February 2016
February 14, 2016
The Wyld Home for Errant Women
When George Albert Wyld of Australia died on January 23, 1911, his will instructed that his estate should be left to his children, but when they had all died it should then be applied to:Wyld's children all passed away by 1949, at which time the executors of his estate applied the remaining money to an "institution superintended by Miss Cocks" adjoining the Methodist Home for Girls at Brighton.
Wyld had five children, but had never married any of their mothers. This probably had something to do with his unusual bequest.
The Adelaide Advertiser - Mar 18, 1949
Posted By: Alex - Sun Feb 14, 2016 -
Comments (5)
Category: Law, 1910s
Mystery Illustration 16
What product is this illustration trying to sell?
The answer is here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Feb 14, 2016 -
Comments (4)
Category: Advertising, 1920s
February 13, 2016
Blood Red Valentine’s
Tired of the same old roses, chocolates and dinner out for Valentine's Day? St. Albans Sanatorium offers something a little different. Forever and Always: Tales of Love Gone Wrong is a haunted house attraction about lovers for lovers. Sounds like fun, but I still want the chocolates too!
Update: The link and video above are from 2013 but they have a 2016 attraction too.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Feb 13, 2016 -
Comments (6)
Category: Holidays, Love and Romance
Speed of aircraft carrier
Example from 1960 of the military's gift for stating the obvious.No luck in tracking down the referenced pamphlet. Doesn't seem that the Navy saved copies of all the thousands of pamphlets it published over the years.
The Sikeston Daily Standard - June 3, 1960
Posted By: Alex - Sat Feb 13, 2016 -
Comments (7)
Category: Military, 1960s
Dagwood Splits the Atom
I would not trust goofball slacker Dagwood Bumstead to split any atoms for me. But in 1948 the authorities obviously thought he was an identifiable role model for their science popularization.
I would like to see this updated for this week's news: DAGWOOD DISCOVERS GRAVITY WAVES.
See several more pages of this comic here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Feb 13, 2016 -
Comments (3)
Category: PSA’s, Comics, Atomic Power and Other Nuclear Matters, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, Wimps, Milquetoasts and Cowards, 1940s
February 12, 2016
Great Poker Face
The idea of propping up corpses in true-to-life poses at funerals is something we've seen before here at WU. For instance, in 2008 there was Angel Pantoja Medina "standing tall at his funeral," and in 2014 I posted about the corpse of Miriam Burbank sitting at a table at her funeral, smoking a menthol cigarette.The latest news story along these lines involves Puerto Rican poker fanatic Henry Rosario Martinez, whose friends posed his corpse sitting at a poker table, so they could enjoy one last game with him. More info at NY Daily News.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 12, 2016 -
Comments (6)
Category: Death
Follies of the Madmen #274
Horny beach bunnies switch instantly from thoughts of lust to thoughts of dental hygiene.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Feb 12, 2016 -
Comments (3)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Children, Parents, 1960s, Teeth
February 11, 2016
VD: It Is Your Problem
Man, that is some mighty light-hearted music to accompany this message.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 11, 2016 -
Comments (7)
Category: PSA’s, 1970s, Diseases, Genitals
February 10, 2016
Holland Girl ISO American Boy
1959: A Holland girl sent a letter toYou can sense in her letter the kind of suspicions about identity that have become so familiar in the Internet age — that you often don't know people's true identity online. You just know who they're claiming to be. But of course, how do we know that "Holland girl" was really a girl?
The Gastonia Gazette (Gastonia, NC) — Dec 31, 1959
Posted By: Alex - Wed Feb 10, 2016 -
Comments (7)
Category: 1950s
Wrong Car
Similar to Alex's post of a day or two ago! How often does this kind of thing happen?
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Feb 10, 2016 -
Comments (10)
Category: Jokes, Africa
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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 books such as Elephants on Acid. 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. Chuck Shepherd Chuck is the purveyor of News of the Weird, the syndicated column which for decades has set the gold-standard for reporting on oddities and the bizarre. Our banner was drawn by the legendary underground cartoonist Rick Altergott. Contact Us |
