Back Then History (2024)

09/07/2023

Approximately 3500 years ago, chia seeds were used as a food source by the ancient Mayans, Aztecs, and Tarahumara Indians. (In fact, when Mayan and Aztec warriors were traveling long distances, they used chia seeds as their sole source of food, because the seeds were lightweight and provided robust sustenance. Fittingly, the Mayan word for chia seeds is “chiabaan,” meaning “strengthening.”) In the 1980s, Dr. Wayne Coates, a research professor at the University of Arizona working in the field of new and/or ancient food crop sources, became one of the first people in academia to “rediscover” chia seeds. Twenty years after that, public interest in health and nutrition was starting to build, and vegetarian and vegan diets were becoming more popular, so the search for plant-based protein sources resumed. Chia seeds were deemed a superfood and quickly became popular. Today, they remain a staple for many people looking for plant-based nutrition and are used in everything from baking recipes to salads.

08/07/2023

There’s a little bit of controversy over who invented the garbage disposal. The widely accepted version of the story holds that the garbage disposal was invented in 1927 by John W. Hammes, an architect from Racine, Wisconsin. He earned a patent for his device in 1935 and it became available to the public in 1940 under the company name, InSinkErator. However, General Electric claims they were the first to introduce the garbage disposal with their 1935 device, the Disposall. In the 1930s and 1940s, many cities had regulations that prohibited citizens from putting food waste into sewer systems. However, Hammes used marketing campaigns to successfully influence many cities into lifting their restrictions enough to allow for the installation of garbage disposal units. Today, roughly 50% of homes in the United States have garbage disposals.

08/07/2023

Cable knit sweaters were most likely created by a group of Aran women as an export in the early 1900s and are fittingly still associated with Irish culture today. Notably, the cable design also appeared on the Gansey sweater worn by fishermen on England’s eastern coast during the Victorian era. Both versions were infinitely practical, with every detail crafted to withstand the wet, windy work of fishing. (The cable pattern was even thought to represent a fisherman’s ropes and tools!) Mass production in the 1920s gave the sweaters a more uniform (and less complex) stitching pattern, but the design didn’t really enter the mainstream until the 1960s, when Irish folk singers The Clancy Brothers popularized the style. John Lennon lent it a Bohemian edge while visiting the Scottish Highlands, and years earlier, Elvis had worn a version on the silver screen. However, the sweater’s defining role remains its appearance in 1968’s The Thomas Crown Affair, for which Steve McQueen wore a vintage Aran sweater. Later, famous female icons like Marilyn Monroe and Jean Seberg made the cable knit a style staple for women as well. One of the first cable knit sweaters made from luxury materials was created by Ralph Lauren, who slimmed down the design, but there are still many who consider chunkier cable knit sweaters superior. Today, the cable knit sweater remains a stylish classic and is available from a variety of retailers, including vintage resellers.

30/06/2023

Paul A. Sperry got the idea for these now-iconic shoes while watching his dog, Prince, play on ice. Sperry realized that Prince wasn’t slipping and set out to make a shoe that would achieve the same effect. He created a non-slip sole with a herringbone pattern based on Prince’s paw pads. Sperry launched his new non-slip shoes in 1935 and debuted the leather upper Top-Sider in 1937. Boaters appreciated the non-slip soles and the white material they were made from, because it meant that the shoes didn’t leave marks on a boat’s deck. In 1939, the U.S. Navy contracted Sperry to supply their sailors with Top-Siders, and after the war, the shoe went into national distribution. In the 1960s, it became staple footwear for achieving the East Coast preppy look (President John F. Kennedy helped to popularize them). Today, Sperry Top-Siders remain a classic shoe choice that perfectly complements preppy outfits.

