Milton Bradley debuted the board game Battleship in 1967, and the illustration on the box of that first edition has become somewhat notorious because it shows a father and son playing the game while the mother and daughter in the background do the dishes.
That choice of scene wasn't any kind of accident. The game was deliberately marketed as a "father and son game." The phrase was constantly repeated in early advertisements for the game. The whole idea of "father and son games" has now, of course, disappeared from board games.
The combination of Donna Stoneman pogo-ing while playing the mandolin, and Ronnie Stoneman's generally dour expression while plucking the banjo, makes for a bizarro mix.
A lot of famous directors begin their careers by making weird, experimental films. For instance, there's the case of Martin Scorsese and his odd, six-minute film The Big Shave that he made in 1967. It had an alternative title, Viet '67, because it was apparently a metaphor for the war in Vietnam, even though the entire film involves a guy shaving.
According to Slate.com, "the director conceived of the film after emerging from a 'spell of deep depression,' during which he apparently had trouble shaving."
Bond reached the status of "popular hero" in the mid-1960s, bringing an explosion of press coverage and Bond-themed merchandise and advertising. Colgate-Palmolive launched the 007 line of men's toiletries, with a misogynistic slogan that called forth the linkage of seduction and masculine power in the Bond narratives: "007 gives any man the license to kill... women." During this period, sales of Fleming's Bond novels peaked, and several other Bond-inspired playboy-spy-adventure films appeared.
In 1965, "granny gowns" became the favorite fashion among teenage girls. These featured long, ankle-length skirts, long sleeves, and high, round necklines. They were seen as a reaction against miniskirts and other skin-revealing fashions.
In November, 1965 one girl got sent home from school for wearing a granny gown — told it violated the school policy against "extreme clothing."
Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.