Twentieth Century
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
[Click to enlarge]
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
[Click either to enlarge]
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
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
| 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 |