Weird Universe Archive

September 2024

September 30, 2024

The Cat Hat of Kate Fearing Strong

In 1883, William and Alva Vanderbilt spent $250,000 to throw a fancy dress ball. That's the equivalent of around $6 million in today's money. The most memorable outfit was worn by Kate Fearing Strong. Her nickname was 'Puss', so she came dressed as a cat. As reported by the New York Times:

New York Times - Mar 27, 1883


The cats on her dress and hat were real cats — skinned and taxidermied.

More info: "Vanderbilt Ball: How a costume ball changed New York elite society"

Kate Fearing Strong wearing her cat hat

Posted By: Alex - Mon Sep 30, 2024 - Comments (4)
Category: Headgear, Cats, Nineteenth Century

Follies of the Madmen #607

Next time a female police officer stops you, ask if she's wearing Eiderlon panties.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Sep 30, 2024 - Comments (1)
Category: Fashion, Underwear, Advertising, 1960s

September 29, 2024

Secrets of Successful Varmint Calling

Secrets of Successful Varmint Calling, by Johnny Stewart, was released in 1967. I could only find a brief clip from it, but I pasted an article below with some more tips on varmint calling.

Here in Phoenix you don't need any special trick to find varmints (aka coyotes). Just go for a walk in the early morning and you're bound to see one.





Fort Worth Star-Telegram - Aug 5, 1984

Posted By: Alex - Sun Sep 29, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Hunting, Trapping and Other Wilderness Activities, Vinyl Albums and Other Media Recordings, 1960s

Clamp for Male Urinary Incontinence

I think you could substitute something like this from the hardware store.

Full patent here.









Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 29, 2024 - Comments (1)
Category: Hygiene, Technology, 1950s, Men

September 28, 2024

The League of Honest Coffee Lovers

The Pan-American Coffee Bureau was a marketing organization that represented coffee growers from Central and South America. In 1959, it created and promoted the "League of Honest Coffee Lovers." This was a pseudo-grassroots league of Americans rallying to demand stronger coffee.

Apparently American coffee had been getting weaker and weaker. In 1950 it was common for restaurants to brew 46 cups from a pound of coffee. By 1959, by adding more water, they were getting 64 cups from a pound. The Pan-American Coffee Bureau wanted to stop this trend.

The League of Honest Coffee Lovers was, itself, just a flash in the pan. But the Pan-American Coffee Bureau had a huge influence on American coffee culture. It's credited with creating the term "coffee break" and getting lots of people to take them. It popularized the year-round drinking of iced coffee. And ultimately it did get Americans drinking stronger coffee.

More info: Lens Coffee

Life - Jan 11, 1960



Those who agreed with the goals of the League of Honest Coffee Lovers could send away and get a certificate of membership.



Posted By: Alex - Sat Sep 28, 2024 - Comments (4)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Advertising, Coffee and other Legal Stimulants, 1950s

September 27, 2024

The effect of humming on vision

A Dec 1967 article ("Effect of humming on vision") by William Rushton in the journal Nature reported that:

Humming causes the eye to vibrate and this can produce a strobo-scopic effect when a rotating black and white strobe disk is viewed in non-fluctuating light.

I'm sure that's interesting, but it's a response to Rushton's article published four months later that I find more interesting. A former member of the Air Training Corps described how it was possible, by humming (or rather, "purring"), to make your head vibrate such that, when looking at a spinning propeller, the propeller would seem to stop in mid-air. By increasing or decreasing the intensity of humming/purring, one could then determine in which direction the propeller was rotating.

I haven't tested this out to see if it works, but if any of you do have a chance to test it out, please report back with your results.

Nature - Apr 20, 1968

Posted By: Alex - Fri Sep 27, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Science, Air Travel and Airlines, 1960s, Eyes and Vision

John F. Dreyer, Three-Dee Glasses Tycoon







Posted By: Paul - Fri Sep 27, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Inventions, Patents, Movies, 1950s

September 26, 2024

Teflon as a weight-loss aid

A 2016 article in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology ("Polytetrafluoroethylene Ingestion as a Way to Increase Food Volume and Hence Satiety Without Increasing Calorie Content") proposed using Teflon as a weight-loss aid. The idea was to add powdered Teflon to food in order to bulk up the food's volume without adding calories. From the article:

PTFE, a plastic commonly known as Teflon®, can be used to supplement volume in the diet by mixing the raw material (virgin PTFE powder) into food. Because PTFE is heat resistant, its mixing into food can take place before or after cooking. PTFE is soft and contributes no flavor (evident by its use in tongue piercings) and hence does not detract from the eating experience. It is also resistant to the strongest acids (PTFE containers are used industrially for storing acids) and therefore will not be degraded by stomach acid. It is extremely inert (widely considered to be the most inert material known) so it will not react within the body. It has a low coefficient of friction so that it will not scratch the lining of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract during transport. Because of its chemical and physical properties and long history of use and contact with humans, PTFE is widely considered a very safe material. It is extensively used in medical devices (for instance, a large portion of the artificial blood vessel grafts that have been successfully implanted into people for decades are made from pure PTFE). For these reasons, PTFE is an ideal material for use as a nonmetabolized food volume bulking agent.

