Slip into something a little more comfortable.
Enjoy a brief history of nylon from Mental Floss.
Enjoy a less-brief history of nylon from Science History Institute.
A little bit and a little bit more on “artist of the stars” Bradshaw Crandell.
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Yes, yes they are, because I said so.
I believe this ad also promoted the horror movie, “Attack of the 50 Foot Magic-Plaid-Wearing Woman”.
In 1948, this company made dresses available in sizes 10 to 18. Did you know that dress sizes have changed dramatically over the years?
$6 in 1948 is equal to $65.89 in 2020.
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“Cow.” — Dr. Jo Harding (Helen Hunt), Twister (1996)
AccuWeather identifies five types of tornadoes.
Do you know the Fujita Tornado Damage Scale?
From what I can tell from a version of this in the Library of Congress’s collection, this might have been a post-Victorian trade card, an advertising blotter or perhaps the top of a calendar.
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Do your feet hurt? Because you’ve been running through my mind all day.
Bits of toe jam:
Dr. Scholl’s full name is/was Dr. William Mathias Scholl.
The human foot has 26 bones.
If you stub a toe, rather than swearing, you can exclaim, “My phalanges!“
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Uhhuhuhuhuhuhuh… “Erect” Uhhuhuhuhuhuhuh…
“…the implement of detestable coquetry which not only betrays a frivolous bent but forecasts the decline of humanity.” – Napoleon Bonaparte on corsets
Would you like to know more about corsets?
Of corset you would! Here ya go! This too. And how about this?
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According to this ad, Packard had a Board of Color who would decide on the car color schemes. Just imagine the fights.
Some quasi-random knowledge:
Having your car the same colors as a harlequin macaw would certainly get noticed.
Macaws can live for 50-100 years.
In 1930 (three years after this ad), the average life of a new car was 6.75 years.
The average lifespan of a modern car is not quite 12 years.
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In honor of Independence Day, here’s one of my favorite magazine covers in my collection — The July 1926 issue of The Country Gentleman with cover art by American artist (painter/illustrator/muralist) N.C. Wyeth. It was also one of the more elusive magazines for me to track down, but totally worth it.
It’s nice to see Wyeth’s biography is a lot more complete and accessible online than many other illustrators of the era, but sad to find his life ended by a freight train.
Also, it’s no surprise that horses really aren’t very fond of fireworks. Be kind, y’all.
Fun facts:
Some of Torrington’s other carpet sweeper model names were Utility, Paragon and Peerless. And under the National name, the Royal Duchess!
Torrington, Connecticut, was once a major part of the Underground Railroad.
I’m still working on what the heck they mean by “laying the dust” but I think it has something to do with sprinkling water on stuff so dust doesn’t get in the air.
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“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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