# Things you can't believe ever existed **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 4, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095 "2013-01-04T19:34:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/41 "2013-01-05T12:56:39Z")
> [@casdave](#): > > How about this for a sitcom, > > ‘Love thy neighbour’ > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqfB9Aw3IFk](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqfB9Aw3IFk) > > You should watch this, it is wonderfully cringe- inducing. I cannot imagine why it does not get reruns like all the other shows of the same period. Yikes! I couldn’t even get past the first few minutes! (I’m loving this thread by the way. Thanks **Jackknifed Juggernaut**!) ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/42 "2013-01-05T13:11:38Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Yikes! I couldn’t even get past the first few minutes! > (I’m loving this thread by the way. Thanks **Jackknifed Juggernaut**!) You’ll love the Black & White Minstrel Show then. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/KoYOraDt1_k/hqdefault.jpg "The Black & White Minstrel Show 1978 - Part 1") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoYOraDt1_k) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/43 "2013-01-05T13:30:45Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > You’ll love the Black & White Minstrel Show then. > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoYOraDt1\_k](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoYOraDt1_k) :eek: ---
**Author:** ![wevets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9a140/32.png) [@wevets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wevets)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/44 "2013-01-05T14:30:23Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > There’s an actual parasite that causes zombification. I can’t find the link atm, but i’m sure somebody can jump in. > > The one fact I remember is that it causes the host to come to the surface and advertise itself to be eaten by birds, thus spreading the parasite. Only moderately joking, some folks [consider the protozoan _Toxoplasma gondii_ a zombification parasite for humans](http://scopeblog.stanford.edu/2011/10/26/patrick-house-discuses-toxoplasma-gondii-parasitic-mind-control-and-zombies/). ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/45 "2013-01-05T16:06:40Z")
> [@Patch](#): > > The [Tobacco Smoke Enema](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_smoke_enema) to treat drowning victims. Hmmm, wonder if that’s where the phrase “don’t blow smoke up my ass” comes from? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/46 "2013-01-05T16:45:19Z")
[Hard wired remote controls for TVs and VCRs.](http://www.tvhistory.tv/1950_Zenith_Wired_Remote.JPG) ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/47 "2013-01-05T17:19:21Z")
> [@campp](#): > > I had a lot of fun as a kid with the [Water Wiggle](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D_WdavMuKs) and the Slip 'N Slide. My daughter got a Slip’n’Slide when she was in grade school, and she and her friends tried it out immediately. So my husband decided that HE’D use it too. He ran, and slid, and when he got to the end of the thing, he kept sliding on the lawn for a short distance. You never heard such whining. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/48 "2013-01-05T17:20:43Z")
Radium dials on watches. In their defense, nobody understood the danger. Also, using mercury in the making of beaver hats; hence the term, “mad as a hatter”. The whole notion of nuclear landscaping a la [Project Chariot](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Chariot_(1958)). Edward Teller was a lunatic. I recommend reading _The Firecracker Boys_ for a good history of all that. ---
**Author:** ![pullin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/49 "2013-01-05T17:43:01Z")
Those little plastic drink holders you buy to hang on a car windowsill. Not the device itself, but the fact that it took about 60 years for US car makers to figure out that people might want such a thing. I don’t recall seeing built-in cup holders until the 80’s. (Feel free to fight my ignorance on this, it might be brand-specific) I find it astonishing that cars without cupholders existed much beyond the Model-A. Kid’s home chemistry sets deserve a mention too. I got one Xmas 1966 and there were warnings not to mix this chemical with that chemical because it would form a dangerous acid. Of course as two 10-yr-olds, I and my best friend _never_ tried that. :rolleyes: Stuff without product safety warnings. I have the manual for one of my old hunting rifles, circa 1964. There isn’t a single safety warning in it. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/50 "2013-01-05T17:56:55Z")
I sometimes wonder how I survived childhood: We got bows and arrows for Christmas to play Cowboys and Indians - yes, with rubber tips on the end of the arrows that would stick to a target, but how long to you think it took before we took off those rubber tips and made sharp points on the end instead? We used our pocket knives to sharpen those tips - what could possibly go wrong with giving kids pocket knives and letting them practice to throw them and have them stick into a tree - just like the Cowboys and Indians did on TV shows? We had model airplanes with real motors (before there was remote controls) that were tied to a line and you went around in a circle and flew it…really fast, and you were spinning around in circles, with a spinning propeller on the front - gee, who could have foreseen some kid getting in the way and getting hit by a flying plane tethered to a fishing line? Don’t forget the roller skates made of metal that fit to the bottom of your shoe with a roller skate key - and what were the odds one of those skates would fall off your shoe while skating down Mr. Johnson’s long, steep, cracked, cement driveway? Pogo sticks! Oh the joy of holding on to a metal pipe with a huge spring at the bottom and little places for your feet, bouncing really high one or two times until perhaps you didn’t land quite correctly on that cement sidewalk - who saw that coming? Wood burning kits! Wow - plug it in and wait until that tip gets smoldering hot and then burn your name or design into wood! Nothing like kids playing with red hot pokers and wood to spell safe fun! It is a miracle my neighborhood wasn’t littered with bodies of kids. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/51 "2013-01-05T17:59:33Z")