Maybe they're right about the harmless effects of ingesting Teflon, but it sure would be an uphill battle to convince the public of this given the widespread concern about ingesting Teflon from scratched pans. The manufacturer of Teflon briefly addresses this concern on the Teflon.com website:

Myth: I'm still not convinced that particles of nonstick coating won't come off during cooking and get into my food.

Fact: Particles from Teflon™ nonstick coatings are not harmful, even if ingested.

via New Scientist

Posted By: Alex - Thu Sep 26, 2024 - Comments (4)
Category: Science, Dieting and Weight Loss

Dis-Gorilla



Posted By: Paul - Thu Sep 26, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Fads, Fey, Twee, Whimsical, Naive and Sadsack, Music, 1970s

Page 1 of 6 pages  1 2 3 >  Last ›




Get WU Posts by Email

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner


weird universe thumbnail
Who We Are
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
Monthly Archives
October 2024 •  September 2024 •  August 2024 •  July 2024 •  June 2024 •  May 2024 •  April 2024 •  March 2024 •  February 2024 •  January 2024

December 2023 •  November 2023 •  October 2023 •  September 2023 •  August 2023 •  July 2023 •  June 2023 •  May 2023 •  April 2023 •  March 2023 •  February 2023 •  January 2023

December 2022 •  November 2022 •  October 2022 •  September 2022 •  August 2022 •  July 2022 •  June 2022 •  May 2022 •  April 2022 •  March 2022 •  February 2022 •  January 2022

December 2021 •  November 2021 •  October 2021 •  September 2021 •  August 2021 •  July 2021 •  June 2021 •  May 2021 •  April 2021 •  March 2021 •  February 2021 •  January 2021

December 2020 •  November 2020 •  October 2020 •  September 2020 •  August 2020 •  July 2020 •  June 2020 •  May 2020 •  April 2020 •  March 2020 •  February 2020 •  January 2020

December 2019 •  November 2019 •  October 2019 •  September 2019 •  August 2019 •  July 2019 •  June 2019 •  May 2019 •  April 2019 •  March 2019 •  February 2019 •  January 2019

December 2018 •  November 2018 •  October 2018 •  September 2018 •  August 2018 •  July 2018 •  June 2018 •  May 2018 •  April 2018 •  March 2018 •  February 2018 •  January 2018

December 2017 •  November 2017 •  October 2017 •  September 2017 •  August 2017 •  July 2017 •  June 2017 •  May 2017 •  April 2017 •  March 2017 •  February 2017 •  January 2017

December 2016 •  November 2016 •  October 2016 •  September 2016 •  August 2016 •  July 2016 •  June 2016 •  May 2016 •  April 2016 •  March 2016 •  February 2016 •  January 2016

December 2015 •  November 2015 •  October 2015 •  September 2015 •  August 2015 •  July 2015 •  June 2015 •  May 2015 •  April 2015 •  March 2015 •  February 2015 •  January 2015

December 2014 •  November 2014 •  October 2014 •  September 2014 •  August 2014 •  July 2014 •  June 2014 •  May 2014 •  April 2014 •  March 2014 •  February 2014 •  January 2014

December 2013 •  November 2013 •  October 2013 •  September 2013 •  August 2013 •  July 2013 •  June 2013 •  May 2013 •  April 2013 •  March 2013 •  February 2013 •  January 2013

December 2012 •  November 2012 •  October 2012 •  September 2012 •  August 2012 •  July 2012 •  June 2012 •  May 2012 •  April 2012 •  March 2012 •  February 2012 •  January 2012

December 2011 •  November 2011 •  October 2011 •  September 2011 •  August 2011 •  July 2011 •  June 2011 •  May 2011 •  April 2011 •  March 2011 •  February 2011 •  January 2011

December 2010 •  November 2010 •  October 2010 •  September 2010 •  August 2010 •  July 2010 •  June 2010 •  May 2010 •  April 2010 •  March 2010 •  February 2010 •  January 2010

December 2009 •  November 2009 •  October 2009 •  September 2009 •  August 2009 •  July 2009 •  June 2009 •  May 2009 •  April 2009 •  March 2009 •  February 2009 •  January 2009

December 2008 •  November 2008 •  October 2008 •  September 2008 •  August 2008 •  July 2008 •