Weird Universe Archive

February 2020

February 29, 2020

Canned Wheat

In an effort to sell more wheat, the Kansas Wheat Commission invented canned wheat. It began selling it in 1961 under the brand name Redi-Wheat.

By 1963, the product was acknowledged to have been a flop.

Perhaps the problem was that it wasn’t clear what canned wheat was. A kind of oatmeal in a can? I'm not sure. The only description I could find was in an article in the Muscatine Journal (Jan 12, 1962), and it really didn't shed much light on the matter:

This ready-prepared wheat food takes its place in many different dishes from soup to dessert, reports Jewel Graham, Iowa State University extension nutritionist. To use “as is” in place of rice or potatoes, simply heat it in a little water for a few minutes before serving.


Emporia Gazette - Feb 23, 1961



Council Grove Republican - Feb 22, 1961
(Note the caption names all the men in the photo, but purposefully excludes the two female employees)

Posted By: Alex - Sat Feb 29, 2020 - Comments (10)
Category: Food, 1960s

Interama

A Utopian project in Miami that never materialized.

Wikipedia article here.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Feb 29, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Architecture, Fairs, Amusement Parks, and Resorts, Government, Regionalism, 1960s

February 28, 2020

Whose fault is it when your husband is cross at breakfast?

Answer (according to 1920's ad men): It's the wife's fault for serving him coffee or tea.

Strange, because I'm pretty crabby in the morning if I don't have coffee.

The Helena Star - Oct 6, 1921

Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 28, 2020 - Comments (4)
Category: Advertising, Husbands, Wives, 1920s

Grins & Smiles & Giggles & Laughs

Posted By: Paul - Fri Feb 28, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Food, Humor, 1970s

February 27, 2020

PPPPPPPPPP

Rumors of the existence of an organization with these initials have been circulating for decades. It's said to stand for the Pan-American Protective Program for the Prevention of People Putting Parsley on Potatoes in Public Places.

Variations on the name do exist, such as the Society for the Prevention of People Putting Parsley on People’s Plates in Prominent Public Places.

Oakland Tribune - Sep 9, 1941



Pittsburgh Post Gazette - Mar 18, 1939

Posted By: Alex - Thu Feb 27, 2020 - Comments (3)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations

House Music



Posted By: Paul - Thu Feb 27, 2020 - Comments (1)
Category: Eccentrics, Inventions, Music

February 26, 2020

Hair Freezing Contest

Ever since 2011, the Takhini Hot Pools in the Yukon have hosted a Hair Freezing Contest. More details and pics at hairfreezingcontest.com.



Posted By: Alex - Wed Feb 26, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, Hair and Hairstyling

Mystery Illustration 93

This man is the son of one of the superstar actors of the twentieth century. Without googling, just by resemblance, can you say who the father was?

Answer is here.

And after the jump.



More in extended >>

Posted By: Paul - Wed Feb 26, 2020 - Comments (4)
Category: Movies, Children, Parents, Twentieth Century

February 25, 2020

CheeSweet—Swiss Cheese Candy

Wisconsin lumberman Stuart Stebbings wanted to be able to eat candy. But being diabetic, he couldn’t. So, in the mid-1950s he invented “cheese candy,” in which much of the sugar was replaced by cheese. Specifically, Swiss Cheese. He marketed it as CheeSweet. His advertising described the flavor as “delightfully different.”

Apparently the American public didn’t take to it, because by 1960 Stebbing’s CheeSweet Company had declared bankruptcy.

The In Too Deep blog notes that CheeSweet did, however, achieve a minor form of literary fame, in that it was mentioned by John Steinbeck in his 1962 book “Travels with Charley: In Search of America.” Steinbeck wrote:

I don’t know whether or not Wisconsin has a cheese-tasting festival, but I who am a lover of cheese believe it should. Cheese was everywhere, cheese centers, cheese cooperatives, cheese stores and stands, perhaps even cheese ice cream. I can believe anything, since I saw a score of signs advertising Swiss Cheese Candy. It is sad that I didn’t stop to sample Swiss Cheese Candy. Now I can’t persuade anyone that it exists, that I did not make it up.



Twin Falls Times-News - Aug 31, 1958

Posted By: Alex - Tue Feb 25, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Candy, 1950s

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