Ornamental Ash Tray

The entire patent, figure and text, is given below. How I wish the inventor had gone on at length about his design.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Apr 05, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Obscenity, Patents, Smoking and Tobacco, 1940s

Ol’ Man Mose

Duchin's 1938 release of the Louis Armstrong song "Ol' Man Mose" (Brunswick Records 8155) with vocal by Patricia Norman caused a minor scandal at the time with the lyric "bucket" being heard as "fuck it." Some listeners conclude that there is no vulgarism uttered, while others are convinced that Norman does say "fuck."

The "scandalous" lyrics caused the record to zoom to #2 on the Billboard charts, resulting in sales of 170,000 copies when sales of 20,000 were considered a blockbuster. The song was banned after its release in Great Britain. The notorious number can be heard on a British novelty CD, Beat the Band to the Bar.

Listen for yourself, and register your vote in the comments!

Posted By: Paul - Mon Aug 03, 2020 - Comments (11)
Category: Music, Obscenity, 1930s

Two Gordon Ramsays

A clipping from an old Australian newspaper (via Weird History — unfortunately no date provided for the clipping, but evidently from the early 20th Century).

There's probably an entire line of foul-mouthed Gordon Ramsays stretching back through history, with the current celebrity one simply the most recent manifestation.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Aug 27, 2014 - Comments (4)
Category: Obscenity

Günter D

He's a feisty old fellow! The list of complaints against 75-year-old Frankfurt resident "Günter D" include: urinating in flower pots, putting moldy bread in people's mailboxes, calling his neighbors prostitutes, writing lewd graffiti on walls, and repeatedly telephoning his neighbors up to 284 times a month. Gunter will soon have to defend himself in court against charges of disturbing the peace, damaging property, and making inappropriate threats. But he insists, "I've not done anything or offended anyone." [independent, bild]

Posted By: Alex - Tue Mar 26, 2013 - Comments (4)
Category: Misbehavior, Rebellion, Acting-out and General Naughtiness, Noises and Other Public Disturbances of the Peace, Obscenity

A Little Light Weirdness – 7

It’s an election year in the UK, and politicians there are suddenly more image conscious than ever. None more so than incumbent Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who - at his wife’s suggestion - has swapped his regular Kit-Kat munching habit for a diet of bananas in an effort to slim down a bit. While it’s nice to know that the British PM’s wife is perhaps a reader this blog, she’s obviously not a regular one, or she’d have known that portly politicos are more trusted. Now if only he’d show the common touch by going on a bacon binge (Orange News).

Mind you, Mr. Brown is not the only statesman trying to avert a bleak future this week, an unnamed Arab ambassador got the shock of his life when he finally lifted his new bride’s niqab, only to find she had cross-eyes and a beard. The groom immediately went to court to have the marriage annulled, claiming he had been tricked into the marriage and that the bride’s parents had used pictures of her attractive older sister to deceive him. The court found for the groom and dissolved the marriage, but turned down his demand for $150000 compensation (Daily Mail).

But perhaps he’s been a bit quick to judge by appearances. Two Chinese men certainly were when the found a hoard of 20 clay artefacts in an old tomb they discovered in a field near their home, only to later sell the whole lot to a collector for less than $2000. Unfortunately for the pair, theirs were rare finds from the Sui-Tang Dynasty, making the collection over 1000 years old. One item alone, a pottery figurine, recently reached $150,000 at auction (Daily Times).

More fortunate was Wendy Jones of Aberglasney in Wales, who took the old plate she’d had perched on her sideboard for years – except on those odd occasions it had fallen off it - to a TV antiques show, in a plastic carrier bag, only to be told it was part of a rare, Prussian royal service worth over £100000 (Telegraph).



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Posted By: Dumbfounded - Wed Feb 10, 2010 - Comments (3)
Category: Boats, Cops, Crime, Stupid Criminals, Food, Government, Officials, History, Obscenity, Pirates, Politics, Retail Establishments, Theater and Stage, Facial Hair, Goofs and Screw-ups

So Weird It Hurts?

Not @%#&?! likely! But this post is on a subject close to my heart, pain (must see a doctor about that).

Cartoon expletives aside, a bit of invective can do you the world of good, or so said scientists recently. A research team from from Keele University asked volunteers to hold their hand in freezing water for as long as they could manage while repeating either an innocuous word or the swear-word of their choice. The swearers held out for an average of two minutes, while non-swearers managed only 1 minute 15 seconds. But while Rohan Byrt of the Casual Swearing Appreciation Society claimed the study demonstrated the benefits of swearing, team leader Richard Stephens warned that everyday swearing would lessen its painkilling effects. "Swearing is emotional language" he explained, "but if you overuse it, it loses its emotional attachment" (BBC News).

From this week, pregnant women throughout Britain considering "letting it out" to help with the pain might also want to direct their curses towards Dr Denis Walsh, associate professor of midwifery at Nottingham University in England. In an article in the journal Evidence Based Midwifery, Dr Walsh claimed last week that the pain of childbirth was useful and a "timeless rite of passage", and women should not be trying to avoid it with epidural anaesthesia. Walsh based his statement on the fact that the use of epidurals has almost doubled in the past two decades, claiming that in 20% of cases, the procedure was unnecessary. While some, like Dr. Justin Clarke of the Birmingham Women's Hospital, rejected Walsh's data, saying it was wrong to characterise modern women as "less stoical", others supported him, such as Mary Newburn of the National Childbirth Trust who spoke of there being an "epidural culture" (Telegraph).

But perhaps women might be convinced to trade in the needle for a fancy rubber suit? Baltimore company Under Armour has developed a hi-tech, full length bodysuit that is said to allow athletes recover more quickly after strenuous activity. Under Armour's "Recharge" range gently squeezes the athlete's body forcing excess fluid out of the muscles and back into the bloodstream over a period of hours after a workout, reversing the "pumped" effect of the exercise. Research by the University of Connecticut showed that doing so resulted in subjects feeling less soreness and swelling of the muscles and recuperating faster (Journal Gazette).



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Posted By: Dumbfounded - Tue Jul 14, 2009 - Comments (3)
Category: Exercise and Fitness, Frauds, Cons and Scams, Health, Injuries, Medicine, Obscenity, Science, Experiments, Stupid Criminals, Weddings

People Pops

Posted By: Paul - Wed Jun 24, 2009 - Comments (2)
Category: Obscenity, Candy