Ken Padgett: September 2021

Advertising has always been an interesting way to look at history. But when you see these vintage advertisements, the past seems a lot stranger than you thought.

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Edison produced one of the earliest sound films in 1913 for his minstrel troupe and also produced quite a few minstrel recordings for buyers of his phonographs.

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In the 1950s, someone decided that UFOs are propelled by electromagnetic fields and built the first device to detect "anomalies." Amazingly, UFO detectors are still being sold today and you can buy them on Amazon.

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You'll love that lift. Just tighten up the straps till they dig into your shoulders.

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Titanic's first voyage was also its last. The Titanic sailed out of Southampton, England on its maiden voyage on April 10th, 1912, and sunk four days later after hitting an iceberg.

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How do you make a vibrating chair? Attach a vibrator to a chair. Voilà!

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London's "Phone TIM for the Right Time" service was started in 1936 by the General Post Office.

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Made in 1968 by Remco, Li'l Winking Herby Hippy was exactly that, a flirty barefooted winking hippy. These 2 1/2-inch dolls had freakishly large heads and tiny, tiny bodies, just like real hippies. Just squeeze his tummy and he winks at you!

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The phone booth of the future turned out to be no booth and no public phones.

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Trinitite is the unofficial 'mineral' name for an artificial glass formed from the heat of the detonation of the first nuclear bomb on July 16, 1945 at Trinity, New Mexico. Trinitite is still "mildly radioactive."

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There is lots of debate over who first invented the frozen TV dinner, but one thing is certain: the first company to use the name and successfully market the TV Dinner was Swanson.

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"V" was a two-part TV series in 1983, about a race of aliens trying to take over the world. It was inspired by Sinclair Lewis' antifascist novel "It Can't Happen Here" (1935).

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They are definitely not your pals if you're lactose intolerant.

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"Hey Kids" don't let these scam artists con you. Comic strips are not "color film" and a viewer that displays comic strips is not a "Color Television Set."

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Our secret: fake erect nipples.

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"Don't be a Hose-Holder. Spray the Gay Way!"

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Now with extra fat added!

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"No tedious practicing..."
Established in 1898, the US School of Music was one of the first correspondence schools in the United States.

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Right here in my dirty diaper.

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"Everything in NOW styling to make you the talk of every gathering."
And the butt of every joke.

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Automobiles replaced horses (in the cities) mostly because of pollution from horse manure, and now automobiles are one of the leading cause of the planet's Co2 pollution and other serious problems.

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My dear, he's terrible -- Now dandruff is inexcusable

He seems nice, what's the problem?
Because "Today, dandruff is an unpardonable sin."12

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Hebe was a “filled milk” which means that the milk was reconstituted with fats other than dairy fats. Naturally the dairy industry saw any attempt to dilute milk with vegetable fats as a direct threat to their income, so in 1923 they made sure Congress passed a law banning it.

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This is a WWII-era poster warning American GIs about having sex with women in the European Theatre, catching an STD, then having to endure a year-long treatment regimen of mercury injections. Unfortunately, the side effects could be as painful and terrifying as the disease itself. Many patients who underwent mercury treatments suffered from extensive tooth loss, ulcerations and neurological damage.

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The company that would eventually produce Bull Durham pipe tobacco was started by John Ruffin Green in the 1850s. In 1869, Green took on two partners, one of whom was Blackwell. The partners built a huge factory and the first tobacco warehouse in Durham, North Carolina in 1871.

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"Amaze your friends with this sonic ray gun..." that can send Morse Code via a flash light or a buzzer.

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When this ad was posted in 1851, Christy's Minstrels were the world's preeminent minstrel troupe. E. P. Christy got rich quickly and retired in 1854, at age 39, leaving the Minstrels to perform without him. But retirement proved less than ideal for Christy. He struggled with mental illness -- a struggle he lost in 1862, when he jumped from a second-story window to his death.

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Science Fiction has been promising us flying cars, since the first cars were invented, but as of yet although many prototypes have been built, none have gone into production.