Twentieth Century
Boil Tested Buttons
Are modern buttons boil tested in the year 2019? It seems overkill to me, even back then. If you had the plastics formulation down pat, and tested it once, would you have to boil every button that came off the "assembly" line?
Source.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jun 06, 2019 -
Comments (3)
Category: Destruction, Domestic, Fashion, Advertising, Twentieth Century
Bear Grease for Bald Men
Wikipedia says: "Bear's grease was a popular treatment for men with hair loss from at least as early as 1653 until about the First World War." They obviously know nothing about Canadian Kelly Chamandy, who was still peddling the stuff in the 50s.When he finally came home for good at the end of the war, Kelly Chamandy was bald as an egg. Taking the advice of his Cree friends, he began massaging rendered bear fat into his scalp and, lo and behold, his hair began to grow back! The state of his pate, his Syrian peddler heritage, and his wilderness experience gave him a brilliant idea which led to his entrance into an ancient, unconventional, and all-but-forgotten industry: the bear grease market.
Big article on Chamandy here.
1953 Maclean's article here.
BTW, here's some bear fat for you.
Foto source.
Posted By: Paul - Tue May 28, 2019 -
Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, North America, Twentieth Century, Hair and Hairstyling, Head
Tony Pastor
Mr. Pastor had a somewhat unusual voice and presentation. I'm thinking Jim Nabors combined with Lou Costello.His Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Thu May 09, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Eccentrics, Music, Twentieth Century
Schenck’s Mandrake Pills
Source of ad.
Source of pic.
Click here for product brochure.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 23, 2019 -
Comments (2)
Category: Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century
Twelve-Tone Greatest Hits
Very droll.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 27, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Music, Twentieth Century, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults
The Acrobatic Fly
Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 21, 2019 -
Comments (3)
Category: Entertainment, Nature, Twentieth Century
Mystery Illustration 81
Who is this famous film star?The answer is here.
And after the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 20, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Movies, Twentieth Century
How We Do Things in Kansas
I love this genre of postcards that feature oversized common things like fish and various crops. This is one I had not seen before.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Mar 19, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Agriculture, Enlargements, Miniatures, and Other Matters of Scale, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Horticulture and Gardens, Humor, Regionalism, Surrealism, Twentieth Century, Postal Services
The Lobster Waitresses of Hackney’s
Short entertaining history of Hackney's here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Mar 09, 2019 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Culture and Civilization, Food, Forgotten Figures and Where Are They Now?, Regionalism, Twentieth Century
Hostetter’s Bitters
Hostetter's "Celebrated" Bitters was a nostrum developed by Dr. Jacob Hostetter of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His son, David Hostetter, put the formula into large scale production in 1853 and it soon became a national best-seller. During the Civil War, Dr. J. Hostetter's Stomach Bitters was sold to soldiers as "a positive protective against the fatal maladies of the Southern swamps, and the poisonous tendency of the impure rivers and bayous." The original formula was about 47% alcohol -- 94 Proof! The amount of alcohol was so high that it was served in Alaskan saloons by the glass. Hostetter sweetened the alcohol with sugar to which he added a few aromatic oils (anise, coriander, etc.) and vegetable bitters (cinchona, gentian, etc.) to give it a medicinal flavor. From 1954 to 1958, when it was no longer marketed, the product was known as Hostetter Tonic.
More info here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 21, 2019 -
Comments (3)
Category: Antiques, Anachronisms and Throwbacks, Advertising, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century, Alcohol
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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 |