Weird Universe Archive

January 2022

January 31, 2022

Wine Bottle Dust

A gag gift sold to wine lovers back in 1979.

Given how many wineries, with attached gift shops, have sprung up in the past twenty years, I think this would sell even better today. An opportunity awaits for an entrepreneur.

Alexandria Town Talk - Apr 19, 1979



Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 31, 2022 - Comments (3)
Category: Imitations, Forgeries, Rip-offs and Faux, Inebriation and Intoxicants, 1970s

January 30, 2022

Care Bear Abuse

Feb 1987: Wanting to do something special for her son, Jeania Denny wore a Care Bear costume to his school on Valentine's Day. However, she soon found herself being violently attacked by a crowd of sixth-graders. Said Denny, "I kept yelling at them to stop, that they were hurting me, but the more I yelled the more they attacked."

I've heard reports of children (and adults) at Disney theme parks hitting the costumed characters, which seems similar to what happened to Jeania Denny. In the minds of the children, the costume must dehumanize the wearer, which then makes it seem okay to hit them.

Tampa Bay Times - Feb 17, 1987



I'm guessing this was the type of costume that Denny was wearing:

Posted By: Alex - Sun Jan 30, 2022 - Comments (6)
Category: Violence, Psychology, 1980s

The Golden Age of Patents

Alex is a master at finding oddball inventions that received a patent. Surely one of his spiritual ancestors must have been Wallace Peck, who did a humorous book that imagined such inventions.

You can read the whole text here.



Posted By: Paul - Sun Jan 30, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Humor, Inventions, Patents, Books, Nineteenth Century

January 29, 2022

First Pig To Fly

In 1909, a pig (subsequently named Icarus) became the first pig to fly in an airplane.

However, as far as I know a pig has never gone beyond the atmosphere into space. I know this because I once briefly had the idea of writing a book titled Pigs in Space about the history of animals in space. But I abandoned the idea when I couldn't find any record of pigs in space. The closest I found was when, in 2005, the Chinese sent some pig sperm into space. I didn't think Pig Sperm in Space would work as a title.

More info about the flying pig: londonist.com



image source: waymarking.com



Saskatoon Star-Phoenix - Nov 25, 1909

Posted By: Alex - Sat Jan 29, 2022 - Comments (5)
Category: Animals, Air Travel and Airlines, 1900s

January 28, 2022

The Comparative Grossness of Snot-Eating

In her 2007 article "Eating Snot - Socially Unacceptable but Common: Why?", Spanish researcher Maria Jesus Portalatin posed the question of why french kissing is considered less gross than eating one's own snot:

As I have already observed, I found hardly any articles written about 'snot eaters'. So I resorted to asking children and adults directly about this 'transgressional' behaviour. I questioned ten adults, aged twenty to sixty, five men and five women. When asked, 'Do you pick your nose and eat the snot?' all the adults emphatically answered that they did not, showing aversion at the idea. However, when asked, 'Do you kiss your partner introducing your tongue into his/her mouth?' the answer was absolutely affirmative and it was accompanied by positive remarks. Clearly these responses relate to what are considered to be appropriate answers in relation to socially acceptable norms. Isn't consuming another person's saliva more disgusting than picking one's own nose and eating the snot? I wonder.

She seems to imply that french kissing is actually grosser than snot-eating.

Later, in the same article, she explains the appeal of snot-eating:

It should not be forgotten that among human preferences concerning food texture, crunchiness is highly significant, and as regards flavours, salty and sweet tasted are the favourite ones. It so happens that dry nasal exudations possess both characteristics, as well as proteins and traces of lipids.

Her article can be found in the book Consuming the Inedible: Neglected Dimensions of Food Choice, which you can read on loan from archive.org.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Jan 28, 2022 - Comments (4)
Category: Body Fluids, Nausea, Revulsion and Disgust

The Unisphere Hairdo

Rival strippers with the same "unique" hairdo! I predict a catfight!



Stylist John Fonda finishes up the stripper Ecstasy's new look -- "The Unisphere Hairdo" -- inspired by the official symbol of the New York World's Fair of 1964.




Ann Corio, star of "This Was Burlesque", watches in the mirror as stylist John Fonda puts the finishing touches on "The Unisphere Hairdo", inspired by the official symbol of the 1964 NY World's Fair.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 28, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Burlesque, Exotic Dancing, Stripping and Other Forms of Staged Nakedness, 1960s, Hair and Hairstyling

January 27, 2022

Sheep-Face Pizza

Worst pizza ever?

It was on the menu of an Icelandic pizzeria in honor of "farmer's day" (Jan 21). More info: grapevine.is

Posted By: Alex - Thu Jan 27, 2022 - Comments (2)
Category: Food, Junk Food

Follies of the Madmen #524


Posted By: Paul - Thu Jan 27, 2022 - Comments (0)
Category: Robots, Technology, Advertising, Cats, Asia, Pregnancy

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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.

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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.

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