One of the many reasons I love watching old movies is to see how things were at the time. It’s a fair criticism that in a lot of cases it was Hollywood’s interpretation of how things were, but the actual settings can divulge a lot.
I have just watched a 1934 movie and a few things stood out, such as the kettle on a gas burner in the background (no electric jugs, or microwaves?) and the glass bubble stock market machine spewing out it’s paper tape.
I loved seeing what remains of Greed for Zasu Pitts going into the butcher shop- no refrigeration- she picked the meat by smelling what was off.
In movies up through the 1930s, it was still not unusual to see horses and carriages in the streets (though after the mid-1920s, most of them were used as delvery vans might be today).
The beauty-parlor scenes, women with their hair in those terrifying old “permanent” machines.
People being called to the hall telephone in apartment buildings (and party lines, and operators, who were always named Madge or Gladys).
I was watching watching the old Batman movie serials with some friends, and at one point a cop tells Bruce and Dick, “We’re going downtown. Get your hats.” I loved the implicit assumption that of course Bruce and Dick would wear hats. Who wouldn’t?
Nowadays, as Michael Palin tells us, people aren’t wearing enough hats.
the same line is used in The Maltese Falcon when Lt. Dundee and Sgt. Polhouse bull their way into Sam’s apartment while Brigid and Joel are there.
I’ve often wondered whether the number of servants is accurately depicted. Not the “rich families” but even a couple living in a relatively modest house or apartment will have at least a cook.
Unescorted women – nevah happen unless she’s a floozie. She’s got to have some man’s arm to hold onto when she’s in public.
The smoking! Ye Gawds the smoking! We watched <b>Grand Hotel</b> a couple weeks ago and were actually thinking there was a fire in the studio a couple times. I also like the way men would have a full bar setup in their offices at work and offer people a highball at 10 in the morning.
Inflation makes old films comical as well. Another we watched a few weeks back was <b>Mr. Blandings Builds his Dreamhouse</b> and my husband about fell out of his chair at Cary Grant lamenting his $12,000 mortgage. They also had a servant who we would find a shocking stereotype today. She did come up with the winning ad campaign for his company though: “If you ain’t eatin’ Wham, you ain’t eatin’ HAM!”
Like was stated previously, the extent of smoking in movies made before the 70’s stands out. Of course, they were just reflecting society at the time. I believe before the first public warning by the Surgeon General in 1964, about 60% of American adults were smokers. (Somebody, correct me if that figure is wrong.)
There is also a lot of casual consumption of hard liquor by characters who are not supposed to be alcoholics.
Also, in the early part of the 1946 version of The Killers, I was amazed by the surprisingly complicated meal offered by a modest diner (i.e, a dinner plate with several courses and dessert). Were most non-upscale restaurants/diners like this before the rise of fast-food franchises and chains like Denny’s?
From Footsteps in the Dark. Errol Flynn has gone to dentist Ralph Bellamy. While he is in the dentist’s chair waiting for a Novocaine injection to take effect, Bellamy offers him a cigarette and they both light up!
Some other things just from that film:
Every upper class hero has a comic-relief lower-class oddly-nicknamed chauffeur - cook - bodyguard - factotum, usually Allan Jenkins.
Police procedures were not up to CSI standards. Any amateur detective could walk in, examine the corpse, take away clues, and stick around after the police left.
When rich people went slumming in dives, the owners had “more expensive menus” to hand out to them.
Society women had their own radio shows.
I do have to say, though, that my wife and I still use a kettle to boil water for tea and coffee. We have an electric stove, but I know people with gas stoves who do the same thing. That’s the only proper way to boil water.
The teakettle’s not an anachronism. We use ours all the time. Dr.J prefers his coffee from a french press, and I make a lot of tea. The kettle’s the best way to do it, for a lot of reasons. (Out of curiosity, Exapno, why would it make any difference what type of stove you have, whether or not you use a teakettle?)
Because the OP specifically mentioned a gas burner, and it wasn’t clear whether that was also supposed to be part of anachronism. I’ll bet there’s a lot of people out there today who don’t realize you can still get gas stoves.
One more event from that movie that I forgot:
a tony investment counselor would turn down the account of a clearly extremely wealthy client because he wasn’t “the right kind of people.”
Oh, how about in every pre-1950 movie, the daughter of the family always knows how to play the piano? (I’m old enough to remember when the boy child joined Little League and the girl child took piano lessons.)
In Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, Gary Cooper is at home, wearing a white shirt and regular pants. Visitors arrive, and someone tells Cooper, “You can’t meet them that way.” So they make him wear a dressing robe and an ascot. Showing up like that wouldn’t cause the slightest comment these days.
How about shared phone lines. Some movies would show the phone ringing, 3 short or whatever, and a character would say, thats not ours or several people would be on at the same time.
Ladies used to wear the most outrageous concoctions on their heads. Women’s hats were often shocking & the richer the lady the more elaborate the headgear.
Guys with knock-out power in their fist, able to knock a guy out with a single punch, apparently were a dime a dozen back in the day. If that happens though no sweat, a couple slaps on the face or some water will revive the knocked out guy with no ill effects.
I’m guessing you’re probably wrong. I’ve never known anybody who viewed gas stoves as an anachronism. In fact, most of the newer houses I’ve seen have had gas stoves, and I’ve never personally known anyone who opted for electric when given a choice.
The reasons women could give when turning down a guy asking for a date:
“I’ve got to wash my hair” Must have been quite the elaborate procedure if it took the entire evening. Eggs, rainwater, curling irons on the stove, bobby pins.
“I have to rinse out a few things” When the only other alternative was to pay for a Chinese laundry to do it.
“I’ve got an early call.” This makes sense when the character saying it is in show business, but that’s not always the case. Maybe someone can explain this one - if its just a colloquialism for “I have to get up early,” or if wake-up phone services were common back then.
Must be a location issue. If you look at appliances in stores near me you’ll see fifty electric stoves and a couple of gas stoves over in a corner. The only people I’ve ever known who opted for gas stoves are the types who are fanatical cooks that demand precision burners. Everybody else opts for the cleaning convenience of electric. That and the fact that you don’t have to have your house repiped and your lawn expensively ripped up to put in a gas line into the kitchen.
But I’m sure the comparative costs of electricity and gas differ from location to location.
