Weird Universe Blog — November 6, 2024

Japanese Rice Festival

I haven't been able to figure out what the name of this festival was, but it included the feat of strength shown below.

But I gotta wonder, what would happen if the guy realized he couldn't actually support the 1000 lbs (or more) of weight they've got stacked on him? Were there occasional fatalities?

Des Moines Register - Dec 6, 1964

Posted By: Alex - Wed Nov 06, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Human Marvels | Parades and Festivals | 1960s | Asia

Art—People—Feelings

The heyday of the "Let's all groove together" utopianism.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Nov 06, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Art | PSA’s | Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers | 1970s

November 5, 2024

Emil Matalik for President

Wisconsin farmer Emil Matalik (1929-2008) first ran for president in 1964 but didn't get any votes. Undeterred, he kept running again and again.

His primary objective was to replace all national governments with a single world government, but he had some more bizarre proposals such as replacing all cars with bicycles "to keep the world accident rate down... and to get people out of corrupt city life and back to farm life."

He also wanted to solve the world's water shortage through birth control. His reasoning was that people are mostly water. So if there's fewer people, there'll be more water. He suggested that spanking to orgasm was a good form of birth control.

Bismarck Tribune - Mar 31, 1970



Some more details about him from the Fortean Times (May 2016):







One of his campaign flyers from the mid-1980s:

source: Kooks, by Donna Kossy

Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 05, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Strange Candidates

Happy Election Day 2024

Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 05, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Politics

November 4, 2024

There’s Self Respect in Soap and Water

It seems odd to come across an ad from 1928 promoting the use of soap. That is, not any brand of soap specifically, but just soap in general.

I've pasted an explanation below from The Dirt On Clean: An Unsanitized History (2014) by Katherine Ashenburg.

The American Magazine - Aug 1928



Judging from the deluge of etiquette and self-help books, magazine articles and advertisements that urged Americans to wash themselves with as much soap and water as possible, the 1920s should have been a fine time for soap makers. Instead, they anticipated a drop in sales. A buyer's market of goods was overwhelming and distracting the consumer. At the same time, Americans were getting less and less dirty. Paved streets and roads, the automobile and electricity all made for people who were cleaner than those who lived with dirt roads, horses, coal stoves and kerosene lamps. More efficient central heating made the wearing of heavy woollen clothes unnecessary. Thanks to more mechanized factories and labour-saving devices, workers and housewives did not get as dirty as before. What concerned soap makers most, however, was the Roaring Twenties' booming cosmetics industry. The most successful advertising campaigns for soap had promised that cleanliness would bring beauty. Unfortunately for them, lipstick, rouge and mascara produced the illusion of beauty more effectively than the most luxurious soap.

In 1927 the soap makers retaliated by founding the Cleanliness Institute, a trade organization devoted to inculcating in Americans a belief in the supreme value of hygiene. Eighty per cent of soap manufacturers supported the new organization, and the New York Times welcomed its initiative. Happy that "the slovenly folk, who have been going on the theory that they can take a bath or leave it, are to be brought to their senses," the Times saw the Institute as meeting a genuine social need. Using magazine advertisements, radio ads and "public service announcements," and a battery of classroom teaching aids, the Institute aimed at making Americans feel that there was no such thing as "clean enough."

Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 04, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Hygiene | Advertising | 1920s

Decorative Metal Lozenges in Place of Necktie

Many men complain about having to wear a necktie, deeming neckties useless and constraining. But who would not gladly wear a dog collar with a bunch of groovy metal lozenges hanging therefrom?

Full patent here.







Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 04, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Fashion | Patents | Twenty-first Century

November 3, 2024

The Timberjack Walking Machine

Also known as the John Deere Walking Tractor. It was like a real-life version of the walkers from Star Wars (minus laser cannons). Details from Forestry Thoughts:

It was made by a subsidiary of Timberjack, called Plustech Oy, and designing began in 1995 and the following prototype, called Plusjack was presented in 1999. Deere & Company purchased the company Timberjack in 2000. And in 2005, Timberjack Oy became John Deere Forestry Oy. Actually the designing department of John Deere´s forestry machines still is in Tampere, where they design everything.

There were few reasons why there were only two ever made. One was high price and other main one was its slowness in the field. It is a remarkable piece of engineering ahead of its time. One of these machines is at display at the Lusto, at the Finnish Forest Museum. And the other one I think, was shipped to USA to be displayed at some John Deere exhibition.




Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 03, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Robots | Technology

A Double Barrel Blast

Side 2 is particularly relevant to today's AI debate.



Posted By: Paul - Sun Nov 03, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Death | Technology | Vinyl Albums and Other Media Recordings | 1960s

November 2, 2024

Nixon drinks Gevalia coffee

Aug 1971: Posters appeared around Stockholm showing U.S. President Richard Nixon drinking a cup of coffee. They appeared to be ads for Gevalia coffee — though it seemed odd that Nixon would do an ad for Gevalia.

image source: moderna museet
According to Google Translate, "Gevalia dricks mest" means "Gevalia is drunk the most"



It turned out that the posters were the work of artist Kjartan Slettemark. He had combined an image of a hand holding a coffee cup, taken from an actual Gevalia ad, with a photo of Nixon distributed by the U.S. embassy. The posters were apparently a satirical commentary on the recent acquisition of Gevalia by an American company.

Indianapolis Star - Aug 6, 1971



The auction house Bukowskis offers some more details about Slettemark's hoax:

In 1971, Kjartan Slettemark came across a campaign poster featuring Nixon's portrait, innocently sent out by the American embassy. It hung on the studio wall for a few weeks when one day he asked for an advertisement poster for Gevalia coffee that he had seen at his local shop. The advertisement image showed a smiling woman lifting a coffee cup. When he cut out the woman's hand and placed it on the Nixon image, the size, colour, and lighting matched perfectly. He immediately wanted to print the work as a poster but could not afford the printing himself. He added the text "Moderna Museet - Open every day 12 - 22" and submitted it for printing at the press used by Moderna Museet. The poster was printed, and the bill was sent to Moderna Museet. The next morning, Stockholm's advertising pillars were filled with Nixon posters. Moderna Museet reacted and wrote a letter to the artist prohibiting him from selling or distributing the image. Despite this, the image continued to appear around the city. Kjartan Slettemark continued to work with the image, cutting away the museum's text and making it even more similar to Gevalia's campaign image. The fake Gevalia poster was political art. A protest against the US war in Vietnam and against American imperialism. In 1971, the Gävle company Gevalia had been acquired by the multinational corporation General Foods – thus finding itself on the enemy's side. The story continues as the advertising text is cut away and gradually develops into the collage series "Nixon Visions," where the president's face is distorted in various ways.

Three years later, Slettemark returned to Nixon as a subject. Slettemark applied for a new passport, but instead of submitting a picture of himself he used an altered picture of Nixon. The passport authorities accepted it. Images and text below from Cabinet magazine (Spring 2009):



Posted By: Alex - Sat Nov 02, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Art | Politics | Coffee and other Legal Stimulants | 1970s

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