Regionalism
Hurricane Honeys
Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 31, 2024 -
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Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Regionalism, 1950s, Weather
Konjola
Read the full story here.It was a vegetable concoction with a high alcohol content that could be sold without prescription and gave comfort to many who could not or would not find a bootlegger to ease the strictures of Prohibition.
Konjola sold like bathtub gin in the Roaring Twenties. Gilbert and Roberta started Mosby Medicine by mixing up tubs of Konjola in their basement and bottling it themselves. By 1927, Mosby owned a factory on Reading Road in Avondale and was planning an even bigger complex up the road. Mosby bought a spectacular neon sign, 84 feet long and 32 feet high, to advertise Konjola on the central pier of the Atlantic City boardwalk.
And then it all fell apart.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 29, 2024 -
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Category: Regionalism, Patent Medicines, Nostrums and Snake Oil, 1920s, Alcohol
USC’s Helen of Troy Contest
The University of Southern California used to elect a woman as "Helen of Troy."
Finalist for Helen of Troy (University of Southern California), 10 November 1960. Mary Elinor Memory; Lynne Helene Hunsucker; Marcia Anne Northrop; Barbara Louise Stephens; Linda Eleanor Scott.; Caption slip reads: "Photographer: Miller. Date: 1960-11-10. Assignment: Finalist for Helen of Troy. L to r: Mary Elinor Memory; Lynne Helene Hunsucker; Marcia Anne Northrop; Barbara Louise Stephens; Linda Eleanor Scott".
Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 20, 2023 -
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Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Regionalism, Historical Figure, Twentieth Century
Show Low, AZ
For our category of weird town names, such as Linoleumville.
The city's home page.
Their Wikipedia entry, from which we learn:
According to a legend, the city's unusual name[5] resulted from a marathon poker game between Corydon E. Cooley and Marion Clark. The two men were equal partners in a 100,000-acre (400 km2) ranch; however, the partners determined that there was not enough room for both of them in their settlement, and agreed to settle the issue over a game of "Seven Up" (with the winner taking the ranch and the loser leaving).[6] After the game seemed to have no winner in sight, Clark said, "If you can show low, you win." In response, Cooley turned up the deuce of clubs (the lowest possible card) and replied, "Show low it is."[7] As a tribute to the legend, Show Low's main street is named "Deuce of Clubs" in remembrance
Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 07, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Regionalism, Weird Names, Gambling, Casinos, Lotteries and Other Games of Chance, Nineteenth Century
The Acme Barbecue College
Once upon a time, in Alhambra, CA, you could go to school just for BBQ. One presumes that this is where Wile E. Coyote learned how to cook a Road Runner--if one such could ever be caught!
Posted By: Paul - Wed Nov 01, 2023 -
Comments (8)
Category: Education, Food, Regionalism, 1950s
Robert Quillen’s Monument to Eve
Robert Quillen was once a well-known humorist, but is nigh-forgotten today. However, still standing is one of his pranks. A whimsical statue dedicated to "the first woman."Official South Carolina page on Quillen here.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 20, 2023 -
Comments (1)
Category: Humor, Newspapers, Regionalism, Religion, Statues and Monuments, Historical Figure
The Famous One-Log House
Still in existence. The home page.
Posted By: Paul - Fri Sep 08, 2023 -
Comments (2)
Category: Architecture, Domestic, Enlargements, Miniatures, and Other Matters of Scale, Regionalism, 1940s, Natural Wonders
The Live Forever Folk
Read an issue of their magazine here.
Read THE COSMIC SURVEY here.
Posted By: Paul - Sun Aug 06, 2023 -
Comments (2)
Category: New Age, Regionalism, Supernatural, Occult, Paranormal, 1920s
The Scatalogic Rites of All Nations
Read it here.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jul 10, 2023 -
Comments (0)
Category: Hygiene, Excrement, Regionalism, Anthropology, Nineteenth Century
Rodeo Sweetheart
The earliest reference I find to a "Rodeo Sweetheart" is 1929. And the tradition is still flourishing today.To get in the mood for appreciating this longtime contest, you can listen to the classic Byrds album.
Posted By: Paul - Mon Jul 03, 2023 -
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Category: Animals, Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Regionalism, Twentieth Century, Twenty-first Century, Circuses, Carnivals, and Other Traveling Shows
| Who We Are |
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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 |