30/06/2023

Gelatin dishes date all the way back to Medieval Europe, but for most of history, they were reserved for the rich. While there were earlier formulations, Pearle Wait created the Jell-O brand of instant gelatin around 1897. Neatness, order, and ingenuity were prized in home economics around the turn of the century, and Jell-O salads provided the perfect vehicle for the trend, allowing food to be neatly encased and ingeniously presented while also stretching each portion. One of the first famous Jell-O salads was the “Perfection Salad” created by Mrs. John Cooke of New Castle, Pennsylvania; her creation took third prize in a cooking contest sponsored by Jell-O competitor Knox Gelatin. Jell-O was rationed during World War I but the popularity of gelatin salads soared in the interwar period and continued in the postwar period, when housewives were encouraged to create elaborate dishes like Jell-O salads. Many of these Jell-O salads used savory ingredients and the Jell-O brand even came out with savory flavors like celery, mixed vegetable, and Italian salad to accomodate the trend. In the 1970s and early 1980s, nutrition campaigns began to emphasize the importance of limiting sugar and savory Jell-O salads fell out of fashion in favor of tossed salads. Changing cultural trends also hastened the demise of the Jell-O salad: as more women entered the workforce, quick and convenient meals took precedence over time-consuming, impressive presentations. After Jell-O salads dipped in popularity, Jell-O and other gelatin brands returned to marketing their products for desserts only. Sweet Jell-O salads are no longer popular on the American Coasts, but they are still widely enjoyed in the rural Midwest and Deep South. Interestingly, savory Jell-O salads remain popular in Utah but are all but extinct in mainstream American cuisine.

29/06/2023

While the origins of the jump rope are somewhat murky, we do know that the jump rope was brought to America by Dutch settlers in the 17th century. At first, jumping rope was considered exclusively a game for boys. Then in the 1800s, groups of girls began to play with jump ropes. They did so against the recommendation of most advice books, which cautioned against too much physical activity. As leisure time increased throughout the 19th century, girls began to jump rope in increasing numbers, and by the early 1900s, there were clear lines between jump rope games for boys and girls. Boys’ games were usually centered around competition, while girls typically jumped rope in groups and developed various rhythmic songs to go with their jumping. Some, like the well-known “teddy bear, teddy bear” rhyme, emphasized acrobatic skills and called for specific movements, while others, like “Cinderella,” were centered around relationships. Over time, jumping rope also became a popular athletic activity for adults. Today, children of all genders enjoy jumping rope either solo or in groups, and many of the songs developed by past generations are still in use, many with only minor lyrical alterations.

28/06/2023

Around 1950, American pizzeria owners began offering refrigerated pizzas that customers could take home and cook in their own kitchens. Some restaurants soon started selling frozen versions, since they could be stored for longer. The first patent for frozen pizza was awarded to a man named Joseph Bucci in Philadelphia in 1954. However, frozen pizzas started showing up in grocery stores a few years before it was granted. Until the 1960s, America’s frozen pizza industry was mostly made up of regional players. Then in 1962, Rose and Jim Totino began mass-producing Totino’s frozen pizzas from a plant in St. Louis Park, Minnesota; by the 1970s, Totino’s was America’s top-selling frozen pizza brand and the couple sold their business to Pillsbury in 1975. Multiple corporations also entered the frozen pizza market by buying up notable family brands, including Quaker Oats, which bought Mama Celeste’s in 1969; Kraft Foods, which bought Tombstone Pizza in 1986; and frozen food delivery company Schwan’s, which bought Tony’s frozen pizza in 1970. Schwan’s also expanded its reach by launching their own frozen pizza brand, Red Baron, which quickly became one of the most popular frozen pizza brands in America. In 1995, Kraft launched DiGiorno frozen pizzas. What set DiGiorno apart was its rising crust (previously, frozen pizzas relied on flat, crunchy crusts). The following year, Schwan’s launched its own rising-crust option, Freschetta; although Kraft sued Schwan’s over trade secrets, the lawsuit was settled in 2001 and Freschetta remains a popular option at grocery stores. Still, no frozen pizza has been as successful as DiGiorno. Just three years after its debut, DiGiorno became the top-selling frozen pizza brand in America and it has remained the country’s best-selling brand for more than two decades. Today, the frozen pizza market continues to thrive and at least one estimate suggests that the industry could be worth over $17 billion in 2023!

27/06/2023

The cat tree was patented in 1968 by a Los Angeles man named Frank Crow. In his patent application, Crow noted that his invention was intended to solve a problem faced by most indoor cat owners, namely, that cats like to climb. This sets it apart from many other 1960s creations that were more about form than function, such as the lava lamp or the beanbag chair. Because the fact is, house cats don’t just like to climb — they are descended from tree-dwelling big cats like cougars and therefore have an instinctive urge to climb things. Crow’s cat tree was designed to allow them to climb to their heart’s content without doing damage to household items like drapes or shelving. The classic cat tee is usually a few “stories” high and is wrapped in beige carpeting that cats can easily grip with their claws. However, in modern times, there are many more aesthetically pleasing cat trees on the market. For example, Mike and Corrine Carson of Paw Friendly Cat Furniture create cat trees made from reclaimed elm branches that are eco-friendly, pleasing to the eye, and more satisfying for cats, as the wood doesn’t degrade under a cat’s claws nearly as quickly as carpeting does. Today, cat trees are a staple in most homes that have one or more cats, and both the cats and their human caregivers appreciate this humble object’s usefulness.

