CRAIG CONLEY (Prof. Oddfellow) is recognized by Encarta as “America’s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation.” He has been called a “language fanatic” by Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams, a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly, a “monk for the modern age” by George Parker, and “a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure” by Clint Marsh. An eccentric scholar, Conley’s ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the “virtual pet” in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular “Tamagotchi” in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley’s website is OneLetterWords.com.
Here's a precursor to the "tinfoil hats" of those shielding against mind control by governmental or paranormal forces. In 1920s England, tinfoil hats were a fashion statement. From Popular Mechanics, 1927.
You've heard that necessity is the mother of invention, but necessity was raped. The headline reads, "Necessity is forced to mother another invention." This blog supports necessity's right to choose. From Popular Mechanics, 1925.
You've heard of counting tree rings to determine the age, but did you know that the rings in Panama hats are counted as well? Here are Panama hats being harvested, from Popular Mechanics, 1924.
This is utter bullshit and the perfect example of my horror (not too strong a word) of the cold, soulless mentality of white-coat scientists (whom Robert Anton Wilson dubbed the New Inquisition). From Popular Mechanics, 1924.
Before the wind-up false-teeth gag, "Yakity-Yak" (1950), you needed a special stand: "False teeth move naturally when mounted on new stand." From Popular Mechanics, 1920.