Category:
1970s

Davis Caves

Back in 1976, Andy Davis of Armington, Illinois decided to dig a cave in the side of a hill and live there with his family, to avoid high heating bills. In the process, he became a pioneer of the "earth-sheltered home" movement, and he went on to start a company building other "cave homes."

Andy died in 1995, but his company still seems to be in business.

Bloomington Pantagraph - Jun 28, 1976



Image source: Mother Earth News



The Davis Cave, a pamphlet by Andy Davis



Arizona Republic - July 25, 1976

Posted By: Alex - Tue Sep 05, 2017 - Comments (1)
Category: Buildings and Other Structures, 1970s

Concha Consciousness

Created in 1977 by Mr. X, and his partner Mr. Y, both of whom wanted to stay anonymous because they had "straight jobs in large corporations."

Concha-Consciousness consisted of genuine conch sells worn as a headset. "Slipped onto the head, the C-C is supposed to shut out nagging spouses, yelping dogs, screaming kids, the TV, and traffic noises. It's supposed to give you 'time out for a little serenity.'"

The first ad for Concha-Consciousness appeared in the New Yorker on Sept. 26, 1977. The headsets were subsequently featured on The Today Show.





Detroit Free Press - Dec 23, 1977

Posted By: Alex - Tue Aug 22, 2017 - Comments (0)
Category: Headgear, 1970s

The X-Rated Hypnotist



In the 1970s, hypnotist Charles Lamont got the idea of promoting himself as an "x-rated hypnotist." He kept this up until the 80s. But what exactly did this involve? Below is the only description of his act that I could find:

His name is Charles Lamont, and he bills himself as "the X-rated hypnotist." Lamont did his thing for a full house at the Tally-ho nightclub in North Wilmington last week. The club wants him back.

The crowd, including those who volunteered to be hyponotized, loved the act. Apparently the only one disgruntled was a fellow who sort of went under by accident and turned out to be the best subject of the second show.

When his friends told him what kind of fool he had been, he got angry and stormed out of the club.

But first he let Lamont know he wasn't pleased to have hugged and nuzzled the gentleman sitting next to him on the stage, a gentleman he had been led to believe was a beautiful young lady. Or to have fondled in public a foam rubber appendage he thought was real.

But the dignified, bearded fellow we first met seemed quite happy when he was done. Maybe nobody told him about his antics.

At Lamont's suggestion, he: told the girl sitting next to him his name was, um, something you say when you're asking for a sexual kick; drank a glass of water he thought tasted like urine (and quickly spit out); thought the young lady next to him was naked (and smiled widely).

And the clincher. Lamont told him to imagine he was both male Japanese samurai and his horny female sweetheart. Oh the moaning, oh the gestures, oh the intensity.

Another fellow in the first show was told that everyone in the house was having an orgy. He watched, smiled and shook his head in amazement.

But Lamont soon snapped his fingers and that fantasy ended. Another suggestion may last longer. Lamont told him he'll want to make love to his wife till the sun comes up — every Tuesday night from then on.

Near the end of the first show, which turned out to be the better even though there were more volunteers for the secon, all three of the men were told they were musclemen. Oh how they strutted. Then they were told they were gays on Fire Island. They strutted again, but somewhat differently.

One guy was told to take a drag off a cigarette. It would be the best joint of marijuana imaginable. He flew quite high until Lamont snapped his fingers and told him to go back to sleep...

The girls, including a chesty lovely who was "almost wearing" a striking dress, according to Lamont, were given less lively roles. (Among both sexes thre were some who didn't "go under." Lamont worked around them.)

"You have to go easy with the girls in the first show," said Lamont after that one. "Their boyfriends might get mad, things like that."

But the female volunteers weren't much more active in the second show. Mostly they served as straight men, so to speak, for the guy who later was sorry about the whole thing.

-Wilmington Morning News - Oct 7, 1979


Kingston Daily Freeman - Jun 12, 1962

Posted By: Alex - Fri Aug 11, 2017 - Comments (4)
Category: Entertainment, Hypnotism, Mesmerism and Mind Control, 1970s

Sexy Pineapple Diet

This diet from 1970 was simple. Just eat only pineapple for two days every week. On the other days you can eat whatever you want. The book is apparently quite a rarity, because I haven't been able to find any used copies for sale.

