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Civil War Curiosities: Strange Stories, Oddities, Events, and Coincidences
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Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit
From 1840 until 1940, freak shows by the hundreds crisscrossed the United States, from the smallest towns to the largest cities, exhibiting their casts of dwarfs, giants, Siamese twins, bearded ladies, savages, snake charmers, fire eaters, and other oddities. By today's standards such displays would be considered cruel and exploitative—the pornography of disability. Yet for one hundred years the freak show was widely accepted as one of America's most popular forms of entertainment. Robert Bogdan's fascinating social history brings to life the world of the freak show and explores the culture that nurtured and, later, abandoned it. In uncovering this neglected chapter of show business, he describes in detail the flimflam artistry behind the shows, the promoters and the audiences, and the gradual evolution of public opinion from awe to embarrassment. Freaks were not born, Bogdan reveals; they were manufactured by the amusement world, usually with the active participation of the freaks themselves. Many of the "human curiosities" found fame and fortune, becoming the celebrities of their time, until the ascent of professional medicine transformed them from marvels into pathological specimans. .
Price: $13.50
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Ripley's Believe It or Not! Amusement Park Oddities & Trivia (Ripley's Believe It Or Not!)
Ripley's Believe It or Not! Amusement Park Oddities & Trivia is an uncanny journey through the weird, wacky, and absolutely true world of amusement parks, rides and attractions! Tired of the traditional ho-hum trivia book? Rejoice, here's one that's unique, enjoyable, accurate AND edgy! With a bit of history, a bit of trivia and a lot of totally unbelievable facts, this is a first of its kind book for the amusement industry. With more than 350 Believe It or Nots! inside its pages, and 50-plus original illustrations by Ripley's official cartoonist John Graziano, nearly half of the book is dedicated to the bizarre, colorful and entertaining universe of amusement parks, rides and attractions. The other half features chapters on the Walt Disney parks, roller coasters, Ferris wheels, carousels, entertainers and park food! Nearly 100 different amusement and theme parks, waterparks, attractions, zoos and aquariums are represented in these colorful pages, not to mention the 14 pages packed with astounding roller coaster Believe It or Nots! A comprehensive index permits readers to quickly discover the oddities of their favorite park..
Price: $8.11
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Hockey's Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Wicked Slapshots, Bruising Goons and Ice Oddities (Most Wanted)
The history of hockey is filled with the bizarre, the unexpected, and the hard to believe Hockey's Most Wanted™ chronicles 700 of the most outrageous players, coaches, and owners in hockey history In humorous detail, Floyd Conner describes hockey’s top-ten strange plays, inept players, bizarre nicknames, craziest fans, colorful characters, unlikely heroes, odious owners, worst coaches, beleaguered officials, most brutal fights, and more. Learn why Dave Reece was nicknamed “the Human Sieve,” and find out which goalie once gave up fifteen goals in a game. Meet the player who was whistled for a record sixty-seven penalty minutes in a single game and another who played in the National Hockey League for five years before scoring his first goal. Imagine scoring the winning goal in the seventh and deciding game of the Stanley Cup—for the opposing team—or how it felt to be the defenseman traded for a net. You can find all this and more in Hockey's Most Wanted™, a book that every hockey fan will enjoy..
Price: $7.49
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The Fightin' Phils: Oddities, Insights, and Untold Stories
No doubt, loyal Phillies fans take pride in their knowledge of home team lore. They can probably name the Phils only pitcher to throw a perfect game; tick off who was their last Rookie of the Year; and, of course, narrate how they won the 1950 pennant. But, then, so can most people who follow the game. It s knowing all the other stories, many previously untold, that will set the true Phillies fanatic apart. Who would have guessed, for example, that, in 1946, a female scout was working full time for the Phillies a first in baseball. Now 95, she gives a fascinating interview about breaking that barrier. Other interviews with such players as Steve Carlton, Jimmy Rollins, Robin Roberts, and Mike Schmidt provide new details about their streaks and feats. Falling under the category of The Ones That Got Away are accounts of how the front office missed signing Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Al Kaline, and Carl Yastrzemski which will make for some essential, if painful, reading. Stories of the Phils pitcher who later joined the CIA, the left handed catcher, and the game that lasted only 51 minutes offer but a taste of the book s richly entertaining and surprising oddities. So pick up The Fightin Phils, and get reacquainted with the team you thought you knew..
