1970s
Weirdo the Cat-Killing Superchicken
Weirdo was a giant among chickens. He weighed a colossal twenty-three pounds — about four times the size of an average rooster. Throughout much of the 1970s and 80s, he was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the heaviest chicken in the world. He was said to have the strength and stamina of an ostrich.
However, Weirdo had a temper and ferocity that matched his size. His violent exploits were legendary. He killed two cats and pecked out the eye of a dog. He routinely tore bits of metal off his feed bucket, demolishing feeders at a rate of one per month. When an ungloved visitor made the mistake of trying to touch him, he removed their fingertip. He shattered the lens of a camera. And, in his crowning achievement, he managed to rip through a wire fence and attacked and killed one of his own sons, an eighteen-pound rooster.
Just as unusual as Weirdo himself was the story of how he came to exist. He was the result of a seven-year chicken-breeding program conducted by a teenage boy, Grant Sullens, of West Point, California. Sullens had decided that he wanted to create a breed of "superchickens," and he actually achieved his goal, succeeding where highly paid poultry researchers had failed.
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Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 18, 2019 -
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Category: Animals, Farming, 1970s
Dirty diapers as art
Artist Mary Kelly’s 1976 exhibit at the Insitute of Contemporary Art in London consisted of a framed series of soiled liners from her kid’s diapers. Below the fecal stains, she listed what her kid had eaten in order to produce the marks.The exhibit provoked outrage. Siona Wilson, in her book Art Labor, Sex Politics: Feminist Effects in 1970s British Art and Performance, notes, "Kelly was forced to go into hiding for a time to avoid the unwanted media attention."
More info: vice.com, MaryKellyArtist.com
The Twin Falls Times-News - Oct 17, 1976
Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 11, 2019 -
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Category: Art, Babies, 1970s
Take-My-Lips Kit
Back in 1972, South Mountain Passage offered people the chance to have their lips cast in bronze for only $21.75. That seems like a pretty good deal, considering that the next year Yves Saint Laurent was going to charge $400 for the same thing.
Pittsburgh Press - Mar 16, 1973
Posted By: Alex - Sat Nov 09, 2019 -
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Category: Body, 1970s
Michael in Wonderland
Michael Jackson takes a Magical Mystery Tour.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 04, 2019 -
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Category: Anthropomorphism, Music, Surrealism, Cartoons, Psychedelic, 1970s
Follies of the Madmen #451
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Nov 03, 2019 -
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Category: Business, Advertising, Stereotypes and Cliches, Technology, 1970s, Women
The Paul Lynde Halloween Special
Posted By: Paul - Mon Oct 28, 2019 -
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Category: Annoying Things, Antiques, Anachronisms and Throwbacks, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Celebrities, Confusion, Misunderstanding, and Incomprehension, Eccentrics, Entertainment, Geeks, Nerds and Pointdexters, Humor, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Innuendo, Double Entendres, Symbolism, Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink and Subliminal Messages, Superstition, Television, Avant Garde, Surrealism, 1970s, LGBT, Halloween, Nausea, Revulsion and Disgust, Nostalgia
Bodysuits for men
A fashion fad of the 1970s.
San Bernardino County Sun - Oct 7, 1973
Bridgeport Telegram - Oct 27, 1972
Posted By: Alex - Wed Oct 23, 2019 -
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Category: Fashion, 1970s
Yellow Pages Dress
The Yellow Pages? What are those?
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Oct 22, 2019 -
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Category: Fashion, Telephones, 1970s
Rent a Conversation
In 1973, entrepreneurs Richard and Christine Braunlich launched a business called Conversation. The idea was that it would allow people to pay to have a conversation with an expert "conversationalist." $5 for the first half-hour, and $3 for each additional half-hour. Some details from the SF Examiner (Feb 11, 1973):So far, however, the talkers have been few and far between — only about 40 customers have dropped in since Conversation opened.
About 60 percent of the customers have been women, the Braunliches report, and they talk about subjects ranging from poetry to small family problems.
Sitting in one of 14 tiny booths, customers can talk to one of 20 employees, who are called, appropriately enough, conversationalists.
And more details from the Moline Dispatch (Feb 13, 1973):
"She left her two kids at a movie and was here when the door opened," he said. "She just wanted to chat with somebody alive, warm and wiggling. Boy, did she want to talk."
Another woman explained that her husband was a nice guy but boring, and she needed to converse with somebody else once in a while...
"Lots of people with problems don't need professional help, but they do need to talk them over," Devendorf said. "They can go to the hairdresser, a bar or a coffee shop, but some are too shy."
At Conversation, persons with serious psychological difficulties are referred to professionals.
Evidently the business didn't succeed.
San Francisco Examiner - Feb 11, 1973
Posted By: Alex - Tue Oct 15, 2019 -
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Category: Business, Jobs and Occupations, Psychology, 1970s
Farrah Fawcett Lookalike Contest Winners
In the late 1970s, Farrah Fawcett was, without a doubt, the most famous sex symbol in the world, thanks to her best-selling poster and role on Charlie's Angels. For a while, a Farrah craze swept the nation, inspiring a slew of lookalike contests. Below are some of the winners.
Gallagher posing in front of the Farrah poster.
Detroit Free Press - Feb 2, 1977
In her day job, Gallagher was a clerk for the UPS, but after winning the contest she signed up with a modeling agency and landed various paid appearances as a Farrah lookalike, such as a gig (below) at Rosella's furniture store in Greenville, Mississippi. (Dobbs was her married name.)
Delta Democrat-Times - Jun 24, 1977
Calgary Herald - Oct 7, 1978
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Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 14, 2019 -
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Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Celebrities, 1970s
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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 |