Category:
1970s
In 1973, 11-year-old Becky Gorton bicycled from Olympia, Washington to Boston, Massachusetts in 47 days. She was accompanied by her entire family. Though her dad (who was attorney general of Washington) got hit by a car en route, so he had to complete part of the journey in a car.
![](http://www.weirduniverse.net/images/2024/bicycle01.jpg)
Becky Gorton and her family at the end of their trip.
![](http://www.weirduniverse.net/images/2024/bicycle02.jpg)
Longview Daily News - July 21, 1973
The feat earned her a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the youngest person ever to bicycle coast-to-coast. But since then Guinness seems to have stopped tracking this record. Probably because it didn't want to encourage ever younger children to attempt the feat.
However, younger people definitely have subsequently biked across the country. Though it's difficult to say who's officially the current record holder.
In 2014,
9-year-old C.J. Burford got some publicity for biking cross-country. But I don't think he set the record because in 1995 8-year-old Starr Moss was reported as having biked across the country with his 13-year-old brother.
The SF Chronicle article about their feat never mentioned that Starr set a record. So perhaps there's someone even younger who managed to do it.
If this is the same Starr Moss, he's now, appropriately, working as a "Bike Share Planner" for Lyft.
What is unique about this PEANUTS cartoon?
The answer is here.
Or after the jump.
More in extended >>
Transform from a "fat & lonely" cartoon into a "slim & desirable" photograph in 3 days.
It's got my vote for the best before-and-after figures of any weight-loss ad.
![](http://www.weirduniverse.net/images/2024/1972chemist.jpg)
Daily Mirror - Mar 25, 1972
In 1974, the UK's South East Gas Board (SEGAS) solicited gas-saving tips from the public. It awarded prizes of £10 to those who offered the best tips and published their tips in a full-page ad.
Conservative politician John Stokes subsequently denounced the ad as "deplorably vulgar and in the worst possible taste."
Can you figure out why? The answer is in extended.
More in extended >>
Ian Breakwell's unusual photograph documents an "episode" that took place in an unnamed small town library in 1970. The episode seems to be a library user somehow transforming into, or sprouting, printed pages.
![](http://www.weirduniverse.net/images/2024/1970library01.jpg)
"Episode in a small town library" - Ian Breakwell, 1970
The only background information about the photograph that I've been able to find comes from
Clare Qualmann's article "The Artist in the Library":
My fascination with Breakwell's image has prompted me to return to it over the last three years to gradually investigate its story. What was the performance that led to this photograph? Was it intended as a performance, or was it composed solely to be photographed? Even in the latter case, there would have been the happenstance performance – the spectacle of Breakwell (or his model) preparing the chicken-wire covered headdress for wearing. Was it actually photographed in a library? Was the librarian consulted? Were permissions sought? Was it executed at a peak user time? Or was it tucked away on a quiet morning? What did 'The Public' think of it, coming across such a scene? Did it last just the time that it took for the photograph to be shot, or was it a longer performance, an episode that endured?
More detailed research into Breakwell's extensive archive held at Tate Britain did not provide answers in written form. Several versions of the image were published in journals, including Fotovision (August 1971), Art and Artists (February 1971) and Stand Magazine (Winter 1997). The different paper stocks that they were printed on enable more detail to be seen than the digital version that I had looked at before – in Art and Artists the photograph was reproduced on a newsprint insert to the magazine that is very different from the glossy black and white of the others. In this version, the chicken-wire frame underneath the newspaper is more visible, as are the titles on the bookshelf behind – Art and Civilization is clearly legible.
The version published in Fotovision has a completely different feel – instead of The Guardian newspaper on the table the artist holds a copy of Typographica magazine in his hands. Although this dates from 1964 (the photograph was taken in 1970), its cover design (an assemblage of logos arranged in a dense slanting pattern across the cover) juxtaposes old and new – the 'timeless' look of the traditional library space with the contemporary graphic design of the journal, and the branding that it is presenting. The existence of multiple versions suggests time spent in the space – time to shoot multiple images, test and trial different ideas and perform the image repeatedly (rather than a hit-and-runundercover-quick-photo-before-anyone-notices).
The perfect birth control for couples who want more children.
![](http://www.weirduniverse.net/images/2024/1976birth01.jpg)
Glasgow Daily Record - Feb 9, 1976
![](http://www.weirduniverse.net/images/2024/1976birth02.jpg)
Corsicana Daily Sun - June 6, 1976
"Library Chair" by Richard Mauro, 1978. Cargo netting and five hundred paperback books.
![](http://www.weirduniverse.net/images/2024/1978library.jpg)
image source: are.na
The concept of Beforehand Postcards was that, if you were going on vacation to Europe, you could buy your postcards from them beforehand. Then you could address the cards, and maybe even write them, before you left. Once you arrived in Europe, all you would have to do was mail them.
The business lasted a little over ten years, from the early 1970s to the mid 1980s.
![](http://www.weirduniverse.net/images/2024/1973before01.jpg)
Philadelphia Inquirer - June 17, 1973
In 1977, artist
James Patrick Finnegan published an oddball guide to San Francisco, titled
Jim's Guide to San Francisco. It consisted of pictures of him posing in front of San Francisco businesses that were named Jim: Jim's Barber Shop, Jim's Donut Shop, Jim's Transportation, Jim's Smoke Shop, etc.
The book was printed in black-and-white, but he handcolored parts of it with a crayon. I assume he individually handcolored each copy sold.
I haven't been able to find any scanned copies of the book online,
and only one copy of it for sale. The seller is asking $300, justifying that price by the book's rarity.
It's been almost 50 years since the book came out, so Finnegan should do an updated guide. I'm sure there's now a whole new batch of businesses in the city named Jim.