Crime
Unlikely Reasons for Murder No. 9
These two were "lucky" enough to be immortalized by Weegee.Article source: The Grand Island Daily Independent (Grand Island, Nebraska) 03 Aug 1936,
Mon Page 1
Posted By: Paul - Tue May 10, 2022 -
Comments (2)
Category: Crime, Scary Criminals, Stupid Criminals, Family, Photography and Photographers, 1930s
Bebe Stanton, Telepathic Flapper
Source: The Courier (Waterloo, Iowa) 11 Apr 1929, Thu Page 13
Posted By: Paul - Fri Apr 22, 2022 -
Comments (0)
Category: Crime, Frauds, Cons and Scams, Human Marvels, 1920s
Unlikely Reasons for Murder No. 8
Source: NYT for 9/23/1899.
Source: NYT for 1/6/1900.
Source.
Source: Reading Times (Reading, Pennsylvania)01 May 1900, Tue Page 3
Posted By: Paul - Fri Mar 11, 2022 -
Comments (3)
Category: Crime, Death, Theater and Stage, Women, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century
Keeping a promise
I'd call this a misguided sense of honor.
Billings Gazette - Aug 30, 1991
Posted By: Alex - Fri Feb 04, 2022 -
Comments (1)
Category: Crime, 1990s, Ethics and Morals
Robert Mitchum Sings
Add Mitchum to our list of "singing actors who probably should have stuck to acting."
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 26, 2022 -
Comments (4)
Category: Crime, Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Movies, Music, 1950s, Alcohol, Cars
Underworld Lingo, 1930
Some of these look pretty dubious.Source.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 07, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Crime, Languages, Slang, 1930s
Unlikely Reasons for Murder No. 6
From the ST. JOSEPH NEWS-PRESS, August 4, 1924
Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 19, 2021 -
Comments (0)
Category: Crime, Death, 1920s, Russia
Bosco’s Collapsible Rubber Driver
Never worry again about your car being stolen. Bosco's inflatable rubber driver will make it appear as if your car is occupied, thereby deterring thieves.
I haven't been able to find an original source for this ad, but it appears in a number of books about automobile oddities (such as Motor touring in old California). However, the dates given for it vary from 1905 to the 1920s.
A Dec 1985 article in Popular Mechanics offers the most details about it, but I have no idea where they got their info from:
The Bosco Collapsible Driver Co. collapsed in two years, because it didn't take even the dumbest thief long to realize that the guy who was sitting behind the wheel never even twitched, which meant he was either dead, in a coma or not for real.
Posted By: Alex - Thu Aug 19, 2021 -
Comments (4)
Category: Crime, Cars
All a Misunderstanding
This will teach us never to stop to help a woman in distress. And yet--it seems that for charges to be lodged, some kind of verbal offer for something other than a ride to AAA must have been tendered...?
Source.
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jul 07, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Confusion, Misunderstanding, and Incomprehension, Crime, 1980s, Sex
Toe-Popper Returns
Olayinka Alege made the news (including News of the Weird) back in 2009. As Assistant Principal of Tampa's King High School, he was in the habit of disciplining students with sagging grades by "toe-popping" them. This involved having them remove their shoes and socks, then bending or pulling a toe until it made a popping noise. This didn't hurt, but the students understandably were weirded out by it. One student was toe-popped twenty times.Last month Alege was back in the news. He's now up in Providence, RI, but still working in the public school system. He's been charged with forcibly massaging a student's feet. For the record, he's pleading not guilty.
Posted By: Alex - Sat Jun 26, 2021 -
Comments (1)
Category: Crime, School, Feet
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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 |