Category:
Death
Death
Men of Mortuaries
Following up on yesterday's post about the sexy mortuary calendar from 1948, here's a more recent example of the same kind of thing, but featuring sexy "men of mortuaries."It was released as a one-off thing in 2008 in order to raise money for a breast cancer charity.
Sociological Images posted an article about how the calendar could be seen as an attempt to "humanize funeral directors."
Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 25, 2015 -
Comments (6)
Category: Death, Sex Symbols
Beautiful Bodies by Chambers
The Washington DC mortuary of W.W. Chambers caused a scandal when it issued a calendar for 1948 featuring scantily-clad models to advertise its embalming business. Tagline: Beautiful Bodies by Chambers.Time magazine (Jan 12, 1948) criticized it as "frank vulgarity." Although that didn't stop them from reprinting a page of the calendar (below) for the benefit of its readers.
You can read an obituary of Chambers himself here. He died in 1954 and was quite a character.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Aug 24, 2015 -
Comments (8)
Category: Death, 1940s
Pistol-Packin’ Mouse Trap
I am just going to go out on a limb and say that this is the best goddamn mousetrap ever invented!
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jul 16, 2015 -
Comments (7)
Category: Animals, Death, Hygiene, Appliances, 1930s
Tests theory that he cannot die
Having recently got religion, and consequently filled with the fire of faith, young Albert Strate decided that "God would not let him die." So he took strychnine to test the theory. The coroner pronounced it suicide. Give Albert a Darwin Award.Source: Lincoln Evening Journal - Apr 19, 1926
More in extended >>
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 15, 2015 -
Comments (9)
Category: Death, 1920s
Death at the Cathedral, 1964
October 2, 1964: One minute Veronica McConnell, 22, was happy and carefree. The young American woman had just arrived in Paris the night before on vacation and was visiting Notre Dame Cathedral. It was the first stop on the city bus tour.After seeing the inside of the cathedral, she stopped to buy some candles at a stand in the plaza. Having made her purchase, she began walking back towards the tour group. The next second she was dead, killed by suicide jumper Denise Rey-Herme, 37, who had leapt off the cathedral's north tower. Rey-Herme was despondent, having learned that because of chronic ill health she would never achieve her ambition of becoming a nun.
Goes to show that death can strike at any moment, anywhere.
Note: there's some confusion about McConnell's age. Different accounts of the event list it as either 21, 22, or 24. The NY Times says she was 22, so I'm trusting they were right.
Veronica McConnell
The Odessa American - Oct 4, 1964
The Terre Haute Tribune - Oct 3, 1964
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jul 12, 2015 -
Comments (3)
Category: Death, Nuns, 1960s
The Plot to Steal Abe Lincoln’s Corpse
Once upon a time, some crooks thought it would be a good idea to rob the grave of Abe Lincoln and hold the corpse for ransom.
One account here.
More detailed account here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 03, 2015 -
Comments (1)
Category: Death, Politics, Stupid Criminals, Nineteenth Century
Beware of Killer Umbrellas
About five years ago (on June 30, 2010), Lynn Stevens was sitting on the beach, minding her own business, when an umbrella came plummeting out of the sky and impaled her leg. Here's her account of the incident:
"It was a very windy day and the umbrella was lifted straight up in the air. It came straight back down and went through my thigh. The pole went into my leg about four inches and it just missed my femoral artery. It didn’t tumble like you see them do so often. Instead, it went straight up and came straight down... It took four men to hold the umbrella steady in the wind to prevent it from doing more damage. They literally sawed off the pole right there on the beach and left about a 12-inch length of the pole sticking out of my leg. They took me to PRMC and the rest of it was taken out in the operating room. It was a little unnerving because the nurses and doctors looked a little astonished to see the umbrella pole sticking out of my leg because I figured they had probably seen everything."
That's pretty terrifying. The worst part is that there's not much you can do to prevent randomly being attacked by an umbrella that falls silently from the sky, because it's other people's umbrellas (improperly set in the sand) that are going to get you. You're at the mercy of their stupidity.
Image source: Nikos Patsiouris, Flickr.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jul 02, 2015 -
Comments (5)
Category: Death, Violence
Killed by falling tombstone
People who manage to get killed while digging graves for others seems to be a recurring theme in weird news. Here's an example from 1925:
Source: The Ottawa Journal - Feb 21, 1925
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 18, 2015 -
Comments (7)
Category: Death, 1920s
A Strange Pet
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jun 06, 2015 -
Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Death, Children, 1910s, Australia
Life & Death Quiz
Take the Ubble UK Longevity Quiz and see how you score mortality wise over the next five years. Share results in extended if you'd like.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 04, 2015 -
Comments (15)
Category: Death, Predictions, Quizzes
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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 |