Follies of the Madmen #582

Posted By: Paul - Sun Nov 26, 2023 - Comments (3)
Category: Anthropomorphism, Medicine, Advertising, Stop-motion Animation, 1960s

The Honeywell Kitchen Computer

In 1969, Neiman Marcus offered a Honeywell "kitchen computer" in its Christmas catalog. The price tag was $10,600, which is equivalent to about $80,000 today. The price included a two-week course in programming, which was required to know how to use the computer. The computer could supposedly store recipes and help housewives plan meals.

No one ever bought one. Or rather, no one ever bought the "kitchen computer," but a few people (engineers, and the like) did buy the H316 minicomputer, which is what the kitchen computer really was. Neiman Marcus and Honeywell had simply repackaged the H316 as a kitchen computer.

Nevertheless, the "kitchen computer" is now credited as being the very first time a company had offered a home computer for sale. One of them is on display at the Computer History Museum.

More info: wikipedia

image source: Divining a Digital Future, by Paul Dourish and Genevieve Bell

If someone had bought one of the kitchen computers, it would have been pretty much unusable, because a user had to communicate with it in binary code, using a series of 16 buttons on the front to enter data. From Wired:

image source: The Computer, by Mark Frauenfelder

Posted By: Alex - Wed Nov 22, 2023 - Comments (5)
Category: Technology, Computers, 1960s

Electrify Your Wife

In a similar vein to other ads from that era, such as "Recipe for boiled wife" and "Beat your wife tonight (at bowling)."

Life - Dec 12, 1969

Posted By: Alex - Tue Nov 21, 2023 - Comments (2)
Category: Advertising, Wives, Marriage, 1960s

The Chicken Astronaut

Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 21, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Emotions, Courage, Bravery, Heroism and Valor, Music, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, 1960s

Miss Heating Comfort and the Whale Oil Company

The Whale Oil Company, which sponsored the Miss Heating Comfort contest, said it was looking to award the title to the girl "who makes temperatures rise when she enters a room."

Brooklyn Daily - Feb 10, 1961

Newsday - Oct 22, 1960

So did the Whale Oil Company actually sell whale oil? No, but apparently the name led a lot of people to assume that it did. I haven't been able to find out what became of the company, but I'm guessing that the name must have become an increasing liability with the rise of the "Save the Whales" movement in the late 1960s.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle - Nov 3, 1950

Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 19, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Odd Names, Fossil Fuels, Carbon Footprint, and Climate Change, 1960s

Early Bad Airline Passenger Behavior

I wonder what the first instance of bad behavior on a commercial flight might be? Such an incident probably happened as soon as commercial flights began. In any case, here's an early one.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Nov 13, 2023 - Comments (3)
Category: Misbehavior, Rebellion, Acting-out and General Naughtiness, Air Travel and Airlines, 1960s

Twin Telepathy

1965: Two eye doctors published an article in the journal Science detailing what appeared to be a form of telepathy found in two sets of twins. The brainwaves of the twins seemed to be linked. When the brainwaves of one changed (by having him close his eyes), the brainwaves of the other twin would change also, even though the two were in separate rooms.

The doctors examined 16 sets of twins, but only found the linked brainwave phenomenon in two of them. Why these two? The doctors speculated that they were "serene" whereas the other twins demonstrated "impatient anxiety and apprehension about the testing procedure."

It's surprising the doctors got their article published in Science, since that journal doesn't usually consider anything that smacks too much of parapsychology.

You can find a copy of their Science article ("Extrasensory Electroencephalographic Induction between Identical Twins") here.

More info about twin telepathy at Psi Encyclopedia.

Los Angeles Times - Dec 22, 1965

Science - Oct 15, 1965

Posted By: Alex - Sun Nov 12, 2023 - Comments (5)
Category: Paranormal, Science, Psychology, Twins, Lookalikes & Doppelgangers, 1960s

33-year strike

Jan 1961: After being on strike for 33 years, the barber shop boys of Copenhagen finally returned to work. By which time they were middle-aged men

Grimsby Evening Telegraph - Jan 5, 1961

Posted By: Alex - Fri Nov 10, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Riots, Protests and Civil Disobedience, 1960s

“Washable” Roses

Posted By: Paul - Sun Nov 05, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Domestic, Hygiene, Nature, Camouflage, Counterintelligence, Diversions, Chaff and Fakeouts, Advertising, 1960s

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Nothing says romance quite like a lightweight chain saw.

Popular Mechanics - Dec 1968

Posted By: Alex - Tue Oct 24, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Tools, Advertising, 1960s