Nineteenth Century
The Niagara Wave and Rocking Bath
From the Victorian period. Looks like it would have been kinda fun. [source: The Virtual Victorian]
Posted By: Alex - Sun Feb 02, 2014 -
Comments (5)
Category: Baths, Showers and Other Cleansing Methods, Nineteenth Century
Walter Potter
The Wikipedia page.
Alas, the museum was dissolved in 2003.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 23, 2014 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Anthropomorphism, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Eccentrics, Hobbies and DIY, Museums, Outsider Art, Europe, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century
à la Girafe
The Guardian offers an odd footnote to the history of fashion. In 1826, "Zarafa" became the first giraffe ever brought to France from Africa. She inspired a giraffe craze, becoming the subject of songs, instrumental music, poems, and music-hall sketches. Also: "Women began to truss up their hair à la Girafe and style themselves in giraffe-coloured dresses."Sounds like it was the 19th century predecessor of the beehive.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 22, 2014 -
Comments (4)
Category: Fashion, Hair Styling, Nineteenth Century
Femme de Voyage
From the Victorian era. This ad was found by a historian in a scrapbook with similar material. More info here.
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jan 21, 2014 -
Comments (7)
Category: Nineteenth Century
Puss Sunday
Source: Good Housekeeping - May 29, 1886
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 20, 2014 -
Comments (2)
Category: Holidays, Nineteenth Century
Abe Lincoln’s Ghost
Don't go mistaking any old tall ghost for Lincoln.
Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 16, 2014 -
Comments (9)
Category: Dreams and Nightmares, Politics, Superstition, 1980s, Nineteenth Century
Terrified to death by a donkey
From the Illustrated Police News, 1883. [via Digital Victorianist]
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jan 11, 2014 -
Comments (7)
Category: Animals, Nineteenth Century
Ambition Pills for Weak and Nervous Men
Ads for these pills ran in many papers in the late 19th century. What was it in the pills that provided the ambition? If these pills were the same as 'Wendell's Ambition Pills,' which came on the market slightly later, then it was strychnine:
The Journal A.M.A., Apr 6, 1918.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Dec 15, 2013 -
Comments (3)
Category: Health, Medicine, Nineteenth Century
The Assassin Brothers
Nowadays, with a name like 'The Assassin Brothers', these two would probably be offered a reality TV show deal .
There are in France two brothers with the surname of Assassin, who recently obtained the necessary permission from the high functionary called the Keeper of the Seals to change their name to one less offensive. After mature reflection, they decided to change their name to Berge. Now that it is too late to alter it, they have discovered, to their intense annoyance, that their new name happens, by a singular coincidence, to be that of the chief assistant to M. Deibler, the public executioner, who will, in all probability, succeed to M. Deibler's gruesome business.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 07, 2013 -
Comments (3)
Category: Weird Names, Nineteenth Century
Magneto-Conservative Garments
Advertised in the Los Angeles Herald and elsewhere, late 19th and early 20th centuries:
More in extended >>
Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 22, 2013 -
Comments (5)
Category: Fashion, Underwear, Medicine, Nineteenth Century
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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 |