Remaking Betty Boop in the Image of a Housewife
Betty Boop was literally designed to be a bombshell, but around 1935, her creators decided to change her appearance.
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.
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.
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.
An Object History of the Persian Carpet
The famous Persian carpet, woven by female artisans in southwestern Iran, may be going extinct. Its story can be told in spindles and whorls.
Outfits, Graphics, and the News Room: Why the News Looks the Way It Does
The evolution of the way TV news looks has much to do with principles of modernity and design.