1940s
(Queen of the) Amazons
Here's a twist. Usually, I present the trailer first, then the full film it represents. But I can't find the full film for Roger Corman's Amazons trailer (1986) above. And I can't find the trailer for the feature length Queen of the Amazons (1947) below. So you get the trailer for one, and then the full other feature. But they are both so bad, you probably wouldn't have noticed if I didn't mention it, despite a 40-year gap and one being in color and one in B&W!!
Enjoy both!
Posted By: Paul - Fri May 03, 2013 -
Comments (1)
Category: Movies, Fantasy, 1940s, 1980s, Women
International Moves the Browns to Sterling Street
This film makes the Sterling Silver industry looks like the Freemasons, the Bilderberg Group and the Illuminati all rolled up into one. A plan for world domination unfolds!
Posted By: Paul - Sat Apr 27, 2013 -
Comments (1)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Domestic, 1940s
Twinkle, The Star That Came Down From Heaven
In the mid-1960s, when I was in elementary school, I had a subscription to HUMPTY DUMPTY MAGAZINE. A very weird comic strip therein was titled "Twinkle, The Star That Came Down From Heaven." (Seen above, drawn by Jerry Smath, and courtesy of the Flickr stream of Glen Mullaly.) Even as a kid, I knew it was strange. A living, sentient star who manifested on Earth in a bipolar costume and kept his face-equipped iconic star head? And did he come from the celestial heaven or the Christian Heaven? Far out!
Little did I know until recently that "Twink" had earlier adventures in the 1940s, in the pages of CALLING ALL KIDS, that were even more bizarre in their fashion. Unfortunately, no information remains about the writer and/or artist who was crazed enough to invent Twinkle.
You can read several issues here.
This issue appears to be Twink's origin story.
I love those giant railroad engineer/welder's gloves he wears in his 1940s incarnation.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 15, 2013 -
Comments (4)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, Freaks, Oddities, Quirks of Nature, Comics, Children, 1940s, 1960s
Prison Sign Language, 1941
Back in the 1940s, talking wasn't allowed in the dining room of the Iowa State Penitentiary at Fort Madison. So the convicts developed a primitive sign language to communicate what food they wanted:- Upheld hand: more bread, please
- Upraised fist: more potatoes
- Upheld knife, fork and spoon: more stew
- Washing motion with the hand: water
- Thumb up and index finger straight out: coffee or tea
- Open and close the hand as if milking a cow: milk, please!
- Hand flat and passed back and forth across the plate: gravy
- Fork held up: meat
- Thumb thrust through the fingers: vinegar
- Two fingers thrust out: salt and pepper
- If the person at the end of the table beats the table with his spoon: dessert is on the way
Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 14, 2013 -
Comments (6)
Category: Languages, Prisons, 1940s
The Undying Monster
Trailer above, film below!
Posted By: Paul - Sun Apr 14, 2013 -
Comments (1)
Category: Movies, 1940s, Fictional Monsters
What a Life!
Always good to keep your sense of humor in hard economic times.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Apr 07, 2013 -
Comments (2)
Category: Money, 1940s, Europe
THE GOLDBERGS
Once upon a time, sheer Jewishness was exotic enough to supply material for sitcoms and product spokesmanship.
THE GOLDBERGS.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Apr 05, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Ethnic Groupings, Family, Stereotypes and Cliches, Television, 1940s, 1950s
Fritz von Opel
Fritz von Opel was one of those early-20th-century rocket-besotted guys who pioneered this exotic means of propulsion. Just look at his rocket car go in the film clip above! (Narration in German, but not necessary to comprehension.)
But von Opel's innocent excitement had its darker side. I give you the 1929 newspaper article below. Specifically, the enlarged sentence.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 29, 2013 -
Comments (7)
Category: Inventions, War, Space Travel, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, Europe, Cars
Lena the Hyena: (Anti-) Beauty Contest Winner
Most fans of comics, or Mad magazine, or pop culture in general know about Basil Wolverton and his famous creation, Lena the Hyena. (I put one of Wolverton's great recent books in the sidebar a little while ago.)
But did you know that Lena was the result of a contest sponsored by Al Capp for his Li'l Abner newspaper strip? She took the prize from several other contenders for ugliness.
See who she beat out here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Mar 18, 2013 -
Comments (4)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Comics, 1940s
The College of Swedish Massage
Original ad. (Scroll down.)
I wonder how one went about setting up as a freelance massage therapist in 1949. Did the College of Swedish Massage mail order course culminate with a nice diploma you could display, something along the lines of a "Bra Inspector #23" badge? And exactly how, as a student, did you practice your techniques at home, and on whom?
As the quote below tells us, the College of Swedish Massage eventually was superseded by the more proper Swedish Institute, still teaching massage therapy today. I wonder if you can take their courses online?
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Mar 12, 2013 -
Comments (10)
Category: Body, School, 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, 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 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. Contact Us |