May 2024
May 21, 2024
The Ediphone Sets You Free
Businessman likes to imagine that because he doesn't always have enough time to dictate correspondence to his secretary that he's clearly "chained down like a galley slave."More info about Ediphones.
The Reporter with Postage and the Mailbag - Sep 1939
Posted By: Alex - Tue May 21, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Technology, Telephones, Advertising, 1930s
Follies of the Madmen #596
Posted By: Paul - Tue May 21, 2024 -
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Category: Stereotypes and Cliches, Advertising, 1960s, 1970s, Women, Perfume and Cologne and Other Scents
May 20, 2024
Arrow Storks
Arrow storks (in German Pfeilstörche) are storks that got arrows stuck in their body while wintering in Africa but nevertheless managed to fly back to their summer habitats in Europe. To date, around twenty-five Pfeilstörche have been documented.From wikipedia:
Image & text: Overlooked Sights. German Places. By Michaela Vieser and Reto Wettach.
Posted By: Alex - Mon May 20, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Science
Presidential Songs and Slogans
In this election year, we could do with some innovative songs and slogans--but I doubt if we'll get any that compare to these historical ones.Taken from THE BOOK OF POLITICAL LISTS.
Posted By: Paul - Mon May 20, 2024 -
Comments (4)
Category: Music, Politics, Proverbs, Maxims, Sayings, Folk Wisdom and Quotations, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century
May 19, 2024
How many books do college students read?
We previously met Suellen Robinson as Miss Biological Research. Here she's posing by a stack of books that represents the number of books an average coed supposedly would read (back in the 1960s) during her four years at college. The number is 376.Officials of the Renault car company somehow arrived at this figure when they decided to sponsor a National College Queen Contest.
To read that many books a student would need to finish two books a week during the school year, and a book a week during Summer break.
I'm skeptical that the average college student (either back in the 1960s or now) reads anywhere close to that number. Perhaps they're assigned that many (though even that seems a bit high), but they're not reading them.
Orlando Evening Star - Apr 29, 1964
Posted By: Alex - Sun May 19, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Education, Universities, Colleges, Private Schools and Academia, Books, 1960s
Life Is Flashing Before Your Eyes
Posted By: Paul - Sun May 19, 2024 -
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Category: Music, Philosophy, Surrealism, Cartoons, Psychedelic, 1980s
May 18, 2024
Hurting the Word Radio #2
The 1964 painting "Hurting the Word Radio #2" by Ed Ruscha is valued at $53 million. It's reportedly one of the most expensive works of art owned by Jeff Bezos.
image source: google arts and culture
The value surprised me when I read about it, though it probably shouldn't have because sky-high valuations for works of modern art are by now, as Chuck Shepherd would have said, "no longer weird."
Even so, as the Center for Art Law notes, Ruscha created hundreds of words on canvas over the decades. How did this one get singled out to be worth so much? Ruscha himself never promoted it as special. (Nor does he directly benefit from its current valuation.)
The Center for Art Law suggests that the work's "impeccable and unimpeachable" provenance may have a lot to do with the high price tag. In an art market awash in fraud, undeniably authentic works command a high premium.
Posted By: Alex - Sat May 18, 2024 -
Comments (2)
Category: Art, Overpriced Merchandise
Forever Walks a Drifter
Their entry at Discogs.
Posted By: Paul - Sat May 18, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Music, Outsider Art, 1960s
May 17, 2024
No TV for a year
Back in the early 1970s, a German research group called "The Society for Rational Psychology" challenged 184 people (all regular TV watchers) to go without TV for a year.. with financial incentives to encourage them to stick to the plan.Briefly all went well, but then things quickly began to go downhill. Frustration grew. The people started to become moody and aggressive. After five months they were all back to watching TV.
The lesson the researchers concluded: "people who watch television regularly are likely to become so addicted they can no longer be happy without it."
What would they conclude about the Internet?
Of course, the study probably needs to be taken with a grain of salt because I can't find any info about this Society for Rational Psychology. Was it some kind of market research group? Nor can I find the write-up from the study itself. Just lots of references to the study in the media.
Buffalo Evening News - May 8, 1972
Posted By: Alex - Fri May 17, 2024 -
Comments (3)
Category: Addictions, Television, Psychology, 1970s
Miss Putt-Putt
For much more, visit the link.
Posted By: Paul - Fri May 17, 2024 -
Comments (2)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Recreation, Sports, 1960s
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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 |
