Sports
Sylvia Ester, World-Record Swimmer
East German swimmer Sylvia Ester seems to have made one brief contribution to sports trivia before disappearing back into anonymity. Her contribution: having her world-record time disallowed due to the fact that she wasn't wearing a swimsuit.I can't find any other references to her. Nor any explanation about why she was swimming nude.
The current record for the women's 100-meter freestyle is below 52 seconds.
Hobbs Daily News-Sun - Feb 19, 1967
Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 17, 2021 -
Comments (5)
Category: Sports, World Records
Bailey’s Comets
The Wikipedia page.
According to Mark Arnold's book, Think Pink! The Story of DePatie-Freling Productions, producing the show was a nightmare, due to the massive amount of characters. Not only did the series do extremely poorly in the ratings, it got so costly to produce it nearly broke the studio, curtailing production for that year.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Aug 08, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Fads, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Sports, Cartoons, 1970s
People Catchers
People Catchers = Fishing lures excised from impaled anglers.Displays of them are on view at several hospitals in Wisconsin. More info: Catholic Health World
image source: reddit
Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 03, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Medicine, Sports
Beauty Knows No Pain
A species of Independence Day-style patriotism--I guess.
You will learn of this miraculous slogan around the 11-minute mark.
The Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jul 04, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Regionalism, Sports, Sex Symbols, 1970s, Attractiveness, Sexiness, Allure and Personal Magnetism
Death by golf and peacocks
Oct 1951: Edward Harrison died in a freak golf accident, by managing to stab himself in the leg with a broken club. As he lay bleeding to death, he screamed for help. "Two other golfers said they twice heard screams, but thought they were the cries of peacocks from a peacock farm."
Deseret News - Oct 9, 1951
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jun 25, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Death, Sports, 1950s
The Talking Fish Lure
Ads for the "Talking Fish Lure" began to appear in papers in 1959. They promised that, thanks to this new talking lure, fishermen would be guaranteed to catch fish:
The Vancouver Province - May 30, 1959
Eight years later, the promoter of the lure was indicted on 60 counts of mail fraud. From the New York Daily News (May 12, 1967):
Named in the indictment was Monroe Caine, 38, of 222 Daisy Farms Drive, Scarsdale, described as an advertising man and mail order promoter whose ads for a "remarkable European talking fish lure" ran July 19, 1964, in newspapers across the country.
The jurors, who were shown the ads, found the whole thing somewhat fishy, especially after being told that fishermen who sent in $1.98 or $2.49 for the lure got either a worthless gadget or nothing in return.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jun 16, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Frauds, Cons and Scams, Sports, Fish, 1950s, 1960s
The First Earth Run
First Earth Run: A Catalyst for Hope from Gail Straub & David Gershon on Vimeo.
This large event seems to have vanished from 2021 memory--at least judging by the paucity of Google references, most of which are for the accompanying song that was created for the occasion (below). One thing we can affirm: it did not bring Peace on Earth.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jun 16, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Fads, Music, Sports, Travel, International Cooperation, Global Events and Planetary-scale Happenings, 1980s
Two-Handed Bowling
"the new young players are going into two-handed [bowling]."What will those crazy youngsters think of next?
via Book of Joe
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jun 13, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Sports
Learn To Ski
Released in 1960, this record promised to teach you how to ski in the comfort of your home.In this record Réal Charette has presumed that the student, whether teenager or adult, has never skied before. He has taken the ski techniques one at a time—kick turn, straight running, snow plow, stem christie, Walden and explained each in turn. He starts with the proper selection of equipment, explained basic and advanced ski techniques and ends with safety hints of value to every skier.
image source: discogs.com
I couldn't find any clips from the record online, but I did find a video from 1953 featuring Réal Charette.
Posted By: Alex - Fri May 28, 2021 -
Comments (3)
Category: Sports, 1960s
Max Patkin, Baseball Clown
His Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 26, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Humor, Sports, Twentieth Century
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