Twentieth Century
American Cornball
Christopher Miller's new book is a must-have for any WU-vie, detailing with comprehensive wit all the old humor tropes that once delighted millions, but are now just plain weird, but with a residual underlying universality.
Read a sample here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 05, 2014 -
Comments (2)
Category: Humor, Stereotypes and Cliches, Books, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century
Dr. Sanden’s Electric Stimulator
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"Seminal weakness" indeed!
Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 15, 2014 -
Comments (12)
Category: Scams, Cons, Rip-offs, and General Larceny, Sexuality, Advertising, Twentieth Century, Genitals
The Bald-Headed Men of America
Apparently there have been several instances of the formation of clubs to serve as fraternal organizations for bald men.The New York Times has this 1896 report.
Then comes this account in 1920, also from The New York Times.
Then comes this report from 1954.
But sometime after that, the original group must have gone under, because in 1972, John T. Capps, III founded the Bald Headed Men of America. They were profiled in a PBS documentary from 1989, as partially shown below.
Apparently, they are still going strong.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Mar 01, 2014 -
Comments (5)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, 1920s, 1950s, 1970s, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century, Hair and Hairstyling
Peg-Leg Bates
Unfair career advantage: he had to buy only half the number of tap shoes of other dancers.
Wikipedia entry.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Feb 16, 2014 -
Comments (3)
Category: Disabilities, Dance, Twentieth Century
Walter Potter
The Wikipedia page.
Alas, the museum was dissolved in 2003.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 23, 2014 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Anthropomorphism, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Eccentrics, Hobbies and DIY, Museums, Outsider Art, Europe, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century
Paul von Boeckmann, Champion Breather
Original ad here.
Hard to argue with the assertion that one has to breathe to stay alive.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 17, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Eccentrics, Twentieth Century, Bodybuilding
Everything’s Coming Up Profits
This looks like the perfect Xmas gift to make any WU-vie happy.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Nov 30, 2013 -
Comments (1)
Category: Business, Music, Twentieth Century
Madge Gill
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Thanks to WU-vie Mark De Novellis, we learn of a new UK exhibition devoted to the work of outsider artist Madge Gill. If you image-google her name, you get tons of examples, such as you see above.
A nice visit if you're in the UK over the next several months.
Exhibition home page.
From the Wikipedia entry:
After recovering from her illness, she took a sudden and passionate interest in drawing, creating thousands of mediumistic works over the following 40 years, most done with ink in black and white. The works came in all sizes, from postcard-sized to huge sheets of fabric, some over 30 feet (9.1 m) long. She claimed to be guided by a spirit she called "Myrninerest" (my inner rest) and often signed her works in this name.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Aug 30, 2013 -
Comments (3)
Category: Museums, New Age, Outsider Art, Reader Recommendation, Europe, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century
Murad Cigarette Ads
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Surely one of the most gorgeously over-the-top ad campaigns for any cigarette was the long-running series for Murad brand. What a realm of fantasy!
Read a small history of the brand and see a large gallery of images here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Aug 12, 2013 -
Comments (6)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Fantasy, Smoking and Tobacco, Middle East, Twentieth Century
Antique Homicide Photos from NYC Archives
Over 300 gruesomely fascinating murder victims, at the NYC Archives. Of course, the 800K+ other shots are pretty cool as well.
Posted By: Paul - Tue May 28, 2013 -
Comments (4)
Category: Death, Photography and Photographers, Urban Life, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century, Blood
| 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 |