24 Things from the 1950s You’ll Never See Again: Forgotten Trends, Weird Fads, and Strange History

0:00 Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Strange History Podcast. I'm your host, Amy,

0:04 Speaker 1: and today we're hopping in our time machine, greasing our hair,

0:08 Speaker 1: and zipping straight back to the nineteen fifties, a decade

0:13 Speaker 1: of sock hoops, shiny cheves, and social rules so bizarre

0:17 Speaker 1: you'd think the whole country had a stick of butter

0:19 Speaker 1: lodged in its corset. Now, don't get me wrong, the

0:22 Speaker 1: fifties had charm, but it also had a lot of

0:25 Speaker 1: weird habits, products and traditions that thankfully didn't make it

0:29 Speaker 1: to twenty twenty five. So buckle up, buttercup, We're about

0:33 Speaker 1: to explore twenty four strange, funny, and occasionally terrifying things

0:38 Speaker 1: from the nineteen fifties. You'll never see today.

0:41 Speaker 2: Drive through but for your baby.

0:45 Speaker 1: That's right. In the nineteen fifties, banks weren't the only

0:48 Speaker 1: thing with drive throughs. Some grocery stores, pharmacies, and even

0:52 Speaker 1: liquor shops let you pull up, roll down the window,

0:55 Speaker 1: and no joke, hand over your infant to a smiling

0:59 Speaker 1: clerk who would baby sit them while you shopped. Imagine

1:02 Speaker 1: pulling up to a Kroger today tossing little Timmy out

1:05 Speaker 1: the window like a bag of laundry and saying back

1:08 Speaker 1: in thirty minutes, don't let him eat paste. These baby

1:12 Speaker 1: parking services were advertised as modern, convenient and safe, though

1:17 Speaker 1: I can't imagine OSHA approving parents genuinely thought this was

1:22 Speaker 1: cutting edge childcare. After all, nothing said responsible parenting like

1:28 Speaker 1: leaving your baby in the care of a seventeen year

1:30 Speaker 1: old stock boy who'd rather be sneaking cigarettes out back.

1:35 Speaker 2: The airplane ashtray Olympics.

1:38 Speaker 1: This next one has hit every decade up to the nineties.

1:41 Speaker 1: Flying in the fifties was fancy. Ladies wore pearls, men

1:45 Speaker 1: wore suits, and kids were expected to sit still and

1:49 Speaker 1: look adorable. But the real highlight smoking everywhere. Airplanes were

1:55 Speaker 1: basically giant metal chimneys in the sky. Every seat had

1:59 Speaker 1: its own ash, and passengers could puff away while turbulence

2:02 Speaker 1: rattled their martinis. Flight attendants excuse me, stewardesses wore white

2:08 Speaker 1: gloves and encouraged passengers to light up. Today, the idea

2:12 Speaker 1: of lighting a Marlborough on a Southwest flight would get

2:15 Speaker 1: you tackled by air marshals. But back then, if you

2:19 Speaker 1: weren't chainsmoking at thirty thousand feet, you were the weird one.

2:24 Speaker 2: Jello America's culinary mad scientist.

2:28 Speaker 1: The fifties food pyramid wasn't based on grains or proteins.

2:32 Speaker 1: It was based on jello. Everything, and I mean everything,

2:37 Speaker 1: ended up suspended in gelatine. Want a salad slap some

2:41 Speaker 1: can tuna, celery and olives into lime jello dinner party,

2:46 Speaker 1: mold hot dogs into a gelatine loaf, dessert, banana slices,

2:51 Speaker 1: and strawberry jello with a mayonnaise topping. Cookbooks proudly featured

2:55 Speaker 1: these unholy creations with glossy photos of quivering towers of

2:59 Speaker 1: meat encased in lime green wobble. Housewives served them with pride,

3:05 Speaker 1: while guests pretended they didn't want to cry. If Gordon

3:08 Speaker 1: Ramsey had been alive and eating in nineteen fifty seven,

3:11 Speaker 1: he would have needed therapy.

3:14 Speaker 2: Ducktail hair because Elvis said so.

3:18 Speaker 1: The duck tail hairstyle or Da Duck's ass if You're Nasty,

3:23 Speaker 1: was the ultimate greaser look. Guys would slather on handfuls

3:27 Speaker 1: of brill cream, comb their hair into a slick wave

3:30 Speaker 1: in front, and pinch it in the back so it

3:32 Speaker 1: literally resembled the rear end of a duck. It looked cool,

3:36 Speaker 1: it looked rebellious. It also required so much grease that

3:40 Speaker 1: if you leaned against a wall, you left behind a

3:42 Speaker 1: head shaped oil stain, and God forbid you tried to

3:46 Speaker 1: run your fingers through your boyfriend's hair, you'd come back

3:49 Speaker 1: with enough grease to fry a pork chop.

