Category:
Death
Death
Monkey Hangers
"Monkey hanger" is a term by which Hartlepudlians are often known. According to local folklore, the term originates from an incident in which a monkey was hanged in Hartlepool, England. During the Napoleonic Wars, a French ship of the type chasse marée was wrecked off the coast of Hartlepool. The only survivor was a monkey, allegedly wearing a French uniform to provide amusement for the crew. On finding the monkey, some locals decided to hold an impromptu trial on the beach; since the monkey was unable to answer their questions, and many locals were unaware of what a Frenchman might look like,[citation needed] they concluded that the monkey was in fact a French sailor. Being found guilty, the animal was duly sentenced to death and hanged on the beach. The vertical part of the ship's mast he was hanged from is still visible on the beach between the Pilot pier and the Heugh.
More here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Mar 10, 2014 -
Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Death, Eighteenth Century
The Ore Knob Mine Murders & The Nashville Flame
That's the Nashville Flame his own damn self up there.
More photos here.
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Feb 15, 2014 -
Comments (5)
Category: Crime, Daredevils, Stuntpeople and Thrillseekers, Death, Drugs, 1980s
A better rattrap
The July 14, 1952 issue of Life had a photo feature about a contest sponsored by the city of Hammond, Ind., in which schoolchildren were asked to design a better rattrap. The challenge apparently released the inner sadist in some of the kids.Arnold Knopf's trap: a weight falls, releasing a crossbow which shoots an arrow into the rat's back.
Jim Olsen's contribution: after the rat trips a trigger, a weight falls, jerking a noose tight around the rat's neck.
Steve Miller and Ed Cox designed a rat guillotine that included a basket to catch the rat's head.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Feb 11, 2014 -
Comments (6)
Category: Death, Inventions, Pests, Plagues and Infestations, 1950s
Necropants
Here's the instructions for how to make them (from the Museum of Icelandic Sorcery and Witchcraft):
If you want to make your own necropants (literally; nábrók) you have to get permission from a living man to use his skin after his dead.
After he has been buried you must dig up his body and flay the skin of the corpse in one piece from the waist down. As soon as you step into the pants they will stick to your own skin. A coin must be stolen from a poor widow and placed in the scrotum along with the magical sign, nábrókarstafur, written on a piece of paper. Consequently the coin will draw money into the scrotum so it will never be empty, as long as the original coin is not removed. To ensure salvation the owner has to convince someone else to overtake the pants and step into each leg as soon as he gets out of it. The necropants will thus keep the money-gathering nature for generations.
After he has been buried you must dig up his body and flay the skin of the corpse in one piece from the waist down. As soon as you step into the pants they will stick to your own skin. A coin must be stolen from a poor widow and placed in the scrotum along with the magical sign, nábrókarstafur, written on a piece of paper. Consequently the coin will draw money into the scrotum so it will never be empty, as long as the original coin is not removed. To ensure salvation the owner has to convince someone else to overtake the pants and step into each leg as soon as he gets out of it. The necropants will thus keep the money-gathering nature for generations.
[via Notes From a Funeral Director]
Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 07, 2014 -
Comments (10)
Category: Death, Fashion
Feather Death Crowns
A bit of Appalachian folklore:Back when feather pillows were the norm in Appalachian households, it was not uncommon to find a hardened mass of feathers whose quills had turned inward and locked together forming a disc, or crown, in the pillow of the gravely ill, or recently deceased. Finding such an artifact in the pillow of someone ill was a sure sign that the person would die within the next three days, but it was a comforting symbol when found in the pillow of the recently deceased. Finding a crown in a person's pillow meant that the person has gone to Heaven. [Source: Theresa's Haunted History of the Tri-State]
People collect these things. The Museum of Appalachia in Tennessee has the largest collection. Carrollscorner.net also has a whole bunch of pictures of them.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jan 26, 2014 -
Comments (6)
Category: Death, Superstition
Grave Warmer
I guess in the old days they would store the body in a shed and wait until the ground thawed. That works also.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jan 17, 2014 -
Comments (12)
Category: Death
Yorkshire Funeral Biscuits
"The custom of distributing to the mourners at a funeral specially prepared biscuits in wrappers sealed with black wax, was formerly widely prevalent in Great Britain... The practice may be an altered survival of ceremonial cannibalism when the flesh of dead kinsmen was eaten by the mourners."
This may also explain why the British love their tea and biscuits!
[via Pitt Rivers Museum]
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 15, 2014 -
Comments (10)
Category: Death
Chocolate Coffins
"This miniature chocolate coffin has a removable lid. Open it up and there is a skeleton inside. This chocolate treat is sure to please." Available from pushindaisies.com.Instead of bringing flowers to a funeral, give some of these!
Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 23, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Death, Chocolate
Toy Hand Grenade
"I'm deeply sorry, Mrs Jones, but the SWAT team had no way of knowing little Tommy wasn't holding a real grenade before they opened fire."
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 25, 2013 -
Comments (2)
Category: Death, Toys, Comics, 1950s, Weapons
California Drag Chute
Broken limbs, entangled drive chains and potential strangulation guaranteed!
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 19, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Bicycles and Other Human-powered Vehicles, Death, 1970s
| Who We Are |
|---|
| 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 |