A post on Strange Ago shares four offbeat newspaper stories that could provide an interesting prompt for your next story:
- Wore a Mask and a Comb. Policemen raided an exhibition featuring a nude dancer wearing only a red velvet mask and an amber hair comb. The physicians in attendance swore the dance was for scientific purposes.
- Frightened to Death. An inmate at the Manhattan Detention Complex – ironically known as The Tombs – allegedly died of fright while awaiting trial for murder. Prison guards said some visitors told Antonio Spinelli about another man who had been sentenced to die in the electric chair. After they left, Spinelli could think and talk of nothing else and soon fell ill. He was found unconscious in his sell and died not long after.
- Tooth Worms. People used to think worms caused cavities. Chinese dentists used to specialize in the extraction of tooth worms with a chopstick and silver pin. The chopstick was pressed against the diseased tooth while the extractor poked around with the silver pin to find the worms. The alternatives to worm removal were tooth extraction and the application of arsenic to kill an exposed pulp.
- Monster Giant. In New Mexico, 1902, the grave of a purported giant was discovered. According to reports, the skeleton’s forearm measured four feet from wrist to elbow, and the jaw bone three feet. Observers estimated the chest cavity at eight feet.
