Give me Liberty (and how long it will take to read it), 1945 (and 1976)

Liberty magazine helped its readers by giving them an estimated amount of time it would take to read an article.  This allowed for determining if one could read the entire article from one streetcar stop to the next, or if saving it for a planned rest stop would be more satisfying.

In the post-television world magazines such as Liberty were fast becoming antiquated and by 1976, Liberty itself recognized its nostalgic value outweighed its cultural relevance, reprinting "classic" articles such as this one originally from 1945.  Similarly, the comic strip Buck Rogers had become a nostalgic touchstone too, and in 1976 was soon to be re-vamped riding a post-Star Wars wave of sci-fi and (more nostalgic) movie serial-style action.

How many folks felt pressure to read the article within the serving suggestion?  How many insisted to their supervisor their eight minute coffee break could not possibly be over when the article clearly states a reading time of eight minutes and they still had a page and a half to go?

Three kings of the 60s, Nov 1967

Contrary to the copy this kit, sadly, was forgotten.

View this item in is holiday historical context here.

Good call Freeman-W, Jan. 1964

So a couple months after the Kennedy assassination, the Freeman-Washington Insurance Agency admen stuck a wet finger in the blowin' wind, divined the decade's oncoming turbulence, and fast-tracked a campaign touting their riot coverage.  Sure, riot coverage appears to be a joke here.  Prior to the 60s, riot-incurred damage would have most likely been a mere speck on the old actuary table, statistically safe from ever being paid out on a home owner policy.  How many home owners considered such coverage necessary by 1970?

No doubt sometime around 1968 insurance companies began to fear the tipping point was fast approaching where payouts were no longer offset by fear-mongered sales.  Of course, by then who needed funny print ads when the nightly news could promote sales for free?


For a more sober look at this item in historical context, click here.

Plus ça change, Apr. 1963

A Mr. Gibbs recently found Mr. Salinger's supply of spectacles and, on a lark, passed them out around Scandinavia.

View this article in historical context here.

Too sweet by half, Sept. 1923

Last August 17 our seven-year old boy became one of the 40 kids in the U.S. diagnosed with diabetes each day.  Having the autoimmune type of diabetes (Type 1, or Juveline Diabetes), his body no longer produces the insulin needed to take sugar from his blood to be used or stored.  Now our family acts as his pancreas; we constantly check and log his blood sugar readings, his carbohydrate intake and administer the insulin shots he needs throughout the day. 

While injecting insulin is not a cure, it is far, far better than the alternative faced prior to its introduction in the early 1920s.  While its delivery systems are becoming refined, and similarly, its chemical efficiency, the basics of successful Type 1 diabetic maintenance apparently have not had a "miraculous leap forward" since the Jazz Age, let alone a cure.  Always closer, but a cure is due, tout de suite.

There's always legal room for jello, Feb. 1920

Apparently, alcoholic jello shots were legal during prohibition since one couldn't "drink" them and they hadn't been invented when the laws were passed. However the jerk doctor who did invent them during the dry years wouldn't share.



To see this Popular Science article in historic context (and a lot about the science and pitfalls of do-it-yourself distillery), click here.

Motown's Burning Bush, May 2004

Kevin Pyle sent this to me a while back and reminded me it was too cool not to share:  The Metro Times Century of Sound -- a Detroit music family tree.  It's no surprise the tree looks more like fire given the number of hot names aflame, each flicker crackling another to higher, brighter, smokin' heat.

Just look at all the great stuff here in this small sample:  Andre "Baconfat" Williams is not far from the MC5, Brownsville Station, Grand Funk, Iggy Pop, Ted Nugent, Seger, Mitch Ryder as well nugget-hatchers the Woolies, Unrelated Segments and ? and the Mysterians...Rationals, well, I don't need to name 'em all off.



Find the whole thing at the paper's website here.

Don't forget to read other music-related items at MangMade Records, too!