3:51 Speaker 2: Television test patterns please stand by forever.

3:56 Speaker 1: Before twenty four hour programming TV station signed off at

4:01 Speaker 1: midnight and didn't return until morning. Between shows, screens displayed

4:06 Speaker 1: test patterns, those weird grayscale circles with a Native American

4:10 Speaker 1: head in the middle. Families would sit there staring at

4:14 Speaker 1: static or test patterns for hours. Little Timmy might have

4:18 Speaker 1: even thought the Indian head was the show. Imagine trying

4:21 Speaker 1: that today. Sorry, kids, no SpongeBob until seven am. Here's

4:26 Speaker 1: a circle in some lines. Q Instant riots children's chemistry

4:31 Speaker 1: sets Now with uranium, Yes, actual uranium. In nineteen fifty one,

4:38 Speaker 1: the Gilbert U two three eight Atomic Energy Lab was

4:42 Speaker 1: marketed as a toy. It came with Geiger counters, radiation sources,

4:46 Speaker 1: and real uranium ore. The box literally said recommended for boys,

4:52 Speaker 1: because nothing says fun like a nine year old splitting

4:55 Speaker 1: atoms in the basement while mom makes tuna casserole. Not surprise,

5:00 Speaker 1: it was pulled from shelves pretty quick. But somewhere out

5:04 Speaker 1: there a kid probably got a Science Fair ribbon for

5:07 Speaker 1: accidentally giving his hamster a low level radiation burn.

5:11 Speaker 2: Soap operas sponsored by cigarettes.

5:15 Speaker 1: Every housewife's favorite daytime escape was proudly brought to you

5:19 Speaker 1: by Winston Cigarettes. Commercial breaks featured moms lighting up while vacuuming,

5:25 Speaker 1: or cartoon doctors saying more physicians smoked camels than any

5:30 Speaker 1: other brand. It was the golden age of gas lighting.

5:34 Speaker 1: Today ads for cigarettes would be as welcome as a

5:37 Speaker 1: raw sewage commercial between episodes of The Bachelor.

5:40 Speaker 2: Kids hitchhiking without a care.

5:43 Speaker 1: In the fifties, hitchhiking wasn't just normal, it was encouraged.

5:48 Speaker 1: Parents thought nothing of telling little Johnny go ride your

5:52 Speaker 1: thumb to baseball practice. Highways were full of teenagers sticking

5:57 Speaker 1: out their arms for rides from total strangers, who, of

6:00 Speaker 1: course were also probably smoking while driving. It was so

6:04 Speaker 1: normalized that Life magazine published hitchhiking etiquette guides. Today we

6:09 Speaker 1: warn kids about stranger danger. Back then, hitching was basically

6:13 Speaker 1: the uber of suburbia.

6:15 Speaker 2: Doctor knows best even when he doesn't.

6:19 Speaker 1: Doctors in the fifties smoked in exam rooms, prescribed amphetamines

6:23 Speaker 1: for dieting, and told pregnant women a Martinian night was

6:27 Speaker 1: good for the baby. Patients rarely questioned authority. If a

6:31 Speaker 1: doctor said you've got ghosts in your blood, try heroin,

6:35 Speaker 1: people would have nodded politely. Medical science was advancing, sure,

6:40 Speaker 1: but it was also the wild West of healthcare. Let's

6:43 Speaker 1: just say, your grandma's doctor's orders back then might sound

6:46 Speaker 1: like a stand up routine.

6:48 Speaker 2: Today the vending machine of dreams.

6:53 Speaker 1: Automats were like a cafeteria from the future. Imagine a

6:56 Speaker 1: wall of tiny glass doors behind one pie, another meat loaf,

7:03 Speaker 1: dropping a coin, open the door, and vola dinner. No waiters,

7:09 Speaker 1: no lines, just hot food, instantly available. They were beloved

7:14 Speaker 1: by office workers, families, and anyone who wanted quick comfort food.

