Entombed in ice

February 1968 — In Eatontown, New Jersey, the chance to see bikini-clad model Pam Craig be "entombed" inside a 5000-pound block of ice for 48 hours drew a massive crowd, mostly of high school boys. The event was a stunt to promote Washington's Birthday sales at a mall. During her entombment, Craig lay inside a plexiglass coffin, supposedly having been prepared for the ordeal by a "post-hypnotic suggestion" that prevented her from feeling cold, hunger, or thirst. Spectators viewed her through a small "window" chiseled in the ice.

The crowd was far larger than anticipated, and when the start of the event was temporarily delayed, young men surged forward toward the stage, shouting "Fraud" and "We want to see the broad." They had to be dispersed by the police.

However, the entombment eventually commenced, and 48 hours later Craig re-emerged, seemingly none the worse for her icy ordeal.

Asbury Park Press - Feb 18, 1968

Asbury Park Press - Feb 23, 1968

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jul 01, 2013 - Comments (5)
Category: 1960s

Salvador Dali Swimwear

A further installment in the Boese-Di Filippo Weird Swimsuit Wars.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Jun 26, 2013 - Comments (5)
Category: Art, Surrealism, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Fashion, 1960s

Mouth Guard Cleaners, Past & Present

The demure product of today versus the bold product of the past (1962). Which would you choose for your pressing oral hygiene & "mouthpiece filth" needs?

Posted By: Paul - Sat Jun 22, 2013 - Comments (1)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Hygiene, 1960s

Budgie in a Hat

British actress Jane Bough appeared in TV series such as Upstairs, Downstairs (1972) and Anne of Green Gables (1952), but she may be best remembered as the pioneer of the "budgie in a hat," variations of which she to various horse races during the summer of 1968.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Jun 08, 2013 - Comments (4)
Category: Fashion, Headgear, 1960s

Life in America:  1961

A semi-random slice across the weirdness of history. The first of an occasional series.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jun 03, 2013 - Comments (4)
Category: Customs, Food, Sports, Advertising, 1960s

Wacky Races and You

Posted By: Paul - Wed May 29, 2013 - Comments (3)
Category: Business, Advertising, Destruction, Motor Vehicles, Cartoons, 1960s

Office Machine Symphony

Full explanation here.

Posted By: Paul - Mon May 27, 2013 - Comments (1)
Category: Music, Technology, 1960s, Cacophony, Dissonance, White Noise and Other Sonic Assaults

The Mexican Batwoman

Read more about this 1960's movie classic at The Schlock Treatment

Posted By: Alex - Sun May 26, 2013 - Comments (4)
Category: Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Movies, 1960s

Follies of the Madmen #205

Posted By: Paul - Wed May 22, 2013 - Comments (2)
Category: Business, Advertising, Products, Food, 1960s

The Hunger Show, 1969

Back in October 1969, a group of "antipopulation protesters" staged a "hunger show" (aka "starve-in") outside of San Francisco. The plan was to inflate a 100x100-foot plastic pillow, inside of which 300 of them would spend a week without food, only water. As they sat there, feeling hungry, they would have to watch "slides of pork chops and peas and carrots" and listen to taped sounds of restaurant noises. Also, sandwiches would be taped to the exterior of the plastic pillow, and non-participants outside would stage a pie-eating contest.

Participants were free to leave the pillow at any time, "but they can't return — they've died."

Organizer Stephanie Mills offered a slightly cryptic explanation of the goal of the protest: "People are just being too chicken, too chicken for their own good. We've got to encourage them not to be chicken."

The hunger show lasted half a week. Then it started to rain so they gave it up, saying, "We came here to suffer from hunger, not exposure."

Posted By: Alex - Tue May 21, 2013 - Comments (3)
Category: Food, 1960s