1950s
The Congrelephant Bus
[From Life magazine for October 18 1954]
A strange vehicle rolled down Denver's Ivanhoe Street one day last week and pulled to a stop in front of No. 626. It had once been a bus until Mrs. Ellen Harris, G.O.P. candidate for Congress in Colorado's First District, gave it the jawbreaking name of "Congrelephant," and made it over. From the front hung an elephant's trunk spouting smoke. It had a tail and four-foot ears, and big blue eyes were painted on the windshield.
[From Time magazine for October 18 1954]
Surely there is a place for a revived Congrelephant Bus in this election year.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 21, 2012 -
Comments (4)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Politics, 1950s, Bus
Devil Girl from Mars
If you're intrigued by the excerpt, watch the full film in the lower window!
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 07, 2012 -
Comments (4)
Category: Aliens, Costumes and Masks, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Movies, Sex Symbols, 1950s
The Complete Blacky Pictures!
Thanks to the stellar research powers of Alex B., we now have the complete set of these oddball Freudian prompts.
Click on the image to enlarge.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jun 28, 2012 -
Comments (9)
Category: Art, Children, Alex, 1950s, Mental Health and Insanity
The Wellingborough Carnival
The town of Wellingborough, UK, has been holding a carnival for over 100 years. The old affairs certainly featured things that look weird to us today. Here's a photo album to peruse.
And the Wellingborough Carnival home page reveals this year's affair is on July 7th! Plenty of time to make your plans to attend!
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jun 22, 2012 -
Comments (4)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Holidays, Parades and Festivals, Weird Theory, 1900s, 1910s, 1920s, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, Europe
The Jazz Harpsichord of Stan Freeman
If Pugsley Addams had grown up to be a hepcat, this is the music he would have made.
More on the keyboard player here.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Jun 21, 2012 -
Comments (2)
Category: Eccentrics, Music, 1950s
Sailor Boys Have Talked to Me in English
A superb addition to our thread of casually racist pop songs.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jun 11, 2012 -
Comments (6)
Category: Music, Racism, Stereotypes and Cliches, 1950s
More Blacky Pictures Test Pix
A little more ingenious searching allowed me to find three additional Blacky images.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jun 08, 2012 -
Comments (5)
Category: Sexuality, Psychology, Children, Dogs, 1950s
The Blacky Pictures Test
What kind of kids' book is this? A Freudian one, to elicit psychosexual reactions from unsuspecting youngsters. Kids would be asked to interpret these loaded pictures, telling stories that revealed their supposed neuroses. Poor Oedipal Blacky, chewing up "Mama's" collar!
The Blacky Pictures were developed in 1950. They have been described as ‘a technique for the exploration of personality dynamics’ in children. They were developed by G. S. Blum in 1949. Each of the 12 cards making up the test feature a dog named ‘Blacky’. Each cartoon represents a different stage of psychosexual development (the way sexual behaviour develops, according to psychoanalysts). The test also looks at family relationships.
These five images are the only ones I have been able to find on the web, out of the 12 originals.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Jun 08, 2012 -
Comments (8)
Category: Sexuality, Psychology, Children, Dogs, 1950s
Follies of the Mad Men #184
Are those two frosty ones in your pouch, or are you just "hoppy" to see me?
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Sat Jun 02, 2012 -
Comments (2)
Category: Animals, Business, Advertising, Products, 1950s, Alcohol
| Who We Are |
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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 |