-Distancing Cooler

One of the ongoing weird themes of this pandemic has been oddball devices for social distancing. For instance, we've previously reported on social-distancing shoes.

In this vein, beer brand Dos Equis recently unveiled a social-distancing cooler. The company described it as "part beer cooler, part social distancing measurement device."

From what I can gather, it seems like the cooler was actually two small coolers joined together. So you didn't need to fill the entire thing with ice.

Unfortunately, the promo in which they were giving these things away is already over.

More info: seisfootcooler.com, travelandleisure.com

Posted By: Alex - Mon Aug 03, 2020 - Comments (4)
Category: Hygiene, Products

Farting in an operating room

If someone farts in an operating room, will he/she contaminate the room with germs? Dr. Karl Kruszelnicki and microbiologist Luke Tennent of Australia together devised an experiment to find out:


Another source (below) claims that the 'colleague' who supplied the farts was, in fact, an eight-year-old boy:

Sydney Morning Herald - July 16, 2001

Incidentally, Dr. Kruszelnicki has been mentioned before on WU. See 'falling cats'.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Jul 28, 2020 - Comments (5)
Category: Hygiene, Flatulence, Experiments

Tony Galento’s Training Regimen

Wikipedia tells us:

Galento, who claimed to be 5'9 (177 cm) tall, liked to weigh in at about 235 lb (107 kg) for his matches. He achieved this level of fitness by eating whatever, whenever he wanted. A typical meal for Galento consisted of six chickens, a side of spaghetti, all washed down with a half gallon of red wine, or beer, or both at one sitting. When he did go to training camp, he foiled his trainer's attempts to modify his diet, and terrorized his sparring partners by eating their meals in addition to his.

He was reputed to train on beer, and allegedly ate 52 hot dogs on a bet before facing heavyweight Arthur DeKuh. Galento was supposedly so bloated before the fight that the waist line of his trunks had to be slit for him to fit into them. Galento claimed that he was sluggish from the effects of eating all those hot dogs, and that he could not move for three rounds. Nevertheless, Galento knocked out the 6'3" (192 cm) DeKuh with one punch, a left hook, in the fourth round.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Jun 30, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Food, Hygiene, Sports, 1930s

Hand Sanitizer Holster

Paula Russo was recently granted patent #10653232 for a "hand sanitizer holster," which seems like a timely invention for the age of covid, although she must have begun the patent process long before covid-19 was known.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Jun 07, 2020 - Comments (6)
Category: Hygiene, Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods, Inventions, Patents

Spongo

"GET ACTUAL THRILL SENSATION USING SPONGO"

image source: Smithsonian

Wilkes-Barre Times Leader - May 25, 1938

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jun 01, 2020 - Comments (6)
Category: Hygiene, 1930s, Teeth

Shower Curtain for Digital Devices

Get yours at the link below!

Posted By: Paul - Fri May 01, 2020 - Comments (3)
Category: Domestic, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Hygiene, Technology

Clean Hands Assured

Claude Davis of Melbourne, Florida obtained a patent for this curious device in 2000. It seems newly relevant in the era of coronavirus.

The gadget attached to bathroom doors. Whenever someone turned the handle to open the door, the gadget would spray their hand with dye. This, reasoned Davis, would encourage people to wash their hands, to remove the dye. He imagined his invention might be useful in restaurants and hospitals that have "statutory type hygiene requirements to have their staff and employees clean their hands after using restroom facilities."



Although the invention had good intentions, I can think of several problems with it.

First, I'm sure that most employees would find it incredibly obnoxious to have their hand sprayed with dye every time they went to the bathroom.

Second, wouldn't the gadget also spray dye whenever someone exited the door... spraying into empty air? In which case, half the dye would be wasted. I can imagine employees standing on the inside of the door, pumping away at the door handle until all the dye was used up.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 19, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: Bathrooms, Hygiene, Inventions, Patents

Bring Back the Bush

Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 29, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: Annoying Things, Antiques, Anachronisms and Throwbacks, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Customs, Hygiene, Genitals