Vine-Grown Booze Fruit

Surely in this day of genetic engineering, science could help realize this dream of Samuel Untermeyer's.



Original article here.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Mar 27, 2017 - Comments (2)
Category: Eccentrics, Food, 1930s, Alcohol

How many ways are children annoying?

Back in 1931, Dr. Mandel Sherman, director of the Child Research Centre, wanted to find out the exact number of ways in which children annoy their parents. He came up with the oddly specific number of 2,124 different ways.

He arrived at this number by having a group of parents carry notebooks around with them for a week and record each time their child annoyed them.

Some of the ways in which the children annoyed: being disobedient, being too slow or too quick, not being neat, primping, etc.

Personally, I think he seriously lowballed that number.

We've encountered the work of Dr. Sherman before. Back in 2009, I posted about his advice that instead of training kids to be successful in life, we should train them to accept the inevitability of failure. That way, they'll be much happier when they actually do end up as mediocre flops.

The New York Times - Jan 30, 1931

Posted By: Alex - Mon Mar 20, 2017 - Comments (3)
Category: Psychology, Children, Parents, 1930s

Brake Reaction Time

In the mid 1930s, Dr. Harry DeSilva of the Massachusetts State College at Amherst created a brake reaction test to measure how quickly drivers can step on the brake in response to a red light. He took it around the country and tested thousands of people.

People in their mid 20s generally had the quickest reaction times, and then times declined with age, which wasn't a surprise. Slightly more surprising was that short people generally had faster responses than tall people. From Time magazine (Aug 1935):

Time - Aug 26, 1935

Democrat and Chronicle - Mar 15, 1936

Posted By: Alex - Fri Mar 17, 2017 - Comments (4)
Category: Motor Vehicles, Cars, Psychology, 1930s

Follies of the Madmen #307

Original ad here.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Mar 15, 2017 - Comments (6)
Category: Business, Advertising, Domestic, Wives, 1930s

Double-Chin Eradicator

I wonder how long you'd have to roll this thing over your face before it made the slightest bit of difference.

The Canyon News - Aug 4, 1938

Posted By: Alex - Sun Mar 12, 2017 - Comments (2)
Category: Inventions, 1930s

Berry Pink, the Marble King

Weird name, unusual hobby.






Original article here.

Home page of current company founded by Berry Pink.

Samples of their marbles, and more history.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Mar 11, 2017 - Comments (3)
Category: Games, Children, 1920s, 1930s

Gas-Proof Pram

In January 1939, these two photos appeared in numerous newspapers, accompanied by the following caption:


An example of the strange effort to try to normalize life despite the threat of war. Also evident in such things as the air-raid fashions.

Posted By: Alex - Sun Mar 05, 2017 - Comments (0)
Category: Inventions, 1930s

Indecent Fireworks

1936: Residents of Adelaide were scandalized by the sale of "indecent Chinese fireworks." They were "so disgusting that if it had appeared on a postcard and had been found in the possession of any Adelaide individual, there would have been a heavy penalty imposed in the Police Court."

The offending fireworks are shown below.

Adelaide Truth - Nov 21, 1936

via National Archives of Australia

Posted By: Alex - Thu Mar 02, 2017 - Comments (6)
Category: 1930s, Moral Panics and Public Hysteria

Anti-Mosquito Leggings

I'm a bit surprised these anti-mosquito leggings never (to my knowledge) caught on, because if they actually worked then who cares if they looked dorky. Then again, I suppose DEET had already been discovered.

Danville Morning News - Apr 6, 1937

Posted By: Alex - Sun Feb 12, 2017 - Comments (2)
Category: Fashion, Insects and Spiders, 1930s

World’s Oldest Active Salesman:  1939

Jump to 3:12 for this feature. I hope I move as good at that age as Charles Thurston did.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 30, 2017 - Comments (1)
Category: Business, Human Marvels, 1930s, Cars