Twentieth Century
Dr. Swett’s Root Beer
Despite having an unfortunate moniker, Dr. Swett's product sold from circa 1845 to 1959.
Read the whole story here.
The trademark is now officially dead and unclaimed, if any entrepreneurial WUvie wants to start the business back up.
Posted By: Paul - Fri May 24, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Soda, Pop, Soft Drinks and other Non-Alcoholic Beverages, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century
Song Poems
The full story is here. But, in short: amateur lyrics put to music for money by studio musician hacks.
Posted By: Paul - Mon May 06, 2013 -
Comments (10)
Category: Business, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Twentieth Century
Roadways and The Thought
Not all poems benefit by being set to music.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Apr 28, 2013 -
Comments (3)
Category: Bombast, Bloviation and Pretentiousness, Music, Twentieth Century
Duke University Ad*Access
Seven thousand crisply scanned vintage ads, of varying degrees of weirdness, all nicely categorized? Prepare to spend hours here!
Duke University Ad*Access
Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 02, 2013 -
Comments (2)
Category: Advertising, Universities, Colleges, Private Schools and Academia, Twentieth Century
The Return of Weird Postcards
[Click on any of them to enlarge.]
I bought these just yesterday at Raven Used Books in Northampton, MA. Hundreds more awaiting your visitation.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Nov 07, 2012 -
Comments (7)
Category: Humor, Outsider Art, Twentieth Century, Postal Services
Fur Trapping the Boy Scout Way
Not quite a century ago, apparently enough Boy Scouts indulged in fur trapping that a big fur company felt compelled to advertise to them.
What would PETA say if the Scouts did that today?
Wait a minute... They still kinda do!
From Boys' Life for February 1919.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Oct 23, 2012 -
Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Hunting, Trapping and Other Wilderness Activities, Twentieth Century
Vintage Photos on eBay
Yesterday I went to eBay and searched on the string "vintage photo." I got 417,368 hits. The first item in that catalog is reproduced above. So many of the subsequent ones were almost as bizarre.
Happy viewing! Please report back here in the Comments with your own best finds!
Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 04, 2012 -
Comments (8)
Category: Eccentrics, Photography and Photographers, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century
| Who We Are |
|---|
| 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 |