June 2018
June 15, 2018
Cat’s Phee on a Gooseberry Bush
Wikipedia cites a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc called "Cat's Pee on a Gooseberry Bush" as an example of "wine humour." The site notes, "Humour is usually rare in the world of wine, and wine jokes may only be amusing to wine obsessives."Apparently the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms didn't find the name amusing. They forced the maker of the wine to change the name of the U.S. import version to "Cat's Phee on a Gooseberry Bush," which doesn't even make sense.
The 'cat's pee' in the name was a reference to the fact that Sauvignon Blancs are occasionally known to have that scent.
Text from, Drink This: Wine Made Simple by Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl
Posted By: Alex - Fri Jun 15, 2018 -
Comments (3)
Category: Odd Names, Alcohol
The Ant Farm, a Cadillac, and a Wall of Flaming TVs
Wikipedia page for the collective.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jun 15, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Art, Avant Garde, Performance Art, Destruction, Motor Vehicles, Television, 1970s
June 14, 2018
Hat Guard
Back in the day when the theft of hats from hatracks was an ongoing problem, Frank P. Snow of Los Angeles patented this invention designed to inflict pain on any would-be hat thieves.A thief could take the hat, but if he tried to put it on, a "guarding prong" would jab into his skull. The prong locked in place and could only be moved if you knew the code to the combination lock.
Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office - June 2, 1914
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jun 14, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Inventions, Patents, Headgear, 1910s
World Trade Week Queen
...World Trade Week, which begins May 18 and winds up on Harbor Day, following Sunday. Princess Los Angeles will be Miss World Trade Week, the queen. Other girls her honor court. Chosen by Junior Chamber of Commerce of various cities. Left to right: Eloise Koch, World Trade Week Queen, of Los Angeles; Princes Bianca Detert, standing, San Pedro; Jane Stevenson, Princess Wilmington, and Joyce Niederberger, Princess Long Beach.
"The Princess of Los Angeles" or "The Princess of Long Beach" would make great movie titles.
Original photo here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jun 14, 2018 -
Comments (0)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Business, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Regionalism, 1950s
June 13, 2018
Impact Therapy
Shamokin News Dispatch - Aug 31, 1968
LONDON (AP) — Dr. John Tracy says if you can't cure it any other way, hit it.
Tracy explained in today's issue of the Practitioner Medical Journal that he uses sandbags to bash his patients into shape. He calls it "impact therapy."
Tracy says that repeated blows with a 20-pound sandbag, carefully timed and judged, send pressure waves through joints that cure aches and pains.
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jun 13, 2018 -
Comments (5)
Category: Health, Medicine, 1960s
Santa Esmeralda, “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”
How can you resist the thickly accented singer when he bites his lower lip?
Their Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jun 13, 2018 -
Comments (5)
Category: Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Music, Homages, Pastiches, Tributes and Borrowings, Sex Symbols, Foreign Customs, 1970s
June 12, 2018
A long, awkward silence
With the Trump-Kim summit all over the news, this 1969 N.Korea/U.S. meeting seems timely:Back then, an American and North Korean general sat across a table from each other for 11 hours and 35 minutes. For the entire time, no one took a bathroom break or ate, and during the final 4½ hours, no one even spoke. They just stared at each other in silence.
Palladium-Item - Apr 11, 1969
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jun 12, 2018 -
Comments (0)
Category: Politics, 1960s
Anna Halprin
"Since the late 1930s Anna Halprin has been creating revolutionary directions for dance..." The actual "dance" starts at 1:11.
Perhaps, after viewing that, you would like to watch a feature-length documentary on Halprin. It'll cost you $3.99 however, although the trailer is free.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jun 12, 2018 -
Comments (0)
Category: Avant Garde, Dance, Twentieth Century
June 11, 2018
Boned Rolled Pig
WUvie Phideaux sent along another fake vintage ad created by Cris Shapan, who's the reigning master of the genre of fake vintage ads. (About a year ago, a number of us had fun puzzling over another one of Shapan's faux ads. You can check out more of his stuff on his Facebook page.)Arnold Zwicky, on his blog, has analyzed this particular ad in close detail and points out some interesting details, such as that the image of "boned, rolled pig" is actually adapted from an image of rolled, pink fiberglass insulation.
fiberglass insulation
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jun 11, 2018 -
Comments (5)
Category: Advertising
Mystery Gadget 61
What's it do?
The answer is here.
Or after the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jun 11, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Technology, 1950s
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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 |
