1920s
Mystery Gadget 110
What is the purpose of this machine?The answer is here.
Or after the jump.
More in extended >>
Posted By: Paul - Wed May 01, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Technology, 1920s
Dr. MacDonald’s Astrological Dream Book
Read the whole thing here, and see what fate has in store for you!
Posted By: Paul - Sat Apr 20, 2024 -
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Category: Dreams and Nightmares, New Age, Rants, Warnings, Jeremiads, Prophecies and Cassandra-like Figures, Supernatural, Occult, Paranormal, 1920s
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
Dance of the Simpleton
Since the silent dance video has no soundtrack, but is ostensibly meant to be accompanied by a Chopin Waltz, I suggest playing "The Minute Waltz" simultaneously! If you click the dance video, then the music video, they sync up nicely, just like THE DARK SIDE OF THE RAINBOW.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 28, 2024 -
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Category: Eccentrics, Spastic, Uncontrolled, Awkward and Herky-Jerky Movements, 1920s, Dance
That’s a Lot of Lobster Rolls
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Mar 25, 2024 -
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Category: Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Food, Oceans and Maritime Pursuits, 1920s
Anne Carroll Moore and her Doll Nicholas
The famous children's librarian Anne Carroll Moore was wont to tote around a doll named Nicholas and make people interact with it.
She eventually wrote a whole book (300+ pages) about Nicholas: Nicholas: A Manhattan Christmas Story.
You can read the book here.
I have tried in vain to find a real photo of Nicholas. However, here is his depiction from the book.
Posted By: Paul - Tue Mar 05, 2024 -
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Category: Books, Libraries, 1920s, Dolls and Stuffed Animals, Mental Health and Insanity
Special Driver Gloves for Signalling
Full patent here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Mar 02, 2024 -
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Category: Inventions, Patents, Signage, 1920s, Cars
Fatigue Vaccine
I wonder what was this "vaccine against fatigue" that scientists in the 1920s thought they had discovered. Methamphetamine perhaps? I know that the Nazis thought it was an anti-fatigue wonder drug.More info: Robert Armstrong-Jones (wikipedia)
Nottingham Evening Post - Nov 29, 1923
Daily Mirror - Nov 30, 1923
Shreveport Times - Nov 30, 1923
Posted By: Alex - Tue Feb 20, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Science, Sleep and Dreams, 1920s
Konjola
Read the full story here.It was a vegetable concoction with a high alcohol content that could be sold without prescription and gave comfort to many who could not or would not find a bootlegger to ease the strictures of Prohibition.
Konjola sold like bathtub gin in the Roaring Twenties. Gilbert and Roberta started Mosby Medicine by mixing up tubs of Konjola in their basement and bottling it themselves. By 1927, Mosby owned a factory on Reading Road in Avondale and was planning an even bigger complex up the road. Mosby bought a spectacular neon sign, 84 feet long and 32 feet high, to advertise Konjola on the central pier of the Atlantic City boardwalk.
And then it all fell apart.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 29, 2024 -
Comments (2)
Category: Regionalism, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, 1920s, Alcohol
The Far-out Costumes of Dancer Nina Payne
Read her story here.Source of advertisement.
Dancer Nina Payne (USA) Nina Payne doing exercises in the Elizabeth Arden beauty parlor, Paris (to prepare for her performance in the Folies-Bergere) - undated, probably 1925
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jan 20, 2024 -
Comments (1)
Category: Eccentrics, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, 1920s, Dance, Europe
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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, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes. 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. Contact Us |