A Britannica history of the videophone.
AT&T gave it a go in 1992 with the VideoPhone 2500 — Just $1,499 or $30/day!
Continue reading“Show me your bubbies!”
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Is that her foot or is there a body under the couch?
The donkey cigarette holders I’ve seen aren’t quite as classy as hers.
Continue readingHe sees you when you’re smoking…
“Wait… That’s not what we meant…”
What’s the first thing I thought of when I saw this ad?
“Hey, smoke up, Johnny!”
The Imperial March starts playing…
Hiram Walker, “benevolent despot“, was into millin’ and distillin’.
What’s the difference between whiskey and whisky? Besides the “e”, that is.
Continue readingLet’s get Necco with Santa!
Necco Wafers refuse to die.
“Everyone’s least favorite Halloween candy has been making us miserable since 1847.”
Continue readingThe Bootlegger
Cover of the December 4, 1919 issue of Life magazine
Not to be confused with bootlicker.
A little bit and another little bit about artist Paul Stahr.
History not-so-fun fact:
This issue is dated December 4, 1919.
Prohibition began in the United States on January 17, 1920.
Insist on the hole.
1919 Life Savers magazine ad found as the inside front cover of a Life magazine.
Did you know Wint-O-Green Life Savers spark in the dark? Here’s why.
You never know when you’ll suddenly have to know a lot more about Life Savers. Mental Floss has you covered.
Continue readingIt’s got a cat on it.
Along with ads of yore, I also love a good magazine cover.
From my collection, here’s The Countryside Magazine and Suburban Life’s cover for April 1917 (Spring Planting Number) with art by Paul Bransom.
The New York Times has a rather fine obituary/biography of the “Dean of American Animal Artists” here.
Insidious Diseases and Hidden Decay
Would you trust your tree with this man?
Bone shards:
I didn’t realize that tree surgeons were a thing until I read a bit about the profession in a Straight Dope column about Groucho Marx by Cecil Adams. Yes, you should read the entire column.
Way back in the day, Groucho Marx hosted a radio/TV quiz show called “You Bet Your Life. During one show when he was interviewing a tree surgeon, he asked, “Have you ever fallen out of any of your patients?”
Read one heck of an obituary for Groucho here.
And now you know about tree surgeons too.
Continue readingThree words: Giant Riding Saw
Bone shards:
So would this thing actually work as advertised, or was it one of those early Caveat Emptor / Buyer Beware moments?
Wanna see the world’s largest saw? Yes, yes you do.
Wanna hear Ave Maria played on a musical saw? Yes, yes you do.
Why buy a giant riding saw when you can just hire one of these guys?
One of these contraptions still exists! Sadly, they don’t show it in action.
Lastly, and not for the squeamish, a history of the punishment known as Death by Sawing.
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