February 2019
February 8, 2019
Name That List, #55
What is this a list of? The answer is below in extended.- a red football on a conveyor belt
- a pair of gumboots
- an electric train
- a randomly moving robot carrying a lighted candle
- handlers wearing yellow jackets and constantly honking horns
- a plastic milk bottle mounted over the engine of a toy electric train
- a woman named Mia
- the sound of radio static
- a bouncy rubber ball
- a rotating stuffed jungle fowl
More in extended >>
Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 08, 2019 -
Comments (5)
Category: Name That List
The Garbage Pail Kids Movie
The Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Feb 08, 2019 -
Comments (2)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Antisocial Activities, Bums, Hobos, Tramps, Beggars, Panhandlers and Other Streetpeople, Disasters, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Movies, 1980s, Fictional Monsters
February 7, 2019
Doomsday Club
Back in 1975, $12,800 could have bought you membership in a “doomsday club.” Come doomsday, this would have allowed you to hide out in a secret, well-supplied location in northern California — where you’d be safe from rioters, zombies, etc.I wouldn't be surprised if the doomsday retreat hasn't burned down with all the recent fires.
Newport News Daily Press - May 25, 1975
Posted By: Alex - Thu Feb 07, 2019 -
Comments (5)
Category: Armageddon and Apocalypses, 1970s
Follies of the Madmen #411
Surreal pajama ad from armaments manufacturer.
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 07, 2019 -
Comments (5)
Category: Business, Advertising, Fashion, Surrealism, 1940s
February 6, 2019
Nenana Ice Classic
Every year since 1917 the folks up in Nenana, Alaska have been placing bets on when the ice in the Tanana River will break up. They place a tripod out on the frozen river in February, and when the tripod moves downstream far enough to break the cord attached to it, the river ice is officially considered broken up.You can place bets by mail, and could win as much as $300,000 (depending on how many people enter the contest). Proceeds go to charity. $2.50 per guess.
Details at NenanaIceClassic.com
The past winning times:
Posted By: Alex - Wed Feb 06, 2019 -
Comments (4)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests
Chester Greenwood, Inventor of Earmuffs
Article source.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Feb 06, 2019 -
Comments ()
Category: Inventions, Regionalism, Nineteenth Century, Head
February 5, 2019
Least Successful Author
William A. Gold of Australia had the dubious distinction of being named the least successful writer ever in the 1975 edition of the Guinness Book of Records. To my knowledge, Guinness never awarded this record to anyone else.Gold gained the title because, as of 1975, he had written at least eight novels and 100 short stories, but none of them had been published, despite his best efforts. His writing had only ever earned him 50 cents from an article published in the Canberra News.
I've only been able to find the titles of two of Gold's book. One of them was John Lewis Seeks a Mission, which he submitted to the Adelaide Advertiser $2000 Literary Competition in 1966. (Obviously, he didn't win.) The other was One Best Seller: A Satire on the Publishing Game. The Sydney Morning Herald described this as dealing with "the adventures of author Eric Bellamy, literary agent Lawrence Templeton, and the latter’s attempts to get Bellamy’s novel, Sibelius on Sunday, published." Gold eventually self-published this novel in 1984. (and it's available for purchase from some used book stores in Australia.)
Gold died in 2001, and his collected papers are now stored at the National Library of Australia.
"23-7-87. Mr. Bill Gold, the world's greatest unpublished author, with his own published book, "One Best Seller." No one wants the book." (Getty Images)
"23-7-87. I'm broke, give me ten dollars for two books. This was Mr. Bill Gold as he makes dinner in his small flat in Queanbeyan. He is the world's greatest unpublished author." (Getty Images)
The Montreal Gazette - Feb 9, 1979
Posted By: Alex - Tue Feb 05, 2019 -
Comments (2)
Category: Literature, Books, World Records, 1970s
Artwork Khrushchev Probably Would Not Have Liked 19
Not sure how I'd feel about this sculpture if I were a British woman.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Feb 05, 2019 -
Comments (6)
Category: Art, 1940s, 1950s, Europe, Russia
February 4, 2019
The woman who counted to one million
The great claim to fame of Marva Drew of Waterloo, Iowa was that she typed the numbers one to one million on a manual typewriter. It took her about six years, starting in 1968 and ending in 1974 (although she took several years off in the middle). It totaled 2,473 pages.She explained that she got the idea when she heard that her son’s high school teacher had told him that no one had ever counted to a million, and that anyone who tried would be crazy. So Marva decided she’d do it.
She noted that if someone started at the age of 18, they could conceivably type up to 50 million in their entire life.
Some other info from the Waterloo Courier:
There were physical problems, too. The endless carriage returns caused pains in her wrist, back, and shoulders, and there were swollen fingers, eyestrain, headaches, and insomnia."
Marva Drew poses with the stack of completed pages.
Update: I just recalled that we have another story on WU about someone counting up to one million. It's the case of Henry Parish of Meddybemps, Maine who counted a million peas in one month, back in 1922.
The first and last pages typed.
Waterloo Courier - Dec 5, 1974
Posted By: Alex - Mon Feb 04, 2019 -
Comments (4)
Category: Eccentrics, World Records, 1970s
The Mike Curb Congregation
His Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Feb 04, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Music, 1960s
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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 |
