Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests
The Universal Beauty Trip
There's a great novel or film lurking in this historical incident.In the summer of 1915, in large part in order to advertise the existence of his newly-established Universal City Studios, Universal Moving Pictures President Carl Laemelle organized a cross-country procession that would culminate in a beauty pageant at Universal City, California (which, like Universal Studios, Laemelle had only founded in March of that year). Comprising "America's Most Beautiful Girls" from each of the forty-eight states, as well as studio representatives including Laemelle himself, the Universal Beauty Trip proceeded by automobile and rail from the East Coast to California, stopping at major cities along the way and at important tourist sites like the Grand Canyon
Read entire article here.
Foto source.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 07, 2020 -
Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Movies, 1910s
Best Undressed Woman of the Year
In 1940, the New York Art Students' League awarded a title it called the "Best Undressed Woman of the Year." They chose actress Janice Logan as the winner.The art students apparently intended this as a satirical response to the media's love for declaring various actresses as the 'best dressed' woman of the year. 1940 seems to have been the only year in which they awarded the title, and it doesn't seem like winning the award did much for Logan's career.
The Davenport Daily Times - Feb 26, 1940
Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 12, 2019 -
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Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, 1940s
Freestyle Canoeing
Why hasn't freestyle canoeing been made an olympic event yet?The performance begins at around 1:20.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 24, 2019 -
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Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Sports
Charles “Zimmy” Zibelman, the “Human Fish”
Zimmy footage starts circa 1:05
Source.
Source.
Another article here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Nov 23, 2019 -
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Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Human Marvels, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, Twentieth Century
Miss Sasquatch Queen
At the Sasquatch Winter Carnival in Saskatchewan, they annually elected a "Miss Sasquatch Queen." Laura Medland, below, was the 1969 winner. Note the Sasquatch patch she's wearing.
Regina Leader-Post - Feb 25, 1970
And there seems to have been a rival Miss Sasquatch contest: the Sasquatch queen pageant held at the Regina Inn. Dona Doan, below, won that title in 1969.
So, in 1969 there were two Sasquatch Queens in Saskatchewan.
Regina Leader-Post - Feb 17, 1969
Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 14, 2019 -
Comments (2)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, 1960s
The Malibu Remuda of 1947
The "Remuda" or horse show by all accounts featured a "western bathing beauty contest." But I can't locate a pic of the actual winner. However, these lovelies were in attendance, and certainly the giant hat qualifies this as one of our Weird Beauty Contests.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Nov 01, 2019 -
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Category: Animals, Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Regionalism, 1940s
Miss Anti-Freeze
It's Anti-Freeze Week! Or, at least, it could have been if DuPont was still promoting this car-maintenance holiday. It usually fell sometime in mid to late October.Here's a few of the young women on whom the title of "Miss Anti-Freeze" was bestowed.
Grenola Gazette - Oct 16, 1952
Pike County Dispatch - Oct 8, 1953
Taylor Daily Press - Oct 20, 1953
Wausau Daily Herald - Oct 12, 1953
Alabama Citizen - Oct 30, 1954
Salem News - Oct 17, 1955
Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 21, 2019 -
Comments (2)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, 1950s, Cars
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
More in extended >>
Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 14, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Celebrities, 1970s
Healthiest US Pair
This is quite a distinction conferred by the 4-H congress of Chicago. I assume they examined every person in the USA before deciding.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 07, 2019 -
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Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Health, 1930s
The Bielefeld Conspiracy
Ever since 1993, a conspiracy has circulated online alleging that the German city of Bielefeld doesn’t exist. Now the city is pushing back by offering a million euros to anyone who can definitively prove it doesn’t exist.Entries can be submitted in either German or English, but the deadline is Sep. 4. So there’s not much time left.
It seems to me that the contest has set an impossible task, because it's well known that a negative can never be proven. For instance, we can't definitively prove that the Loch Ness Monster doesn't exist. We can only say that we haven't found her yet.
But on the other hand, the opposite is equally true. It's impossible to definitively prove anything with absolute certainty. For instance, what if someone believes that Bielefeld exists because they've lived there their entire life? Well, that doesn't actually prove anything. As Bertrand Russell pointed out in his five-minute hypothesis, it's possible that the entire universe sprang into existence five minutes ago, complete with our memories of an older history. It may seem unlikely, but it's possible. So likewise, just because someone remembers living in Bielefeld, it's possible that their memories are false.
Which is to say that even if no one wins the million euros by proving that Bielefeld doesn't exist, that doesn't mean the city actually does exist. The existence of Bielefeld can never be definitively proven or disproven.
More info: epoch times
Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 30, 2019 -
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Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Geography and Maps, Conspiracy Theories and Theorists
| Who We Are |
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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 |