As a big Beatles fan, I sure wish I was there 46 years ago when the Fab Four appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show for the first time. Since we haven’t quite worked out that whole time travel thing yet, I’ll have to content myself (and you!) with trivia.

1. Although appearing on Sullivan was a huge “We’ve finally made it” moment for most bands, the Beatles agreed to come on the show only if their travel expenses were covered. Ed and his producers said that was fine, but only if the Beatles would make multiple appearances.
2. In addition to travel expenses, the Beatles also received $10,000, which covered both the famous debut appearance and the other two “multiple appearances” Sullivan had requested in return for paying their airfare. Adjusting for inflation, that’s about a $70,000 paycheck.
3. It’s been reported that 73 million people turned on their television sets to check out these long-haired boys who had been causing a sensation overseas. If that’s true, that was 38% of the population of the United States at the time. Talk about a ratings bonanza!

4. Remember Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall? No? That’s OK. Neither do the majority of the 73 million people who watched that night. Brill & McCall were the unfortunate act who had to follow the earth-shattering, industry-changing Beatles performance. The married sketch comedy duo pretty much bombed – their audience was rather distracted – and they later said they thought it ruined their careers. Here’s an extra bit of unrelated trivia for you: Brill and McCall are the godparents of Melissa Gilbert.

5. You’ve surely heard that old legend that the crime rate in the U.S. dropped dramatically during the Beatles’ appearance on the show. Apparently the whole nation was so transfixed by the lads from Liverpool that everyone preferred to tune in instead of running around committing felonies and such. It’s a nice story, but according to Snopes, it’s not true. The rumor started when a reporter from the Washington Post snarkily remarked that while the Beatles were on that evening, no hubcaps were stolen anywhere. It was meant to infer that the Beatles appealed to the type of degenerate who would do such a thing, but the meaning was twisted and reprinted by Newsweek. The Post ended up printing a tongue-in-cheek retraction on February 21, 1964:

“It is with heavy heart that I must inform Newsweek that this report is not true. Lawrence R. Fellenz of 307 E. Groveton St., Alexandria, had his car parked on church property during that hour – and all four of his hubcaps were stolen. The Washington Post regrets the error, and District Liner Fellenz regrets that somewhere in Alexandria there lives a hipster who is too poor to own a TV set.”

6. Wasn’t it nice that Elvis kicked off the Beatles’ American “debut” (see #5 for the explanation for the quotes) with a personal telegram? Just before John, Paul, George and Ringo took the stage, Ed Sullivan announced that he had received a “very nice” telegram from the King, wishing the Fab Four “tremendous success.” Notoriously known for being jealous of the Beatles, Elvis had actually done no such thing. His manager, Colonel Tom Parker, was responsible for the note, and only sent it because he thought it would make Elvis look good.

7. As our own David Israel pointed out in September, this was not really the Beatles’ American T.V. debut. They had appeared on NBC’s The Huntley Brinkley Report on November 18, 1963, in a whopping four-minute-long segment on the craze that was sweeping England.

8. Davy Jones was also on The Ed Sullivan Show that night, but not as part of the Monkees. Davy was performing with the cast of Broadway’s Oliver! Jones played the Artful Dodger (and ended up being nominated for a Tony for the role).

9. The Beatles had been gaining steam in the U.S. prior to the Sullivan show: the show was flooded with 50,000 ticket requests for the February 9 show – and it wasn’t because of the show’s other guest, Frank Gorshin (the Riddler from Batman the T.V. show). More than 49,000 people were disappointed because the studio only held 703 guests.

10. If you’ve never had the pleasure of seeing the performance (and hearing the ear-splitting shrieks of a crowd packed full of teenage girls), you’re in for a treat:

Now that we know there’s a whole legion of _floss readers who grew up reading The Baby-sitters Club, we thought it was time to discuss the best part of the books: Claudia’s funky—and frequently frightening—fashions. But today’s non-fiction fashionistas could give Claud a run for her money. Can you distinguish between the Claudia Kishi creations and descriptions of outfits worn by celebrities?

Take the Quiz: Claudia Kishi Creation or Fashionista Flop?

Tropisms > Chernobyl > Lost Souls from POLYMORF on Vimeo.

The story of Hadacol is the story of Dudley LeBlanc. A born entrepreneur, LeBlanc put himself through college in Lafayette, Louisiana by running a clothes pressing business. Then he put four brothers and two cousins through college as well. LeBlanc sold shoes, tobacco, patent medicine, and funeral insurance. He also ran a funeral home, which benefitted greatly from insurance sales. LeBlanc served as state senator and in the Louisiana Public Service Commission. In 1932, he ran for governor of Louisiana against Oscar Allen, who had the support of Huey Long. It was a particularly nasty campaign that LeBlanc lost. He also ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1944 and 1952. LeBlanc served as state senator for four non-consecutive terms between 1940 and his death in 1971. In the midst of his political career, he also made millions selling Hadacol.

