Category:
Excrement

Why Velna Turnage sued Christy Brothers Circus

From the case Christy Bros. Circus v. Turnage heard in the Georgia Court of Appeals, dated Sep. 15, 1928:

Where a petition alleged that the plaintiff was an unmarried white lady, and that while in attendance as a guest of the defendant at a circus performance given by the defendant, and while seated in one of the seats provided by the defendant for the defendant’s guests at the circus, a horse, which was going through a dancing performance immediately in front of where the plaintiff was sitting, was by the defendant’s servant, who was riding upon the horse, caused to back towards the plaintiff, and while in this situation the horse evacuated his bowels into her lap, that this occurred in full view of many people, some of whom were the defendant’s employees, and all of whom laughed at the occurrence, that as a result thereof the plaintiff was caused much embarrassment, mortification, and mental pain and suffering, to her damage in a certain amount, that the damage alleged was due entirely to the defendant’s negligence and without any fault on the part of the plaintiff, the petition set out a cause of action and was good as against a general demurrer.

Velna Turnage was awarded $500 for her "humiliation and embarrassment".

Posted By: Alex - Wed Apr 13, 2022 - Comments (6)
Category: Lawsuits, Excrement, 1920s

Knives made from frozen human feces

The non-fiction book Shadows in the Sun by Wade Davis contains the following passage:

There is a well known account of an old Inuit man who refused to move into a settlement. Over the objections of his family, he made plans to stay on the ice. To stop him, they took away all of his tools. So in the midst of a winter gale, he stepped out of their igloo, defecated, and honed the feces into a frozen blade, which he sharpened with a spray of saliva. With the knife he killed a dog. Using its rib cage as a sled and its hide to harness another dog, he disappeared into the darkness.

This caught the attention of some archaeologists who decided to test if a knife made from human feces would actually be strong enough to cut through muscle and tendons. They published their results in the Journal of Archaeological Science.

The researchers paid close attention to detail. For instance:

In order to procure the necessary raw materials for knife production, one of us went on a diet with high protein and fatty acids, which is consistent with an arctic diet, for eight days.

However, the results were disappointing: "the knife-edge simply melted upon contact, leaving streaks of fecal matter."

Conclusion: the story of the fecal knife was an urban legend.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Mar 25, 2022 - Comments (4)
Category: Science, Experiments, Excrement

The Poo Machine

An oldie but goodie, perhaps not seen by newer WU-vies.



Posted By: Paul - Fri Feb 25, 2022 - Comments (2)
Category: Museums, Technology, Excrement

Urohidrosis

Back in the 1960s, while observing wood storks in Florida, biologist M. Philip Kahl, Jr. noted that on hot days the storks "have the unusual habit of frequently excreting on their legs."

He eventually concluded that, since storks don't sweat, they were doing this to cool themselves down "by means of evaporative cooling of the blood supply to the legs and feet." He named this phenomenon 'urohidrosis'.

His hypothesis is now accepted as true, and it's not only storks that cool themselves by pooping on their legs. Turkey vultures do it too.

Reference: Kahl, P.M., Jr. 1963. Thermoregulation in the Wood Stork, with special reference to the role of the legs. Physiol. Zool., 36: 141-151.

Posted By: Alex - Tue Dec 14, 2021 - Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Science, Excrement

The Ballad of a Gentle Laxative

These 1987 TV ads for Doxidan laxative, featuring the 'Doxidan Cowboy,' seem to inspire both love and hate. A lot of people on YouTube remember them fondly, but in newspapers from the time they were often cited as being among the most annoying commercials on TV.

The singer was Skeeter Starke. He has a YouTube channel.





Fort Myers News-Press - Jan 25, 1987



via History's Dumpster

Posted By: Alex - Thu Aug 26, 2021 - Comments (3)
Category: Music, Advertising, Excrement, 1980s

Raisin Bran keeps you regular

Trapeze artists discussing bowel movements doesn't conjure up good images.

Lincoln Star - Apr 1, 1938



Possibly relevant, this Snopes article: Did a Trapeze Artist with Diarrhea Defecate on 23 People? (The answer is no)

Posted By: Alex - Thu Aug 05, 2021 - Comments (3)
Category: Advertising, Cereal, Excrement, 1930s

Follies of the Madmen #504

I have never seen laxatives touted as a daily dose, rather than just as needed.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 31, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Advertising, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, Excrement, 1950s

The Peanut Butter Story

As reported by Sherry Gershon Gottlieb in Hell No, We Won’t Go! Resisting the Draft During the Vietnam War:



via Legends & Rumors

Posted By: Alex - Fri Dec 18, 2020 - Comments (4)
Category: Food, Military, Excrement

Urine Bread 2.0

Eight years ago, I posted about how prisoners held in a Japanese interment camp during World War II learned how to make bread using urine instead of yeast.

Now I see that urine bread, of a kind, is back in the news. From bakeryandsnacks.com:

French engineer Louise Raguet baked 'Boucle d'Or' — Goldilocks bread — using wheat fertilized in urine gathered from female urinals in the 14th Arrondissement of Paris.

Raguet hopes to "break taboos over excrement" and create a more sustainable food and farming system that makes use of human refuse, while cutting farming costs and boosting crop yields.

More info, in French, here (pdf).

The toilets in which the urine was collected

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jul 22, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Food, Body Fluids, Excrement

Silver Stool

The New England Journal of Medicine recently reported on a case of a woman whose poop turned silver. Or, at least, silver-colored.

She wasn't drinking silver, which would have been an easy solution to the mystery. Instead, the doctors offered this explanation:

The physical examination was notable for jaundice, hepatomegaly, and a diffusely tender abdomen. The rectal examination showed silver-colored stool (Panel A)... The appearance of silver stool results from a combination of white stool associated with obstructive jaundice and black stool of melena. After a discussion of treatment options with the patient, a decision was made to focus on her comfort. She was discharged home with hospice care.

In light of this case, the website PoopColors.com should be updated to include silver.

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jul 20, 2020 - Comments (4)
Category: Excrement

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Who We Are
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.

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