7:19 Speaker 1: The biggest chain, Horn and Hardart, served over eight hundred

7:24 Speaker 1: thousand New Yorkers a day in its prime. People even

7:28 Speaker 1: went there on dates. By the seventies, fast food killed

7:32 Speaker 1: the automat. Today, the closest we've got is an airport

7:35 Speaker 1: vending machine selling sad sandwiches for fourteen dollars.

7:40 Speaker 2: Glow, baby glow.

7:43 Speaker 1: The atomic age brought us nuclear fear, but also nuclear fashion.

7:47 Speaker 1: In the fifties, radiation wasn't terrifying. It was trendy. Manufacturers

7:52 Speaker 1: laced everything with radium. Toothpaste that promised atomic whitening, radium

7:58 Speaker 1: alarm clocks that glowed cheerfully through the night, even face

8:02 Speaker 1: creams boasting a youthful glow, though it was more Chernobyl

8:06 Speaker 1: than Chanel. The most infamous example Ratathor, a radium laced

8:12 Speaker 1: energy tonic. A wealthy industrialist named Eben Byers drank so

8:17 Speaker 1: much of it his bones disintegrated and his jaw fell off.

8:21 Speaker 1: The Wall Street Journal reported his death under the unforgettable

8:24 Speaker 1: headline The radium water worked fine until his jaw came off.

8:30 Speaker 1: But Americans loved the atomic gimmick. Toasters were branded atomic,

8:35 Speaker 1: cocktails were nuclear, and toys even came with small samples

8:39 Speaker 1: of uranium ore. Yes, kids played with uranium. Today we

8:44 Speaker 1: panic about Wi Fi frying our brains. In the fifties,

8:48 Speaker 1: they were rubbing uranium on their skin. Movies in the

8:52 Speaker 1: parking lot the drive in theater wasn't just a movie.

8:56 Speaker 1: It was a cultural event. By nineteen fifty eight, there

9:00 Speaker 1: were over four thousand drive ins across America. They're glowing

9:04 Speaker 1: screens rising like billboards. In the suburbs, Families packed the

9:08 Speaker 1: station wagon, kids in pajamas bouncing in the back. Teens

9:13 Speaker 1: stuffed themselves into car trunks to sneak in for free.

9:16 Speaker 1: Couples fogged up windshields during double features. One Pennsylvania drive

9:21 Speaker 1: in even tried baby bottle warmers installed in car windows

9:25 Speaker 1: so parents could feed infants mid movie. Others offered car

9:29 Speaker 1: hop style food service burgers delivered right to your car door. Today,

9:35 Speaker 1: drive ins are a nostalgia novelty, but in the fifties

9:38 Speaker 1: they weren't just theaters. They were the mall, the playground,

9:42 Speaker 1: the tinder date, and the babysitter rolled into one the

9:46 Speaker 1: Amazon prime of dairy. If you lived in the suburbs,

9:50 Speaker 1: you didn't run to the store for milk. The milkman

9:52 Speaker 1: brought it to you. Clinking glass bottles landed on your

9:56 Speaker 1: doorstep every morning, along with butter cream and some times

10:00 Speaker 1: ice cream. The milkman wore a neat uniform, carried a

10:04 Speaker 1: wire basket, and knew every family on his route. Kids

10:08 Speaker 1: loved him because he sometimes snuck them chocolate milk. Adults

10:12 Speaker 1: loved him. Well, let's just say the phrase milkman's baby

10:16 Speaker 1: didn't come out of nowhere. By the seventies, supermarkets killed

10:20 Speaker 1: the milkman business. Today, the closest thing we've got is

10:24 Speaker 1: Amazon Fresh, except Jeff Bezos doesn't leave you free chocolate milk.

10:29 Speaker 2: Car seats. We don't need no stinking car seats.

10:34 Speaker 1: The nineteen fifties family car was a death trap on wheels.

10:39 Speaker 1: Kids weren't buckled in. They were bouncing around like popcorn

10:42 Speaker 1: in the back of a Buick car. Seats existed, but

10:45 Speaker 1: they weren't about safety. They were just booster perches so

10:49 Speaker 1: junior could look out the window. Some were basically hammocks

10:53 Speaker 1: dangling from the seat back. Accidents were brutal. It wasn't

10:57 Speaker 1: until the late sixties that seat belts became standard, But

11:01 Speaker 1: in the fifties, safety was an afterthought. As one boomer

11:05 Speaker 1: put it, if Dad slammed the brakes, Mom just threw

11:08 Speaker 1: out her arm to keep us from flying through the windshield.

11:12 Speaker 2: A bomb shelter in every backyard.

