# 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:** 4
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/61 "2013-01-05T20:16:45Z")
The woodburning story reminds me about the time I absentmindeldy picked up a soldering iron by the tip. I put it down real fast. ---
**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 6, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/62 "2013-01-06T00:54:24Z")
My dad had a lead soldier kit when he was a kid- it included a little electric stove to melt the lead and the molds to pour in the molten metal. The coolest toy I had was a Mattel Thingmaker- a hot plate on which I cooked up little plastic toys in aluminum molds. It was as fun to spit on the plate and watch it sizzle as it was to make the toys! ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/63 "2013-01-06T01:33:54Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Radithor radioactive “medicine” > > [Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity](http://www.orau.org/PTP/collection/quackcures/radith.htm) [QUOTE=Radithor radioactive medicine] Byers stopped consuming Radithor in 1930 when his teeth started falling out and holes appeared in his skull. [/QUOTE] This was a man of sound judgment. ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/64 "2013-01-06T02:11:03Z")
Oh, another one I can’t believe: gold prices. When I got married in 2000, I bought a bunch of bracelets and jewelry for my fiancee because it was so cheap. I think it was something like $200 per troy ounce (currently $1700 average through 2012.) I paid like $100 for my wedding band, so it might be worth like 1k today, roughly a 900% increase. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/65 "2013-01-06T02:12:39Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > Yes, but these were prescription free and contained pure heroin. Unsurprisingly, they also turned out to be incredibly addictive. Codeine linctus is prescription free. I can go into a chemist tomorrow and get 600mg of codeine (roughly equivialnt to 30mg of heroin, although probably more given heroin’s rather poor oral bioavaliablility) in linctus form. Indeed I can actually buy morphine over the counter in syrup form as well, either as kaolin and morphine solution for diahorrea, or as gee’s linctus with some peppermint oil. There is no real difference between codeine, morphine, and heroin in oral form if you take equivilant doses (apart from a ceiling affect with codeine that would be at a dose no one without tolerance would be sane to take, and some histamine stuff). ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/66 "2013-01-06T03:12:03Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > Codeine linctus is prescription free. Looks at OP’s name and back at the posting … :dubious:😛 ---
**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 6, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/67 "2013-01-06T03:25:25Z")
> [@aruvqan](#): > > Looks at OP’s name and back at the posting … :dubious:😛 Or look at post number 26. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/68 "2013-01-06T03:31:31Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > Codeine linctus is prescription free. I can go into a chemist tomorrow and get 600mg of codeine (roughly equivialnt to 30mg of heroin, although probably more given heroin’s rather poor oral bioavaliablility) in linctus form. Right. They didn’t exactly trade in milligrams back then, so how much would you need to chug to get the equivalence of 5 grams of heroin? [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bayer\_Heroin\_bottle.jpg](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bayer_Heroin_bottle.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/69 "2013-01-06T04:19:27Z")
> [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > **Kissing booths** - Hold up. I pay you a nickel and I get to kiss you on the lips? Sorry, I don’t care how hot you are. I’m not risking mono or HSV. Nobody gets mono from kissing and everyone has HSV. ---
**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 6, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/70 "2013-01-06T04:25:11Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Nobody gets mono from kissing and everyone has HSV. OK Doc. How is mono spread, and I’m pretty sure I don’t have HSV. You got some splainin’ to do. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/71 "2013-01-06T04:30:08Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Or look at post number 26. Yup, that’s why I made the comment I made about simple linctus in the first place! It was rather hard to think of something sufficiently cunning to say, given that the main things you can say about simple linctus are: 1. Zero strength (i.e. no active ingredient) 2. Comes in many different flavours 3. Usually smooth on the throat 4. Er… So I made my rather weak joke (that was the only reason I commented on simple linctus in teh first place) but perhaps it would have been better not to try for antyhing! > [@Telperion](#): > > Right. They didn’t exactly trade in milligrams back then, so how much would you need to chug to get the equivalence of 5 grams of heroin? > [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bayer\_Heroin\_bottle.jpg](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bayer_Heroin_bottle.jpg) 5 grams of heroin is a MASSIVE amount. Especially when we are talking pure diamorphine. I doubt that the image is captioned correctly, but if it is then it is far larger than it looks. Roughly speaking, intravenous heroin is barely twice the strength of intravenous morphine - or about three times the strength of oral morphine. A therapeutic dose of that (morphine) can easily start at 5mg. There may be extreme heroin addicts that genuinely take 5 grammes of the stuff every day but as I’m sure quadgop will confirm that is a ludicrously huge amount that seems very implausible to me indeed. And I am talking as someone who daily takes a dose of opioids that would kill most people - but it’s still an order of magnitude off that amount. It is true perhaps that they didn’t trade in milligrams (where they = UK/US - I have no idea about Germany) - but they did trade in fractions of a grain. Perhaps the container was for five grains. I find it very implausible that a bottle that size would have 5 grammes in it. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/72 "2013-01-06T05:36:38Z")
> [@DMark](#): > > 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. You just made an indian cry on TV. ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/73 "2013-01-06T06:14:34Z")
