Weird Universe Archive
July 2017
July 21, 2017
Moon Cheeze
July 20 was the anniversary of Neil Armstrong landing on the moon. Back in 1969, the Fisher cheese company, located in Armstrong's home town of Wapakoneta, Ohio, capitalized on that achievement by coming out with "Moon Cheeze." It seems to have been just regular American cheddar cheese. Only the packaging was special. It came in a container shaped like the state of Ohio. Apparently it was so popular that they kept making it for years.
Palladium-Item - Jan 19, 1969
Pensacola News Journal - July 18, 1969
Bonus: Armstrong making pizza in 1969. That looks like mozzarella, not Moon Cheeze.
via I have seen the whole Internet
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jul 21, 2017 -
Comments (5)
Category: Food, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, 1960s
The Maid of Cotton Pageant
Continuing our intermittent look at oddball beauty pageants.The Maid of Cotton pageant began in 1939. The annual pageant was sponsored by the National Cotton Council (NCC), Memphis Cotton Carnival, and the Cotton Exchanges of Memphis, New York, and New Orleans. The pageant was held in Memphis, Tennessee, in conjunction with the Carnival until the 1980s.
In mid-December every year the NCC released a list of contestants. Contestants were required to have been born in one of the cotton-producing states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North and South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas or Virginia. They might have also been born in the cotton-producing counties of Alexander, Jefferson, Massac, Pulaski, Williamson or Madison, Illinois or in Clark or Nye counties of Nevada. There were usually twenty contestants each year.
Contestants were judged on personality, good manners, intelligence, and family background as well as beauty and an ability to model. A Top Ten were chosen and then a Top Five, and finally second and first runners up and a winner. Winners served as goodwill and fashion ambassadors of the cotton industry in a five-month, all-expense tour of American cities. In the mid-1950s the tour expanded globally. In the late 1950s a Little Miss Cotton pageant was begun but lasted only until 1963 before being discontinued. In the mid-1980s Dallas,Texas took over the pageant, in conjunction with the NCC and its overseas division, Cotton Council International. In 1986, to bolster interest and participation, the NCC eliminated the rule requiring contestants to be born in a cotton-producing state. The pageant was discontinued in 1993, one of the reasons being that Cotton Inc. stopped contributing scholarship money as well as waning public interest and changing marketing strategies.
More details here.
And also here.
The 1952 winner.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 21, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s
July 20, 2017
Toilet Tissue Illness
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Scott Tissues ran an advertising campaign that sought to convince the American public that there was such a thing as 'Toilet Tissue Illness,' and that it was one of the great public health crises of the time. Toilet Tissue Illness was caused by using cheap toilet paper. It could lead to serious complications, possibly requiring rectal surgery to fix. So the ads suggested.The most notorious ad in the campaign was the 'black glove' ad below.
Here's some background info about the Scott Tissue campaign from Richard Smyth's Bum Fodder: An Absorbing History of Toilet Paper:
The image is stark: a clinically white sheet, an array of gleaming surgical instruments, and a hand, clad in a glove of thick black rubber. 'Often the only relief from toilet tissue illness,' the slogan reads (managing to suggest that 'toilet tissue illness' is a recognised medical condition). Consumers who managed to get past the photo and slogan without dropping everything and running for the high hills were then subjected to another lecture from the haemorrhoid-fixated Scott ad-men. It's the usual litany: 'Astonishing percentage of rectal cases ... traceable to inferior toilet paper ... protect your family's health ... eliminate a needless risk.' The words are so much prattle — but the image of the black rubber glove lingers in the mind. Following criticism from the American Medical Association, Scott eventually back-tracked on its doom-laden claims — but pledged to undertake trials in order to prove beyond dispute that 'improperly made toilet tissue is a menace to health'.
And a few of the other ads featured in the campaign:
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jul 20, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Health, Advertising, 1920s, 1930s
Mystery Illustration 51
Which internationally famous best-selling singer of the 1970s is this supposed to be?
Answer is here.
And after the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jul 20, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, 1970s
July 19, 2017
L.A. Knockers
The L.A. Knockers was an all-female dance troupe that formed in 1974 and stayed together (with members coming and going) for 12 years.There's a fan page here. And one of the original members has posted a collection of L.A. Knockers videos on YouTube.
It was their name and ultra 70s look that first caught my attention. But when I googled about them, I discovered they also had a run-in with tragedy. One of the original members, Lissa Kastin (middle, above), became a victim of the Hillside Strangler in 1977.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 19, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: 1970s, Dance
Murder by Flypaper
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jul 19, 2017 -
Comments (6)
Category: Death, Scary Criminals, Children, 1930s
July 18, 2017
Hot Tub Boat
It's a floating hot tub. The invention of Adam Karpenske of Seattle. Top speed: three-and-a-half knots. Available for rental or purchase.
From the company's FAQ:
Q: How is it possible to fill a boat with water and have it not sink?
A: The sleek design of a Hot Tub Boat allows for a high load capacity. The Hot Tub Boat has been carefully engineered, and the hot tub is positioned on the boat’s center of buoyancy, allowing for remarkable stability, even with 2100 pounds of water.
A: The sleek design of a Hot Tub Boat allows for a high load capacity. The Hot Tub Boat has been carefully engineered, and the hot tub is positioned on the boat’s center of buoyancy, allowing for remarkable stability, even with 2100 pounds of water.
Also from the FAQ:
Please refrain from nudity while renting a Hot Tub Boat and insure all the “important bits” are covered.
More info: King5.com
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jul 18, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Boats
La Bostella
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 18, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: Fads, 1960s, Dance
July 17, 2017
Man-Pleasing Recipes
The title of this 1971 recipe book was somewhat misleading. It claimed to feature "Man-Pleasing Recipes," but really it was a collection of recipes featuring rice as the main ingredient. The booklet was put out by the Rice Council for P.R. purposes. Part of an effort to promote rice as a manly food.Can't say it succeeded. When I think of foods traditionally perceived as "manly," rice isn't one of the things that comes to mind.
source: Amazon.com
The Liberty Vindicator - Sep 7, 1972
One of the "man-pleasing recipes"
Shreveport Times - Oct 14, 1971
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jul 17, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Food, Cookbooks, Books, 1970s
Growdina, the Marvelous Bust Developer
I just love the name "Growdina."
Source.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jul 17, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: Body, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, Twentieth Century
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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 |
