Category: Culture

Cast Your Vote For The Lanky Lad With Scoliosis

Evidently, Elam was a pelvis-forward kind of man. I can’t say as I ever voted for an editor in college. The best I mustered was my first presidential vote.

But college politics have always been a big deal. Selig was willing to endanger his own life by sitting on the hood of this here jalopy.

Others simply strolled with signs.

Lovely signs, I’ll give them that. Both Brown and Ferguson remind me of civil rights cases. 

Folks sure showed enthusiasm for Sterling Steve. I hope he took it by a landslide. 

Cramped Quarters

1942 Recall, Dorm Life

These fellows at the Schreiner Institute are packed in like sardines! While some look dressed for bed, others seem ready for a night on the town. Perhaps they had to sleep in shifts to accommodate everyone.

1940s dorm life might have been cramped, but frat life was just plain odd. Check out this guitar fit for a giant! Where do you buy strings for that?

Cactus 1941

Meanwhile, the sorority girls were still playing with dolls…

Redskin 1947

But there’s one thing everyone could agree on.

Cactus 1949

Hoo Ray For Raye

1949 Cactus

With politics so prevalent in today’s news feed, let’s dial it back to a simpler time. When the wheels were turning for Ferris.

When babies were too young to vote for Jane Cloyes.

And cows were used as props to show that voting for Cissy was no bull!

A Car Is Shiny, But A Burro Is Sure

Nat Geo 1/68

Such is the caption in this 1968 Nat Geo, as I call them. Evidently, it was a common practice for motorists to attempt to cross the Rio Grande River at its low points in fall and winter, though I would personally advise to NEVER ford a river by car. Yes, the wheels get wet, but so does the engine.

Cue the enterprising young Mexican boy on the burro, who offers round trip rides for 75 cents to get across the river. Often, they neglect to mention that a dirty half-mile ride to Boquillas then awaits them. If they have another 75 cents.

But what do they do with the CAR??

Guests, Like Fish, Begin To Smell After Three Days.

Youngstown Kitchens, 1949

*Quote by Ben Franklin

It’s an odd ad for the 40s indeed. On one hand, yes, get the mother-in-law out of the kitchen. Let Jim and Pam handle the dishes themselves. But on the other hand, don’t be so rough with Ruby that she loses footing in her swank heels.

Taken out of context, it would appear that the husband was spontaneously vogue-ing, a la 1990. 

But let’s not go there.

When You Thought You Were Done Dealing With Lice

“Women of the West” Luchetti & Olwell

I could tell you this pic is from the late 1800s.

That it’s just housecleaning day on a homestead in Seattle, Washington.

We could talk about quilting or how washing pillows in the washing machine always destroys the integrity of the fluff, and you wind up trashing them and going to Ross for a new $9 pillow.

We could even rehash memories of hanging clothes on the line when you were young.

Or maybe even talk about playing Lincoln Logs as kids.

But you already read the word “lice” up top.

So at some point, you’ll scratch your head.

Because lice.

Puppies Before Liquor, Never Sicker

“Women of the West” by Luchetti & Olwell

‘Tis an odd image indeed, of young women in the 1890s, taking part at “a drinking bee” in White Chapel, Dawson, Alaska–a base during the 19th-century Klondike Gold Rush. I can’t say that I understand the canine/wine connection, but I’m certain that it was before this label existed.

iheartdogs.com

Or this one.

http://www.wine-blog.org

But evidently, some dogs do like their ale.

giphy.com

Cuba: Pre-Castro And His Commie Cohorts

Smiles, everyone smiles! Look at the joy on the faces of the law students at Havana University in 1947. What hopes they had for the lives ahead of them.

On an aside, all of these images were taken by Melville Bell Grosvenor, editor-in-Chief of National Geographic magazine and the grandson of inventor Alexander Graham Bell. Who knew?

Here we see a honeymooning couple in Matanzas, having their portrait made in front of the statue of Jose Martí, poet and national hero.

During this time, many Americans visited the island (and Cubans were able to freely leave the island to travel as well, which they have not been able to do for 58 years now). As such, this peddler on the Prado made sure to have Old Glory handy among his Cuban flags. Now tell me, what American would go to Cuba and buy an American flag? I don’t get it.

The new generation of women, unlike their mothers, were allowed to work and vote and attend the university, rather than staying at home. I just love their outfits and the bus behind them.

Other woman (albeit still fabulously-garbed) chose to work in the tobacco industry, grading and selecting the best Pinar del Rio tobacco. Some of the finest in the world, it was grown under cheesecloth to protect it from insects and the hot sun. Leaves that were thin and silky with tiny veins were ideal, and each leaf wrapped two cigars.

This last image shows a home where doors and windows were almost always left open to allow the breezes to sweep through the homes.

One can only assume that this lovely home still exists, now crumbling and in disrepair, as with nearly every other building in Cuba.

A 2011 New York Times article stated “There are no vacancies in Havana. Every dwelling has someone living in it. Most Cubans are essentially stuck where they are.” Cubans don’t build custom homes; most of them live in dwellings older than they are, older than their parents are. At best, you can hope to trade apartments or pray a relative drops dead. However, with recent law changes and the realization that capitalism brings a struggling country much-needed income, even Airbnb now offers homes to visit, including a one bedroom for only $24 per night. Wow! Seems to good to be true.