The history of Croquet and the croquet fad of the 1870’s

Croquet at Wimbledon 1870

Croquet’s origins The origin of croquet is unknown. Although the game has been played in roughly its present form for about one hundred years, its antecedents extend back many centuries. As long ago as the fourteenth century, peasants in Brittany and Southern France amused themselves playing a game called Paille Maille, in which crude mallets…

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The Silly Bandz craze of the 2000’s

Lucky Cascadia Cup Silly Bandz

They come brightly colored and in shapes of animals, letters, princesses, mythical creatures, logos and more. Kids trade them, collect them, and shoot them across the room (which is why some schools have banned them).

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The history of the Macarena Song and Dance fad of the 1990’s

Macarena dance at the 2012 CCP4 Study Weekend, University of Warwick

The “Macarena” song and dance grew into an incredibly popular fad during the 1990’s. The song and subsequently the Macarena dance spread like wildfire throughout the mid-1990s. The song and dance remain an often-referenced piece of 1990’s pop-culture, mentioned in TV shows, movies, books, and even by a United States presidential candidate.

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Bernie Sanders mittens meme fad (2020)

Bernie Sanders mittens meme

In January 2021, Bernie Sanders, the popular US senator and far-left activist, was photographed seated during the inauguration of Joe Biden. Wearing distinctive chunky mittens (hand knitted by Vermont elementary school teacher Jen Ellis.) and bundled in a thick coat and wearing a surgical mask (it was during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic), the…

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Fire challenge fad (2010’s)

Fire challenge screen shots

The aftermath is posted to social media sites and firefighters, police officers, and media sources have spoken out against the dare game which has become to be known as the Fire Challenge.

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The history of TV dinners (1950’s)

Swanson Night TV dinner advertisement

As the story goes, after poor Thanksgiving sales left Swanson Foods with a huge surplus of turkeys, Swanson executive Gerry Thomas conceived an idea – what if they packaged the turkeys with other foods in an easy to prepare meal container, similar to what airlines in that era served passengers on domestic flights.

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History of the Monopoly board game (1930’s)

The oldest known version of the game called Monopoly, handmade by Charles Darrow, is in the Strong Museum in Rochester

Charles B. Darrow invented the Monopoly game. Or did he? It was 1934, the height of the Great Depression, when Charles B. Darrow of Germantown, Pennsylvania, took what he called the MONOPOLY board game to the executives at Parker Brothers. Like many other Americans, Charles Darrow was unemployed at the time.  They soundly rejected the…

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