26/06/2023

The earliest Lego minifigures were much more like the building bricks that Lego is famous for — they were made up of three non-articulating pieces in the shape of a person. They didn’t have facial expressions but were compatible with a few different hats. Jens Nygaard Knudsen, a designer at Lego, came up with the idea of the Lego minifigure as we know it today. His minifigure featured hands that could grasp accessories, feet that could be attached to any brick, and articulating arms and legs. In fact, he made over 50 attempts at refining the design before it debuted in 1978 as part of Lego Set 600, which included an unassuming police officer with a constant smiling face and a basic police car. When the Lego Pirates line was introduced in 1989, Lego minifigures got their first major overhaul. New face designs moved beyond the basic smiling face to include beards, eye patches, and more expressive mouths. There were also some body changes, such as hooks in place of hands and wooden pegs in place of the standard minifigure legs. In 1999, Lego produced the first licensed Lego figure, Luke Skywalker. At this point, all minifigures were still the standard yellow color. It wasn’t until 2003 that Lego introduced skin tone variations. During the ’00s, minifigures with shorter legs, sculpted heads, different parts, and even some with electrical elements were introduced in order to keep pace with the evolving children’s entertainment landscape. In 2010, the Lego Minifigures line was introduced, which allowed collectors to purchase just the minifigures instead of having to buy entire sets to get them. Today, Lego minifigures remain popular with children and adult collectors alike and are considered one of the most popular and recognizable toys in the world. Lego minifigures have even appeared in a series of films and TV shows!

25/06/2023

The origin of playing cards is debated: some scholars think they were developed in China in the 9th century, while others believe they were developed alongside tile games like dominos or mahjong. Still others think that playing cards originated as “play money” for early gambling games. However, the earliest confirmed record of playing cards appears in a German manuscript from 1377. The first four suits were introduced in Europe around the close of the 14th century — the Swords, Clubs, Cups, and Coins. (Interestingly, these suits are still used on Italian and Spanish playing cards today and are referred to as the “Latin suits.”) Early playing cards were hand-painted masterpieces, and therefore typically only used by the wealthy. But as new methods were created for producing playing cards faster and more cheaply, their popularity spread. After they were established as a favorite among German soldiers, the Germans found new ways of mass producing them, and soon decks of cards were being exported all over Western Europe. Notably, the Germans changed the Italian suits to Hearts, Leaves, Acorns, and Bells, which better reflected rural German life. In the 15th century, the French developed the suit imagery that we still see on playing cards today, became the first to divide the suits into two colors (red and black), and supplanted Germany as the top playing card manufacturers in Europe. But high taxes in France caused manufacturers to move to Belgium, and from there, the cards spread to new parts of Europe, including England. The English created the four suits we still use today: Clubs, Hearts, Spades, and Diamonds. They also made the Ace of Spades the most prominent and customized card in a deck, because for tax reasons, manufacturers were required to purchase one from the Commissioners for Stamp Duties from 1828 to 1862, and the tradition of making the card stand out stuck. In the 1860s, Thomas de la Rue was able to mass produce large amounts of playing cards and standardized the designs.

24/06/2023

Mobiles first entered the world as a form of sculptural art. In the 1930s, an American artist named Alexander Calder began experimenting with mobiles by introducing moving pieces into the sculptures he’d been working on, which were mostly circus animals made from wire and wood. It’s thought that baby mobiles evolved from this concept. Eventually, parents began attaching visual mobiles with baby-appropriate themes like animals or stars to cribs or affixing them to nursery ceilings. In the late 1950s – 1970s, Irmi mobiles were very popular. They were made in New York and featured intricate, hand-painted elements. Examples of these mobiles can often be seen in nursery photos of children of contemporary celebrities like Sophia Loren. Today’s modern baby mobiles are made from many different materials (although felt is especially popular) and come in many themes and styles. All are designed to entertain little ones and help soothe babies to sleep.

