October 2017
October 6, 2017
Miss Most Titles
Actress and singer Janis Paige earned the reputation of having the longest list of 'misses' in show business. Her career as a Miss began at the age of 9 when she was awarded the title of Miss Olive Oyl in a Popeye contest. She went on to be named (among other things) Miss Valley Aviation, Miss National Buddy Poppy, Miss Damsite, Miss Front Paige (named by Boston newspaper editors), Miss Delicious Apples, Miss Best Table Decoration, Miss Atomic Energy, Miss Airmail Parcel Post, and Miss Hollywood Canteen.According to wikipedia, she's currently 95 years old.
Miss Atomic Energy, 1948
Reno Gazette Journal - Apr 14, 1947
Des Moines Register - Jan 16, 1949
Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 06, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, 1940s
Flexiclogs
Hinged, segmented shoe soles. There must be a good reason why this innovation never caught on.Pairs seem to come up for sale on eBay and Etsy if you want to give them a try.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 06, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Fashion, Shoes, Technology, 1950s, Feet
October 5, 2017
Traffic pins with double meanings
From the Feb 1947 issue of Hit Parader magazine. via Kitsch-Slapped.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 05, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Innuendo, Double Entendres, Symbolism, Nudge-Nudge-Wink-Wink and Subliminal Messages, Jewelry, 1940s
Who Was That Masked Lady Composer?
Mlle Duval was an 18th-century female composer whose birth and death dates are unknown, whose first name and backstory are unknown, and yet who had a fairly prominent public career. This is one of those historical incidents that I fancifully attribute to some time traveler having fun.
Her Wikipedia page.
Entry in The Norton/Grove Dictionary of Women Composers.
I can't find any recordings for her online, but she appears on the CD at the link.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 05, 2017 -
Comments (5)
Category: Music, Unexplained Historical Enigmas, Women, Eighteenth Century
October 4, 2017
Notice on CHICAGO TRIBUNE links
Friends--I always delighted in searching the open archives of the CHICAGO TRIBUNE, and finding many items there to highlight on WU, with links back to the source.
This week the formerly open archives went behind a paywall. I understand the economics of it, but I'm still sad.
And of course, the old links won't work now.
Well, it was fun while it lasted...
Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 04, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Journalism, Weird Universe
Tiny Food
Artist Tom Brown creates tiny food in his tiny kitchen. He recently became famous on the Internet when George Takei shared the video below on Facebook, leading to 2.8 million views. Check out Tom's website here.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Oct 04, 2017 -
Comments (4)
Category: Food
Unauthorized Dwellings 3
Posted By: Paul - Wed Oct 04, 2017 -
Comments (1)
Category: Antisocial Activities, Crowds, Groups, Mobs and Other Mass Movements, Police and Other Law Enforcement, Unauthorized Dwellings, 1980s
October 3, 2017
State of Rhode Island
I'm encroaching on Paul's territory here, but I just learned a weird factoid about Rhode Island geography so I thought I'd share. And I'm sure many of you will also know this, but if it was new to me I'm hoping it may be new to a few of you as well.The factoid: Most of Rhode Island is not Rhode Island. It's the Providence Plantations.
Rhode Island's full name is "The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations," which makes it the longest state name in the U.S. But technically, Rhode Island is just a single island in Narragansett Bay. The island is also known as Aquidneck Island. The mainland part of the state is the Providence Plantations.
In 1975, State Sen. Ambrose Campbell introduced a bill to officially shorten the name to "The State of Rhode Island," but the bill didn't pass. So the full, long name remains.
Minneapolis Star Tribune - Apr 10, 1975
Santa Cruz Sentinel - Jul 17, 1975
Posted By: Alex - Tue Oct 03, 2017 -
Comments (3)
Category: Geography and Maps, 1970s
Wild and Wonderful
From the Wikipedia entry:Dick Vosburgh of The Independent commented, "Critics found it hard to accept that it had taken six writers to fashion the wafer-thin tale of a jazz flautist whose marriage to a French film star is threatened by the jealous tricks of Monsieur Cognac, her neurotic, alcoholic French poodle."[5] In his obituary for Tony Curtis in 2010, Dave Kehr dismissed the film as "disastrous," noting that Curtis was rebuilding his reputation after an earlier affair with Kaufmann, his co-star in Wild and Wonderful, and subsequent divorce from Janet Leigh.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Oct 03, 2017 -
Comments (2)
Category: Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Movies, Dogs, 1960s
October 2, 2017
Dating for Under a Dollar
Haven't read the book, but I've got a few ideas. Take your date to the Dollar Store and tell her you'll treat her to any one thing. Or take her to McDonald's and tell her she can get any one thing she wants off the dollar menu.The book itself costs more than a dollar. Available from Amazon.
Posted By: Alex - Mon Oct 02, 2017 -
Comments (7)
Category: Books, Love & Romance
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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 books such as Elephants on Acid. 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. Chuck Shepherd Chuck is the purveyor of News of the Weird, the syndicated column which for decades has set the gold-standard for reporting on oddities and the bizarre. Our banner was drawn by the legendary underground cartoonist Rick Altergott. Contact Us |
