The Revolutionary Past of Plastics
When plastics were first invented, they seemed to promise a utopian future.
Cutex Hooked Americans on Manicures
How a company that started off selling cuticle remover convinced American woman to paint their nails.
How Masks of Mutilated WWI Soldiers Haunted Postwar Culture
In the age before plastic surgery, masks were the best option for veterans with faces scarred by war. The end results, however, were somewhat uncanny.
What Gloves Meant to the Victorians
According to one historian, the year 1900 was “the zenith of glove-wearing,” when any self-respecting Victorian (British or American) wouldn’t be caught dead without covered hands.
Are You Wearing Seaweed?
Are you wearing seaweed? People have been for hundreds of years, in sizing, patterns and fibers, although they might not have known it.
Punch vs. Tea in the 18th Century
In the 18th century, whether a person drank punch or tea revealed a lot about gender, stereotypes, sociability, and domesticity.
Character-Building With Uncomfortable Chairs
Chairs were a subject of much debate as far back as the nineteenth century, pitting health and technology against propriety and aesthetics.
This Short-Lived Political Party Embraced Socks With Sandals
The Men’s Dress Reform Party (MDRP) called for liberation from dark, tightly-knit textiles...and had some ties to the eugenics movement.
How Magazines Created a New Culture of Manhood
Middle-class American manhood changed in the mid-twentieth century. And the new ideal of masculine consumption was captured by men’s magazines.
What Makes Your Roller Coaster Go? Physics!
The physics behind the fun: roller coasters provide so many examples of basic principles that they are a staple of physics lessons.