Urban legands

hatfull

HIM-full
During the Easter Holiday, I was catching up on back issues of http://www.forteantimes.com/ magazine (a fine magazine) and they had a wonderful article about urban legands, which they refered to as 'whale tumours': the reason behind the name goes back to this urban legand: after WW2, the British Government tried to persuade the public to eat whale meat as a cheap and readily available alternative to the meats which were still in short supply due to rationing. (this much of the story is true) however, the idea never really caught on, in part due to the fact that it was said someone had opened a tin of whale meat, put it in a pan to cook, and seen a large tumour attached to the meat which was still moving! Anyone else got any urban legands they would care to share?
 
During the Easter Holiday, I was catching up on back issues of http://www.forteantimes.com/ magazine (a fine magazine) and they had a wonderful article about urban legands, which they refered to as 'whale tumours': the reason behind the name goes back to this urban legand: after WW2, the British Government tried to persuade the public to eat whale meat as a cheap and readily available alternative to the meats which were still in short supply due to rationing. (this much of the story is true) however, the idea never really caught on, in part due to the fact that it was said someone had opened a tin of whale meat, put it in a pan to cook, and seen a large tumour attached to the meat which was still moving! Anyone else got any urban legands they would care to share?

Look Hattie! Robbie Williams is in your link, obsessed with your aliens!

fortean_times_2196_7.jpg
 
My advisor in grad school was a professor of both Classical Studies (Greek & Latin) and Folklore. I never took any of his folklore classes, but he liked to go off on tangents, and urban legends were one of his favorite subjects.

Of course, the definitive urban legends resource is Snopes. My favorites are the horror/macabre stories, like the charred scuba diver whose remains were found in a tree (he'd been sucked up from the ocean by a firefighting helicopter, which then dumped its load on a fire).
yeah, I love that site! I have many favourites, one of them is http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/hook.asp[/QUOTE]]this

and also http://www.snopes.com/horrors/madmen/boyfriend.asp[/QUOTE]this
 
any new ones of note?
 
A woman bought herself a pet boa-constrictor. Eventually it got too big for it's tank, so she used to let it sleep on the bed with her. In time it stopped eating but kept growing. It became so long, it was her size, and would lay next to her on the bed stretched out by her side. Still not eating. For days it stayed stretched out on the bed beside where she slept. She called the vet, concerned it wasn't eating.
It's saving itself up for one big meal, he said, and is measuring you to make sure you'll fit.
 
Back
Top Bottom