July 2017
July 11, 2017
Helmfon
Design company Hochu Rayu has come up with a noise-blocking helmet for office workers. From their website:Our main idea was to create a tool, which helps fully concentrate on working project, get some personal space and doesn’t allow office noise kill person’s productiveness.
It reminds me of the isolator helmet invented by Hugo Gernsback, back in 1925. (See Laughing Squid for more details).
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jul 11, 2017 -
Comments (6)
Category: Inventions
Claude Hall, RIP
Obit source.
Frank Chacksfield page.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 11, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Music, Obituaries
July 10, 2017
Bugs for Dolls
From the Pittsburgh Press - Oct 23, 1938:Dead Crickets Are Toys in China
In China, where life is hard and patience strong, the toy man is a favorite of old and young. On the streets of Peiping he displays his wares and children flock to see — and if they have pennies — to buy. A set of his most fascinating wares are fashioned from skins of dead crickets, dressed up to satirize the many street vendors in the ancient city.
"This cricket has been mounted to represent a vendor of flowers and plants."
"These crickets represent a barber shaving a customer."
"Barbers bring their trade to the customer in China. They carry their 'shops' on long poles which they balance on one shoulder. Above is a Chinese cricket-barber carrying his tools along the street, offering to shave the head of any he meets."
"Bicycles fill the streets of Peiping. Hence the toy-man's set would be incomplete without a cricket astride a wheel."
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jul 10, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Toys, 1930s
Land of Islam
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jul 10, 2017 -
Comments (0)
Category: Foreign Customs, 1930s, Africa, Middle East
July 9, 2017
Extra Milers
The Extra Miler Club is a group of people whose goal is to visit every county (and equivalent jurisdiction) in every state of the United States. That's 3,143 counties. Indian reservations don't count, although some visit them anyway. Parishes do count, as do independent cities.If you finish the goal, you're called a "county completer." Only 51 people have joined this elite group, and they're all listed here.
More info: boston.com
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jul 09, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Hobbies and DIY, Travel, Collectors
Outboard Motorboat Steeple Chase
The stuff with the girls in the first video is charming. But the insane part is the motorboat steeple chase race.
Apparently, a version of this is still practiced in--where else?--Australia. Although they seem to have eliminated the airborne part of the race.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jul 09, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Death, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, 1950s, Australia, North America
July 8, 2017
Edmonton Rebranded
In 2015, city officials in Edmonton, Alberta decided that their municipal slogan, "City of Champions," needed an update. Several years and $2 million later, they have a replacement. The new slogan is simply "Edmonton."It's a non-slogan slogan, apparently reflecting Mayor Don Iveson's belief that we live in a "post tag-line era." More info: Daily Hive, Edmonton Sun
I'm reminded of the time in 1973 when the Army Materiel Command (AMC) held a contest to name its new national headquarters in Washington DC. After reviewing 524 entries, the prize committee announced the winning suggestion. The new headquarters would be called "The AMC building."
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jul 08, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Advertising
Toys Are Made for Children
Sometimes the writer masters the metaphor, and sometimes the metaphor masters the writer.
"You keep me jumpin' in your hopscotch world."
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 08, 2017 -
Comments (0)
Category: Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Music, 1960s
July 7, 2017
World’s Largest Corkscrew
I just returned from visiting family in the Northern Neck region of Virginia. One of the oddities I encountered there was the giant corkscrews which stand at the entrance to the Dog and Oyster Vineyard in Irvington. Inside the vineyard, they'll tell you that these, at 40-feet tall, are the largest corkscrews in the world, and also that they're functional. If you bring a giant bottle of wine, they could open it.
I don't think this claim has been officially verified in any way. And since the corkscrews are anchored to the ground, I think they'd have trouble opening anything.
Another claimant to the title of World's Largest Corkscrew is a giant corkscrew that stands outside the Corkscrew Liquor Store in Hurley, Wisconsin. According to the Chicago Tribune it's only 24-feet tall, so the Dog and Oyster corkscrews have it beat.
image source: waymarking.com
According to Guinness, the record for the largest corkscrew goes to one that was only 5ft 8.1 in long that was created for the Watterfaescht festival in 2015. It was actually demonstrated to work, which I assume that Guinness considers to be essential for claiming the title.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jul 07, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: World Records
Rosaleen Norton: Australia’s Most Famous Witch
Excellent NatGeo article here, with more videos.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 07, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: Cult Figures and Artifacts, Sexuality, Supernatural, Occult, Paranormal, Australia, 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 |
