We’ve got Madge the Manicurist and Rosie the Riveter – plus, the little umbrella girl from Morton’s which goes all the way back to 1914 – from Advertising Age: This venerable ad icon was originally an afterthought, one of three substitute ideas that agency W. Ayer & Co. pitched in case the company rejected 12 …
Tag Archives: history
Happy Native American Day!
September 28 is an official holiday in the state of California – Native American Day. Established in 1998, it is celebrated in our schools and government offices, but mostly ignored everywhere else. Only a few states (South Dakota, Tennessee) have a similar holiday, and there is no Federal recognition. That’s really sad – we should …
The Vice Presidents that history forgot
A well written, entertaining piece by Tony Horwitz about his visit to the museum of Vice Presidents: It is a nonpartisan collection of stories and artifacts on all 47 vice presidents – the only museum in the land devoted to the nation’s second-highest office. This neglect might seem surprising, until you tour the museum and …
The accidental history of the @ symbol
From Smithsonian Magazine: Called the “snail” by Italians and the “monkey tail” by the Dutch, @ is the sine qua non of electronic communication, thanks to e-mail addresses and Twitter handles…The origin of the symbol itself, one of the most graceful characters on the keyboard, is something of a mystery. One theory is that …
How advertisers convinced Americans they smelled bad
It was an enterprising schoolgirl and a traveling bible salesman in 1919. They couldn’t get ladies to use antiperspirants until they made them feel bad. The strategy was to encourage them to be insecure, from Smithsonian Magazine: Perspiration as a social faux pas that nobody would directly tell you was responsible for your unpopularity, but which they …
Continue reading “How advertisers convinced Americans they smelled bad”
Take the Downton Abbey personality quiz! – Season 3 returns January, 2013
That’s right, our favorite British costume drama, Downton Abbey, returns on January 6, 2013, to PBS’ Masterpiece Theater. And because that is far too many months to wait, we have some Downton treats: Take the personality quiz – Are you imperious and aristocratic? Or industrious and hardworking? The Real Life History of Downton Abbey …
Continue reading “Take the Downton Abbey personality quiz! – Season 3 returns January, 2013”
Ghosts of the Osfront – an audio-chronicle of Germany/Russia during WWII
Here is a promo from my favorite historian, Dan Carlin. He does a show called Hardcore History and the name fits. So be warned that this is real, no punches are pulled. The topic for this show, called “Ghosts of the Osfront”, is the battle between Germany and Russia in World War II. He starts with …
Continue reading “Ghosts of the Osfront – an audio-chronicle of Germany/Russia during WWII”
How the hell did I end up here?
Today, I’ve been thinking about my career as a blogger, asking the question, “how the hell did I end up here?” I never liked writing essays, stories, or pretty much anything on paper. My grades in English from high school through college were mediocre. Everything changed when I wrote that first blog. You see I’m …
Jason Bourne didn’t really have amnesia – it was more of a writer’s trick
It turns out Jason Bourne didn’t really have amnesia. That would require a hit on the head or something similar. He would then lose all of his past memories and kind up wake up clueless, maybe even unable to make new memories. No, Jason Bourne had selective amnesia where he was able to forget all …
Continue reading “Jason Bourne didn’t really have amnesia – it was more of a writer’s trick”
Take my Rorschach test – and then learn it’s history, effectiveness, how it shouldn’t be used
Two inkblots below. After looking at each one tell me what you think they look like (my answers at bottom). I first came across the Rorschach inkblot test when I was training to be a clinical psychologist. I was shown a series of cards containing inkblots and asked to say what they looked like …