The first car I owned with cup holders was a 1996 Mercury Sable. Hard to imagine cars without any place to set a drink now. What about cars without seat belts? I remember those days; they just didn’t have any. When they finally started to equip them they were in the front seat only, and just lap belts. Front end collisions must have been fun in those days! ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/52 "2013-01-05T18:04:48Z")
My dad’s 1962 Chevy II had cup holders of a sort. There were two of them on the glove box door when it was open, but they were intended for use when parked, as in a drive-in restaurant or movie. Lots of cars had those back then. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/53 "2013-01-05T18:16:10Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > What about cars without seat belts? I remember those days; they just didn’t have any. When they finally started to equip them they were in the front seat only, and just lap belts. Front end collisions must have been fun in those days! BTW, seat belts started off in airlines - back then they were called “Safety Belts” but by using the word “Safety” it scared people, so they changed the word to “Seat Belts” to make it sound less scary. I remember when they first started appearing in cars - people hated them and would refuse to wear them and I recall many simply cut them off the seats and tossed them. Needless to say, car crashes even at a fairly low speed did not usually end well. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/54 "2013-01-05T18:22:35Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > [Hard wired remote controls for TVs and VCRs.](http://www.tvhistory.tv/1950_Zenith_Wired_Remote.JPG) Our first cable remote was 12 push buttons & a 3 position toggle on the left side for a whopping 36 channels. It was wired to the TV. The good thing was it NEVER got lost. Lying on the sofa & want to change the channel? Is the remote between you legs? On the floor? On the end table? No worries, just reach down, grab the wire, & viola - changer box! I wish they still made 'em. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/55 "2013-01-05T18:33:03Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > Needless to say, car crashes even at a fairly low speed did not usually end well. Yeah, but back in those days you’d be thrown clear, get up and brush the dirt off, have a smoke and then another stiff drink when you got home. ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/56 "2013-01-05T18:42:37Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Yeah, but back in those days you’d be thrown clear, get up and brush the dirt off, have a smoke and then another stiff drink when you got home. Speaking of which - back when I was a kid, people would just throw bottles and trash out of the car onto the roads while driving. The concept of “littering” was unheard of - out of sight, out of mind. Sure, some assholes still do this, but nowhere near as bad as those days when it was just normal to throw everything out the car window while zipping down the road at a good clip (much to the occasional annoyance of the person in the back seat who had their window down as well). I don’t think there were even any laws against littering back then…remember those first pop top cans where the top came OFF the can and you would toss them anywhere? No fun for bare foot kids. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/57 "2013-01-05T18:55:46Z")
The Sega CD and Sega 32X. It’s not that they were inferior systems (they were), it’s that you can’t find _anything_ about them. At all. Hell, those clods on YouTube who never miss a chance to rant about how awful the first Street Fighter was don’t even remember that these systems existed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen either system outside of Electrogames Plus (_geez_, I’m old! 🙂 ). You know that when the only thing anyone remembers about your first post-16 bit era console is some half-baked “controversy” that lasted about a month, you really should’ve done a much better job. If we can add trends, I’d also like to nominate the “swing revival” of (IIRC) 1999. Good clean fun, plenty of devotees who genuinely love it, yes. Warranted national news coverage, ad campaigns, “anti-sex” talk about an activity that averages about three pantyshots a routine if they’re taking it easy, and anyone pretending for a nanosecond that this was anything but a cynical media fad that would disappear from the airwaves forever in a few months, **no**. (On an unrelated note, I’m disappointed that it’s not a regular style on Dancing With The Stars. It looks like it was really designed to wow a crowd.) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/58 "2013-01-05T19:05:43Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > If we can add trends, I’d also like to nominate the “swing revival” of (IIRC) 1999. I don’t recall that, but line dancing was all the fad for a year or two in the late 80s or early 90s. That’s definitely something that should never have existed. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/59 "2013-01-05T20:05:21Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Radium dials on watches. In their defense, nobody understood the danger. Just think of the people who had to paint the dials - they’d lick the brush, dip it in radium paint, apply, and lick the brush again. People began noticing something was wrong when their jaws started falling off. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/60 "2013-01-05T20:11:43Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > Yes, but these were prescription free and contained pure heroin. Unsurprisingly, they also turned out to be incredibly addictive. Doctors used to treat alcoholics by getting them addicted to morphine. As late as the 1940s some old docs were still doing it. The Victorians came up with all manner of contraptions to keep children (especially boys) from masturbating. Circumcision (performed on older boys sans anaesthetic) was promoted as a cure for masturbation. The less common equivalent for girls involved either spraying acid on her vulva or a clitoridectomy. The Victorians sure were obsessed with masturbation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095.md?page=4)