π πΏπππππππππ π°ππππππ Roundup
π¦Έπ»ββοΈ π΄π»ββοΈ π· π¦ π π΄
π¦Έπ»ββοΈ Comical Concerns
The 1950s saw a moral panic around comic books emerge, all thanks to psychiatrist FredricΒ Wertham and his book βSeduction of the Innocent.β
A Dr. named F. W. Connell rightly called bullshit on Wertham and his claims saying: βThe is no scientific proof that comics cause child delinquency.β The newspaper hit back, defending Wertham:
"Dr. Wethham's statistic prove beyond doubt that comic books do contribute to delinquency. Worse they contribute to a debased view of life, even among those who never see the inside of a children's court."
π΄π»ββοΈ Gender Norms
When bikes began to scale women couldn't ride them while wearing dresses, a form of trouser βbloomersβ were the solution. Bloomers broke sacred gender norms (wearing trousers was an arrestable offense at the time.) This kicked off a sartorial culture war that women won.
We found an 1895 cartoon commenting on this cultural battle, in it a father approaches his bloomer wearing daughter in her mothers clothes.
Sarah Ann: βPa, what on earth you got maβs clothes?β
Pa: "βlow if youβre a goin to town rigged man fashion, Iβm a goin to wear these along to even things upβ
π· Idano
This week saw a mass public mask burning event in Idaho, 100s of people threw their protective masks into a burning barrel. 103 years ago - in 1918 - there was similar resistance to mask wearing in the state (as did every other US state.)
π¦ McAfee Virus
This week in 1992 the βMichelangelo Virusβ activated, its existence had been whipped up into a full blown technopanic by John McAfee to hawk anti-virus software. It worked making John McAfee a rich man. Ironically he was arrested this week for repeating his 1992 tactic: tricking noobs into giving him money.
π Stupid.com
We found a fun 1995 NYtimes piece talking about how stupid the internet was getting. A cynical take on a Cambrian explosion of creativity enabled by the democratization of publishingβ¦
βοΈ Top Tweet
This week Elon Musk shared one of our best archival finds (via a Reddit post) the tweet garnered over 140,000 likes and 13,000 retweets.
π΄ Intelligence of a Horse
Elon Muskβs commentary on the horse advert was funny and in 1896 this was used as a real argument against horseless carriages:
βWe should not overlook the fact that the driving of a horseless carriage calls for a larger amount of attention for he has not the advantage of the intelligence of the horse in shaping his path."
