Weird Universe Archive

May 2019

May 31, 2019

The Bigfoot Cookbook

Created by Jean and Boyd Brougher of Salem, Oregon in 1978. The cookbook came with a giant-footprint baking pan.

Some of the recipes are below. They seem pretty generic. The only thing that makes them Bigfoot recipes is that they're supposed to be cooked in the footprint pan.

Amazon has a listing for the Bigfoot Cookbook, but notes that it's currently unavailable. And even if it were available, it no longer includes the pan (which, I'm sure, is probably considered a prize collectible among Bigfoot enthusiasts).

Jean and Boyd Brougher show off their cookbook.



Statesman Journal - Feb 28, 1979



Posted By: Alex - Fri May 31, 2019 - Comments (0)
Category: Cryptozoology, Food, Cookbooks, 1970s

The Prix Guzman

Wikipedia explains:

The Prix Pierre Guzman (Pierre Guzman Prize) was the name given to two prizes, one astronomical and one medical. Both were established by the will of Anne Emilie Clara Goguet (died June 30, 1891), wife of Marc Guzman, and named after her son Pierre Guzman. This prize was a sum of 100,000 francs, to be given to a person who succeeded in communicating with a celestial body, other than Mars, and receiving a response.


Did the Apollo 11 astronauts really "communicate" with another world to qualify for the prize?



Source of article.

Posted By: Paul - Fri May 31, 2019 - Comments (3)
Category: Aliens, Certificates, Diplomas, and Other Testaments of Achievement, Communications, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, 1960s, Europe, Nineteenth Century

May 30, 2019

How to become a computer programmer—in 1969

The ad below ran in Esquire (and many other publications) in 1969. The pitch seems reasonable enough until you consider that home computers weren't introduced until the late 1970s. So how were people going to learn programming without a computer to practice on? According to the ad copy, students were expected to "train by mail."

I wonder if anyone ever actually learned programming in this way?

Esquire - Jan 1969

Posted By: Alex - Thu May 30, 2019 - Comments (9)
Category: Advertising, Computers, 1960s

Mystery gadget 76



What is the name of this musical instrument?

Answer is here.

Or after the jump.

More in extended >>

Posted By: Paul - Thu May 30, 2019 - Comments (4)
Category: Music, 1920s

May 29, 2019

Banana Candle

From the Australian Food History Timeline:

The National Library of Australia has this publication [Be Bold with Bananas] dated at 1972, although other sources are less certain of the date. This book, distributed in Australia by the Banana Growers Association, is a collector’s item. It’s best known for the infamous Banana Candle recipe – essentially a banana inserted vertically in a pineapple ring, drizzled with mayonnaise and topped with a slice of cherry.





Apparently the Banana Candle has a bit of a cult following. YouTube offers modern-day attempts to create and sample it.

Posted By: Alex - Wed May 29, 2019 - Comments (2)
Category: Food, 1970s, Bananas

May 28, 2019

What we’ll wear in space

So, what was the logic of the single arm emerging from the chest?





Mechanix Illustrated - Jan 1956

Posted By: Alex - Tue May 28, 2019 - Comments (5)
Category: Fashion, Space Travel, 1950s

Bear Grease for Bald Men

Wikipedia says: "Bear's grease was a popular treatment for men with hair loss from at least as early as 1653 until about the First World War." They obviously know nothing about Canadian Kelly Chamandy, who was still peddling the stuff in the 50s.

When he finally came home for good at the end of the war, Kelly Chamandy was bald as an egg. Taking the advice of his Cree friends, he began massaging rendered bear fat into his scalp and, lo and behold, his hair began to grow back! The state of his pate, his Syrian peddler heritage, and his wilderness experience gave him a brilliant idea which led to his entrance into an ancient, unconventional, and all-but-forgotten industry: the bear grease market.


Big article on Chamandy here.



1953 Maclean's article here.

BTW, here's some bear fat for you.



Foto source.

Posted By: Paul - Tue May 28, 2019 - Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, North America, Twentieth Century, Hair and Hairstyling, Head

May 27, 2019

Calf Falsies

AKA Silicone calf pads. A product I had no idea there was a market for.

In the video below, I genuinely can't see how the calf pads improve the shape of her calves at all.





via TYWKIWDBI

Posted By: Alex - Mon May 27, 2019 - Comments (3)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Fashion, Legs

Follies of the Madmen #426



Favorite shirt of pistoleros everywhere!

Source.

Posted By: Paul - Mon May 27, 2019 - Comments (3)
Category: Business, Advertising, Fashion, Guns, 1950s

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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.

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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.

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