Unusual Complaint. 1932.

Yesterday I read this article about strange cruise ship complaints on the Herald-Sun website and had to share.

What would you consider a legitimate complaint if you were on a cruise ship? Not “The sea is too noisy” I bet.

One woman complained that the inside cabin she paid for had no window and asked for one to be installed. Hmmmm…

One woman whined that her cruise with Celebrity Cruises didn’t have any celebrities, and another complained that a celebrity who was on her last cruise wasn’t on the boat for her next cruise! Get a grip people!

The Daily News 27 Jul 1932 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article83702122

Naturally I looked for articles about other unusual complaints and found this article entitled ‘Decidedly Unusual’ from 1932.

I doubt that many people would do anything other than keep quiet about the problem this woman had.

A Bexhill woman complained in the local Police Court that she couldn’t get invoices from tradesmen to pay her bill.

That isn’t a problem people usually have is it? It is generally the tradesman having trouble getting the bill paid!

The magistrates, unsurprisingly, ruled that it was beyond their jurisdiction. I bet they took the names of the tradesmen to get a bit of free work done back at their homes too!

Unusual find. 1932.

As I mentioned in a post earlier this week we spent the Australia Day long weekend up in the bush, camping, relaxing and pretending that we were taking fossicking for gold as seriously as the rest of the group of campers we were with.

We don’t usually take the search as seriously as them, we go on the group weekends away for relaxation, finding lumps of gold would be nice but we are plain old lazy…. 🙂

Recorder 30 Nov 1932 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article96018207

When I found this article today I wished that finding gold was as easy for us as it was for Mr. J. Maguire in Eidsvold, Queensland, in 1932.

It would appear that for him that taking advantage of somebody elses hard work and looking in some twenty-year-old fence post holes really paid off when he found they still contained gold.

If only this sort of thing was a regular occurrence I might be able to get the Man outside to build me a new back verandah a bit faster!

I wonder if the original diggers noticed gold coming out of the holes all those years ago? I doubt it. If they had noticed the gold I bet the posts would have been hurriedly shoved in the ridiculously wide holes any old way and the job abandoned before the end!

An old idea. 1932.

I am sure we have all hear of Nigerian internet scams. You know, where an email comes telling you of an amount of money that is coming to you, or someone else and, if you would be so kind as to had over a small fee to help grease the wheels, some money will come to you for no effort at all.

The Canberra Times 1 Jun 1932 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2282714

I know these type of advance fee scams have been around for quite a while but I was surprised to find this article from 1932 describing a very similar type of scam.

In this case a mere £10 would help Canadian or American heirs victims to claim their previously unknown but large inheritances.

A circular was being sent to thousands of people warning them of the scam, although I think the authorities might have done a better job of wording it.

The circular states that “large unclaimed estates believed by many persons to exist in England are almost all mythical”.

Almost all mythical. Hmmm. If you are the kind of person who will fall for the story of a wealthy, generous, but previously unknown rich relative will almost all bring you to your senses? I think it more likely that they would just expect that the tiny amount of inheritances that are suggested to be real were theirs!

Of course, if you are that person who believes there is an unexpected inheritance just around the corner I am here to help. Just send $100 to…. oh, never mind 😉

An embarrassing end. 1932.

Somewhere out in a paddock in Moss Vale, N.S.W. there is an embarrassed ghost just wishing it had suffered a more dignified end.

The Western Champion 26 Nov 1932 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article79624698

In 1932 a bullock was found dead under strange circumstances.

It seemed that the bullock had an itchy head and, as quadrupeds do, lifted a rear foot to scratch it.

Unfortunately, the bullocks demise was attributed to being suffocated when it couldn’t extricate itself from this position, the hoof becoming caught on a horn.

Yes, I know we shouldn’t laugh about an unfortunate end like this but I really would love to know what went through the bullocks mind when it realized its own foot was stuck on its head….

It’s moments like these you need…. not to be a cow.

This post started when we were watching Spicks and Specks last night and the musical finale was a song called Cows Come Home sung by Rich Hall. It was so funny it caused the Man to choke on his dinner and I had to share it with you.

Townsville Daily Bulletin 15 Jan 1932 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article61348469

Anyway, I had to find an appropriate cow article to accompany it and came across this one that shows why you should always know what it is you put in your mouth.

In 1932 a farmer was milking a cow when the peace of the event was shattered by an explosion. Apparently the cow had picked up a blasting cap and, chewing it, managed to blow its own head off, and knock out the milkman. Yipes!

Why on earth was there a blasting cap in a cow paddock? I wonder if blasting caps smell particularly yummy? That might explain that post I did about the bovine gentleman who was stuck in an old powder magazine. Was he enticed in there by the aroma of Boom?

The second last line of this article also gives me a chance to mention an Australian icon as well. Delicious Minties.

Minties are a white cube of minty goodness and, if you believe the slogan, bad things get better with Minties. Not going to help this particular cow though is it?

Minties make it better.

I was surprised to find that Minties have been around since the 1920’s and that the “It’s moments like these you need Minties” advertising phrase has been around since the start.

“It’s moments like these….” has become part of the Australian language and the wrapper of each lolly has a cartoon depicting some sort of situation which will be improved with the addition of a Mintie.

Dentists probably love them too, they are so chewy they are known for pulling out fillings and I guess their irresistibility has been the cause of many a cavity.

Somehow this post has gone from a funny song to an exploding cow to iconic lollies. Hmmm, I love the internet 🙂

Anyway, here is the promised song, I’m sure no cows were harmed in the making of it.

Scientists and Black magic. 1932.

I love this article, scientists doing their best to debunk an old superstition.

The Mercury 20 Jun 1932 http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article29960104

The scientists assembled all the ingredients necessary to perform this bit of black magic; the bat’s blood, the top of a mountain, a full moon, a maiden pure of heart and mind, all in order to magic themselves up ‘a youth of surpassing beauty’.

I know that they were sure they were out there proving that science trumps magic but I wonder how many of the scientists were secretly hoping for that extremely good-looking youth to appear before them?

I’ve got to feel sorry for the maiden though. She was pure of heat and mind but obviously just not pretty enough. The scientists were happy to sacrifice her in order to get a better looking version. Poor bugger….

Obviously the Brocken was the kind of place that make it easy for people to believe a bit of the otherworld seeps through. I have did a post last year about the Spectre of the Brocken, a pine tree wielding monster stalking about the mountain.

It is a pity the Spectre didn’t make an appearance during this experiment. I can just imagine the crowd scattering before it, all thoughts of magical appearances abandoned, and the pure maiden just left there all alone, still tied to the sacrificial altar. 😉