Weird Universe Archive
April 2018
April 30, 2018
Tarantula Burger
Served up at Bull City Burger and Brewery in Durham, North Carolina. A cheeseburger topped with a tarantula. From Fox 13 News:Not everyone gets to order this special burger. They hold a raffle to see who gets to try it. Christmann put his name in the raffle like the other 15 challengers and arrived with an appetite, ready to taste his prize.
"When I first sink my teeth into it, a lot of crunch. Imagine like snapping twigs, like it had that same sound in my head when I was biting,” he described.
"When I first sink my teeth into it, a lot of crunch. Imagine like snapping twigs, like it had that same sound in my head when I was biting,” he described.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 30, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Food, Insects and Spiders
The Stewardesses
Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 30, 2018 -
Comments (6)
Category: Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Movies, Exploitation and Grindhouse, Sex Symbols, Air Travel and Airlines, 1970s
April 29, 2018
Plennie Wingo - Around the World Backwards
Plennie Wingo walked around the world backwards in 1931, hoping the stunt would make him money. He later described the journey in his book Around the World Backwards.And in 1976, when he was 81, he reprised the stunt by walking backwards from San Francisco to Santa Monica.
More info: wikipedia, Sideshow World
Chicago Tribune - May 6, 1932
via Amazon
Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 29, 2018 -
Comments (0)
Category: Publicity Stunts, 1930s
Follies of the Madmen #362
Wimpiest cocktail name ever.
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Apr 29, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Business, Advertising, Cats, 1960s, Alcohol
April 28, 2018
Thump Pad - pothole solution
Seems like an interesting solution to potholes, but I'm curious how well these would work in a real-world setting. For instance, would people wander away with them, just because they could? And would this temporary solution end up as the permanent solution?More info: The solution to potholes? (wkyc.com)
https://www.yeupatchtechnologies.com
Posted By: Alex - Sat Apr 28, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Inventions, Motor Vehicles
Atomic Bomber Arcade Game
Original ad here.
Learn the history here, including a beautiful color pic of the actual machine.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Apr 28, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Death, Destruction, Games, War, 1940s
April 27, 2018
Handsome Weeping Boys
Back in 2016, the BBC reported on a strange team-building exercise being conducted in some Japanese companies: crying workshops led by handsome men.An ikemeso danshi, or "handsome weeping boy" (who's actually an adult), shows the employees a series of sad films. Soon the handsome weeping boy starts to cry, and before long everyone is crying. The handsome weeping boy then goes around and wipes the tears from people's faces with a cotton handkerchief.
Apparently, "The idea is to show off your vulnerability - when others see that, it's supposed to bring people together so they work better as a team."
Why does the weeping boy have to be handsome? Because it makes it more "exciting" to the largely female attendees of the workshops.
More info: BBC News
Posted By: Alex - Fri Apr 27, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Business
Hair Dressing with Quinine
Source.
Source.
Eau de Quinine compound hair tonic was introduced in the 1850s by Ed. Pinaud’s (Edouard Pinaud), a Paris parfumerie. Advertisements indicate that the product was sold into the 1960s. Quinine is a toxic alkaloid derived from the cinchona tree. When heavily diluted, it was used in hair products, specifically as a treatment for hair loss. Pinaud’s was advertised as the favorite hair dressing of "Cultured Women" and the only tonic "used by the crowned heads of Europe." It was an "indispensable preparation for the refined toilet" with a "delicate fragrance that overpowers the unpleasant effects of excessive oiliness on the scalp. Pinaud’s product was imported to the United States from France and many barbers apparently tried to pass off domestic preparations as genuine Eau de Quinine. In the mid-1920s, Pinaud filed an injunction against companies making the counterfeit product.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Apr 27, 2018 -
Comments (4)
Category: Advertising, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, Hair Styling, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century
April 26, 2018
Mistress of Time
Back in 1996, Jeanne Calment of France celebrated her 121st birthday by releasing a record titled Maîtresse du Temps (Mistress of Time) on which she "recounts her memories above a musical background of rap, techno and farandole, a regional dance tune dating to the Middle Ages."Based on the clips I've been able to find, the album was as awful as you might expect.
Calment died in 1997, at the age of 122. Wkipedia offers this interesting detail about her life:
In 1965, at age 90 and with no heirs, Calment signed a contract to sell her apartment to lawyer André-François Raffray, retaining a life estate. Raffray, then aged 47 years, agreed to pay her a monthly sum of 2,500 francs (€381.12) until she died. Raffray ended up paying Calment the equivalent of more than €140,000, more than double the apartment's value.
Salem Statesman Journal - Feb 22, 1996
Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 26, 2018 -
Comments (0)
Category: Music, 1990s
Saint Mary of the Highways
‘Saint Mary of the Highways’ I & II are names of two trailer chapels operated by the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. Designed by George F. Chaplain, one was built in 1938 and the second in 1948. They were dedicated by Bishop Ireton. Purchased by the donations of the people at the cost of $10,000 each, they contain church equipment, public address system and living accommodations for two priests. During the summer, programs of Scripture, music, prayer, question answering, sermons, movies and literature are presented daily. You are invited to visit the Chapel on the road, or at our home in Richmond.
Postcard source.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 26, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Motor Vehicles, Religion, 1930s, 1940s
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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 |