11:16 Speaker 1: The Cold War drilled one lesson into Americans. If the

11:19 Speaker 1: Soviets nuked us, the best defense was a hole in

11:24 Speaker 1: the backyard. Magazines sold DIY fallout shelter blueprints. Hardware stores

11:29 Speaker 1: had shelter kits with air filters, flashlights, and Geiger counters.

11:34 Speaker 1: Some families stocked spam, baked beans, playing cards, and let's

11:39 Speaker 1: be honest. Plenty of whiskey schools raffled off shelters. One

11:44 Speaker 1: Detroit contest promised win the bomb shelter of your dreams

11:49 Speaker 1: reality check. A plywood bunker wasn't stopping radiation, but for

11:53 Speaker 1: anxious suburban dads, it gave them a sense of control,

11:57 Speaker 1: and in the Cold War, that was priceless.

12:01 Speaker 2: High heels in the produce aisle.

12:04 Speaker 1: Housewives in the fifties weren't just judged by their casse roles.

12:08 Speaker 1: They were judged by their appearance. Grocery shopping meant lipstick, heels, gloves,

12:14 Speaker 1: and sometimes even a hat. Magazines advised women to dress

12:19 Speaker 1: neatly for errands because you never knew who you might

12:22 Speaker 1: bump into. Department stores even had hat check girls. Vacuum

12:28 Speaker 1: cleaner ads showed women in pearls smiling while scrubbing the rug.

12:33 Speaker 1: A Sears catalog once declared a tidy appearance makes housework

12:38 Speaker 1: a pleasure. Today we wear pajama pants to target. Back then,

12:42 Speaker 1: you vacuumed like you were hosting a cocktail party.

12:45 Speaker 2: Tiny Marlboroughs for tiny humans.

12:49 Speaker 1: Candy cigarettes were every kid's favorite. Contraband little Chalky sticks

12:53 Speaker 1: sold in packs identical to Marlboroughs and Lucky strikes. Some

12:57 Speaker 1: even puffed powdered sugar smoke when you through them. Parents

13:01 Speaker 1: thought it was harmless fun, The tobacco industry thought it

13:04 Speaker 1: was brilliant marketing, and kids thought it was the coolest

13:07 Speaker 1: way to look grown up. One man recalled in an interview.

13:11 Speaker 1: We'd sit on the curb outside school, puffing our candy

13:14 Speaker 1: smokes like gangsters. Nobody cared. Today, you'd be accused of

13:18 Speaker 1: corrupting the youth. Back then, it was childhood training wheels

13:22 Speaker 1: for the nicotine industry.

13:24 Speaker 2: Breathe easy with this giant metal coffin.

13:29 Speaker 1: Polio terrified parents in the early fifties. Every summer outbreaks

13:34 Speaker 1: paralyzed thousands of kids, swimming pools, closed playgrounds when empty

13:39 Speaker 1: families stayed indoors, terrified of the invisible virus. The worst

13:43 Speaker 1: cases ended up in iron lungs, huge machines that encased

13:47 Speaker 1: the body, mechanically moving the chest so the patient could breathe.

13:51 Speaker 1: Hospitals lined entire wards with these machines, children's faces peeking

13:56 Speaker 1: out from the ends. One survivor, Martha Mason, lived inside

14:01 Speaker 1: an iron lung for over sixty years, writing books with

14:04 Speaker 1: the help of voice recognition software. Jonas Salk's vaccine, introduced

14:09 Speaker 1: in nineteen fifty five, changed everything. Polio nearly disappeared, but

14:15 Speaker 1: in the fifties the sight of rows of children in

14:18 Speaker 1: metal coffins was seared into public memory. So that was

14:22 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifties, a time of jukeboxes, ductail hair, radioactive toys,

14:29 Speaker 1: and jello crimes against humanity. Some of it was charming,

14:33 Speaker 1: some of it was dangerous, and some of it well,

14:37 Speaker 1: let's just say, if you brought a lime jello hot

14:40 Speaker 1: dog loaf to a dinner party today, you'd be escorted

14:43 Speaker 1: out by police. Thanks for listening to the Strange History podcast.

14:49 Speaker 1: I'm Amy your time traveling Jello fearing host. Don't forget

14:53 Speaker 1: to subscribe, leave a review, And if you're ever tempted

14:57 Speaker 1: to hitchhike to a sockhop with your hair greased into

15:00 Speaker 1: a duck's But remember history is strange. And sometimes best

15:04 Speaker 1: left in the past,