The Vibro-Helmontholator

A fancy name for a worm catcher.

The Elizabethton Star - Jan 12, 1938

San Francisco Examiner - Dec 16, 1937

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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 forty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. Contact Us

Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 10, 2020
Category: Inventions | Odd Names | 1930s

Comments

Muad'Dib, we have wormsign!
Summon the Fedaykin.

Posted by Virtual in Carnate on 12/10/20 at 09:33 AM

I saw something a few years ago explaining this. They think now that the worms are not drawn to the humm, but rather fleeing from what sounds like a predator, a vole or something.

Posted by Jessica Adam on 12/10/20 at 11:43 AM

When I was a kid, the big thing was using a war surplus hand-cranked signal generator (used by the signal corps to power their field equipment; it didn't create signals). Push wires into the ground a couple of feet apart, crank, worms come to the surface.

Posted by Phideaux on 12/10/20 at 09:54 PM

Back in the late 70's, we would take a piece of 3/8 rebar about 18" long, pound it into the ground at least 6", attach the wires from the cut off socket end of an extension cord, and plug in the cord. We used one of the cheap 6' cords and plugged it into a longer cord. We did not stand in the area while the cord was plugged in. The ground was usually a lawn. The worms came leaping out.

Posted by Steve E. on 12/11/20 at 01:10 PM

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