23/06/2023

It’s thought that our ancient ancestors first drank beer out of animal skins over 10,000 years ago. By 9,000 B.C.E., terracotta pots, bowls, and jugs were being used to drink beer. Around the 14th century, tankards and steins began to be used for beer drinking. In fact, these were the first drinking vessels to be associated specifically with beer. Tankards were originally made of wood and bound with iron or leather. They started out as containers for carrying water but soon became associated with beer drinking. After the Bubonic plague, the tankard changed, morphing into a tall, single-handled pewter mug with a lid. This new type of lidded drinking container was meant to keep the contents free of germs and became known as a stein. (Unfortunately, the pewter material posed a risk of lead poisoning.) Beer glasses first became popular in the 19th century and by the 20th century, various types of glassware designed specifically for beer were emerging, including the 10-sided or fluted pint mug, which featured a handle designed to keep a person's hands off the glass itself so that the beer inside would stay cooler for longer. In response to the growing popularity of amber beers, the 1940s saw the invention of the dimpled glass. A straight glass with a slight bulge at the top known as the “Nonik” (no nick) glass was invented shortly after; it was designed to minimize chipping. The thin-walled pint glass was developed soon after that and still serves as the classic Irish/Guinness pint glass today. Modern beer mugs are almost always made of glass and come in a variety of styles. Each one is designed to have a specific effect on the beer inside it and consequently, certain glasses are considered the optimal way to enjoy specific types of beer.

22/06/2023

Dungeons & Dragons, or “D&D” for short, was created in the 1970s when Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson added role-playing to the war-themed strategy games they enjoyed. Their game was partially based on H. G. Wells’ 1913 instructions for war games. It also combined imagination, storytelling, and strategy in a game for the first time, creating an entirely new mode of play that was aimed at adults but harkened back to the imaginative play we all engage in as children. Special 20-sided dice were created for the game, as was the unique role of the Dungeon Master, a sort of narrator and master planner of the in-game adventure. In addition to in-person gameplay, Dungeons & Dragons lent itself well to computerized play. When the Internet arose, this opened up a whole new level of immersive play online. In fact, similar “massively multiplayer online role-playing games” (MMORPGs) like World of Warcraft owe a large debt to Dungeons & Dragons, which itself remains incredibly popular today. But perhaps Dungeons & Dragons' most enduring legacy is that it was the first successful game to allow older children and adults to engage in imaginative play; in fact, this is likely why the game remains so popular decades after it was first created.

21/06/2023

There is some debate over who invented oyster crackers. One version of the story credits a baker named Adam Exton with creating them in his New Jersey bakery, The Exton Cracker Bakery, back in 1847. However, the Westminster Cracker Company refutes this story and claims that they developed oyster crackers in 1828. Where the name of these little crackers came from is also a mystery. One theory holds that they were specifically created to accompany oyster stew, which was popular and surprisingly affordable in the 1800s. (Oysters weren’t yet a delicacy and were actually overfished and thus inexpensive at the time). Some people believe that the crackers got their name from their association with the dish. Other food historians believe that oyster crackers got their name because of their slight resemblance to an oyster shell. Still others believe that both stories could be true, and it’s certainly possible that oyster crackers were originally created to garnish oyster stew and began to resemble the shape of oysters over time. It’s thought that once oyster stew lost its popularity, oyster crackers kept their association with seafood stews and chowders because of their durability. They don’t break down easily and have therefore remained a popular and practical way to add crunch and saltiness to a dish. Today, they are most strongly associated with New England clam chowder, but they’re also enjoyed in other places in the United States. For example, Ohioans often enjoy their oyster crackers with hot sauce. Some people even make their own from scratch, although store-bought oyster crackers remain the most popular type today.

20/06/2023

While they’re often associated with a more modern look, mirrored lenses first showed up on sunglasses way back in the summer of 1948. According to Mike Evans’ Sunglasses, they were introduced as a technical innovation that supposedly reflected 30% of the sun’s infrared rays. But that’s not what made them so popular. Mirrored sunglasses quickly became a trendy fashion accessory, particularly among youths. For example, the 1960s starlet Sarah Miles was pictured wearing a pair when she was just 18. Today, they remain a fashionable accessory, due in large part to their popularity among young Hollywood stars who favor mirrored sunglasses for their ability to mask the eyes. Modern mirrored sunglasses are available in a variety of styles and materials, including plastic, wood, and metal, and are sold a multiple price points.

