Category:
Lakes, Ponds, Rivers, Streams, Swamps and Other Bodies of Fresh Water

Telescoping Fish Knocker

Not being a fisherman or sportsman of any sort, I had no idea until now that there existed a special tool for whacking your caught fish on the noggin: the fish knocker or fish bat. You can buy a variety of modern ones, as seen here. But I like the patent on a collapsible model.

Full patent here.















Posted By: Paul - Sat Dec 02, 2023 - Comments (6)
Category: Sports, Tools, Lakes, Ponds, Rivers, Streams, Swamps and Other Bodies of Fresh Water, Patents, 1950s

Unauthorized Dwellings 27

As you can read at the Wikipedia page, these evictions were for naught, as the planned dam was never built.

Newspaper source: The Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania) 28 Feb 1974, Thu Page 7






Column below is extension of leftmost column above.






Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 02, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Regionalism, Lakes, Ponds, Rivers, Streams, Swamps and Other Bodies of Fresh Water, Unauthorized Dwellings, 1970s

Fur-bearing Trout




In 1935, a newspaper article revealed the supposed existence of "fur-bearing trout."


Article source: Napa Journal (Napa, California) 17 Feb 1935, Sun Page 4

Then humorist Robert Benchley wrote a piece on it.


Article source: Cumberland Evening Times (Cumberland, Maryland) 23 Feb 1935, Sat Page 3

Since then, the legend continues to resurface, down to the present day.




Article source: Lansing State Journal (Lansing, Michigan) 03 May 1964, Sun Page 70







Posted By: Paul - Thu Aug 18, 2022 - Comments (1)
Category: Cryptozoology, Hoaxes and Imposters and Imitators, Lakes, Ponds, Rivers, Streams, Swamps and Other Bodies of Fresh Water, Fish, 1930s, North America

Death by Swan

I had always heard that swans could be vicious, but not to the point of murdering a human. And yet from the 1938 report to the present day, it happens.

1938 article source: The Tennessean (Nashville, Tennessee) 15 May 1938, Sun Page 41






A second example from the same article.




Full article associated with pic below.



Source of clip below.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Aug 07, 2022 - Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Death, Lakes, Ponds, Rivers, Streams, Swamps and Other Bodies of Fresh Water

The Aquatennial Queen of the Lakes and/or Ambassador

Before looking at these charming ladies, let us ponder the name of this worthy organization: "Aquatennial." The water/wet years? The most common word with this suffix of course is "centennial," which is derived, so Merriam-Webster tells us, from the Latin "centum" and the English suffix "-ennial," which is basically "annual." The suffix is not "-tennial," because the "t" comes from "centum." So even if "the wet or water years" made sense, it would have to be "Aquaennial," which of course is a hideous-looking neologism.

All that aside, this organization, founded in 1940, is still going strong. But you can't call the winners "queens" any longer, just "ambassadors." It's nice they kept the tiaras, though, which are not in evidence among ambassadors at, say, the U.N.









Posted By: Paul - Sat Mar 13, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Regionalism, Lakes, Ponds, Rivers, Streams, Swamps and Other Bodies of Fresh Water, Twentieth Century, Twenty-first Century

Lagoa das Sete Cidades

Two lakes, separated by a narrow strip of land, yet each ecologically and chromatically distinct.

The Wikipedia entry.



Posted By: Paul - Sun Feb 14, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Lakes, Ponds, Rivers, Streams, Swamps and Other Bodies of Fresh Water, Europe, Natural Wonders





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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.

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