The [Lobotomobile](http://lisawallerrogers.wordpress.com/2009/01/16/266/). ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/74 "2013-01-06T09:49:32Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > 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. But this is a cultural change, based on changes in the way we use our cars, and what we do in them. Back then, cars were too important to drink in them – you might spill. I remember as a child my father coming home with a new car, and we all had to go in the house and change into good clothes before we could take a ride in it. And eating in your car – unthinkable! When they opened an A&W drive-in in town, my parents were convinced it wouldn’t last\* – nobody with a decent car would ever risk eating in it. We kids begged for months to go there. Finally got to as a special treat on my sisters’ birthday. Mom brought an oilcloth tablecloth which she put across the laps of us kids in the backseat, and smaller squares of oilcloth for her & dad in front. The restaurant had a station near the exit with buckets of water, sponges, squeegees, etc. so people could wash off any spills on the side of their car before being seen on the public road. On busy weekend times, they hired 1 or 2 high school boys to work at this. So why would auto companies want to encourage somebody to mess up their beautiful car by drinking in it? That would show a serious disdain for their product. - My father reminded me of this, some 20 years later, when A&W closed – _“See, I told you they wouldn’t last!”_ (They were driven out of business by McDonalds, Burger King, etc., but he didn’t say that.) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/75 "2013-01-06T09:54:23Z")
> [@DKW](#): > > 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. I preferred the ‘swinging’ trend of the 60’s/70’s. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/76 "2013-01-06T11:03:34Z")
> [@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! My Dad’s 1969 Chevy Nova had shoulder belts–tucked into clips on the ceiling. You were supposed to use them with the lap belts, but we never did. > [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > And eating in your car – unthinkable! Back before McDonald’s had in-house seating, I remember we’d get our takeout, and eat in the car in the parking lot. Sis and I would spread out our burgers, fries, and milkshakes on the back deck, and eat them there. Mom and Dad would use the glove compartment door for their drinks. > [@](#): > > - My father reminded me of this, some 20 years later, when A&W closed – _“See, I told you they wouldn’t last!”_ (They were driven out of business by McDonalds, Burger King, etc., but he didn’t say that.) A&W closed? Are you sure? I’ve eaten at them as recently as two weeks ago. Now, if their drive-ins with the roller-skating waitresses are gone, I won’t disagree; but from what I see, they have moved to a more traditional fast-food format, and are still in business. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/77 "2013-01-06T11:14:25Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > A&W closed? Are you sure? I’ve eaten at them as recently as two weeks ago. Now, if their drive-ins with the roller-skating waitresses are gone, I won’t disagree; but from what I see, they have moved to a more traditional fast-food format, and are still in business. The one in our town closed. Though I believe the chain in general is much decreased over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/78 "2013-01-06T11:43:43Z")
Not in Canada. They’re still everywhere up here. Not anywhere near as ‘everywhere’ as McDonald’s and Burger King, but about on par with Wendy’s, IME. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2013, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/79 "2013-01-06T11:45:42Z")
A&W’s folded into the Yum group lately. I see several around here that are in hybrid restaurants with KFC. ---
**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 6, 2013, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095/80 "2013-01-06T12:53:34Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > Codeine linctus is prescription free. I can go into a chemist tomorrow and get 600mg of codeine (roughly equivialnt to 30mg of heroin, although probably more given heroin’s rather poor oral bioavaliablility) in linctus form. > > Indeed I can actually buy morphine over the counter in syrup form as well, either as kaolin and morphine solution for diahorrea, or as gee’s linctus with some peppermint oil. > > There is no real difference between codeine, morphine, and heroin in oral form if you take equivilant doses (apart from a ceiling affect with codeine that would be at a dose no one without tolerance would be sane to take, and some histamine stuff). UK maybe, but not in Pennsylvania. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-you-cant-believe-ever-existed/646095.md?page=5)