"White lung" disease from clapping blackboard erasers

In the last 30 years there has been a handful of studies on the effects of long-term exposure to chalk dust on school teachers (see Zsuzsánna Ágnes Szász et al, “Chalk-induced Lung Fibrosis — Case Report.” Journal of Interdisciplinary Medicine 2017; 2(4):357-61, and its accompanying references). It’s likely that with the increased use of whiteboards, respiratory tract diseases will be less of an occupational hazard for teachers.

I’ve come across a couple of references in humor magazines to brown-nosing schoolkids getting sick from inhaling chalk dust after much clapping of erasers. Did kids in the real world ever worry about “white lung”?

George W. S. Trow & Anne Beatts, "Doctor Warns of New Diseases," National Lampoon, September, 1971, p. 27.

White lung happens when a little boy or a little girl is a little too eager to help teacher. Little boys and little girls who volunteer to help teacher in the hope of winning favors usually end up clapping blackboard erasers. If little boys and little girls clap blackboard erasers too often, they will get dread white lung due to chalk-dust inhalation[.]

 

Dennis Snee, "Former Eraser Cleaner Claims Chalk Dust Damages,” MAD magazine #246, March 1984, p. 31.

ATLANTA, Ga. (UPI) – In the third such suit filed recently, high school senior Matthew Binkowitz claimed today in municipal court that his experience cleaning erasers in elementary and junior high school caused him to develop a chronic respiratory ailment.

"I used to pound the things every day till my hands got tired," Binkowitz said, "but it wasn't until a year ago that I realized breathing in all that chalk dust was bad for my health."

 

Robert Triptow, Class Photo (Seattle: Fantagraphics, 2015), 32.

Charles Schulz, Peanuts, 17 & 19 February 1969.

Sewergators (Barney Miller episode) – Cigarette Brand Slogan on Test – Soviet Mincing Machine

“The Mole.” Barney Miller, season 2, episode 22, 18 March 1976.

A thief (Ron Carey) is chased by cops through the New York sewers, captured, then brought back to their precinct house. Later on, one of the cops (Max Gail) is irritated when the thief starts to limp.

“Now what’s the matter?”

“I banged my knee when I tripped over that alligator.”

“What alligator?”

“Didn’t you see it? It was about two feet long! Sewers are full of them. You know, Jewish kids bring them back from Miami and then they flush them down the toilet.” He sits in a chair, rolls up his pant leg, and points to his calf. “Here, look. Teeth marks!” He adds, “It’s a jungle down there.”

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https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/entertainment_life/smiley_anders/article_aa9d6218-53b6-11eb-a5d7-23096b98c85f.html

The Advocate [Baton Rouge, LA], 11 January 2021

Smiley: Is there ever too much chocolate?

BY SMILEY ANDERS

Initial reaction

Mike says, "My late father-in-law, Warren Weilbaecher, was a Jesuit High graduate.

"He told about one of his quick-witted fellow students. Instead of putting the abbreviation 'A.M.D.G.' (Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam, the Jesuits' Latin motto, meaning 'For the greater glory of God') required at the top of all tests, this student put L.S.M.F.T. (Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco), the advertising slogan for Lucky Strike cigarettes.

"When called for an explanation by the teacher, who did pay attention to such things, the student quickly blurted out that it meant 'Lord and Savior My First Thought.'

"Though the teacher knew better, he had no response.

"Warren said that student went on to a distinguished career as a trial lawyer — which made good use of his ability to think quickly."

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Florian Huber, “Promise Me You’ll Shoot Yourself.” The Mass Suicide of Ordinary Germans in 1945, tr. Imogen Taylor (New York: Little, Brown Spark, 2020), 98-9.

The tanks of the 65th Soviet Army rolled down the main street [of Alt Teterin] early on the morning of 29 April, on their way to Demmin. Some families hid in the woods or in a ditch just outside the village; others stayed in their houses. That night, groups of soldiers went on the prowl, raping women and rounding up men. They took the men to the neighbouring village of Stretense.

As the people of Alt Teterin waited, tense and frightened, they heard a strange, menacing noise coming from the direction of Stretense – a hideous, nerve-shattering drone, like nothing they had ever heard before. It was to become the soundtrack to the horrors of that night; in the minds of some, the grinding, pounding sound became linked to the propaganda they had heard about the Soviet steamroller. Among the women, the rumour soon spread that the Red Army soldiers in Stretense had started up a ‘hell machine’ – a gigantic mincer, like a huge motorised human press, which they were feeding with the men they’d rounded up and led away.

