Money
Turnpike Toll Gun
Introduced circa 1962 by Lyman Metal Products, the Turnpike Toll Gun allowed drivers to shoot quarters and nickels into toll baskets. I imagine that, nowadays, whipping one of these things out at a toll booth could get you in trouble. But it's still possible to pick one up on eBay if you gotta have one.
Source: airgunenthusiast.com
Cedar Rapids Gazette - Nov 4, 1965
Spokane Chronicle - Jan 23, 1963
Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 22, 2020 -
Comments (2)
Category: Guns, Money, Travel
Capitalist Man
The New York Post has an interview with the performance artist who calls himself "Capitalist Man." His gimmick is that he carries around a see-through briefcase, which he claims contains $500,000 in hundred-dollar bills, and he's trying to find someone willing to buy it for a million dollars.The price tag, he says, is "$500,000 for the cash, $500,000 for the concept." Any interested buyer gets to examine the bills before purchase.
Capitalist Man says that if someone does buy his briefcase full of money, his profit will go entirely to charity. But so far, he has no takers.
Image source: Facebook
Posted By: Alex - Thu Jan 16, 2020 -
Comments (4)
Category: Money, Performance Art
John Thoburn Williamson, Parsimonious Millionaire
Source for story. (Follow whole text across multiple pages.)
His Wikipedia page.
Posted By: Paul - Thu Dec 19, 2019 -
Comments (0)
Category: Antisocial Activities, Eccentrics, Money, Twentieth Century
Minimum Wage Machine
Created by artist Blake Fall-Conroy:So, if this is installed in a museum, do people actually get to keep whatever money they get from it? I'm pretty sure some people would stand there cranking it all day.
Bad quality video of the machine in action:
via TYWKIWDBI
Posted By: Alex - Thu Oct 10, 2019 -
Comments (3)
Category: Art, Boredom, Money
The family that threw away $100,000
This had to hurt. As far as I can tell, they never did find the lost money.I wonder if Doug faced any kind of punishment. Though arguably it's the mother's fault for storing such valuable financial documents in a laundry basket.
NY Daily News - July 3, 1970
Richmond Palladium Item - July 2, 1970
Posted By: Alex - Wed Sep 25, 2019 -
Comments (4)
Category: Money, 1970s
The Incassomat
Foto source.
In 1936, banks invented “the Incassomat” or “robot cashier”, a machine to facilitate deposit making and withdrawals, to improve record keeping and reduce human errors in transactions. Soon, banks piloting it realized the cost of operating it was too high compared with the benefits of error correction.
Text source.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Apr 08, 2019 -
Comments (1)
Category: Money, Technology, 1930s
Follies of the Madmen #401
Not quite sure why a kangaroo would be deemed an apt symbol for a conservation-minded USA citizen. Weren't there any miserly Scotsmen available?
Original ad here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Dec 17, 2018 -
Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Anthropomorphism, Business, Advertising, Money, Stereotypes and Cliches, 1940s, Alcohol
In Gold We Trust
Back in 1907, banks had run out of U.S. gold coins because depositors had withdrawn them all, fearing a recession. So a bank in Baker City, Oregon, having access to gold from a nearby mine, decided to print up its own gold coins. It stamped them with the phrase "In Gold We Trust" to differentiate them from official currency. Which immediately made them a collector's item.However, government agents soon showed up and destroyed all the existing coins and the dies, since private minting of currency is, of course, illegal. I'm not sure if any of the coins survived.
I found a 1984 replica of the coins on eBay going for around $2000.
Posted By: Alex - Sun Jul 08, 2018 -
Comments (1)
Category: Money, 1900s
Karl-Heinz Wemhoff, Master Check-Kiter
Here is an account of a bold check-kiting scheme that probably would not be possible nowadays. As with many of these crimes, it sounds like it was more work than making an honest living.Original article here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Mar 26, 2018 -
Comments (2)
Category: Crime, Money, 1960s, Europe
Deer Semen Fundraising
Recently filed campaign contribution reports reveal that Ana Lisa Garza, who primaried unsuccessfully to be the Democratic candidate for a seat in the Texas state house, received more than half her campaign contributions in the form of frozen "deer semen straws" — which came to an estimated value of $51,000.ABC7 News explains that down in Texas "deer semen has been a popular way to support political and charitable causes for years." This is because deer semen straws can fetch thousands of dollars within the deer-breeder community. And so, they've become a form of currency.
Deer Semen Straws. (Source: deerregistry.com)
Posted By: Alex - Sat Mar 24, 2018 -
Comments (0)
Category: Money, Politics
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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 |