On Sunday 25 May 1986, Americans were asked to simultaneously hold hands across a 4,137-mile route stretching from California’s Santa Monica Pier to New York’s…
Browsing: Fads
An abundance of disposable income combined with Hawaii’s entrance into the Union in 1959 manifested itself in the US as a mania for all things…
Heroin Chic was a look popularised in mid-1990s fashion and characterised by pale skin, dark circles underneath the eyes and angular bone structure. The look,…
The Hip-Pocket Record was introduced by Philco, the electronics division of the Ford Motor Company in the US in 1967. 41 Hip-Pocket Records were issued…
Like no other time before, the ’60s exploded into personal freedom and self-expression, seen through bands of teenagers with unique — and remarkably different —…
In 1973, West German journalist Gerd Heidemann bought Hermann Göring’s yacht, the Carin II, after being assigned to write a story about it by Stern…
The LG Hawkins company introduced its “heated sideboard” in 1931, but it was 22 years before one of its designers, Eddy Maciejewski, thought of making…
The Hula Hoop is the standard by which all fads are measured. Somewhere inside that plastic ring lay the key to the hearts of a…
T-shirts that would – in theory – change colour if you touched them. In reality, you had to pull the shirt to your mouth and…
During the early 1960s, the most prevalent image in London was of the Union Jack, which found its way onto every kind of accessory, from…
There once was a time, believe it or not, when all t-shirts were not blank white garments. But as soon as someone realised that a…
On 16 December 1989, Jive Bunny equalled the record of three consecutive UK #1 hits with their first three singles – a record formerly held…
Running and sprinting had been around since time immemorial and were associated with competitive running. “Jogging”, on the other hand, achieved currency when individuals took…
In 1972, a strange book with strange drawings began to appear in bedrooms – The Joy of Sex by Alex Comfort. Subtitled A Gourmet Guide, the book was…
K-Tel were famous for their TV commercials pitching their mass-market compilation LPs and tapes and their household ‘gadgets’. Everything they sold was labelled “As advertised…
‘Swingers’ would throw their car keys into a pot in the middle of a swirly-pattern carpeted room, have a few Campari and sodas and then…
Also known as Clackers, Klick-Klacks, Whackers, Ker-Knockers, Whack’os, Bangers, Poppers, Bonkers, Clack Clacks, K-Nokkers, Mini Poppers, Rockers, Super Clackers, Whak Kos, Quick Klacks, Quick Clacks,…
In 1957, Don Featherstone designed the first plastic lawn flamingo for Union Products of Leominster, Massachusetts. A trained sculptor with a background in classical art,…
In Trinidad, mourners at a traditional funeral approach a horizontal bamboo pole and attempt to walk forward while bending backwards from the waist, in order…
Even in the 1970’s most of the cool set thought macramé was only for hippies or bored convicts. But you could make loads of groovy…
