Tag Archives: Unusual

25 Incredible Real Names

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Crook Klutz (1913-1979) and 24 Other “Unique” American Names

Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan)

A useful tool for genealogists, the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) contains over 92 million death records for individuals with United States Social Security numbers. There are many portals to give you access to the list. On some web portals for the SSDI you can enter just the first name, which can yield interesting results.

Either their parents thought they were being funny or in some cases they were just cruel. Maybe the person had their name legally changed. Who knows.

Besides Crook Klutz, the ones that stood out in no particular order:

24. Dummy Boy 1896-1969 (Not a name you’d want to call out in public.)

23. Hitler Johnson 1933-1986  (Nice. Definitely a way to distinguish yourself from the other Johnson’s in your town.)

22. Uncle Caves 1911-1977

21. Strange Amos 1884-1966 (How did the parents know?)

20. Fatty Claw 1884-1973

19. Lurch Williams 1906-1979 (The only person ever named Lurch.)

18. Danger Dangervil 1943-2005

17. Weird Adkins 1917-1964

16. Shitley J. Metcalf  1949-2012 (No way.)

15. Poison Repp 1913-1964

14. Phony Brooks 1903-1966 (Did Phony have a hard time making friends?)

13. Murder Williams 1926-1983

12. Fester King 1896-1971 [also another Fester King 1915-1974, Senior and Junior perhaps?]  (Everyone should have an Uncle Fester.)

11. Flipper Butts 1919-1975 (Perfect name for the adult entertainment industry.)

10. Moron Bobo 1896-1974 (The last name alone would probably lead to a difficult life, adding the first insures it.)

9. Jack Ass 1958-2003 (Could have had a franchise on that name.)

8. Hernia Dalton 1906-1976 (Ow.)

7. Very Bland 1979-1999

6. Big Wife 1888-1982

5. Funny Smith 1919-1986 (Was he? Or is “Funny” a she?)

4. Zoo Parks 1897-1981

3. Will Moron Read 1927-1989 (I don’t know. How did he do in school?)

2. Pimp Freeman 1893-1983 (That is kind of cool in a weird way.)

1. Jesus Christ 1941-2007.  (Guess you missed him. He was here. I’ve always wondered if Jesus were to return would anyone recognize him? Apparently not.)

Posture Queen And The Creation Of The World War II Pin-Up Girl

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Stand Up Straight Please, This Is A Publicity Stunt

Lillian McKevitt

New York, NY – Miss Lillian McKevitt, of Jackson Heights, New York is chosen as “Posture Queen” from among forty beautiful Walter Thornton models who demonstrated exercises to provide good posture in celebration of Good Posture Week (May 4-11), has her posture matched by Mr. Thornton with that of Sgt. Lester Hare of the military police of the Canadian army, who attended the matinee performance on the penthouse terrace of the Mayflower Hotel.  –  April 27, 1942: Acme News Photograph

By whom Lillian McKevitt was chosen Posture Queen is not noted in the news photo caption.

The interesting story here is about the modeling agency Lillian came from, The Walter Thornton Modeling Agency which began its business in 1931.

A June 27, 1948 Associated Press article describes how Walter Thornton created the World War II “Pin-Up Girl.”  Strangely this is based only on Walter Thornton’s assertion.

The story goes, “while in the service, Thornton pinned his girlfriend’s picture to the canvas wall of his tent. The pin put a hole in the tent and the Sergeant put Thornton on K.P. (Kitchen Punishment duty).  The new soldiers however lived in lush barracks and could pin up pictures of pretty girls without punching a hole in the wall. So one day in 1940, Thornton dug out about 5,000 photos of girls from his modeling agency and sent them to Fort Dix, NJ. The idea was a winner and the World War II pin-up girl was born.”

Allegedly.

Thornton also put on a hair-pulling match in 1940 at Palisades Amusement Park which we previously profiled here.

Time Magazine noted in 1954, “He (Thornton) also has shown a talent for getting publicity for Walter Thornton.” Continue reading →

Woodlawn Cemetery Memorial Tells A Coney Island Story Of Unusual Death

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Brighton Beach Lightning Strike Felt By Thousands, Kills Six – July 30, 1905

When walking through Woodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, you can come across fancy mausoleums and simple grave markers of the famous and infamous. F.W. Woolworth, Fiorello LaGuardia, Duke Ellington, Bat Masterson and Herman Melville are among the half million souls interred in this historic place.Demmerle Memorial

Then out of the blue you may stumble across the lives of ordinary New Yorker’s memorialized in an extraordinary way. Such is the Demmerle monument.

Unlike many other tombstones which record a name and birth and death years with a short epitaph, the Demmerle memorial is an ornate series of carved monuments which tells and shows the story of one family’s tragedy.

Demmerle Charles and EmilieSunday July 30, 1905 started out as a beautiful, sun-filled, hot day Continue reading →

A Peculiar Kellogg’s Corn Flakes Ad 1907

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Selling Cereal At The Turn Of The Century

Ad Corn Flakes 1907 Burr McIntosh

The company was only one year old in 1907 when this advertisement appeared in print.

