Category:
1970s

The man who cut his house in half

The story goes that, in 1976, Eugene Schneider cut his house in half with a chainsaw as a spiteful way of complying with the divorce requirement that he split his assets evenly with his wife.

But as you can see from the photos below, he didn't actually succeed in cutting the house in half, although he did a lot of damage with the chainsaw. It was all eventually repaired, and the house is still standing, in one piece, today. You can view it on Zillow or Google Maps.

Calgary Herald - Mar 30, 1978



Central New Jersey Home News - Aug 6, 1976





New York Daily News - Aug 3, 1976



Charges were filed against Schneider, but somewhat surprisingly (at least, I find it surprising) a jury cleared him of all wrongdoing.

Central New Jersey Home News - Feb 16, 1977

Posted By: Alex - Wed Aug 02, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Architecture, Divorce, 1970s

Waiting for her husband

Another entry in our ongoing exploration of people killed unexpectedly by falling objects.

Victoria Times Colonist - Jan 21, 1976

Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 01, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Death, 1970s

Portable Fish Farm

Text from The Los Angeles Times (Oct 1, 1971):

LONDON — A major exhibition by 11 Los Angeles artists was postponed at Hayward Gallery here Thursday in a controversy involving titled officials, a show business star, the press, and a people who pride themselves on their love for animals.

An international flap over fish.

Artist Newton Harrison's "Portable Fish Farm" is an ecological work about growth and life cycles. Six large tanks contain lobster, crayfish, oysters, brine shrimp and catfish, dominating a large upper room of the government-owned gallery.

The catfish—200 of them—were shipped here live from El Centro, Calif. Harrison wanted to demonstrate man's ability to haul food great distances and harvest it in a new environment. Some catfish were to lay eggs; some were to mature during the showing. Others were to be cooked at an opening feast for 250 guests, to prove Harrison's idea that "all art is about survival."

Fish, to be cooked, must be killed. Harrison wanted people to see the process as part of his exhibition.

The killing part hooked the British press. Advance stories ignored almost everything except the "ritual execution" of catfish. That news triggered a reaction nearly incomprehensible outside animal-loving England.

Confused readers called papers to protest the "bludgeoning" of innocent cats. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was moved to "deplore" any public catfish killing.

British comedian Spike Milligan, famous for his work on "The Goon Show," carried his protest to the gallery itself. He threw a hammer through the front window Thursday morning.


More info: The Harrison Studio

Images from Google Arts & Culture:





Posted By: Alex - Sat Jul 29, 2023 - Comments (3)
Category: Art, Food, 1970s

I drink your blood, I eat your skin

The best-titled double feature ever. Info from Wikipedia:

I Drink Your Blood is a 1971 American exploitation horror film written and directed by David E. Durston, produced by Jerry Gross, and starring Bhaskar Roy Chowdhury, Jadine Wong, and Lynn Lowry. The film centers on a small town that is overrun by rabies-infected members of a Satanic hippie cult after a revenge plot goes horribly wrong...

I Drink Your Blood was marketed and released as a double feature with Del Tenney's previously-unreleased 1964 film Zombies, which Gross had acquired and retitled I Eat Your Skin.



Posted By: Alex - Tue Jul 18, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Movies, Exploitation and Grindhouse, 1970s

Potato Fish, Potato Bug, Potato Bird



Posted By: Paul - Mon Jul 17, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Food, Toys, Advertising, 1970s

Journal of the Identical Lunch

Journal of the Identical Lunch, published in 1971, records the experiences of artist Alison Knowles and her friends all eating an identical lunch — "a tunafish sandwich on wheat toast with lettuce and butter, no mayo and a large glass of buttermilk or a cup of soup" — though not all at the same time. Knowles herself reportedly ate this identical lunch every day at a New York diner.

Copies of the book are now quite rare, so if you want one (perhaps as an investment? The price will surely only go up) it'll cost you at least $200, and perhaps as much as $500.

More info: artnet.com, MoMA.org



Posted By: Alex - Mon Jul 10, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Art, Food, Books, 1970s

Freak auto accident

More info: Motorsport Memorial

Florida Today - May 31, 1976

Posted By: Alex - Sun Jul 09, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Death, 1970s, Cars

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