Weird Universe Blog — April 13, 2022
Blow Football
Or as we call it today, "Spread the Covid."This game went through several editions since its 1910 origin. See pictures at Board Game Geek.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 13, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Games | Sports | Viruses, Germs and Other Sources of Infection
April 12, 2022
Miss Sauerkraut of 1947
Being named Miss Sauerkraut of 1947 seems to have been a high point of Alice Niesen's modeling career.
Ithaca Journal - Aug 1, 1947
The only other example of her work that I could find was a 1948 piece in which she modeled the "sock pocket".
The Frederick Leader - Jan 19, 1948
Posted By: Alex - Tue Apr 12, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests | Food | 1940s
SSSSSSS, The Movie
The Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 12, 2022 -
Comments (5)
Category: Horror | Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art | Movies | Reptiles, Snakes, Worms and Other Slithery Things | 1970s
April 11, 2022
Curtis Schoon, the boxer who forgot to wear his trunks
The boxing career of featherweight Curtis Schoon would be entirely forgotten by now if he hadn't, one time, forgotten to wear his boxing trunks into the ring. He opened his robe and... he had nothing on beneath it.
Argus Leader - Jan 26, 1956
Argus Leader - Jan 19, 1957
Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 11, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Sports | Nudism and Nudists
A Year at Sea
Most unique trial for a marriage ever!Source: The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California) 23 Apr 1972, Sun Page 3
Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 11, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Eccentrics | Oceans and Maritime Pursuits | Marriage | 1970s
April 10, 2022
The housewife who became pregnant after watching Uri Geller
March 1974: a Swedish housewife claimed that, after she watched Uri Geller on TV, her contraceptive coil got bent out of shape, thereby causing her to become pregnant.Given that the housewife was never named, I'm going to assume this story sprang from the overly fertile imagination of the "Sunday Mirror Reporter in Stockholm".
Uri Geller references the event in his biography, posted on his website, but gives no more details than are available in the Sunday Mirror story, which suggests that, at the very least, he was never sued by the Swedish housewife.
Sunday London Mirror - Mar 17, 1974
Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 10, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Paranormal | 1970s | Pregnancy
René Lavand, One-Armed Magician
His Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Apr 10, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Disabilities | Human Marvels | Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand | Television | 1960s
April 9, 2022
Angelo Faticoni, the Human Cork
We've previously posted about two people who claimed to be "human corks": Norris Kellam and Iver Johnson.Now I've found a third to add to the list: Angelo Faticoni.
The lives of Kellam and Faticoni overlapped, but I can't find any evidence that they ever met.
More info: wikipedia
Johnson City Chronicle - July 24, 1926
Hartford Courant - Aug 12, 1931
Posted By: Alex - Sat Apr 09, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Human Marvels | Swimming, Snorkeling, and Diving
The Grape Day Queen of Escondido
The official page.Grape Day started in 1908 as a way to celebrate Escondido's grape harvest and promote the city. It flourished until 1950 and was revived by the Escondido History Center in 1996. Each year in October*, our community comes together to celebrate Grape Day.
An article from 2006.
The 1949 candidates, courtesy of the Weekly Times-Advocate (Escondido, California)19 Aug 1949, Fri Page 6
The 1913 winner.
Source: Times-Advocate (Escondido, California)18 Feb 1973, Sun Page 8
Posted By: Paul - Sat Apr 09, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Agriculture | Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests | Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues | Regionalism | Twentieth Century | Twenty-first Century
April 8, 2022
Glurpo the Underwater Clown
According to Maggie Younger, 91, who helped develop the show with Rogers and her then-husband Don Russell, Glurpo was created because "it seemed like clowns would be an interesting and entertaining element to enhance the underwater ballets."
More info: Texas Monthly
Posted By: Alex - Fri Apr 08, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Clowns
