Weird Universe Archive
January 2022
January 26, 2022
Toothache-Killer Cigarettes
Los Angeles Times - Aug 12, 1991
A search of the patent records turned up a 1994 Chinese patent (CN1106283A) for these 'toothache-killer cigarettes':
The toothache cigarette is prepared from paniculate swallowwort root, dahurian angelica root, asarum herb, European verbena verb, turtle shell, honeycomb and tobacco shreds through mixing and grinding the first six, mixing with tobacco shreds, rolling into cigarettes or loading in sealed box or bag. Smoking it can immediately stop toothache with effective rate of 98% as the active components in Chinese-medicinal materials are released when heated.
I wonder what happens if you smoke them when you don't have a toothache. Would your mouth go numb?
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 26, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Patents, Smoking and Tobacco, Teeth
Robert Mitchum Sings
Add Mitchum to our list of "singing actors who probably should have stuck to acting."
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 26, 2022 -
Comments (4)
Category: Crime, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Movies, Music, 1950s, Alcohol, Cars
January 25, 2022
Judge’s wife serves as juror in his court
This was legal???
Macon Chronicle-Herald - Sep 8, 1989
Apparently so. Some googling reveals that this situation seems to happen fairly regularly.
Most recently, there was the case of Judge Thomas Ensor of Colorado whose wife served as a juror in his court. During the trial the judge repeatedly cracked jokes about the presence of his wife, such as, "Be nice to Juror 25. My dinner is on the line."
Inevitably the case was appealed, but in June 2020 the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that it was legal for Ensor's wife to be on the jury, noting that the defense lawyer could have objected to her sitting as a juror, but didn't. (Though the defense lawyer had said that he was afraid to challenge her.)
More info: ABA Journal
Posted By: Alex - Tue Jan 25, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Law, Judges
The 1000-Mile Courtroom
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 25, 2022 -
Comments (5)
Category: Eccentrics, Law, Money, Outrageous Excess, Police and Other Law Enforcement, 1950s, Cars
January 24, 2022
Miss Celestial Airwaves of the Pacific
Dionne Wheeler won the title of "Miss Celestial Airwaves of the Pacific" sight unseen. She was selected by members of the Coast Guard weather patrol based "solely on descriptions of airline hostesses furnished by their pilot via radio".
Coast Guard Bulletin - Feb 1952
She also achieved minor fame in another way. The character of the stewardess named Spalding in Ernie Gann's 1953 bestseller The High and the Mighty (and subsequent 1954 film adaptation) was based on her.
The High and the Mighty was one of the first aviation disaster movies and served as one of the inspirations for 1980's Airplane!
Wheeler (right) on the set of The High and the Mighty
Left: actress Doe Avedon; middle: Director William Wellman
Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 24, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Movies, Air Travel and Airlines, 1950s
Mobile Irish Pub
Unlike Alex's pub patent puritans, these guys endorse wide pub access!BOSTON GLOBE article here (possible paywall).
Contact for rentals.
Their Instagram page.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 24, 2022 -
Comments (7)
Category: Hobbies and DIY, Regionalism, Bars, Saloons, Pubs, and Other Drinking Establishments, Alcohol
January 23, 2022
45 Jobs in 45 States
In January 1939, Lyra Ferguson of Missouri left her job as a church secretary and took off on a tour of the United States. Her goal was to spend a week working in all 48 states. Alaska and Hawaii weren't yet states, so she didn't have to worry about those. She was equipped with only "a new automobile, a small wardrobe, a little pistol and $200." I'm not sure of her exact age, but news reports said she was "over 40."She made advance plans to secure a job in a handful of states, but mostly she just arrived and tried to find employment. She also tried to find jobs in industries that seemed representative of each state.
Ultimately she managed to find one-week jobs in 45 states but failed to get work in New York, Nevada, or Arizona.
Her plan had been to write a book about her adventures, but in a later interview she said her attempt at a book was "terrible." So that plan fell through.
However, she did take film footage of her entire journey and later edited this together into a movie which she showed to various groups. Unfortunately I can't find any evidence that this movie still exists.
Below is a list of her jobs in 42 states. I couldn't find any info about her jobs in Arkansas, Colorado, or West Virginia.
- Alabama: performed at the assembly exercises of the Tuskegee Institute
- California: worked for an overall company at the San Francisco fair
- Connecticut: typewriter factory
- Delaware: tanned kid skins in a tannery
- Florida: packed oranges
- Georgia: cafeteria
- Idaho: dug potatoes
- Illinois: made wax fruits and flowers
- Indiana: manufactured refrigerators
- Iowa: pen factory
- Kansas: packed dog food
- Kentucky: ironed shirts in a laundromat
- Louisiana: packed shrimp
- Maine: helped out in a lighthouse
- Maryland: tea packing factory
- Massachusetts: served as attendant in an insane asylum
- Michigan: maid on a Great Lakes steamer during tulip festival
- Minnesota: sewed buttons on suits
- Mississippi: shucked oysters
- Missouri: social hostess at a hotel
- Montana: cooked on a dude ranch
- Nebraska: booked well-known artists for an agency
- New Hampshire: paper factory
- New Jersey: cosmetics factory
- New Mexico: sewed labels on ties made by Native Americans
- North Carolina: weaved homespun suiting
- North Dakota: picked chickens
- Ohio: worked in the printing room of a newspaper
- Oklahoma: wiped windshields at a gas station
- Oregon: packed salmon
- Pennsylvania: made chocolate candy at Hersheys
- Rhode Island: baking powder factory
- South Carolina: textile industry
- South Dakota: took pictures of the Black Hills for the association of commerce
- Tennessee: washed turnip greens
- Texas: delivered packages during the Christmas holidays
- Utah: wove blankets in a woolen mill
- Vermont: helped make maple syrup
- Virginia: weighed peanuts
- Washington: worked at a general store in a logging camp
- Wisconsin: milked cows for a dairy
- Wyoming: worked at Yellowstone
Pittsburgh Press - Dec 24, 1939
Weekly Kansas City Star - May 8, 1940
Sedalia Democrat - Sep 23, 1941
The only follow-up info I can find about her was that in 1956 she had just returned home from a world tour during which she collected souvenirs from the countries she visited. She obviously really liked to travel!
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jan 23, 2022 -
Comments (9)
Category: Jobs and Occupations, Travel, Tourists and Tourism, 1930s
Grandma Prisbey’s Bottle Village
The official website.Many more pics here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Jan 23, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Architecture, Eccentrics, Regionalism, Twentieth Century
January 22, 2022
Upside-Down Jeans Dress
Turn old jeans upside-down and make them into a dress. I don't see why this idea wouldn't work for any old pair of pants. Though I've never seen anyone wearing a dress like that.Via CoolCreativity.com:
For those who aren't into DIY, ShopBop.com used to sell a similar dress (but using two upside-down jeans instead of one) for $445.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jan 22, 2022 -
Comments (4)
Category: Denim
Miss Striptease
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jan 22, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Sex Symbols, 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 |
