History

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Old Cigarette Ads: Doctors, Nurses, And Rock Hudson Say It's Good For You
Man, cigarettes were awesome in the past, if these old ads collected by Stanford University are to be believed. They calmed your nerves so you'd stop humming nervously! They soothed your throat! They made you a movie star and helped you capture animals on your big game hunt! We don't know what tobacco was made of before the mid-80s, but no wonder everyone smoked. More »

5:20 PM on Fri Oct 10 2008
By Chris Walters
8,866 views, 62 comments

Most discussed Corporate-Shill: My City has a smoking Ban. Life if good. more »
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These Old Ads Remind You To Drug Children And The Elderly
Sometimes gentleness is required of your toddler. Sometimes ill-tempered old folks get too agitated and threaten you with canes. That's why sometimes the best solution is a good old fashioned thorazine pill, or a barbiturate elixir. Weirdomatic has a collection of bizarre ads like these from the past. Our favorite, aside from the drug ads, is the one showing Olympian speed skater Jack Shea taking a break from his skating to enjoy the rejuvenating effects of a Camel cigarette. So that's how Phelps did it. More »

12:18 PM on Tue Sep 9 2008
By Chris Walters
6,939 views, 26 comments

Most discussed MayorBee: These girls look like this guy+ Watch video You really have to watch the whole video to get the full effect. more »
run on the bank
What Does A Bank Run Look Like In 2008? A Lot Like 1912.
The FDIC was created in 1933 by the Glass-Steagall Act, and provides $100,000 of deposit insurance to checking and savings deposits. "Bank panics" used to be fairly common, and the FDIC was intended to instill confidence in the banking system after the Great Depression. The most recent big failure, that of California bank IndyMac, will cost the FDIC between $4 and $8 billion, and they estimate that about $1 billion of IndyMac's deposits are "potentially uninsured," meaning that the depositors had more than $100,000 on deposit. So what does a bank run look like these days? More »

8:38 AM on Thu Jul 17 2008
By Meg Marco
13,903 views, 103 comments

Latest by SOhp101: And just as an addenum, I think my previous comment shows more than enough reason why I don't consider him more »
news from the swamp
Senate Committee Votes To Rollback FCC's Media Consolidation Plan
Poor Kevin Martin. The Senate is well on its way towards killing his proposal to let newspapers get all freaky and consolidate with television and radio stations. Martin shouldn't be too surprised: this is exactly what happened the last time a FCC Chairman tried to ram media consolidation down our throats. More »

9:20 AM on Sat Apr 26 2008
By Carey
1,263 views, 6 comments

Latest by bobblack555: Aww - Bush vetoing a bill that protects the public in order to bolster big businesses? That's a surprise. What an asshole. more »
prepaid
AT&T Won't Sell Man GoPhone Because It Can't Verify His Credit History
Nathan's been having trouble this week buying a prepaid GoPhone from AT&T Mobility's website. He finally found out the reason: they couldn't verify his credit history. This is confusing because it's a prepaid GoPhone and because his credit history is superb. "Cheryl refused to transfer me. I asked her if she was in any way motivated to find out what was wrong with their system and help me, and, to her credit, she answered honestly with a simple 'no.'"
More »

8:58 PM on Fri Mar 28 2008
By Chris Walters
10,089 views, 65 comments

Latest by ConsequencesIX: Terrorists use Tracphones, they don't call wireless companies and try to set up accounts. more »
The Boston Globe profiles the last remaining shoe and boot maker in New England, Alden Shoes. The company's classic footwear has been worn by the likes of John F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Indiana Jones... and the Massachusetts state troopers. The shoes will set you back about $350-$500 a pair, but they seem like awfully nice people. "Our shoes don't wear out," says Robert Clark, Alden's vice president. [Boston Globe]

18 comments

labels
Nobody Knows What This Pillow Is Made Of

I had a pillow that says 'contains textiles of 100% unknown kind' on that tag that says 'Do not remove under penalty of law'. Kind of defeats the purpose of the tag, and I'm wondering what is in my pillow. Used underpants? Human hair? It does say 'all new materials' but that might just be 'new to me.'

UPDATE: Here Is What This Pillow Is Made Of More »

10:15 PM on Sat Jan 12 2008
By Carey
59,016 views, 49 comments

Latest by liptoss: Don't laugh, years ago when my parents bought me a metal toy car... no not the cast Hot Wheels type, more »
great moments
January 1st, 1808: Slave Importation Banned In US
Considering we spend a good deal of time focusing on legislation that protects consumers and/or (usually or) businesses, we thought it appropriate to point out one of the big historical moments of trade law, not to mention human rights—tomorrow marks the "200th anniversary of Jan. 1, 1808, when the importation of slaves into the United States was prohibited." Hey, it didn't stop the madness, but at least it was a start. More »

6:06 PM on Mon Dec 31 2007
By Chris Walters
4,894 views, 41 comments

Latest by nardo218: Meh. Children of slaves were still born into slavery. more »
interesting
Site Of Most Infamous Mob Murder In NY History Is Now A Starbucks
The site of the most infamous mob murder in New York City history is now a Starbucks, but does anyone care? Nah. We certainly don't care... but it's a chance to learn about a mob murder: More »

9:43 AM on Mon Oct 29 2007
By Meg Marco
3,844 views, 19 comments
history
20th Anniversary Of "Black Monday" Crash Of '87
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the "Black Monday" crash of '87, in which the stock market lost 22.6% in one day, the second largest one day percentage drop in history and one we're not likely to see again any time soon. More »

11:10 AM on Fri Oct 19 2007
By Meg Marco
1,695 views, 8 comments

Latest by S-the-K: The reason the crash of 1987 and the crash of 2000-2001 didn't result in Great Depression II is that we more »

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