This advertisement was supposed to sell you on buying Kellogg’s Toasted Corn Flakes. By just looking at the ad you are probably not quite sure what the image means. Not “boy gets girl,” but “corn gets girl”? Maybe she has a case of lachanophilia?

There is an explanation.

Company founder Will Keith Kellogg (April 7, 1860 – October 6, 1951) made himself, his cereals and the city of Battle Creek, Michigan famous. Kellogg did this by producing a better breakfast product and a lot of advertising.

W.K. Kellogg’s education never went beyond the sixth grade, yet with his strange brother Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (he advocated sexual mutilation and eugenics among other things), they figured out how to make a tasty corn flake. In producing their cereal they used only the corn grit or “the sweet heart of the corn.” Continue reading →

7 Amazing, Little Known Facts Surrounding President McKinley’s Assassination

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The Assassin’s Body: Destroyed or Preserved? 

Silence in New York City and The McKinley Islands

The McKinley Islands? It could have been, had Congress passed a bill to rename The Philippine Islands after the assassination of the 25th President of the United States, William McKinley.

The Assassination

McKinley assassinationOn September 6, 1901 President McKinley was holding a reception in the Temple of Music at the Pan-American Exposition held in Buffalo, New York. Leon Czolgosz, an anarchist, was in the greeting line and he approached McKinley with hand wrapped up to his right wrist in a handkerchief. As McKinley extended his hand to shake Czolgosz’s left hand, Czolgosz fired two shots at nearly point blank range, one that glanced off McKinley’s breastbone and never entered his body, the other penetrating his stomach.

After initial grave concerns by attending doctors and an operation to remove the bullet,  McKinley began showing signs of recovery after a couple of days. McKinley was declared in steady press releases by his doctors to be constantly improving in condition, when he suddenly took a  turn for the worse on September 13 and died from his wounds at the home of John G. Milburn, in Buffalo in the early morning hours of September 14, 1901.

Seven little known, interesting facts surrounding McKinley’s assassination

1. Friday’s

Four Presidents’ have been shot to death: Abraham Lincoln (1865), James A. Garfield (1881), William McKinley (1901), and John F. Kennedy (1963). Garfield was shot on Saturday, the other three were shot on a Friday.

2. The Mystery Bullet

An immediate operation was performed to remove the bullet that was lodged somewhere in McKinley’s body. Continue reading →

Giant Turnip

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There Are Turnips and Then There Are TURNIPS

Photo © George Trabant

Photo © George Trabant

The news caption reads:

April 26, 1975, – If this turnip hadn’t had Hope, it wouldn’t have reached its colossal proportions. Hope Miller, 12, has a green thumb – especially when it comes to turnips.  This one in her garden grew to 27 inches in circumference and 17 inches in length. It’s weight was 7 pounds. Hope who attends Grace Lutheran School, says it took 2½ months for the vigorous vegetable to grow.

What I find interesting about this old news photo is that someone (probably Hope’s father or mother) called the newspaper to report the giant turnip. That is not so unusual. What is unusual is that the newspaper, The St. Petersburg Times, on what must have been a slow news day, sent a photographer, George Trabant to cover this “news story.” The turnip photo and story did run in the paper.

Bikini Clad Paris Models Shock Their Minds And Bodies – 1949

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French Models Get Minds And Bodies In Shape

Paris Models splash water for exercise 1949

This must have been taken for one of those slow news days when a photo editor thought a cheesecake photograph might be better than a boring news story. Even though it is slightly bizarre, I imagine this did not run in too many newspapers. It shows two French models in bikinis and is dated May 22, 1949. The caption says: “Paris – To shock the body and nervous system into shape they pick up great buckets of ice water and dash each other with the frigid contents. Acme News Photo.”

It looks as if the models are actually in a sauna, so what might seem to be a cruel way to “shock the body and nervous system” is quite apropos.

The Gates That Have Been Closed For Over 360 Years And Will Never Be Opened Again

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The Bear Gates, Traquair Castle, Scotland

Photo Traquair Castle Bear Gates courtesy www.stravaiging.com

The Scottish lament of “Will ye no come back again,” refers to the 1746 exile of Charles Edward Stuart (1720-1788) otherwise known as Bonnie Prince Charlie, the second Jacobite pretender to the thrones of England, Scotland and Ireland.

Traquair Castle is located 30 miles south of Edinburgh in the town of Innerleithen, Scotland. In 1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite army passed through the Bear Gates during his visit to the 5th Earl of Traquair. Afterwards the Earl, a fervent supporter of the Stuart cause, ordered the Bear Gates be closed and not re-opened until a Stuart again sits on the Scottish Throne.

The Battle of Culloden took place on April 16 , 1746 and Bonnie Prince Charlie was soundly defeated by the son of King George II, the Duke of Cumberland. Bonnie Prince Charlie took flight, ending the cause of the Stuarts to regain the throne. He lived the rest of his life in exile and died without having children.The Royal House of Stuart became extinct in 1807 with the death of Charles’ brother Henry Benedict Stuart.

The Bear Gates will never be opened again.