Price: $12.94
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40 Days and 40 Nights: Darwin, Intelligent Design, God, Oxycontin, and Other Oddities on Trial in Pennsylvania
In this fascinating story of evolution, religion, politics, and personalities, Matthew Chapman captures the story behind the headlines in the debate over God and science in America. Kitzmiller v. Dover Board of Education, decided in late 2005, pitted the teaching of intelligent design (sometimes known as "creationism in a lab coat") against the teaching of evolution. Matthew Chapman, the great-great-grandson of Charles Darwin, spent several months covering the trial from beginning to end. Through his in-depth encounters with the participants—creationists, preachers, teachers, scientists on both sides of the issue, lawyers, theologians, the judge, and the eleven parents who resisted the fundamentalist proponents of intelligent design—Chapman tells a sometimes terrifying, often hilarious, and above all moving story of ordinary people doing battle in America over the place of religion and science in modern life. .
Price: $9.10
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The Excruciating History of Dentistry: Toothsome Tales & Oral Oddities from Babylon to Braces
For those on both sides of the dreaded dentist's chair, James Wynbrandt has written a witty, colorful, and richly informative history of the art and science of dentistry. To all of those dental patients whose whine rises in tandem with that of the drill, take note: You would do well to stifle your terror and instead offer thanks to Apollonia, the patron saint of toothache sufferers, that you face only fleeting discomfort rather than the disfiguring distress, or slow agonizing death oft meted out by dental-care providers of the past. The transition from yesterday's ignorance, misapprehension, and superstition to the enlightened and nerve-deadened protocols of today has been a long, slow, and very painful process.For example, did you know that: *Among the toothache remedies favored by Pierre Fauchard, the father of dentistry, was rinsing the mouth liberally with one's own urine.*George Washington never had wooden teeth. However, his chronic dental problems may have impacted the outcome of the American Revolution. *Soldiers in the Civil War needed at least two opposing front teeth to rip open powder envelopes. Some men called up for induction had their front teeth extracted to avoid service. *Teeth were harvested from as many as fifty thousand corpses after the Battle of Waterloo, a huge crop later used for dentures and transplants that became known as "Waterloo Teeth." .
Price: $9.63
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Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House, A: Humor, Blunders, and Other Oddities From the Presidential Campaign Trail
"If you are one of that benighted handful of people who isn't wise to Charles Osgood's incisive and humorous look at the foibles of your fellow men, here is your chance to catch up. Try not to foul up again!" --Walter Cronkite Charles Osgood, one of America's favorite news personalities, offers a hilarious compendium of anecdotes from the last seventy years of presidential campaigns. With anecdotes from Harry Truman to JFK to George W. Bush, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House captures the wit and humor of the campaign trail. Culled from speeches, interviews, press conferences, as well as articles written by and about the candidates--no source is left untapped. From Bob Dole telling reporters after a loss in the primary that "I slept like a baby--every two hours I woke up and cried," and Barry Goldwater's comment that his talkative opponent Hubert Humphreys "has been clocked at 275 words a minute with gusts up to 340," to Adlai Stevenson declaring that "If I talk over the people's head, Ike must be talking under their feet," this is the go-to source for campaign humor. Just when America most needs a good laugh, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the White House makes the seemingly endless race to the presidency a lot more fun..
Price: $7.99
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Alabama Curiosities: Quirky Characters, Roadside Oddities & Other Offbeat Stuff (Curiosities Series)
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