TresSugar

Flashback: A Wedding Proposal Circa 1950

GiggleSugar — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 02:00:00 -0700

In the 1956 film Indestructible Man, boyfriend wants the gal to marry him, but he doesn't bother asking her to be his wife. He jumps to his own conclusions instead and - badda bing, badda boom - gets the ball rolling from there. And by "rolling," I mean he stops her career aspirations dead in their tracks without permission. Her response? Let's just say it isn't the kick in the groin I was hoping for.

Flashback: '50s Cigarette Commercial

GiggleSugar — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 03:00:00 -0700

The smokers of the 1950s had no idea just how harmful lighting up could be. At the time, there was no hard evidence to definitively link cigarette use with chronic or fatal health conditions, so tobacco companies had free reign to claim that their "snow fresh, filtered cool" smokes would leave the throat feeling refreshed and clean. Hmm. Is that what throat cancer feels like? I can only imagine. (Want more old-fashioned cigarette propaganda? Click here.)

Flashback: Empowering Women in the 1950s

GiggleSugar — Thu, 22 May 2008 02:00:00 -0700

If a woman couldn't possibly open a bottle of ketchup without asking for a man's help back in 1953, then why didn't they just eliminate the middle (wo)man and empower the man to open the bottle and - gasp! - serve his damn self? It was only logical, darling.

Source

"Are You the Smile On My Jello..."

GiggleSugar — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 08:02:00 -0800

"Or are you the smile on the Cheshire Cat?" Further proof they've been spiking our food with drugs since the 50's.

Flashback: Effed Up '50s Folgers Ad

GiggleSugar — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 02:00:00 -0700

Back in the '50s, well-intentioned housewives were scolded and shunned for pouring their husbands distasteful cups of coffee. In a day and age when the worth of a woman was judged solely on her beauty and homemaking skills, a bad cup of java warranted a good amount of verbal abuse. If Folgers was the secret weapon to fend off a hubby's ungrateful rebuke, no wonder they came to call it "the best part of waking up." In a perfect world, "the best part of waking up" would've been this lady hurling the hot cup of coffee at her husband. With a little creamer to boot. (For more sexist fun with Folgers, click here.)

Infamous Reform School For Girls Closes Its Doors

TresSugar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 07:00:00 -0700

The idea of a reform school for girls seems to come straight out of a B-movie from the '50s, complete with stock characters like the naïve innocent, the hardened mean girl with a heart of gold who ends up plotting a way for them both to escape, and an evil warden who gets in their way. It's hard to believe that such a place could still exist.

Until August of this year, the notorious Beloit reform school for girls in Beloit, KS did exist, and the school, founded in the 1890s, only recently shut down because the state could no longer afford to house the remaining 21 girls to the tune of $200,000 a year.

Although the school's founders had good intentions, Beloit's dark history includes the severe mistreatment of girls, many of who were running away from physically and sexually abusive homes. In effect, the abused were shipped off to be further abused. How bad did it get? In the '30s, a superintendent who was influenced by Nazi eugenics practices had 62 of her charges involuntarily sterilized. To read more about the history of Beloit and how it evolved, read more

Beloit was founded and in part funded by the suffragist and pro-Prohibition group The Women's Christian Temperance Union in the 1890s. Sometimes, the girls there were practically "indentured" by farm families in this rural town in order to earn the food they ate. (This was all before the state took over.)

At the time, according to Russell Jennings, commissioner of the Kansas Juvenile Justice Authority, girls "were really viewed in our society much more as property." They didn't even have to run away to be deemed "incorrigible" or "wayward." They only had to be, as he put it, "a pain in the neck."

In a file from a girl housed (incarcerated?) at Beloit in the '30s, her offenses were that she "associated with Mexican men" and "became intoxicated at dances." Another woman was sent to the reform school for "being immoral (with father)."

A federal law passed in the mid-1970s ended the practice of sending girls to reform school when their offenses, if they'd been committed by adults, would not be considered crimes. But their incarceration continued in Kansas until 1983. Now, troubled teenage girls are sent to community centers where they can get the help that they need.

In spite of its history, for some who stayed there, Beloit was a haven from abuse at home. "I will always believe that because of Beloit and the staff, I am where I am today," said a 50-year-old who is happily married with three children and counsels survivors of sexual abuse. "They saved the lives of unwanted children."

Source

Flashback: Found Footage of Anne Frank

TresSugar — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 13:00:00 -0700

Many of you spoke about how moved you were when you read Anne Frank's diary for the first time and what a lasting impression the sensitive teen's life and words had on you. Prepare to have your heart break a little when you see the following video.

The Anne Frank Museum in Amsterdam recently posted the only known film footage of Anne Frank. The film clip, shot on July 22, 1941, records the wedding of a woman who lived next door to the Frank family. You can catch a glimpse of Anne watching from the window of her apartment; she would die of typhus in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp just a few years later in 1945.

After Anne's diary was published and made her posthumously famous in the '50s, the couple recognized her in their film and contacted her father Otto Frank. They have since given the museum their longer version of the clip. One can only wonder what the impressionable and romantic Anne was thinking when she watched this couple get married. To see an interview with Otto about Anne's diary, read more.

Japanese Sci-Fi From The 50's

GiggleSugar — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 13:00:00 -0700

If you think modern day Japanese television is wild, get a load of these classic clips from Japanese Sci-Fi films. Turns out the Japanese have been cool for a long, long time...(Thanks, Super Atomic TV!)

William Shatner Reads Palin's Tweets - I Mean, Poems

TresSugar — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0700

It appears that these writers aren't the only ones who think Sarah Palin is a poet. Conan O'Brien proclaims she is a master of free verse because of her creative use of language. Conan recently invited the one and only William Shatner onto his show to recite her farewell speech, then brought Shatner back on Wednesday to recite her Tweets. With a bongo player and bass player as background, you can almost imagine being in a smoke-filled, Beatnik dive in the '50s . . .

Word du Jour: Boss Lady

TresSugar — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:00:00 -0700

Perhaps it’s too early to reclaim a word that has yet to enter the lexicon the way “b*tch” did, but I would argue “boss lady” comes close.

It’s dating expert Rachel Greenwald’s word for a successful woman who doesn’t tone down her confident and opinionated self on dates. If you're a boss lady, according to Greenwald, it's the number one reason “he didn’t call you back.” (Oh, brother.)

The author of (you guessed it) Why He Didn’t Call You Back, interviewed thousands of apparently insecure men who told her this was the number-one type of woman they would never call back. So, uh, that means if you’re a boss lady - pretend to be someone you’re not in order to snag someone who doesn’t like who you are!

This proud boss lady right here says - good riddance to a man who needs to me say “I think” and “maybe” so he doesn’t shrink in fear. (Are we living in the ‘50s?) I've dated plenty of men who loved my moxie, and the best dating advice I can think of is "Be yourself!" Other gems of advice from Greenwald? Dress like a woman (whatever that means), don’t state too many opinions, and don’t text on your BlackBerry before your date arrives lest he sees you’re busy and (egads!) are gainfully employed.

Are you a boss lady? Would you revert to ‘50s-era ideals of femininity so that he calls you back?