[Source: Günter Jacobi, in: Nils Köhler, ‘Das Drama von Alt Teterin 1945 – ein Projektbericht’, in: Zeitgeschichte regional. Mitteilungen aus Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 14:1, July 2010, p. 93.]

French Children Named “Clitorine” – Suspicious Van in Kroger Parking Lot –The Green Lady (Philadelphia, 1959)

https://www.thelocal.fr/20200212/how-frances-most-embarrassing-baby-name-doesnt-actually-exist

The Local [France]

12 February 2020

How France's 'most embarrassing' baby name doesn't actually exist

The fact that some people call their children Clitorine in unwitting reference to the clitoris (which incidentally is the same word in French in case you were searching for it) seems to be quite widely accepted in France. Except that they don't. The data from French statistics body INSEE does not list it, neither does the Paris electoral roll or the register of deaths. It seems that the nearest this has ever come to being a real name was in the title of a series of pornographic novels from the 1970s. […]

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https://www.pjstar.com/news/20200212/east-peoria-pd-no-kroger-van-in-kroger-parking-lot-isnt-full-of-kidnappers

Journal Star [Peoria, IL]

12 February 2020

East Peoria PD: No, the Kroger van in the Kroger parking lot isn’t full of kidnappers

EAST PEORIA — Social media chatter about a white van filled with possible kidnappers in a Kroger parking lot is not just greatly exaggerated, it’s flat-out untrue. […] In fact, police say, the van is owned by The Kroger Co. and employees in the van are not doing anything unlawful. […]

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https://www.phillytrib.com/commentary/backintheday/back-in-the-day-green-lady-legend-struck-fear-into/article_07edda3a-9b55-5f54-8343-512e9d90512d.html

Philadelphia Tribune [PA]

15 February 2020

Back in the Day: 'Green Lady' legend struck fear into kids

[…] The Green Lady was viewed as an urban legend. However, for children, she took on real life and had many of us afraid to go out at night and caused chaos in our elementary schools. So, are you dear reader wondering about the history of The Green Lady? Well, let me take you back to an Oct. 9, 1959, article that appeared in The Philadelphia Tribune titled “Rumored ‘Green Lady’ Cause of School Panic.” […]

Bottles of Water Deter Dogs (India) – School Designed by Prison Architect (MI) – Hamburgers Contain Human Meat (SC)

https://punemirror.indiatimes.com/pune/civic/citizens-resort-to-vermillion-mixed-potion-to-keep-stray-dogs-at-bay/articleshow/70761213.cms

Pune Mirror [India]

21 August 2019

Citizens resort to vermillion-mixed potion to keep stray dogs at bay

Residents of Kasba Peth, an area infamous for being infested with stray dogs, seem to struggle to come to terms with canines residing in their locality. […] For the lack of a better alternative and unable to cope with the human animal conflict, they are now filling plastic bottles with water mixed with vermillion and placing them outside their residences and stores in the vicinity. The potion seems to have driven away 90 per cent of the strays from the area, they claimed. […]

https://www.thenavhindtimes.in/article/whats-in-the-colourful-bottles/

Navhind Times [India]

11 October 2018

What’s in the colourful bottles?

Have you ever noticed how bottles filled with blue, purple, pink, and red liquid are kept outside several houses in Goa? These bottles are either placed just outside the entrance or in the compound or the garden area. While some people have placed just one or two bottles, others have surrounded their compound with these. Sounds strange? Well, the reason is even stranger! With stray dogs and monkeys often causing a nuisance by invading private property, it turns out these bottles are a way of keeping them away. […]

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2019/08/22/new-high-school-will-have-sleek-classrooms-places-hide-mass-shooter/

Washington Post

22 August 2019

A new high school will have sleek classrooms — and places to hide from a mass shooter

[…] A $48 million major construction project at Fruitport High School [in western Michigan] will add curved hallways to reduce a gunman’s range, jutting barriers to provide cover and egress, and meticulously spaced classrooms that can lock on demand and hide students in the corner, out of a killer’s sight. […] [Architect Matt] Slagle said he was careful with his design. His firm also designs prisons, and he said it wanted to strike a balance between security and a welcoming presence without the pendulum swinging too far in either direction. […]

[Years from now will students believe that the school was originally designed to be a prison?]

http://www.dailytexanonline.com/2018/01/23/creating-campus-was-jester-designed-by-a-prison-architect

The Daily Texan [University of Texas at Austin]

23 January 2018

Creating Campus: Was Jester designed by a prison architect?