LeBlanc ran into some trouble with the FDA over the patent medicines he was selling in 1941. Rather than deal with defending products that weren’t all that profitable, he stopped making Dixie Dew Cough Syrup and Happy Day Headache Powders. Then he came up with something better. The story LeBlanc told was that he was suffering from pain in his big toe, and the only doctor who could help him wouldn’t share the recipe for the medicine he used. So LeBlanc stole some from an inattentive nurse and research the ingredients on the label. From that information, he developed Hadacol. The name was short for Happy Day Company, with an L for LeBlanc. However, many years later when someone asked how he named the drug, LeBlanc said “Well, I hadda call it something.”

Hadacol was a mixture of vitamins B1 and B2, iron, niacin, calcium, phosphorous, honey, and diluted hydrochloric acid in 12% alcohol. The alcohol content wasn’t all that high, but the hydrochloric acid meant it was delivered through the body faster than it would be otherwise. The mixture really made people feel better, although it wasn’t a cure for the many diseases it was advertised for: high blood pressure, ulcers, strokes, asthma, arthritis, diabetes, pneumonia, anemia, cancer, epilepsy, gall stones, heart trouble, and hay fever. And that was only the beginning.

What made Hadacol a success was LeBlanc’s advertising ingenuity. He explored ways to promote his product that took the public by surprise -and worked. He kept supplies low in some pharmacies to create demand. He paid people for their testimonies, which sometimes crossed the line to ridiculous.

“Two months ago I couldn’t read nor write. I took four bottles of Hadacol, and now I’m teaching school.”

Hadacol was everywhere, on radio, on billboards, in newspapers and magazines, and at the local pharmacy. It was even sold in liquor stores and bars. People paid $3.50 for a 24-ounce bottle even if they had no food in the pantry. The hope for a better tomorrow trumped common sense in those days, just as it does now. LeBlanc pushed Hadacol on his radio show, which he broadcast in French. He published a medical pamphlet extolling the wonder of his elixir. He gave away swag featuring the name Hadacol on it, including water pistols and a comic book for children with stories drawn from glowing testimonies. LeBlanc wrote a jingle called “The Hadacol Boogie” which was recorded by several artists including Jerry Lee Lewis. He gave out Hadacol tokens, good for 25 cents off a bottle. LeBlanc had to expand his factory, then build more factories. Hadacol use spread from Louisiana across the nation. Millions of bottles were sold every year.

The Food and Drug Administration objected, not to Hadacol itself, but to LeBlanc’s claims that it cured cancer, epilepsy, asthma, and other diseases when it clearly did not. Wanting to avoid trouble, LeBlanc pulled those claims, but the damage was done. The new health claims were vague, but he couldn’t do anything about the testimonies consumers gave. Without specific diseases, Hadacol became a cure-all for whatever people hoped it would cure. And no matter what was wrong, the medicine made people feel better -and that was all that mattered. LeBlanc instigated rumors that Hadacol was good for sexual potency, a tip that was slyly alluded to in the medicine shows. Hadacol was said to be recommended by doctors, although the only doctor named was Dr. L.A. Willey, who later turned out to be a Californian convicted of practicing medicine without a license. To enlist doctors for endorsements, LeBlanc offered free samples and a payment for each patient a doctor could recruit for research.

In 1950, LeBlanc took the show on the road. The Hadacol Caravan of 130 vehicles played one-night stands throughout the South. Thousands of people paid admission with Hadacol box tops each night and enjoyed entertainment from Carmen Miranda, Mickey Rooney, Bob Hope, Lucille Ball, George Burns and Gracie Allen, Roy Acuff, Minnie Pearl, and other big names. The band played, chorus girls danced, circus acts performed, and LeBlanc sold millions of bottles of Hadacol. the caravan then headed west and recruited the talents of Groucho Marx and Judy Garland. In 1951, LeBlanc toured using a 17-car train called the Hadacol Special. The shows featured bicycle giveaways, beauty contests, and clowns selling Hadacol. Jack Dempsey, Milton Berle, Jimmy Durante, and Cesar Romero joined the show, which played for a month straight in Los Angeles. Hank Williams played the final act of the show and brought people to their feet every night.

