Civil Defense PSAs

Posted By: Paul - Sun Jan 18, 2015 - Comments (3)
Category: Animals, Armageddon and Apocalypses, Death, Destruction, PSA’s, 1960s

Scotland Yard Fashion Show

On September 14, 1967, Scotland Yard held a fashion show to display the new uniforms for policewomen. I suspect this is the ONLY fashion show Scotland Yard has ever held. The caption that ran in American papers read:

"Scotland Yard, apparently bitten by the swinging London bug, holds fashion show here 9/14. Here, London policewomen display the new Norman Hartnell-designed uniforms. Although a far cry from the miniskirted scene stealers, the new ensembles do have shaped skirts."


Source for top image: Flickr

Posted By: Alex - Sat Jan 17, 2015 - Comments (2)
Category: Fashion, Police and Other Law Enforcement, 1960s

Pop Art Fridges

Come to think of it, why can't you buy fridges nowadays with decorated fronts?

Original article here.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Jan 14, 2015 - Comments (18)
Category: Art, Appliances, 1960s

Little Irvy the Frozen Whale

"Little Irvy" was a 20-ton whale harpooned on July 1, 1967, destined to be sold as dog food. But instead his body was bought by showman Jerry "Tyrone" Malone, who froze it with liquid nitrogen and then spent the next 25 years hauling it around the United States in a refrigerated truck, displaying it as a sideshow attraction. Malone advertised Little Irvy with a sign that read, "This exhibit is dedicated to the preservation of whales."

Read more about Little Irvy in Dewey Webb's article at SideshowWorld.com. Webb notes that, because of freezer burn, Little Irvy looked "less like a whale than... a gigantic semideflated tire that's lost its tread."

Malone also wrote a children's book about his adventures on the road with Little Irvy. You can buy a used copy of this book at Amazon for $46.11. But if you want a new copy it'll apparently cost you $6,946.01, which, since the book is 42 pages long, is $165.38 a page.

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jan 12, 2015 - Comments (6)
Category: Fish, 1960s

The Hamburger Rebellion of 1964

College protests during the 1960s weren't all about war and civil rights. In 1964, students at California's Long Beach State started marching in protest after the school cafeteria raised the price of hamburgers five cents. It immediately became known in the press as the "Hamburger Rebellion." The students won a small victory, in that they managed to get the cafeteria to drop a two-cents charge for extra ketchup, but the price hike for the hamburgers remained.

Posted By: Alex - Fri Jan 09, 2015 - Comments (6)
Category: 1960s, Universities, Colleges, Private Schools and Academia

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo

Sample episode of Skippy below.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Jan 09, 2015 - Comments (8)
Category: Animals, Television, Children, 1960s, Australia

A Cartoon Whose Meaning Time and the Evolution of English Have Rendered Somewhat Obscure

Familiarity with this usage explains things.

From Boy's Life for January 1967.

Posted By: Paul - Mon Jan 05, 2015 - Comments (5)
Category: Comics, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, Hair Styling, 1960s

Gentle Ben

Which scenario is more likely?

Posted By: Paul - Sat Dec 27, 2014 - Comments (4)
Category: Animals, Death, Television, 1960s

Hard to say goodnight

1969 ad for Harris Slacks. Back in the 1960s, women evidently found plaid high waters to be irresistible.


[via flashbak.com, which has a whole gallery of "Swinging Sixties Menswear Adverts for Amorous Playboys"]

Posted By: Alex - Sat Dec 27, 2014 - Comments (9)
Category: Fashion, 1960s

His wife was his aunt

I can't quite figure out what dentist Jeffrey Gordon was up to. Was the plan to annul his marriage in order to remarry his wife to make their marriage fully legal? That's what I'm assuming. The law legalizing marrying your aunt-by-marriage must not have been retroactive. But evidently his wife didn't fully trust him. So there must have been more to the story.
Source: The Paris Texas News - Sep 29, 1960.

Posted By: Alex - Thu Dec 18, 2014 - Comments (10)
Category: Family, Husbands, Wives, 1960s