Twentieth Century
Alligator Joe’s
Florida alligator farms as tourist attractions are legendary and well known. One of the first such was Alligator Joe's.Here is a long read about the place.
And after the images is the account of one fellow who almost did not return from a visit to Joe's.
Article source.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Aug 09, 2020 -
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Category: Animals, Death, Regionalism, Tourists and Tourism, Twentieth Century
Cottolene
As the Wikipedia page tells us:Cottolene was a brand of shortening made of beef suet and cottonseed oil
Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 07, 2020 -
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Category: Food, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century, Nausea, Revulsion and Disgust
Very Large Circus Performers of Yesteryear
Source.
Source.
Source.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Aug 05, 2020 -
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Category: Human Marvels, Twentieth Century, Circuses, Carnivals, and Other Traveling Shows
Laura Bullion, Pard to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Wikipedia says:
Members of the Wild Bunch nicknamed Laura Bullion "Della Rose", a name she came by after meeting Kid Curry's girlfriend Della Moore. Often, Bullion also was referred to as the "Rose of the Wild Bunch". When her boyfriend Ben Kilpatrick and she fled east to evade the law after a train robbery in 1901, the couple traveled under the names "Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Arnold".[7]
In an arrest report following the train robbery, dated November 6, 1901, Bullion's name is filed as "Della Rose" and her aliases are stated to be "Clara Hays" and "Laura Casey and [Laura] Bullion". The arrest report lists her profession as prostitute.[5] According to a New York Times article, she was "masquerading as 'Mrs. Nellie Rose' at the time of her arrest.[8] The same article also mentions the suspicion that she, "disguised as a boy", might have taken part in a train robbery in Montana. The paper cites Chief of Detectives Desmond: "I would'nt [sic] think helping to hold up a train was too much for her. She is cool, shows absolutely no fear, and in male attire would readily pass for a boy. She has a masculine face, and that would give her assurance in her disguise."[8] Instead of "Clara Hays", Bullion also used "Clare Hayes" or "Clara Hayes" as a version of her alias. Other assumed names she used at that time were "Desert Rose", "Wild Bunch Rose", and "Clara Casey".[7]
Her gravesite.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jul 09, 2020 -
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Category: Crime, Regionalism, Women, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century
Colonel Barker
Wikipedia says:
Victor Barker, born Lillias Irma Valerie Barker (1895–1960), who also went by the pseudonyms John Hill and Geoffrey Norton, was a transgender man who is notable for having married a woman. He was an officer of the National Fascisti, a bankrupt and a convicted criminal.
Good article here.
A contemporary report from 1933:
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jun 24, 2020 -
Comments (1)
Category: Crime, Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Gender-bending, Twentieth Century
Making Mercury Thermometers
The COVID pandemic has certainly made thermometers part of everyday discourse. Once upon a time, the mercury-filled instrument was the only home-friendly device available. I was not even sure you could buy one these days, but Amazon sells several "liquid-filled" devices. Here is some info from the vendor at the Amazon link.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jun 15, 2020 -
Comments (9)
Category: Body, Diseases, Health, Technology, Twentieth Century
Las Pozas
When travel resumes, here's a destination alluring to any WU-vie.Read more on the creator here.
His Wikipedia entry.
Posted By: Paul - Thu May 21, 2020 -
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Category: Art, Outsider Art, Surrealism, Eccentrics, Twentieth Century
Peter the Hermit of Hollywood
Article source.
More anecdotal articles here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed May 20, 2020 -
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Category: Eccentrics, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, Movies, 1960s, Twentieth Century
The Painter Joachim Raphaël Boronali
NOTW and Weird Universe have covered innumerable art world hoaxes and farces. Paintings hung upside down, installations destroyed by janitors, large prize money for unmade beds, and so forth. Here is one of the first such japes. A painting done by a donkey with a brush tied to its tail, and exhibited at a famous Paris salon as the work of a new painter named Joachim Raphaël Boronali.
Read the whole story here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu May 14, 2020 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Art, Avant Garde, Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Twentieth Century
Vernon Deck, Baseball Bigmouth
Posted By: Paul - Tue May 12, 2020 -
Comments (2)
Category: Human Marvels, Sports, Twentieth Century
| Who We Are |
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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 |