Weird Universe Archive
April 2021
April 15, 2021
Fancy Feast Recipes for Humans
Another odd cookbook: Cat-food maker Fancy Feast has released a book of recipes for humans. As explained in the book's introduction:each of the recipes in this cookbook gives a nod to the dishes you'll be serving your cat, yet made for humans. Using palate-pleasing ingredients like chicken, salmon, and whitefish, these dishes complement Fancy Feast's entrée options so you can have what they're having—an elegant and delicious meal.
Apparently anticipating that few people would be willing to buy this cookbook, they've posted it online as a free downoad.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 15, 2021 -
Comments (4)
Category: Food, Cookbooks, Cats
The Twilight Sleep Association
Rendering a pregnant woman unconscious in the delivery room is pretty much frowned upon nowadays, except for emergencies. But at one point, it was regarded as the newest sophistication of the birthing process.Article from 1915 here.
Modern essay here.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 15, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Babies, Medicine, Twentieth Century
April 14, 2021
The American Airlines Recipe Book
We recently posted about the American Airlines Wine Club, which allows people to enjoy wines served inflight at home. Turns out that in 1994 the company did something similar with its airline food, publishing a recipe book so that people could "prepare their inflight favorites at home". It was titled A Taste of Something Special.The book was given to frequent fliers, rather than being sold to the public. But you can now download a pdf of the entire thing via Michigan State University Library.
Yonkers Herald Statesman - Feb 8, 1996
Posted By: Alex - Wed Apr 14, 2021 -
Comments (8)
Category: Food, Cookbooks, Air Travel and Airlines, 1990s
Dancing on the Moon
Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 14, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Babies, Cartoons, 1930s, Sex Lives Worse Than Yours
April 13, 2021
Anti-Pollution Ventilators
1996: French engineer Yves Lecoffre proposed installing 70,000 "anti-pollution ventilators" (aka fans) around the streets of Paris to blow away the exhaust fumes from cars.Was he joking about this? Was it some kind of April Fool joke? Not as far as I can tell. Though I can't imagine how his scheme would have made the slightest difference to Paris's air quality.
Calgary Herald - May 4, 1996
Posted By: Alex - Tue Apr 13, 2021 -
Comments (3)
Category: Engineering and Construction, Really Bad Ideas, Urban Life, 1990s
Wild Party, 1905 Style
After the article, you can view one of Madame Gabrielle Réjane's silent films.Her Wikipedia page, with some great photos.
Source of article: The Inter Ocean (Chicago, Illinois) 05 Feb 1905, Sun Page 3
Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 13, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Dinners, Banquets, Parties, Tributes, Roasts and Other Celebrations, Movies, Publicity Stunts, Public Indecency, 1900s, Dance
April 12, 2021
B-B-B Sweatshirts
Inexplicable fashion fad: In 1962, San Francisco adman Howard Gossage came up with the idea of putting the faces of classical composers on sweatshirts and selling them for $4. Consumers could choose between Beethoven, Bach, or Brahms. He quickly sold around 60,000 of them.If you want one of these sweatshirts today (at least, an original one), you'll have to pay significantly more. On eBay, the asking price ranges from $1500 all the way up to $9000.
Honolulu Star-Bulletin - May 4, 1962
Oakland Tribune - Feb 8, 1962
Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 12, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Fads, Fashion, Music, 1960s
Follies of the Madmen #505
All scholars of oddball advertising are familiar with the Maidenform Bra campaign that used the tagline "I dreamed I...in my Maidenform Bra." But I don't believe I've ever seen the campaign translated from print to 3-D.
"This is an original vintage photograph from the 1950s. It shows a surreal Maidenform Bra window display at Parsons Souders store in downtown Clarksburg, West Virginia."
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 12, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Business, Advertising, Underwear, 1950s
April 11, 2021
Reuben Lindstrom’s Wind Driven Vehicle
In 1940, Reuben Lindstrom was granted a patent for a "wind driven vehicle". It was a toy made out of tin cans. It resembled a model train, and the wind could make it go by itself. In his patent, Lindstrom explained that he deliberately avoided using a sail to propel the toy.In wind driven vehicles it is desirable to avoid use of elevated wind responsive devices such as sails, windmills and the like and this is particularly true in toy vehicles simulating various types of full-sized vehicles for the reason that it is desired that the toy vehicle resemble as nearly as possible the full sized vehicle which it simulates.
Instead, he had shaped the wheels "to constitute wind responsive impeller blades".
Digging more deeply into the history of this patent, it turns out that Lindstrom was quite a character. For a start, he never cut his hair because, so he said, whenever he did he got heart trouble. In America, in the 1940s, this was unusual enough that it made the news.
Warren Times Mirror - June 28, 1949
He was a regular fixture around Wisconsin Rapids. A 2001 article in the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune called him "our most unforgettable character."
In addition to his wind-driven toy train, he had built a kind of motorized bicycle, described as a "weird contraption of bicycle wheel, one cylinder gas motor, pulley, levers, scooter and miscellany." He used this to get around on roads and railroad lines.
He basically lived as a street person/free spirit, always carrying around "a picture of a woman with a large snake wrapped around her neck." Some people referred to him as the "inventor hobo".
One of the quotations attributed to him: "Fashion is the main religion of this world. If you are different, they think you are nuts. Most people stay away from me because they think I'm a religious fanatic. The girls also stay away from me."
Also: "Dirt's natural and it keeps human diseases from penetrating the skin and entering my body."
He died in 1988.
There's some more info about him at randyjack.com.
Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune - June 9, 2001
Posted By: Alex - Sun Apr 11, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Bums, Hobos, Tramps, Beggars, Panhandlers and Other Streetpeople, Inventions, Patents, Toys, 1940s, Trains
The Middleton Family at the New York World’s Fair
This drama illustrates the contribution of free enterprise, technology, and Westinghouse products to the American way of life. The Middleton Family at the New York World's Fair pits an anti-capitalist bohemian artist boyfriend against an all-American electrical engineer who believes in improving society by working through corporations. The Middletons experience Westinghouse's technological marvels at the Fair and win back their daughter from her leftist boyfriend.
Memorable moments: the dishwashing contest between Mrs. Modern and Mrs. Drudge; Electro, the smoking robot; and the Westinghouse time capsule.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Apr 11, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Fairs, Amusement Parks, and Resorts, Family, Technology, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, 1940s
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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 |