At the time, Hadacol was the second biggest advertiser in the US, right after Coca-Cola. As the caravan headed east, there were hints that all was not well with LeBlanc financially. The company head was spending more in advertising than he was bringing in. He announced that he was selling the company to the Maltz Cancer Foundation, but would stay as a sales manager. The actual buyers included Dr. Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon who ran a “private research project.” Then news then came that LeBlanc was in trouble with the IRS. The caravan tour laid off some performers, then cancelled before the end of the schedule. Some performers were stranded without pay. The group that bought Hadacol was stunned to find how far in debt the company was, and declared bankruptcy even before paying the entire $8 million selling price to LeBlanc. Still, LeBlanc had the last laugh, as the company’s debts were no longer his. Later that year, LeBlanc appeared on Groucho Marx’ TV show You Bet Your Life. Marx asked him what Hadacol was good for. LeBlanc quipped “It was good for about… 5 and a half million dollars for me last year.”

Their jobs are somewhat similar—and as it happens, so are their names. Can you tell your Supreme Court Justices from your Major League Umpires?

Take the Quiz: Supreme Court Justice or Major League Ump?

The authorities do not know exactly how many people have been killed warbling “My Way” in karaoke bars in the Philippines, or how many fatal fights it has fueled. But the news media have recorded at least half a dozen victims in the past decade and includes them in a subcategory of crime dubbed the “My Way Killings.”

The killings have produced urban legends about the song and left Filipinos groping for answers. Are the killings the natural byproduct of the country’s culture of violence, drinking and machismo? Or is there something inherently sinister in the song? Whatever the reason, many karaoke bars have removed the song from their playbooks. And the country’s many Sinatra lovers, like Mr. Gregorio here in this city in the southernmost Philippines, are practicing self-censorship out of perceived self-preservation.

Theories abound: some say it’s because of the song’s arrogant tone (”I did it my way!”), others claim it’s the ubiquity of the song — everyone knows it, has an opinion on it, and people clearly aren’t afraid to criticize one another’s karaoke skills in the Philippines — while defenders of the song cite the frequency with which it is sung; it’s simply more likely to be killed while singing “My Way” because it is sung so often. Still, rightly or not, “My Way” is increasingly finding itself banned from karaoke bars by fearful owners.

Incidents of karaoke-related violence in the U.S. are pretty low — but can anyone think of another pastime that might have a similar analogue? Britain has its deadly soccer hooligan brawls — what have we got? Bowling-related violence?

Today I typed “more women prefer” into Google, unearthing the following:

Turnip #1

More Women Prefer Dogs Over Husbands – An online poll released shows more women would rather have a pet than a husband.

Turnip #2

The behavior of men in choosing urinals is different from that of women choosing restroom stalls, according to some reports. Whereas more women prefer stalls in the middle section, men prefer urinals to either end of the line, obviously hoping to draw as little attention as possible. Those men who actually choose urinals in the middle (4, 5, or 6) seem to be less self-conscious and less likely to succumb to external influence or pressure.

Turnip #3

Study: More women prefer pretty-boy features on men than rough-hewn look

Turnip #4

This explains why more women prefer fun games like bingo than “profitable” games such as poker and blackjack.

Turnip #5

More women prefer diving and they now make up about 40 per cent of all scuba divers.

Turnip #6

More Women Prefer to Have Kids Without Marrying.- A growing number of women are having children and raising them without marrying.

Turnip #7

Why More Women Prefer Breast Success Pills To Augmentation Surgery – In 2005, more than 290,000 breast augmentation surgeries were performed in the United States, making it the third most commonly performed cosmetic surgical procedure according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

The image above is undoubtedly impressive, but the really amazing thing about the picture is the fact that this place doesn’t really exist. Photographer Matthew Albanese takes painstaking efforts to create amazing model worlds out of common household ingredients and then uses tilt shift photography and lighting tricks to make the model become a photo realistic creation.

In fact, the setting above is constructed with faux fur, sifted tile grout and cotton. His website also has a strikingly real tornado created with steel wool and cotton and a stunning volcano created with phosphorus ink, cotton, tile grout, and cotton. It’s most certainly worth your while to explore his entire collection.

Today’s Brain Game is open-ended; there are several dozen correct answers, and your job is to find just one of them (preferably one that someone else hasn’t already offered in the comments). To win the game, come up with ONE word that contains five consecutive consonants. Examples?  BIRTHSTONE, POSTSCRIPT. And to make it a bit more challenging, please follow the “sometimes Y” rule (which states that if “Y” makes a vowel sound, it should be considered a vowel).

Can you come up with a word containing five consecutive consonants?

Please post ONE such word in the comments
(and save any additional ones so that others may answer).