19/06/2023

Steven Ausnit fled Communist Romania in 1947. In 1951, he, his father (Max), and his uncle (Edgar) bought the rights to the original plastic zipper, which had been designed by a Danish inventor named Borge Madsen. Madsen didn’t have any specific application in mind, so Ausnit began experimenting with the plastic zippers. He formed Flexigrip with his father and uncle to manufacture the zippers; when the slider used in the original design proved too costly to make, Ausnit used his experience as a mechanical engineer to create the press-and-seal zipper. Thus, the original Ziploc-style plastic bag was born. In 1962, Ausnit learned of a Japanese company called Seisan Nihon Sha that could incorporate the zipper into the bag itself (as opposed to heat pressing it). The Ausnits licensed the rights to this technology and formed a second company called Minigrip. Soon after, Dow Chemical requested an exclusive grocery-store license and introduced the Ziploc bag to a test market in 1968. While it wasn’t an immediate success, by 1973, the Ziploc bag was popular and beloved as a storage option for everything from food to children’s toys. Today, Ziploc bags and similar products remain popular, although in some cases, single-use plastics are being phased out for environmental reasons.

18/06/2023

Cribbage was invented by Sir John Suckling in the 17th century. He was a poet, soldier, and gambler who reportedly cheated many of his nobleman friends by sending them packs of marked cards as gifts and then teaching cribbage to them using the marked decks so that he could win large sums of money. Cribbage was adopted by sailors and spread around the world, especially to places where the British had a strong presence. The game became especially popular in North America. When Commander Dick O’Kane played a perfect hand in cribbage just before he sank a record number of enemy ships on patrol, it became the official game of American submariners. In fact, the crib board that O’Kane used is still traditionally passed down to the oldest active submarine in the American fleet. While cribbage has waned slightly in popularity in recent decades, there are still weekly cribbage nights hosted at various bars, social clubs, and community centers and the game still has fervent fans all over the world.

17/06/2023

Up through the 1940s, most Americans slept on twin or double beds. To increase sales, mattress manufacturers promoted the idea of purchasing two twin beds, but it never fully caught on. Around the middle of the 20th century, manufacturers began introducing larger mattresses, which were later standardized into the “king” and “queen” sizes we know today. These larger mattresses were embraced, in part because Americans were growing larger than before the war, and in part because the postwar economic boom meant that many Americans had larger homes in the newly built suburbs that could easily accommodate bigger mattresses. Manufacturers kept up the demand by advertising that these larger mattresses could promote better sleep and underscoring that the price increase per inch was low (in many cases, an extra inch correlated to an extra $1). These advertising campaigns paid off: in 1953, king size bedding represented less than 1% of overall sales, but by 1963, that percentage had risen to 5.5% and it reached an impressive 10% the following year. Today, king size mattresses have only become more popular.

16/06/2023

In 2008, Robert Wang lost his job at a mobile messaging company he’d co-founded in 2000 and decided to turn his attention toward a personal issue. He and his wife both worked full-time, but still needed a way to put healthy meals on the table for their family of four each night. Wang was inspired by the Crock-Pot and the electric pressure cookers that were popular in his native China. He was especially interested in addressing the pain points of consumers who cooked at home with electrical appliances. Over 18 months, he used his Ph.D. in computer science and background in artificial intelligence to create the first iteration of the Instant Pot, which he released on Amazon in October 2010 after testing it with his daughter. It combined the functions of multiple devices to save counter space and featured a burn protection mechanism. Over time, interest in the Instant Pot grew and reached a fever pitch in 2016, when Amazon sold out of its 215,00 available units on Prime Day. Its fanbase has only grown since then, with cookbooks and blogs devoted to Instant Pot recipes. There are now multiple versions of the Instant Pot available and the company regularly comes out with new ones.

15/06/2023

Until the 1800s, people typically used small knives to trim their fingernails and utilized a paring technique rather than truly clipping them — think of the action of peeling an apple using a paring knife. Around 1875, patents for nail clippers began to appear. The first of these was designed by a man named Valentine Fogerty. However, his design was more of a circular nail file. In 1881, inventors Eugene Heim and Oelestin Matz earned a patent for their clamp-style fingernail clippers, which more closely resembled the devices we are familiar with today. As more patents were issued and these new products hit the market, nail clippers quickly became common enough that superstitions arose around them. For instance, by 1889, articles were being published that remarked on the public’s fear of cutting their fingernails on weekends out of concern that it would lead to bad luck. Eventually, these superstitions faded, and nail clippers became so commonplace that patents are now rarely awarded for them. Still, design innovations persist even today, and everything from standard nail clippers with extra-long handles to products with LEDs incorporated for a better view have hit the market. There are even luxury nail clippers available today — a far cry from the knives humans once used to trim their fingernails!

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09/07/2023

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30/06/2023

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