– First marketed in 2002, a fruit-flavored soda named Aphrodite was offered to the American public. Each bottle was adorned with a quotation from a famous actress (often Mae West). The soda’s slogan was “Get Some Tonight.” I have read that the beverage is no longer made.
– Speaking of unusual foodstuffs: General Mills once offered Green Slime Cereal as a breakfast staple. Featuring emerald green corn puffs molded into “X” shapes, the chow also contained variously shaped orange marshmallows that were intended to resemble the Nickelodeon blimp. Both kinds of cereal bits “bled” their dyes into any milk poured onto the cereal. Resulting hues made the nourishment appealing to a select populace. This cereal has been removed from most (all) markets.
– In eras before the horrible effects of cigarette smoking were widely proclaimed (or believed), athletes were frequently showcased in smoking ads. One popular advertisement featured a male tennis star smoking between sets while declaring “What a day. What a game. What a cigarette! Why is Lucky Strike so much a part of moments like this?” Egad.
– Mr. Potato Head was patented in 1952. For eight years, kits contained only interchangeable/removable plastic facial features that could be pressed into the surfaces of potatoes (which were typically provided by kids or parents). Beginning in 1960, Mr. Potato Head kits came with reusable plastic potato bodies.
– If you witnessed the decade that had fads that included poodle skirts, saddle shoes, pedal pushers and coonskin hats – you beheld the fifties. I had a coonskin hat (probably made of nylon).
– Except for those persons having access to cobblers who made custom-fitted footwear, most people before 1818 donned shoes that were straight with no curvatures employed to accommodate any differences between right and left. The concept regarding differences for L-R spread slowly. New leather straight shoes often required weeks of “breaking-in.” By 1900, manufactured boots, shoes, etc. were made with left-right distinctions being ubiquitous (clean word).
– In 1576, aboriginal women that Pedro de Magalhaes identified as “active hunters and warriors” were encountered in what became South America. Pedro was reminded of a Greek mythological female-dominated society. The perceived similarity prompted the explorer to name a newly discovered river and basin “Amazon.”
– In 1924, the Phillip Morris Tobacco Co. began to sell a new brand of cigarettes that targeted women smokers. Marlboro was advertised as a genteel, refined smoke that was “As Mild as May.”
Well, enjoy your Mr. Potato Head or Green Slime or whatever formulates a pleasant week for you.
James White is a retired mathematics teacher who enjoys sharing fascinating trivia. He can be reached at [email protected].
