Tag: 1950s

Before Organ Sales, Your Body Had A Street Value Of 30 Cents

The following table shows the approximate composition and value of the chemicals in a body weighing about 150 pounds.

This was published in What Is My Physical Make-Up? by Rasmus Alsaker, M.D. (No. 3 ABC Series, published in the July, 1957, issue of Health Culture, The Family Health Magazine).

Dr. Alsaker says this “ultra-scientific” quote comes from “what Professor R.L. Greene of the College of Science, University of Notre Dame wrote years ago.” So I’m not sure that the 30 cent street value was accurate even in 1957. But obviously organ harvesting renders our meat more valuable than our chemical content.

Modern Woman Monday: What Little Girls Want For Christmas In The 50s

From the Aldens Fall and Winter catalog (1957-58), “Girls’ Jr. Homemaking Toys — Let her learn to do things all by herself.”

The Marx Toys three piece kitchen set, stove, sink and refrigerator, $4.99. The Jr. Coca-Cola Dispenser, $2.79.

Dolls From The 1957-58 Aldens Catalog

Some selected dolls from the Fall and Winter Aldens catalog. There’s Dennis The Menace…

Little Miss Revlon, with her Magic-Touch skin (a phrase that creeps me out) and her “‘Form-Fit’ bra and girdle with nylon front” (FormFit being a lingerie company all-too wiling to confuse the lines between girlhood and womanhood)…

And my personal favorite, Patti Prays doll — or Pattie Prays, depending on whether you believe the type by the image of the doll or the text used in the catalog description. (Not to be confused with Patty Prayer doll by Niresk.)

Everybody Loves A Cow Girl

If this vintage cow girl costume doesn’t make you wanna play dress up (for Halloween or otherwise), I doubt little will.

I’m pretty sure there will be witnesses who remember her committing this train robbery.

Great for rounding up cattle — and pugs.

Now that I’ve sold you on how practical this is, let’s get down to some facts… It’s said to be a 1950s burlesque costume — though with the Marie’s Custom Uniforms label maybe it was an equally cool, in my opinion, diner waitress uniform. The gun holster is from the 70s and the pistol a new prop.

Now that you’re packin’ heat, may I interest you in a duel with a pistol blow dryer?

Salvador Dali: The Boy In The Bubble

Time magazine (January 4, 1960) says Dali’s space age suit is gold, not silver as your black & white photograph reading brain might tell you. Also that article describes the Ovocipede as “a transparent plastic sphere that rolls merrily along while its operator sits comfortably.” Can anyone say “hamster ball”?

More from the April 1960 issue of Popular Mechanics:

Found via Pour 15 Minutes, which gives a date of December, 1959; the Fanantique photos are from the December 7, 1972 presentation at the Palais des glaces. (Just four years later, I would see Travolta star in The Boy In The Plastic Bubble. I probably cried.)

Normally I don’t recommend asking “why” when it comes to Dali; I believe his greatest talent ultimately lay in his ability to live life — and not asking about limits. However, it appears Dali didn’t drive and eschewed air travel until late in his life, so perhaps that’s why he invented such a mode of transportation.