Bending wood.
My grandfather had a story that he could not tell without laughing to the point of almost crying laughing trying to tell it. He had been working a long day at the meat packing plant, in early 1940s era. Hot and smelly and very hard work. He came one evening looking forward to a nice bath, and he walked into the bathroom, and the tub was full of water, with a 3 foot long piece of 2x4 floating in it. He immediately knew it was his son, my dad, that was behind it. He yelled Dannie! (Yea it was spelled that way) and dad went in the bathroom.
What the heck is a 2x4 doing floating in the tub? Dad replied he had read that if you soak wood in water, it will soften, and he could then bend it into a crescent. and carve it into a boomerang. Grandpa instantly told my dad he would give him 100 dollars to see him bend that 2x4 even a little bit.
Of course, dad struggled and tried and the 2x4 stood resolute. So grandpa said get that stick out of here, I want a bath.
Dad tried everything, and no bend of course. He had read it in a boy scout manual on how to earn a merit badge to make a boomerang. I think he gave up on that merit badge. He did earn a Eagle Scout.