Weird Universe Blog — February 5, 2024
Promoting English Wine
Aug 1985: Four British ex-servicemen, all missing both their legs, embarked on a tour of France to promote English wines. Their motto: "You don't have to be legless to enjoy English wine."Some explanation may be needed for Americans. 'Legless' is British slang for 'very drunk.'
London Daily Telegraph - Aug 10, 1985
Posted By: Alex - Mon Feb 05, 2024 -
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Category: Inebriation and Intoxicants | 1980s | United Kingdom | Legs
Mabel the Lush
The artist.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Feb 05, 2024 -
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Category: Addictions | Alcohol | Music | 1940s
February 4, 2024
Miss Fluffy Rice
She was an animated corporate mascot, but her name also alluded to all the "miss" titles popular at the time. Thankfully the ad men didn't put her in a bikini. Though she is topless, which is a bit risqué.
Ladies' Home Journal - Feb 1962
Oakdale Journal - Sep 10, 1959
Posted By: Alex - Sun Feb 04, 2024 -
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Category: Advertising | Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings | 1960s
The Fat Roller
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Feb 04, 2024 -
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Category: Body Modifications | Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil | 1910s
February 3, 2024
“Tomorrow’s bombs will destroy fires”
Unfortunately, Seagram's got this prediction totally wrong. Forest fires are now a far bigger problem than they were in the 1940s.
Newsweek - Aug 14, 1944
Posted By: Alex - Sat Feb 03, 2024 -
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Category: 1940s | Yesterday’s Tomorrows
Roll Rock ‘n Roll That Hula Hoop
The creators.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Feb 03, 2024 -
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Category: Fads | Music | Toys | Twins, Lookalikes & Doppelgangers | 1960s
February 2, 2024
Craved for Liquor from Compass
Gloucestershire Echo - June 21, 1949
Birmingham Post - Sep 10, 1951
Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 02, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Inebriation and Intoxicants
Deranged Robot
A 'mentally disturbed' robot at the World Fair in San Diego, 1935/36. A robot provides entertainment at the California Pacific Exposition in San Diego, [but] instead of giving the planned speech, it suddenly began to speak in a boisterous cabaret voice and afterwards emitted the sounds of an orchestra. After a little bewilderment the cause for this 'mental confusion' was discovered: due to a circuit error, the robot had transmitted the program of the exhibition's broadcast station. The photo shows the robot during a thorough inspection of its speech organs and its circuits.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Feb 02, 2024 -
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Category: Robots | Expositions, World Fairs, Celebrations | 1930s | Mental Health and Insanity
February 1, 2024
Hubert the Goober
In the early 1950s, McColl's Fine Foods adopted 'Hubert the Goober' as the mascot for its peanut butter. But by the late 1950s, it had dropped him.Thanks to Hubert, I just learned that a 'goober' originally meant a peanut before it came to mean a foolish person. Apparently it's a Southern term. Maybe that's the reason Hubert didn't last long as a corporate mascot. McColl's was a Canadian company, and how many people in Canada would have known that a goober was a peanut?
More info: A Legume With Many Names: The Story Of 'Goober'; Historical Information Service
Vancouver Sun - Apr 21, 1951
image source: eBay Canada
Posted By: Alex - Thu Feb 01, 2024 -
Comments (9)
Category: Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings | 1950s
You Are All Alone
Several famous works of science fiction, horror and fantasy play with the solipsistic notion that only certain individuals are "real," while the rest of the world is fake. One of the best such tales is Fritz Leiber's highly recommended "You're All Alone," depicted below.
But it seems weird for an ad campaign to promote such a notion, as Van Heusen shirts did in the late 60's. A critical survey explains:
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 01, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Fashion | Paranoia, Suspicion, Solipsism, and Non-Player Characters | Advertising | 1960s
