Category:
Newspapers

Montreal Madness of 1892

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People acted weird in familiar NOTW fashion even over a century ago, as this Montreal newspaper reveals.

Posted By: Paul - Fri May 01, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Emotions, Newspapers, Husbands, Wives, Nineteenth Century, Mental Health and Insanity

International Times

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IT was a London-based underground newspaper founded in 1966. (Wikipedia entry here.)

Their online archive provides lots of groovy browsing.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Feb 10, 2013 - Comments (1)
Category: Newspapers, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s

O. J. Wangen, Evil Paint Seller

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It makes no difference whether you want your house painted or not; whether you want to use Sherwin-Williams or another brand; whether you plan to do it yourself or employ a different company. None of this counts in the face of O. J. Wangen's plan for world domination. "Let us have our way... We will have it, all or part of it in the end."

Original ad here. (Scroll down at link.)

Posted By: Paul - Sun Mar 18, 2012 - Comments (6)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Evil, Newspapers, Interior Decorating, 1900s

Strange As It Seems



News of the Weird has several ancestors. One is Strange As It Seems.

Strange as it Seems featured bizarre stories based on cartoons created by John Hix who was a staff artist at the Washington Herald. The comic strip Strange as it Seems was syndicated in American newspapers between 1928 and 1944. Strange as it Seems was comparable to Ripley's Believe It Or Not. Sponsored by Exlax in the 1930s and Palmolive Shave Cream when the show reappeared in 1947-1948.


The brand has recently been revivied, and features a YouTube Channel. Check it out!



Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 17, 2011 - Comments (2)
Category: Newspapers, Radio, Weird Studies and Guides, Comics, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s

Which NEW YORK TIMES Do You Read?

Maybe you read Jane Brody's column for May 11, 2010.

People of normal height or taller might be inclined to assume, as that silly Randy Newman song put it, that “Short people got no reason to live.... Short people got nobody to love.”

As someone who never broke the 5-foot mark, I can attest that most assumptions about short people are just that: assumptions. Here are a few facts.

¶ Children who are naturally short are no less socially competent or intelligent than taller ones.

¶ Being short was no deterrent to the likes of Yuri Gagarin, who, at 5-foot-1, was the first man in space; the actor Danny DeVito or the pop singer Prince, both 5-2; former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, a mere 4-10; or George Stephanopoulos, TV correspondent and talk show host, just over 5 feet.

¶ Short people can run countries (though not necessarily well): Napoleon, Caesar, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, Franco.

¶ Being short is no impediment to financial success: Ross Perot and Michael Bloomberg.

¶ Even professional basketball is not out of reach: Spud Webb, 5-6, and Muggsy Bogues, just 5-3.


Or maybe you read "FOR CRIME, IS ANATOMY DESTINY?" printed just a few pages afterwards.

Poverty, greed, anger, jealousy, pride, revenge. These are the usual suspects when it comes to discussing the causes of crime. In recent years, however, economists have started to investigate a different explanation for criminal activity: physical attributes.

A small band of economists has been studying how height, weight and beauty affect the likelihood of committing — or being convicted of — a crime. Looking at records from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, they have found evidence that shorter men are 20 to 30 percent more likely to end up in prison than their taller counterparts, and that obesity and physical attractiveness are linked to crime.

There is already a sizable stack of research that examines the connections between physical characteristics and the labor market. Economists have found, for example, that every inch of additional height is associated with a nearly 2 percent increase in earnings...

Posted By: Paul - Tue May 11, 2010 - Comments (11)
Category: Body, Newspapers, Screwups

Creative Editor Fun

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Now, why would an editor assign not one but two reporters to this assignment? Sure, the Large Hadron Collider is important science, and even sexy for the layman, in its quest for the Higgs Boson--

Oh, now I get it! You want a byline of "Higgins-Borenstein" so it sounds just like the elusive particle!

"Higg-Bo" might never be another Woodward and Bernstein, but they made my day!

Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 31, 2010 - Comments (5)
Category: Newspapers, Science, Europe

They’ll Do It Every Time

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When I was a kid, I loved the comic strip THEY'LL DO IT EVERY TIME, by Jimmy Hatlo. It was one of my first introductions to poking fun at irrational or weird human behavior.

What I did not quite realize is that the strip had a revival under artist Al Scaduto. But unfortunately, he passed away on December 8, 2007, and his last strip ran on February 3, 2008.

Here's an archive of that current version.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 26, 2008 - Comments (2)
Category: Art, Comics, Customs, History, Newspapers, 1920s

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Who We Are
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.

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