Category: History

1960s, Culture, Fashion, Fun, Funny, History, Humor, Nostalgia, Photography, Pics, Style, Vintage

Masks Are In, Gloves Are Out

kerbey
Kodachromes by Joseph J. Scherschel and James L Stanfield, June 1967 NGS

Mrs. James Caufield (because magazines didn’t care about married women’s first names) shapes cotton gloves at the Prairie Glove plant in Carlinville, Illinois on what appears to be a giant fork. At this point in 1967, the firm employed 170 townspeople and churned out 10,000 pairs a week. Is it me, or do they look Goliath-sized?

We’ve stopped our usage of gloves and simply wear masks and use sanitizer lately–some wonderfully smelling ones from Bath & Body that we procured yesterday in a clean, manly scent, as well as a Sunshiney lemon one.

I’m still surprised how hard it is for folks to figure out how to use gloves, that as soon as they are covered in germs, you toss them, instead of climbing into your car and grabbing your wheel and touching your radio and yanking the emergency breaks. Folks are stupid. Guess we should stick to the OG gloves when this pandemic is over.

giphy.com
1900s, 1920s, Culture, Fun, History, Nostalgia, Photography, Pics, Vintage

Put Me In, Coach

kerbey
Illustrated History of the US

Just look at the grin on the fellow biting his lower lip, as President Warren G (the president, not the rapper) Harding throw out the baseball to start the April 1922 season. Guess that didn’t happen this year.

The originator of the tradition was the portly and oft-ridiculed President William Howard Taft, seen throwing out the  first pitch at a Washington Senators game in 1910. (AP Photo, File)

Good form, sir!

But before you go, let’s make sure that you have one bit of trivia in that noggin of yours about our 27th president, that has nothing to do with his size (which seems to have vacillated from 243 in college to a high of 330 and then down again).  His father was a former US Attorney General, and he himself was named by President Warren Harding (above) to the Supreme Court in 1921. Yes, he was the Chief Justice of the US. And no, he never got stuck inside a bathtub.

 

1980s, Culture, Fun, Funny, History, Humor, Nostalgia, Photography, Pics, Travel

Vaquero And Mini-Me Passing Banana Lady

kerbey
Nat Geo, Nov 1983, Comayagüela’s San Isidro Market

Nothing warms the heart like a little buckaroo, even if he doesn’t have boots to match. His shoes seem much more sensible.

Modern San Isidro shops offer smaller baskets, should you so desire to transport bananas on your head.

flickr

If you prefer a platter, that’s always an option as well.

wikimedia commons, Ghana woman
1940s, Culture, Food, Funny, History, Nostalgia, Photography, Pics, Vintage

When Only The Finest Organ-Shaped French Saint Legumes Will Do

kerbey

Have you eaten Joan of Arc brands in your neck of the woods? It must be a geographical item, as I’ve never seen such a thing.

“The Good Old Days” by Time Life

I don’t envy grocers nowadays, trying to keep their stores clean, their employees healthy, and their shelves stocked. But the lean WWII years also challenged grocers with government rationing lists. Here, this grocer attempts to label his stock with an accurate price in points. Can you imagine?

http://gdonna.com/

Housewives had to be thrifty, sometimes to the point of excess.

It was important to keep a sense of humor about the whole thing, as it is today.

1940s, College, Culture, Fashion, Fun, Funny, Hair, History, Humor, Nostalgia, Photography, Pics, Style, Vintage

1948 Sexiest Beard Contest

kerbey
Texas Tech 1948

Yikes, if this was what passed for a beard in 1948, that’s a sad, sad state for facial hair. My brother-in-law is only capable of patchy spots on his face, but my husband can grow a full beard quickly. Now that it’s mostly white, he resembles Santa with only the aid of his round metal readers. Nobody likes a Santa with a fake beard.

giphy.com

 

1940s, Culture, History, Nostalgia, Photography, Pics, Vintage

Trying To Get The Last Toilet Paper Today (Yes, It’s Happening Again)

kerbey
The Century

Yes, I did go grocery shopping today, and yes, the TP and paper towel aisle, which is enormous, was nearly wiped dry.

Fortunately, we got our always overpriced $20 8-pack of Cottonelle last week, and that should last us until Halloween, which I’m pretty sure won’t exist this year, unless you can finagle some sort of contactless curbside amongst kids who were never able to try on costumes in the first place because fitting rooms are closed. And speaking of Halloween candy and chocolate, the pictures above were images of children in Berlin, excited to their cores about the “American chocolate bombers” who dropped candy tied to miniature parachutes as they flew into the city. Can you imagine a selfless world of kindness like that today?