“A short beau in tow is worth ten highboys on the loose.” Forties lingo is killer diller!
Fun facts:
Curious what a smooth and comfortable Kotex Wonderform Belt looks like? Of course you are. [scroll when at link]
Four tips for being a great bellhop from a site that sells shoes so you can probably guess one of the tips.
Wanna learn a bit o’ slang from the 1940s? You’ll recognize some, but not all. Here’s some more.
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!["Hey Mom! Can you spray my oatmeal with some more of that dee-licious DDT?" "Sure, Sweetie! Say when!" [spritz spritz spritz spritz...]](https://i1.wp.com/www.adtothebone.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/dupontddtdetail.jpg?fit=625%2C908)
Fun facts:
DDT stands for dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane (also Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane). And now you know why they called it DDT instead.
In 1955 alone, 500 million pounds of DTT was produced.
Some houseflies turned out to be resistant to DDT.
DDT got a dude a Nobel Prize.
And then there’s the whole thing about DDT and raptors and shell thinning and OMG they’re still fighting about that so I’m not going to link to anything about it.
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You can wear whatever you like, ok?
Just not with a Pepsi, ok?
Fun facts:
Before 1955, Coca-Cola was only sold at soda fountains or in 6.5 ounce bottles. Tres dainty.
The oldest known masks are around 9,000 years old.
Have you ever seen a kola nut?
“It is better to look good than to feel good.” – Fernando Lamas (the real one and the one played by Billy Crystal on SNL)
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RRRR-R — Notice that they don’t show dad “sharpening his pencil”?
Fun facts:
Charles Shulz created 17,897 different daily Peanuts comic strips.
Snoopy was almost Sniffy.
A girl named Lila was Snoopy’s first owner.
The inside of Snoopy’s doghouse was large enough to hold four children.
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This ad must’ve taken place before they invented personal zones.
A bit about the artist Jay Hyde Barnum.
Hey! The company is still around!
A guide to wearing wool in the summer.
And speaking of wool, meet Shrek, the sheep who escaped shearing for six years by hiding in New Zealand caves.
Or perhaps you would prefer a wood suit?
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I have questions.
What is that tool/toy at the bottom of the ad?
The husband is totally cheating on her, right?
Is wearing white really the wisest choice here?
Fun facts:
Classic Trains has a nice assortment of Golden State Limited marketing materials.
Golden State’s later years were not quite so posh and luxurious.
And what good is Golden State Limited history if it doesn’t include tales of train robberies gone wrong and bodies found in drippy trunks?
Oh, now you want to learn more about Winnie Ruth Judd, AKA the Trunk Murderess, AKA the Tiger Woman, AKA the Blonde Butcher? I gotcha covered. Also, there’s a website named Murderpedia.
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Fun facts:
Union-Alls appear to be another word for coveralls, or ever better, speed suits.
Scout preferred overalls in To Kill a Mockingbird.
Lee and Wrangler are now owned by Kontoor Brands. Would you wear Kontoor jeans?
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This is truly one of the best headlines ever written. Perhaps not back when it was originally written and meanings were slightly different, but a masterpiece today.
I wonder how much of that Vitamin D came from the milk (or cream – yes, that was a thing back then) they poured on the Pep?
Fun facts: Kellogg’s Pep was the first breakfast cereal fortified with spray-on vitamins.
Kellogg’s Pep cereal was also a mild laxative.
Pep was once known as “the sunshine cereal”.
Ergo, Pep let you fart sunshine.
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Wanna lose weight and get in great shape! Eat a shitload of sugar!
On second thought, don’t do dat.
Fun facts:
In the Middle Ages, rich and royal people would commission giant sugar sculptures called subtleties.
Artist Kara Walker confected us a modern one and called it “A Subtlety“.
Want more sugar trivia? Here ya go. Want ever more. Ok, but pace yourself.
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“Here’s to women who play with fire and the perfume that they can smolder in.” — from a review of this scent by Barbara Herman at Yesterday’s Perfume.
Fun facts:
“Poivre” is French for “pepper”, named after the fragrance’s hot spicy pepper top note and now I really want to smell it.
Caron’s Poivre squeaked in at #10 in this list of The World’s 10 Most Expensive Perfumes Ever Created.
You can pick up 90 ml. of this perfume on Etsy for the low, low price of $2,130! (used)
Parfums Caron is still going strong.
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