The Penny Farthing bicycle fad of the 1860’s

The Penny Farthing bicycle came after the development of the ‘Hobbyhorse’, and the French ‘Velocipede’ or ‘Boneshaker’, all versions of early bikes. However, the Penny Farthing was the first truly efficient bicycle, consisting of a small rear wheel and large front wheel attached to an iron tubular frame with tires made of rubber. It was…

Dorothy Catherine Draper wearing a bonnet decorated under the brim with pleats and flowers 1840

In the 1850’s, the “poke bonnet” hat reached a zenith in women’s fashion. A poke bonnet is a women’s bonnet (hat) in the shape of a hood, featuring a projecting rim on the front side, which would shade the face of the wearer, and a small crown at the back.

The Champion Fight between Heenan and Sayers on the 17th April, 1860

Prize fighting, or pugilism or bare-knuckle boxing John Lawrence Sullivan Prize fighting, or pugilism or bare-knuckle boxing as it is also known as, is one of the oldest known sports. Two-thousand-year-old paintings on the walls of Egyptian tombs depict ancient Sumerians competing in boxing matches. Boxing was an Olympic sport in 688 B.C. In ancient…

About Vaudeville Vaudeville, popular from the late 1880’s through the early 1930’s, was a theatrical form of entertainment in the United States and Canada. Vaudeville performances, which often ran around the clock, ran a series of separate, unrelated acts which included musicians, dancers, comedians, trained animals, magicians, male and female impersonators, acrobats, jugglers, and one…

People wearing bell bottom pants at steps of public library on Capitol Street Charleston

Trousers with legs that became wider from the knees downward were immensely popular in the 1970’s. Called “bell bottom pants” because of the bell like flare at the bottom of the pants leg, the bell bottom pants craze began in the late 1960’s but bell bottom pants were worn many years before.

It is sold to children and teenagers labeled as bath salts, fertilizer, or insect repellent under names like Ivory Wave, White Lightning, Red Dove, Vanilla Sky, Cloud 9, or Blue Silk. The label says “not for human consumption” but it is intended to be snorted, swallowed, smoked, or injected.

The advent of Rock and Roll in the 1950’s introduced a profound change in the way men and women danced. One of the first worldwide rock-n-roll dance crazes occurred in the 1960’s when The Twist dance hit the scene and became a worldwide sensation.

Scan of the cover of a en:Tijuana bible featuring Wimpy

Eight-pager comics, also known as Tijuana bibles, bluesies, jo-jo books, gray-backs, blue bibles, and two-by-fours, were pornographic comic books that were very popular in the United States during the 1930’s.

What is Planking? Planking is an activity where the person lies facing downward on the ground or across an object, arms straight at their side with palms flat and facing inward, toes pointed, and body as stiff as a wooden board. It is typically done in a funny or unusual place and a picture is…

The growth of radio in the 1920’s When KDKA transmitted the first commercial radio broadcast (the election results of the Harding-Cox race) on November 2, 1920, that sound could travel magically through the air to a location many miles away must have seemed magical to the people of that era. Unfortunately, few people heard the…