February 2020
February 29, 2020
Canned Wheat
In an effort to sell more wheat, the Kansas Wheat Commission invented canned wheat. It began selling it in 1961 under the brand name Redi-Wheat.By 1963, the product was acknowledged to have been a flop.
Perhaps the problem was that it wasn’t clear what canned wheat was. A kind of oatmeal in a can? I'm not sure. The only description I could find was in an article in the Muscatine Journal (Jan 12, 1962), and it really didn't shed much light on the matter:
Emporia Gazette - Feb 23, 1961
Council Grove Republican - Feb 22, 1961
(Note the caption names all the men in the photo, but purposefully excludes the two female employees)
Posted By: Alex - Sat Feb 29, 2020 -
Comments (10)
Category: Food, 1960s
Interama
A Utopian project in Miami that never materialized.Wikipedia article here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Feb 29, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Architecture, Fairs, Amusement Parks, and Resorts, Government, Regionalism, 1960s
February 28, 2020
Whose fault is it when your husband is cross at breakfast?
Answer (according to 1920's ad men): It's the wife's fault for serving him coffee or tea.Strange, because I'm pretty crabby in the morning if I don't have coffee.
The Helena Star - Oct 6, 1921
Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 28, 2020 -
Comments (4)
Category: Advertising, Husbands, Wives, 1920s
Grins & Smiles & Giggles & Laughs
Posted By: Paul - Fri Feb 28, 2020 -
Comments (1)
Category: Food, Humor, 1970s
February 27, 2020
PPPPPPPPPP
Rumors of the existence of an organization with these initials have been circulating for decades. It's said to stand for the Pan-American Protective Program for the Prevention of People Putting Parsley on Potatoes in Public Places.Variations on the name do exist, such as the Society for the Prevention of People Putting Parsley on People’s Plates in Prominent Public Places.
Oakland Tribune - Sep 9, 1941
Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Mar 18, 1939
Posted By: Alex - Thu Feb 27, 2020 -
Comments (3)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations
House Music
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 27, 2020 -
Comments (1)
Category: Eccentrics, Inventions, Music
February 26, 2020
Hair Freezing Contest
Ever since 2011, the Takhini Hot Pools in the Yukon have hosted a Hair Freezing Contest. More details and pics at hairfreezingcontest.com.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Feb 26, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Hair and Hairstyling
Mystery Illustration 93
This man is the son of one of the superstar actors of the twentieth century. Without googling, just by resemblance, can you say who the father was?Answer is here.
And after the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Wed Feb 26, 2020 -
Comments (4)
Category: Movies, Children, Parents, Twentieth Century
February 25, 2020
CheeSweet—Swiss Cheese Candy
Wisconsin lumberman Stuart Stebbings wanted to be able to eat candy. But being diabetic, he couldn’t. So, in the mid-1950s he invented “cheese candy,” in which much of the sugar was replaced by cheese. Specifically, Swiss Cheese. He marketed it as CheeSweet. His advertising described the flavor as “delightfully different.”Apparently the American public didn’t take to it, because by 1960 Stebbing’s CheeSweet Company had declared bankruptcy.
The In Too Deep blog notes that CheeSweet did, however, achieve a minor form of literary fame, in that it was mentioned by John Steinbeck in his 1962 book “Travels with Charley: In Search of America.” Steinbeck wrote:
Twin Falls Times-News - Aug 31, 1958
Posted By: Alex - Tue Feb 25, 2020 -
Comments (0)
Category: Candy, 1950s
Inflatable Pants, 2020
Explanation--such as it is--here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Feb 25, 2020 -
Comments (9)
Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Fashion, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art
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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 |
