1940s
Webs In The Wind
Webs in the Wind, published in 1949, is an odd, obscure book. The author, Winifred Duncan, decided that she wanted to learn more about spiders — creatures about which she previously had almost no knowledge.To do so, she caught spiders outside, released them in her house, and then patiently observed their behavior as they went about building webs in her curtains, between pieces of furniture, behind her toilet, etc. Her book is full of illustrations of the spider webs throughout her house.
Only after observing the spiders for months did she start reading any of the existing scientific literature about spiders.
Used copies of her book are quite expensive, starting at around $35. But you can read the entire book for free at the Hathitrust archive.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 28, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Insects and Spiders, Books, 1940s
Wally Cox: Early Standup Act
A weird lateral beginning to what his career would become.
Wally Cox (b.1924 d.1973) He started in nightclubs in 1948 doing this act; Monologs done in a heavy NYC accent followed by a song done in a high breaking voice. He was on early TV as Mr. Peepers school principle 1952-1955. A main stay of TV & movies throughout the 60s. He was the voice of Underdog cartoon and one of the Hollywood Squares game show. And a life long friend of Marlon Brando.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Nov 04, 2021 -
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Category: Humor, 1940s
Miss Chicken of Tomorrow
Two "Chicken of Tomorrow" contests were held. The first in 1948, and the second in 1951. Their purpose was to encourage farmers to breed meatier chickens. And they apparently succeeded. Modern Farmer magazine reports that, "Some of the champions of these competitions became the major genetics suppliers of today's poultry."Of course, at the time one couldn't hold such a major competition without simultaneously holding a beauty contest to find a young woman to be its queen. So, Nancy Magee became the first "Chicken of Tomorrow Queen" and Joan Walters was the second. Joan got quite a bit more publicity. She was paraded around the country as "Miss Chicken of Tomorrow."
For more info, check out this old documentary on YouTube about the 1948 contest.
Nancy Magee, the 1948 Chicken of Tomorrow Queen
"Miss Joan Walters of Rogers, Ark., 18-year-old brunette beauty, was crowned Chicken-of-Tomorrow Queen here last Friday night in a ceremony at the University of Arkansas field house."--The Madison County Record - Apr 12, 1951
"Miss Joan Walters of Rogers, Ark., was recently named National Chicken-of-Tomorrow Queen." Image source: Arkansas Land and Life - Spring/Summer 2004
San Bernardino County Sun - Apr 8, 1951
Orlando Evening Star - May 25, 1951
Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 02, 2021 -
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Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Farming, 1940s, 1950s
Atomic Chess
Atomic Chess is a variant of chess that was invented by Nasouhi Bey Tahir, the Transjordanian Deputy Minister of Agriculture, in 1949. Most of its rules were the same as the traditional game except that it was played on a larger board (of 144 squares) and when a pawn was promoted it would become an 'atomic bomb'. When used it would annihilate all pieces (of both players) within a radius of six squares from the object of attack.The game also involved two other pieces, a tank and airplane, but I'm not sure how these were used.
Sydney Morning Herald - May 1, 1949
Chess.com describes a different version of Atomic Chess, that it says was introduced in 2000. This newer variant is played on a standard board, with the twist that "whenever a piece is captured, an 'explosion' reaching all the squares immediately surrounding the captured piece occurs. This explosion kills all of the pieces in its range except for pawns." Therefore, every capture, except by a pawn, is suicidal.
Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 22, 2021 -
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Category: Games, Atomic Power and Other Nuclear Matters, 1940s
Who Put the Benzedrine in Mrs Murphy’s Ovaltine?
Hit song of the 1940s. Explanation from YouTube:
Petoskey News Review - Dec 8, 1947
The folk song it was parodying:
Posted By: Alex - Sun Oct 17, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Drugs, Music, 1940s
Artwork Khrushchev Probably Would Not Have Liked 39
The artist's Wikipedia page.
The Images of Modern Evil series, painted between 1943 and 1948, offers a probing and powerful insight into the schismatic socio-political climate of World War II and its aftermath. Though neither critically nor popularly successful at the time, the series proved formative in Tucker’s practice as a distillation of humanist, psychological and mythological ideas and as a vehicle for specific motifs and narratives that have endured within his art.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 15, 2021 -
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Category: Art, Evil, 1940s
Advice for Doctors, 1948
Posted By: Paul - Tue Sep 28, 2021 -
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Category: Medicine, Smoking and Tobacco, 1940s
Follies of the Madmen #516
Some wild and dubious claims for this metal briefcase.Source.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Sep 27, 2021 -
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Category: Business, Advertising, Excess, Overkill, Hyperbole and Too Much Is Not Enough, Family, 1940s
Hypnosis in Minutes—Tonight!
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 26, 2021 -
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Category: Drugs, Hypnotism, Mesmerism and Mind Control, 1940s
The Stunts of TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES Radio Show
Many folks of a certain age might recall TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES as a TV show. But it began on radio in 1940, and was known for its far-out stunts, as detailed on this page.Excerpt below.
A 1942 contestant told Edwards that her 17 year old son was serving in the Marines - as if Edwards didn’t know this in advance when she was “randomly” selected to appear on the show. Her consequence was to count pennies - pennies mailed to her home by listeners to buy War Bonds for her son. Broadcasting magazine reported within a week that the woman received 301,464 coins, mostly pennies, totaling over $3,100. Variety reported that after ten days the amount of mail had reached 236,000 pieces and the amount was $3,560. To handle the massive amount of mail Edwards temporarily rented office space and hired 200 clerks to pick it up, open it, count the money and track the postmarks to learn where it came from, valuable research for NBC and sponsor Procter & Gamble.
Edwards sent a 1944 contestant on an involved and hilarious search for a thousand dollars that climaxed after a month with listeners mailing 18,000 old books to the man‘s home which were donated to servicemen and veterans’ hospitals - after the contestant was directed to leaf through the books to find the missing half of a thousand dollar bill sent to him by the show.
The fact that they gave out big money prizes didn't hurt their popularity either.
Source: Lancaster New Era (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) 08 Dec 1947, Mon Page 3
Posted By: Paul - Sat Sep 25, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Money, Publicity Stunts, Radio, 1940s
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