Category:
Appliances

Refrigerator Bowl Queen



Jacksonville State College gamecock football team played against the University of Rhode Island on December 4, 1955 in the eighth annual Refrigerator Bowl at Evansville, Indiana. Gamecocks won 12 to 10. Shown players from the University of Rhode Island and Jacksonville State select a Refrigerator Bowl Queen.







Posted By: Paul - Sat Nov 09, 2024 - Comments (4)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Sports, Appliances, 1950s

Miss General Electric

In 2017, Alex reported on "Miss Food Freezer," who also held the title of "Miss General Electric." I thought I'd try to find other winners of the latter title. But references are few and far between.

The earliest citation is 1925; the latest, 1968.

I am not sure about "Miss General Electric Torch" being the same honor.








Miss General Electric Torch and Miss Bell Torch presenting $507,412 and $630,943 to the United Fund. Two women holding a sign.


Posted By: Paul - Tue Sep 24, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Technology, Appliances, Twentieth Century

French vs. American vacuum desire

Different takes on vacuum desire from the 1950s. The French ad is more blatant, but the American ad has pink octopus arms extending from the vacuum and promises that "Only $69.95 fulfills your longing."

1958 French ad for the Samy vacuum cleaner
source: periodpaper.com


Ce que toute Femme désire
Aspirateur de conception révolutionnaire tout plastique alliant la légèreté et la robustesse … A la portée de tous par son prix le SAMY est vraiment l’aspirateur de DEMAIN!

Translation:
What every woman desires
A revolutionary all-plastic vacuum cleaner combining lightness and robustness... Within everyone's reach due to its price, the SAMY is truly the vacuum cleaner of TOMORROW!


Life - Feb 9, 1953



via The Vacuum Cleaner by Maud Ellmann

Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 02, 2024 - Comments (2)
Category: Advertising, Appliances, 1950s, Europe

Artists and their Sears appliances

In 1969, Sears ran a series of magazine ads to advertise its Kenmore line of appliances. The ads below all appeared in Better Homes and Gardens.

The ads featured well-known artists (musicians, novelists, actors, etc.) who owned Kenmore appliances. I guess Sears was hoping to make itself seem like a more high-end brand by suggesting that people with good taste owned their products.

It's interesting to see the homes, and appliances, of these artists. For instance, Dave Brubeck apparently kept his washer and dryer in his living room.



A week ago I had never heard of Pauline Trigere. Now she's appeared in two posts within the past few days. She should have had a loaf of bread wrapped in waxed paper in the background.



I wondered if one of the kids was Natalie Cole, but I think they're her younger twin sisters Timolin and Casey.





That's definitely not George Clooney (Rosemary's nephew). I'm pretty sure it's her son Miguel Ferrer.



Posted By: Alex - Fri Apr 26, 2024 - Comments (0)
Category: Celebrities, Advertising, Appliances, 1960s

Atomic-Powered Vacuum Cleaners

Alex Lewyt, owner of the Lewyt Vacuum Corporation, has been mocked for his 1955 prediction that vacuum cleaners would one day be atomic-powered.

But he also predicted self-guided, robotic vacuums, and he was right about that.

Louisville Courier Journal - May 19, 1955



Albuquerque Tribune - Jun 7, 1955



Below: a 1950 ad for Lord Calvert whiskey that, for some reason, featured Alex Lewyt. Note the vacuum cleaner in the glass case behind him.

Life - Nov 27, 1950

Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 26, 2022 - Comments (4)
Category: Atomic Power and Other Nuclear Matters, Appliances, 1950s, Yesterday’s Tomorrows

Follies of the Madmen #520

I have never thought of a percolator as sexy before, but I guess I was misguided...



Source.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 22, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Business, Advertising, Domestic, Appliances, Magazines, Sex Symbols, 1970s

Follies of the Madmen #482



A kind of housewife voodoo.

Source.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 10, 2020 - Comments (6)
Category: Business, Advertising, Appliances, 1950s, Christmas

Follies of the Madmen #420



Commies were a useful foil to sell things.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 28, 2019 - Comments (2)
Category: Business, Advertising, Appliances, Historical Figure, 1950s, Russia

Follies of the Madmen #414



Source.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Feb 25, 2019 - Comments (3)
Category: Business, Advertising, Technology, Sex Symbols, Appliances, 1960s

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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.

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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.

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