Weird Universe Archive

July 2021

July 27, 2021

Smile

This film looks almost like a forerunner of famous mockumentaries such as Spinal Tap. It certainly fits into our theme of "odd beauty contests."

Wikipedia page.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Jul 27, 2021 - Comments (7)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Movies, 1970s, Satire

July 26, 2021

Presenting the Losers

A 1967 ad campaign for Eastern Airlines.

Of course, I'm pretty sure all the women in the ad were actually models/actresses. So in their true profession they were winners of a spot in the campaign. Most notably, that's Ali MacGraw sitting in the front row.

Time - Sep 29, 1967



Some analysis by Kathleen Barry in Femininity in Flight: A History of Flight Attendants

Since the 1930s stewardesses had been ubiquitous in airline advertising. But by the 1960s they carried even more figurative weight as the embodiments of airlines' mass-marketed personalities. Gone were generic references to friendly staff alongside offers of specific services and amenities; in came promises of a hand-picked servant for every passenger. An advertisement for Eastern from 1967, for instance, titled "Presenting the Losers," pictured a group of nineteen applicants whom the carrier had rejected for stewardess positions. The attractive, slender, and well-groomed "losers" were distinguishable from "winners" only by their frowns and lack of airline univorms. The text explained that they "were probably good enough to get a job practically anywhere they want," but that because of its high standards of appearance, intelligence, and personality, Eastern turned down nineteen desirable candidates for every exemplary one hired. With mock defensiveness, the ad read, "Sure, we want her to be pretty... don't you? That's why we look at her face, her make-up, her complexion, her figure, her weight, her legs, her grooming, her nails and her hair." In addition, Eastern boasted, it screened each applicant for "her personality, her maturity, her intelligence, her intentions, her enthusiasm, her resiliency and her stamina." With such an exhaustive list of qualifications, readers may have marveled (or doubted) that women so wondrous existed, let alone would serve them on Eastern.

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jul 26, 2021 - Comments (5)
Category: Advertising, Air Travel and Airlines, 1960s

July 25, 2021

Double-Waist Jeans

New from Marrknull. Part of its Spring/Summer 2021 collection. They don't seem to be available for purchase yet.





Posted By: Alex - Sun Jul 25, 2021 - Comments (4)
Category: Fashion, Denim

Follies of the Madmen #512

We all know of course that "BO" was a frequently used advertising term for body odor. But I never saw another ad that tried to push "BO-BO" as an insult.



Ad source.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Jul 25, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Hygiene, Advertising, Women

July 24, 2021

Pseudo Corpse Scent

The Sigma-Aldrich Corporation sells a variety of scents including: Pseudo Corpse I (that smells like a body less than 30 days old), Pseudo Corpse II (that mimics the dry-rot scent cadavers attain after a month), and Pseudo Drowned Victim.

The scents are intended to be used for training rescue dogs, but I suppose they could also be used to enhance a Halloween costume.

Their product literature offers the following info about training dogs to find a corpse:

Canine reaction to a body can vary widely. The general categories of behavior are:

1 . Enthusiasm - the dog does not hesitate to approach the body. It may attempt to elicit a response from or urinate on the victim.

2. Cautious Interest - the dog slows its search, may become nervous and raise its hackles, but with encouragement, will approach the victim.

3. Avoidance - the dog will not approach the scent source and may actually attempt to leave the area. This behavior may become evident some distance from the body as the dog enters the scent cone.

image source: EliteK9.com



More info: Discover magazine

Posted By: Alex - Sat Jul 24, 2021 - Comments (3)
Category: Death, Dogs, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents

The Highest Streakers



I can find absolutely no supporting documentation of this event, but the photo comes from the Library of Congress, so it must be true!

Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 24, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Architecture, Fads, Public Indecency, 1970s

July 23, 2021

The Winooski Dome

In 1979, officials in Winooski, Vermont applied for a $55,000 federal grant to study the possibility of building a dome over the entire city. They explained that a dome might slash the cost of heating Winooski's buildings by up to 90 percent.

They didn't actually have a plan for how the dome would be built, but they eventually enlisted the help of architect John Anderson who came up some ideas. Details from UnofficialNetworks.com:

Thinking ahead, he envisioned a vinyl-like material attached over a network of metal cables, ranging from transparent (on the southern side, to allow in sunlight) to opaque on the northern side. Air would be brought inside by large fans and heated or cooled as necessary. The Dome would be held up by air pressure just slightly above atmospheric pressure. Entrances and exits would consist of double doors, akin to an airlock. The homes inside would require no individual heating or cooling — “you could grow tomatoes all year-round” he said. If the Dome were punctured it would come down slowly, allowing for ample warning.




Posted By: Alex - Fri Jul 23, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Architecture, 1970s

He’d Have To Get Out And Get Under (To Fix Up His Automobile)



"I have a daughter who's hungry for love. She likes to ride every day."

Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 23, 2021 - Comments (0)
Category: Innuendo, Double Entendres, Symbolism, Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink and Subliminal Messages, Music, 1910s, Cars, Love & Romance

July 22, 2021

Miss Department of Illinois

Edith Ann McDougall wasn't Miss Illinois. Instead, in 1950, she was named "Miss Department of Illinois," which sounds to me like a distinctly less prestigious title.

The "Miss Department" title indicated that the contest was run by the Illinois department of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. However, I haven't been able to find any "Miss Departments" from other states. So this must have been a uniquely Illinois thing.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch - July 2, 1950

Posted By: Alex - Thu Jul 22, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, 1950s

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