1950s
Victoria the Bowling Kangaroo
Who knew that kangaroos could bowl!
MATCHING FIGURES — Shapely actress Monique Van Vooren is all set to match strikes and spares with Victoria, the bowling kangaroo, at the opening of a huge new bowling alley in New York. The bowling palace is the newest and largest of its kind in the East.
Source: Pampa Daily News - Oct. 1, 1958
Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 06, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Sports, 1950s
Concussion Test
1958: Dr. Henry Montoye of Michigan State University studied the shock resistance of football helmets by having players wear the helmets and then dropping weights on their head. Try getting approval to do that experiment today! Source: Life - May 19, 1958
Posted By: Alex - Sat Apr 04, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Experiments, 1950s
Prince Monolulu
His Majesty in typical garb.
The Prince comes on at the 16-minute mark.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Apr 04, 2015 -
Comments (1)
Category: Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Eccentrics, Fashion, Television, 1950s, 1960s
Nerve Man
The giant man of nerves was part of the "Conquest of Pain" exhibit held at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry in 1955. If I had seen this thing as a kid, it definitely would have given me nightmares.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Apr 01, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Body, Museums, 1950s
Miniature Menagerie
A portrait of the once-proud USA squeaky-toy industry in its glory days, before Asia kicked our squeaky butt.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 26, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Business, Technology, Toys, 1950s
The Little Foxes Club
I can't find too much information on the "Little Foxes Club," whose mission was to promote African-American female beauty. In 1958, they had a beauty contest in Detroit.
Original article here.
And they were mentioned in this 1966 cheesecake photo.
Original article here.
I can only imagine the loud controversy such an organization would bring down upon itself in these times.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Mar 24, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Ethnic Groupings, 1950s, 1960s, Women
Erismann and Kohler: Inversion Goggles
"The movie documents a classic experiment conducted in 1950 by Ivo Kohler and Theodor Erismann at the university of Innsbruck, Austria. Erismann is the older person the movie, and Kohler, his research assistant at that time, is the person wearing the inversion goggles. Subtitles are all in German."
Full story here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Mar 15, 2015 -
Comments (2)
Category: Science, Experiments, 1950s, Eyes and Vision
Eugene Hart, Boy Stowaway
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 13, 2015 -
Comments (3)
Category: Family, Juvenile Delinquency, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, 1950s
The Elkhart Tooth Stone
Posted By: Alex - Sun Mar 08, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: 1950s, Teeth
Rev. Hansen’s Bible Birds
In 1940, Rev. Hansen started touring around the U.S. with his family, putting on a show in which he used trained birds to demonstrate lessons from the Bible. Newsweek (Dec. 10, 1951) offered this description of the act:Other birds ride on a tiny electric train, eat at tables, and climb ladders while the Hansens appropriately quote the Bible. For example, when Tiger the canary sits on Catnip the cat while daughter Sylvia watches (see picture), Mr. Hansen quotes Isaiah 11:6, "... the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the faitling together; and a little child shall lead them."
Mr. Hansen feels that the whole act is "a demonstration of faith. Pete is not afraid of the flaming hoop because he knows I am holding it. Muggs has to stretch out his neck to swallow a sword that's as long as he is, but he has faith in us."
Amazingly, Hansen was able to continue putting on his Bible Birds show for 60 years, until he died in 2002. See Roadside America for some more info.
Hansen makes Boom-Boom eat at a table
Tiger, Catnip, and Sylvia play
Posted By: Alex - Sat Mar 07, 2015 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Entertainment, Religion, 1950s
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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, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. 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. Contact Us |