Five rounds. Two strange stories each. Only one made the paper. Choose which one you think is real, then see the proof.
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The five historical items from this edition, with their newspaper proof. Play first if you want to guess.
The Slenderfork flashed red and green lights to pace bites of food. Its maker promoted it as a way to slow eating; the reporter tested how easily a determined diner could defeat the system. The fork’s existence is the story, not proof that it caused weight loss.
Arizona Daily Star · 1981-11-11
Open the original newspaper ↗The Excuse Machine at an Atlanta hotel disco played sounds that let callers pretend they were at places such as an airport or garage. A flashing sign alerted people outside when an excuse was in progress.
The Atlanta Journal · 1979-07-26
Open the original newspaper ↗A photograph showed West German Postmaster General Richard Stuecklen holding four hourglasses with progressively less welcoming labels. The device began with the introduction and ended by signaling that the visitor should finish.
Daily American Republic · 1958-08-22
Open the original newspaper ↗The caption introduced Chauncey Smythe DePew IV, a copper test subject at Harvard’s Fatigue Laboratory. Researchers used the figure in wartime experiments. The reclining dummy in the photograph looks much less comfortable than the caption’s heroic description.
The Boston Daily Globe · 1945-12-30
Open the original newspaper ↗A story about Britain’s TV Inventors Club recalled a man who said his powder would let a person glide safely from a plane. The organizer invited a window demonstration. The inventor declined. The newspaper printed the pitch as a rejected invention, not a working way to fly.
The Arizona Republic · 1954-09-05
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