April 2024
April 5, 2024
Miss Gary Cigaret
In 1944, a newspaper in Gary, Indiana held a beauty contest to select a "Miss Gary Cigaret." The public were encouraged to vote, with each vote costing five cents. All the funds raised would be used to send cigarettes to American soldiers.Over $15,000 was eventually raised, which was able to buy six million cigarettes (or 300,000 packs).
The contest winner, Irene Kuchta, got to model a bathing suit made of cigarettes.
Vidette-Messenger of Porter County - Sep 22, 1944
Windsor Star - Sep 9, 1944
Posted By: Alex - Fri Apr 05, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Fashion, Smoking and Tobacco, 1940s
Ornamental Ash Tray
The entire patent, figure and text, is given below. How I wish the inventor had gone on at length about his design.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Apr 05, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Obscenity, Patents, Smoking and Tobacco, 1940s
April 4, 2024
By 2531 everyone in Japan will be named Sato
Japanese demographics professor Hiroshi Yoshida has warned that by 2531 everyone in Japan will have the last name 'Sato'.Why? Because a) Sato is the most common last name in Japan, and b) Japanese law requires that married couples use the same last name. Because Japanese women almost always take their husband's name, this means that the surname 'Sato' is slowly crowding out all other names.
From the Guardian:
The Think Name Project is promoting Professor Yoshida's research as a way to gain support for ending Japan's law requiring couples to have the same surname.
More info: spoon-tamago.com/
Posted By: Alex - Thu Apr 04, 2024 -
Comments (3)
Category: Odd Names, Predictions, Science, Asia
Follies of the Madmen #591
It's hard to remember a time when Lambchop could serve as a role model. Certainly the puppet was abetted by Shari Lewis being so gorgeous.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Apr 04, 2024 -
Comments (0)
Category: Puppets and Automatons, Advertising, Children, Twentieth Century
April 3, 2024
Journal of Universal Rejection
Similar in spirit to the Society for the Prevention of Progress.
via Book of Joe
Posted By: Alex - Wed Apr 03, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Magazines, Success & Failure
The Language and Music of the Wolves
Don't play this while your dog is listening!The first video is Redford's speech; the second is the calls.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 03, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Vinyl Albums and Other Media Recordings, 1970s, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults
April 2, 2024
Mr. Coffee Nerves
On a mission to wreck marriages and destroy romance by promoting the consumption of coffee.Personally, I need my morning coffee before I'm at all sociable.
(click images to enlarge)
Spokesman Review - Jan 16, 1949
Boston Globe - Sep 11, 1949
Posted By: Alex - Tue Apr 02, 2024 -
Comments (3)
Category: Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, Coffee and other Legal Stimulants, 1940s
The Straw Hat Riots of 1922
Allow me to quote at length from Wikipedia. But visit that page for even more details.The Straw Hat Riot of 1922 was a riot that occurred in New York City at the end of summer as a result of unwritten rules in men's fashions at the time, and a tradition of taunting people who had failed to stop wearing straw hats after autumn began. Originating as a series of minor riots, it spread due to men wearing straw hats past the unofficial date that was deemed socially acceptable, September 15. It lasted eight days, leading to many arrests and some injuries.... By the early 20th century, straw boaters were considered acceptable day attire in North American cities at the height of summer even for businessmen, but there was an unwritten rule that one was not supposed to wear a straw hat past September 15 (which was known as "Felt Hat Day").[1] This date was arbitrary; earlier it had been September 1, but it eventually shifted to mid-month. It was socially acceptable for stockbrokers to destroy each other's hats, due to the fact that they were “companions”,[2] but it was not acceptable for total strangers. If any man was seen wearing a straw hat, he was, at minimum, subjecting himself to ridicule, and it was a tradition for youths to knock straw hats off wearers' heads and stomp on them.[3] This tradition became well established, and newspapers of the day would often warn people of the impending approach of the fifteenth, when men would have to switch to felt or silk hats.[4] Hat bashing was only socially acceptable after September 15, but there were multiple occasions leading up to this date where the police had to intervene and stop teenagers.[2] The riot itself began on September 13, 1922, two days before the supposed unspoken date, when a group of youths decided to get an early jump on the tradition.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 02, 2024 -
Comments (3)
Category: Customs, Riots, Protests and Civil Disobedience, Headgear, 1920s, Pranks
April 1, 2024
Stocking-Repairing Beetle
The "Aprilscherz" (April Fool) of an unnamed German magazine, as reported in Life (Apr 4, 1938):
Posted By: Alex - Mon Apr 01, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Holidays, Insects and Spiders, 1930s
Peanut Butter with No Jelly Candy Bar
Any product endorsed by Vincent Price is aces with me.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 01, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Advertising, Candy, 1970s
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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 |
