Useless Information

Fascinating True Stories From the Flip Side of History

On the Web Since 1994

Podcasting Since January 2008

50,000 Books Given Away

Published on October 5, 2019

Posted in: Miscellaneous, Money & Financial, Tidbits

When the Brattle Book Shop was forced to move in 1964, it had to give away 50,000 books for free.

Click to Read More...

Milk Bottle Shortage

Published on September 21, 2019

Posted in: Forgotten History, Money & Financial, Tidbits

On November 14, 1946, it was reported that there was a shortage of milk bottles in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

Click to Read More...

The Coal Mountain Casanova – Podcast #120

Published on March 19, 2019

Posted in: Love & Marriage, Money & Financial, Podcast

In 1952, Jesse Garrett had recently divorced and was in search of a new wife. He seemed like a catch and hundreds of women contacted him to let them know that they were interested. In the end, Jesse Garrett was financially ruined.

Click to Read More...

6-Year-Old Goes on a Buying Spree

Published on September 21, 2018

Posted in: Bizarre & Oddities, Money & Financial, Tidbits

In 1933, 6-year-old Bertha Deshefy of Yonkers % % went on a spending spree. In 4 hours, Bertha used her dad's bankroll to purchase $110 worth of candy and toys.

Click to Read More...

Pennies Hoarded for Gold

Published on August 14, 2018

Posted in: Money & Financial, Tidbits

Residents of Amityville, NY hoarded pennies in 1902 so that they could melt them down to get the gold out of the coins.

Click to Read More...

Self-Service Gasoline

Published on July 26, 2018

Posted in: Money & Financial, Science, Technology & Medicine, Tidbits

Opposition to self-service gasoline stations was very high in the 1940s and '50s. Today, only New Jersey has a total ban on them.

Click to Read More...

Le Mars Trilogy: Part 1 – T.M. Zink’s Library – Podcast #103

Published on June 10, 2017

Posted in: Bizarre & Oddities, Death and Murder, Money & Financial, Podcast

TM Zink left his entire fortune for the establishment of a Womanless library. Find out the details of what really happened and who inherited his estate.

Click to Read More...

Twilight Zone Chooses to Keep Rod Serling

Published on May 21, 2017

Posted in: Entertainment, Money & Financial, Tidbits

Can you imagine The Twilight Zone television series with Orson Welles as the host? It almost happened...

Click to Read More...

Where There’s a Wilby, There’s a Way – Podcast #101

Published on March 27, 2017

Posted in: Bizarre & Oddities, Crime & Punishment, Fraud & Deception, Money & Financial, Podcast

The story of Ralph M. Wilby is one of international intrigue, deception, financial trickery, and the obligatory beautiful woman...

Click to Read More...

$20,000 in Ice Cream in Will

Published on September 8, 2016

Posted in: Death and Murder, Money & Financial, Tidbits

In 1937, Clementine Farr Duff willed $20,000 to the Washington Home for the Incurables to purchase ice cream.

Click to Read More...

The Ice Cream Wars – Podcast #96

Published on August 4, 2016

Posted in: Crime & Punishment, Money & Financial, Podcast

Ice cream truck drivers have been beaten and robbed, their trucks smashed, burned, and bombed, and death threats have been issued against them.

Click to Read More...

Brassiere Brigade – Podcast #94

Published on July 5, 2016

Posted in: Crime & Punishment, Fraud & Deception, Money & Financial, Podcast

The women who worked for Southern Bell in Miami back in 1950. Poorly paid, they figured out a unique way to smuggle money out of the coin counting room.

Click to Read More...

He Wants His Alimony Back

Published on November 10, 2015

Posted in: Law & Order, Love & Marriage, Money & Financial, Tidbits

Howard Metz paid alimony for thirty years to a woman who would not divorce him. When she died, he claimed title to her estate. Did he get it?

Click to Read More...

Grandfather’s Good Deed

Published on July 29, 2015

Posted in: Money & Financial, Tidbits

Eight-year-old Edith Diane Brown was the luckiest girl on Earth back in October 1956. That’s when her family learned that she would be inheriting an $1.8 million.

Click to Read More...

The Honest Man with an Evil Eye – Podcast #84

Published on July 10, 2015

Posted in: Bizarre & Oddities, Death and Murder, Money & Financial, Podcast

In 1935, Frank Greges stumbled across a wallet containing the stocks. Find out what really happened and how he killed a man simply by staring at him.

Click to Read More...

Language

Follow the Podcast

Over 5.5 Million Downloads!

Recent Podcast Episodes

Retrocast 16 – Podcast #193
March 20, 2023
A Severed Relationship – Podcast #192
March 6, 2023
Retrocast #15 – Podcast #191
February 14, 2023
Marty, the Marijuana Mouse – Podcast #190
February 2, 2023
Retrocast #14 – Podcast #189
January 19, 2023
The Newburyport Anti-Inflation Plan – Podcast #188
January 9, 2023
Christmas Retrocast – Podcast #187
December 20, 2022
Bad Apples #5 – The Bishop’s Wife – Podcast #186
December 15, 2022
200 Years of Twas the Night – Podcast #185
December 5, 2022
The Cryptanalyst (Part 3) – Podcast #184
November 18, 2022