Towering above neighboring buildings on the south side of UT’s campus, many students joke that the dull, dreary-looking Jester Center looks like a prison. Some even believe that a few of the dormitory’s inner features parallel those of a penitentiary. “I went into the showers and I had to bend to reach the showerheads, and someone told me the architect had designed it so that prisoners couldn’t hang themselves,” said nutrition freshman Jerrica Garza, a resident of Jester East. “Makes sense I guess.” Arguably, the most widely-believed urban legend about UT’s campus is that Jester was designed by architects specializing in prisons. I was really hoping this would be true, but it’s actually just cringeworthy folklore. […]

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http://www.indexjournal.com/news/crime/officials-dq-burgers-aren-t-made-out-of-people/article_ea508586-e7be-5936-81f2-07afa777fe11.html

Index-Journal [Greenwood, SC]

23 August 2019

Officials: DQ burgers aren't made out of people

As a blizzard of rumors circulated on social media in the aftermath of a coordinated raid in Abbeville, Greenwood and Orangeburg counties by federal agents on Wednesday, the most outlandish may have been that a popular fast food restaurant was using a wince-inducing ingredient in their burgers. Greenwood County Coroner Sonny Cox and state health inspectors are clear, however: Dairy Queen’s ground beef patties are not made out of people. […]

Needle in Gas Pump (PA) – Caiman Skeleton under School Floor (Wales) – Gassed & Robbed (France)

https://www.ksat.com/news/sapd-addresses-human-trafficking-rumors-at-san-antonio-mall

KSAT-TV [San Antonio, TX]

2 August 2019

SAPD addresses human trafficking rumors at San Antonio mall

SAN ANTONIO - If you're in any neighborhood groups on Facebook or use the Nextdoor app, there's a good chance you've seen a post warning about a human trafficking ring at Ingram Park Mall. One of the most-often-shared posts is said to be from the brother of a San Antonio police officer who is warning people to stay away from the mall due to people "taking kids in plain sight." […]

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https://www.wpxi.com/news/top-stories/man-claims-he-was-stuck-by-needle-when-he-went-to-pump-gas/971983364

WPXI-TV [Pittsburgh, PA]

1 August 2019

Man claims he was stuck by needle when he went to pump gas

RACCOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. - A truck driver describes the scary situation that he says landed him in the hospital Wednesday night after pumping gas in Beaver County. "When I grabbed the nozzle itself, I felt a pinch." That pinch came from what he described as a homemade needle that resembled a pen. "It was made of glass and there was like a needle that was like hot glue gunned on," he said. […] Video: "The driver says the station attendant told him not to bring whatever the item was inside, so he says he crushed it with a boot, kicked it down a grate, and went to the hospital.”

Deleted Facebook post

 

Video: “Commercial drivers are wearing protective gloves and checking before they pump.”

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Here apparently is another case of a belief, orally transmitted over decades, that turns out to be true.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-49209737

BBC

2 August 2019

Caiman skeleton discovered under Pentre primary school floor

A caiman skeleton has been discovered under a primary school floor. The skeleton was found when the floor of one of the classrooms at Ysgol Bodringallt, in Pentre, Rhondda Cynon Taff, was lifted during renovation work on Wednesday. Head teacher Dr Neil Pike said workers were "shocked" and "didn't expect to find such a thing". He said people had talked for decades of a crocodile being buried at the site. […]

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https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/9636598/brit-family-gassed-robbed-camper-van-holiday-france/

The Sun [UK]

1 August 2019

Brit family gassed and robbed in camper van holiday in France after Jenson Button, Patrick Vieira and Richard Hammond suffer same fate

A HOLIDAYING family were gassed in their camper van by thieves who ransacked it while they were knocked out. Perry Hudson, his partner Kim Heighway and their three children were targeted at the end of their stay in France. They were parked in a service station when the raiders pumped gas into the vehicle and then helped themselves to £1,500-worth of belongings. […]

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A recent “gassed & robbed” report that I had missed:

https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/kings-lynn-couple-gassed-by-robbers-at-french-service-station-1-5964954

Eastern Daily Press [UK]

28 March 2019

Camper van couple 'gassed by thieves' on dream road trip

A couple are cutting short a dream road trip after a break-in at a French service station during which they believe they were "gassed". Pete Gosling, 26 and Lauren Hubbard, 27, from Wootton Road, King’s Lynn, were planning to spend six months driving around Europe in a camper van. On Tuesday they stopped off to sleep at a lorry park near Marseille in the south of France, en route from Italy to Spain. Mr Gosling said when they woke the following morning, they realised that the van had been burgled. […]