Here is an excellent example of why I am no longer making public posts over on my old favorite plant/gardening site.
I had been in the process of writing an article for NGA. The article was not yet finished but I posted a bit of information and a few images to help folks who inquired how to decrease the population of biting flies.
Here is my original post:
https://garden.org/thread/view…
Someone who trolls the internet attempting to make others look ignorant quoted my idea and then, attempting to discredit my original idea, posted a photo they found on the internet claiming the photo showed a man in a football helmet stuck with glue to the side of a building which is, of course, incorrect information. The poster also judges incorrectly thinking the image is from the 1950’s. Find the post here (and, by the way, the person has already edited the post once and could edit it again):
https://garden.org/thread/view…
I believe the poster was referring to the old television ads for Krazy Glue. This is the commercial, which, by the way, shows a man not in a football helmet, but in a construction hardhat – not the same thing at all:
https://videosift.com/video/Kr…
If the troll had bothered to research the photo a bit more they could have learned that this same image has been used in many places on the internet. And almost all are wrong. The result of insufficient research.
In one place on the internet, the photo was used to show a man supposedly wearing a football helmet running headlong into the side of a building to prove the helmet protects the head. Nope, not correct.
https://www.historyinorbit.com…
The image has also been used here claiming to show a rugby helmet being tested in 1912 (again, that is incorrect but at least they got the date right):
http://amorq.com/article/4918/…
And here again (see photo #19 and again, it is incorrect – not a rugby helmet):
https://catfly.com/post/32-his…
There are many more places that this photo shows up, but you get the idea. Almost all of those are wrong. They are examples of a photo being used for the wrong purpose. Examples of people who are not doing their own original work and not using their own original images. And people who are not doing proper research.
But wait. No. The photo in question has absolutely nothing to do with glue, crazy/Krazy or otherwise, nor construction hardhats and nothing to do with a helmet for either football or rugby. So let’s look further to find the facts. Please, take a moment to step into the Wayback Machine…
This photo is, in fact, a piece of aviation history. We find our way back to the origin of the image.
Here it is. This is the cover page of FLIGHT, a weekly publication from the UK.
https://www.flightglobal.com/p…
This is, in fact, a photo of a certain Mr. W. T. Warren wearing an aviation helmet that he invented. There is no glue involved, no football, no rugby. Mr. Warren is running headlong into the side of a hangar to demonstrate how the helmet will help aviators to protect their heads. It’s about aviation!
The spectators are identified as Mssrs. Lewis Turner, W. H. Ewen, and A. M. Ramsey. The article was published April 6, 1912, and can be read here: https://www.flightglobal.com/p…
So next time you decide to be a troll, please do your research, get your facts straight. Oh, and perhaps your time would be better spent writing your own original article or idea rather than trying to discount the work of others.
Garden gnomes are good; internet trolls are bad.