Kurvon Breast Enhancement Pills

[Click to enlarge--ha!]

There's a great story behind this pill, wherein an ex-employee tried to rip off the formula and sell it as "Charm-on." Read it here.

Did you know breast-boosting pills are still for sale?

Original ad scanned from this magazine:

Posted By: Paul - Tue Oct 13, 2015 - Comments (8)
Category: Body Modifications, Lawsuits, 1950s

Nagging as divorce cause

The 1947 case of DeWaal vs. DeWaal established nagging as legitimate grounds for divorce (in Nebraska). I assume this was before the availability of no-fault divorce. (A quick google search reveals that Nebraska only adopted a no-fault divorce law in 1972.)

Note that Mrs. DeWaal argued that her husband was at fault (and not herself) because he went to motion picture theaters and read "sensational magazines."

Posted By: Alex - Sun Mar 22, 2015 - Comments (4)
Category: Law, Lawsuits, Husbands, Wives, 1940s

Lionlike snorer sues wall-banger

Classic headline and story from The New York Times - Jan 21, 1964.

My favorite line: "Mr. Scheir's snores of gigantic proportions are an animalistic roar, lionlike, that vibrate the rooms. The very anticipation of their beginning at about 2:30 A.M. every day has shaken my client and his wife, deprived them of sleep, injured their health, and, in fact, constitute an assault upon their persons."

The case was subsequently resolved by the construction of a soundproof wall.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Feb 11, 2015 - Comments (9)
Category: Noises and Other Public Disturbances of the Peace, Lawsuits, 1960s

Who’s responsible?

Megan Campbell's parked car was hit by a van driven by a city worker, so now she wants the city to pay for the damages. Sounds reasonable. But Campbell was the city worker driving the van that hit her own car. The city is reviewing the incident. [twincities.com]

I'm pretty sure Chuck has posted about similar cases in the past. So perhaps this kind of thing is no longer weird?

Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 09, 2014 - Comments (8)
Category: Lawsuits, Cars

You got the right one, baby, uh-huh

In the early 1990s, Diet Pepsi ran a series of successful ads that featured Ray Charles and the slogan, "You got the right one, baby, uh-huh."


But not everyone liked the ads. Arthur Takeall claimed that Pepsi stole the slogan from him, saying he had used it in his ventriloquism act for years. He would choose an attractive woman in the audience and say, "You've Got The Right One" and his puppet would then say "Uh-huh."

Takeall sued Pepsi for $130 million, but his case was dismissed by the judge. However, in 1997 the Patent and Trademark Office ruled in his favor, deciding that he was entitled to the rights to the slogan, "You got the right one, baby, uh-huh." But as far as I know, it was a bit of a hollow victory since Pepsi never paid him any money.


More about Takeall in the Baltimore Afro-American - May 3, 1997.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 15, 2014 - Comments (6)
Category: Lawsuits, 1990s

Who owns the selfie?

1) Some monkey took a 'selfie' with a professional photographer's equipment.

2) Wikipedia used the image.

3) The photographer claimed copyright & brought a £10,000 suit.

Where do you stand on this? Who has the rights to the image?

Posted By: Expat47 - Thu Aug 07, 2014 - Comments (12)
Category: Animals, Photography and Photographers, Lawsuits

Suicide Payoff

If you jump in front of a train, is it the train driver's fault if he doesn't stop in time to run you over? Maybe. Back in 1977, Milo Stephens tried to commit suicide in this way and later sued the New York City Transit Authority for running him over. The TA gave him a settlement payment of $650,000 rather than going to trial.

A Time magazine article (Jan 9, 1984) explains why the TA opted for the settlement rather than fighting it:

Posted By: Alex - Mon Aug 04, 2014 - Comments (11)
Category: Lawsuits, Suicide, 1970s

Zulu Blowgun Free

Oh, just imagine the glorious lawsuit possibilities if this toy were offered today!

Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 15, 2013 - Comments (7)
Category: Death, Stereotypes and Cliches, Toys, Lawsuits, 1920s, Africa

Election Laws Sixty Years Ago

Modern U.S. elections have their problems, but at least election laws aren't as blatantly racist as they were as late as the 1950s. For instance, in Oklahoma, in the 1950s, if you wanted to run for public office you first had to file a form with the state declaring what race you were. There were only two options. If you were of "African descent" you were "Negro." If you were anything else (Chinese, Australian aboriginal, etc.) you were "White." If you indicated you were "Negro," then this descriptive term was placed in parentheses after your name on the ballot. "Whites" were not similarly labeled.

A black Oklahoma City attorney, A.B. McDonald, filed suit against the State Election Board in 1954 alleging discrimination. The District Court dismissed his case, ruling that, "The placing of the word 'Negro' on a ballot after the name of a candidate is merely descriptive and properly serves to inform the electors of the fact that the candidate is of African descent."


The Supreme Court eventually overturned the District Court's ruling, deciding that the Oklahoma law was unconstitutional. As for A.B. McDonald, I haven't been able to find much information on his subsequent career. All I found was a short paragraph in Jet magazine (Mar 1959) indicating that he had some other problems in his life:

Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 05, 2012 - Comments (7)
Category: Politics, Racism, Judges, Lawsuits

Smells Like Harvey Comics

Now that DreamWorks has acquired the rights to the Harvey Comics characters, surely they will zealously protect properties such as Little Dot and issue a lawsuit against such blatant ripoffs as Dot Perfume.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Jul 29, 2012 - Comments (3)
Category: Lawsuits, Comics, Perfume and Other Scents