Category:
Politics
Politics
Mao’s Crystal Coffin
Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 28, 2015 -
Comments (6)
Category: Body, Celebrities, Death, Politics, 1970s, Asia
Who Can Beat Nixon?
1971 board game. I assume that whoever played Nixon was allowed to cheat.
via New York Magazine - Aug 16, 1971
Posted By: Alex - Wed Sep 16, 2015 -
Comments (3)
Category: Games, Politics, 1970s
The Trouble With The Lottery
The Illinois State Lottery is not currently paying out jackpots above $25,000 until the state budget is passed. There's not even an estimated time frame for the winners who are waiting for their payouts. As you can imagine, the winners have a problem with this.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Aug 29, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Annoying Things, Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Government, Politics
Give a Party for the Party!
A 1930s party-planning manual for members of the American Communist Party, downloadable as a PDF here. Let's just say, those guys knew how to throw a cheap party.More info from a 2003 article in the NY Times:
Published in the late 1930s by the party's New York state branch and recently rediscovered by a Brandeis University historian, it's a 15-page illustrated tutorial in the art of ideologically correct fraternizing. Among the suggested high jinks: cutting editorials from The Daily Worker into pieces and having guests see who can put them back together fastest, or holding a mock convention on, say, nonintervention in Spain. "One guest is made chairman. Another is Chamberlain, another Leon Blum, a third Mussolini," the pamphlet cheerfully explains. Or why not try a round of anti-Fascist darts? "Draw a picture of Hitler, Mussolini, Hague or another Girdleresque pest. Put it on a piece of soft board with thumbtacks. Six throws for a nickel, and a prize if you paste Hague in the pants, or Trotsky in the eye," the pamphlet instructs.
Also, advertise "All the free beer you can drink!" but charge expensive admission at the door ("Yes, people will pay!"). And then:
Pour your beer in the center of the glass not down the inside. POURING IN THE MIDDLE GIVES MORE FOAM AND LESS LIQUID — STRETCHES EACH BARREL FURTHER.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jul 23, 2015 -
Comments (2)
Category: Games, Politics, 1930s
The Plot to Steal Abe Lincoln’s Corpse
Once upon a time, some crooks thought it would be a good idea to rob the grave of Abe Lincoln and hold the corpse for ransom.
One account here.
More detailed account here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 03, 2015 -
Comments (1)
Category: Death, Politics, Stupid Criminals, Nineteenth Century
Woodrow Wilson on the Make
[Click caption for readability]
No escape from the media, even in 1915, as President Wilson courts Edith Galt.
Original photo here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 25, 2015 -
Comments (0)
Category: Government, Politics, Husbands, Wives, 1910s, Cars
Sheep Onesie Protest
Alison Casey, who serves on the city council in Plymouth, Devon, feels that she's being treated like the "black sheep" of the council by her fellow councillors. To protest this, she's decided to tour her ward dressed in a sheep onesie. At least she's treating politics with the dignity it deserves.More info here and here. Also check out her Twitter feed, which features more pics of her in the onesie.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Mar 04, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Politics
The best photo wins
Back in 1956, there was a lot of harrumphing in political circles after Virginia Grant was elected Democratic national committeewoman from Oregon, beating her rival Gladys Last. The complaints centered on the fact that 33-year-old Grant was pretty much an unknown with no political experience (she was a waitress at the Aloha Room bar in Portland) who didn't bother to campaign much at all, whereas 46-year-old Last was an old-hand at politics and had campaigned actively.But what really scandalized people was that in the voters' pamphlet mailed to all registered Democrats, Grant included a "glamour shot" of herself, while Last just used a "regular photo." And it seems to have been the photo that tipped the election in Grant's favor. She won by an 18,000 vote margin over Last.
Their photos are below. (I could only find a watermarked photo of Last's). Which one would you have voted for?
Posted By: Alex - Fri Dec 26, 2014 -
Comments (8)
Category: Politics, 1950s
Cat takes center stage
November 12, 1951: As British Foreign Secretary Anthony Eden was delivering an address at a meeting of the General Assembly of the U.N. in Paris, urging calm in Europe, a black cat suddenly got up on the stage and strolled across it, without a care in the world. This prompted discussion in the media as to whether the cat was a sign of good or bad luck. It was finally agreed to be a sign of good luck since a black cat in France is apparently a good omen (which I didn't know).I think most political speeches would be greatly improved if cats randomly wandered across the stage during them.
Iowa City Press-Citizen - Nov 12, 1951
The Kokomo Tribune - Nov 20, 1951
Posted By: Alex - Sat Oct 18, 2014 -
Comments (9)
Category: Politics, Cats, 1950s
Destination Earth
Mars needs petroleum byproducts!
Posted By: Paul - Thu Aug 21, 2014 -
Comments (5)
Category: Aliens, Business, Advertising, Products, Motor Vehicles, Politics, 1950s
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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 |