Over at vice.com, a guy recently tried the diet and claims that he lost 1 kilogram (2.2 lbs) in three days. Which, actually, isn't a lot. Evidently, he was able to find a copy of the book. He also discovered that one of its authors, Sten Hegeler, was still alive, 93 years old. When contacted, Hegeler admitted that not a lot of deep thought went into the concept of the diet:

"Pineapple with whipped cream was the preferred dessert back then, so I thought, 'My god, I can have as much pineapple as I want for two days,' and that sounded splendid."

And a bonus for linguaphiles: The word "erogetic" appears to have been invented for this book. I'm not sure what it means.



Fort Myers News-Press - Sep 16, 1970



Chicago Tribune - Nov 5, 1970

Posted By: Alex - Wed Aug 09, 2017 - Comments (6)
Category: Food, 1970s, Dieting and Weight Loss

The Beachcombers



The longest-running English-language show on Canadian TV looks just awful. How could it be otherwise, with this premise, as detailed in their Wikipedia entry.

The Beachcombers followed the life of Nick Adonidas (Bruno Gerussi), a Greek-Canadian log salvager in British Columbia who earned a living travelling the coastline northwest of Vancouver with his partner Jesse Jim (Pat John) aboard their logging tug Persephone tracking down logs that had broken away from barges and logging booms. Their chief business competitor is Relic (Robert Clothier) (whose actual name is Stafford T. Phillips), a somewhat unsavoury person who will occasionally go to great lengths to steal business (and logs) away from Nick. The series also focused on a supporting cast of characters in Nick's hometown of Gibsons, often centering on a café, Molly's Reach, run by Molly (Rae Brown), a mother figure to virtually all the characters in the series (including Relic). Molly had two grandchildren living with her, Hughie (Bob Park) and his younger sister Margaret played by Nancy Chapple in the first season then by Juliet Randall from the second season onward.


There are some full episodes on YouTube if anyone is brave enough to watch. Maybe a Canadian WU-vie will fill us in!

Posted By: Paul - Sun Aug 06, 2017 - Comments (6)
Category: Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art, Nature, Natural Resources, 1970s

The Films of Suzan Pitt









Wikipedia page.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Jul 30, 2017 - Comments (6)
Category: Art, Avant Garde, Cartoons, 1970s

The Orgatron, or, Tote-a-Tune









Ad source.

Another pre-digital electronic keyboard.

Some background here.

And here.

Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 28, 2017 - Comments (4)
Category: Music, Technology, 1930s, 1970s

The Maid of Cotton Pageant

Continuing our intermittent look at oddball beauty pageants.

The Maid of Cotton pageant began in 1939. The annual pageant was sponsored by the National Cotton Council (NCC), Memphis Cotton Carnival, and the Cotton Exchanges of Memphis, New York, and New Orleans. The pageant was held in Memphis, Tennessee, in conjunction with the Carnival until the 1980s.

In mid-December every year the NCC released a list of contestants. Contestants were required to have been born in one of the cotton-producing states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, New Mexico, North and South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas or Virginia. They might have also been born in the cotton-producing counties of Alexander, Jefferson, Massac, Pulaski, Williamson or Madison, Illinois or in Clark or Nye counties of Nevada. There were usually twenty contestants each year.

Contestants were judged on personality, good manners, intelligence, and family background as well as beauty and an ability to model. A Top Ten were chosen and then a Top Five, and finally second and first runners up and a winner. Winners served as goodwill and fashion ambassadors of the cotton industry in a five-month, all-expense tour of American cities. In the mid-1950s the tour expanded globally. In the late 1950s a Little Miss Cotton pageant was begun but lasted only until 1963 before being discontinued. In the mid-1980s Dallas,Texas took over the pageant, in conjunction with the NCC and its overseas division, Cotton Council International. In 1986, to bolster interest and participation, the NCC eliminated the rule requiring contestants to be born in a cotton-producing state. The pageant was discontinued in 1993, one of the reasons being that Cotton Inc. stopped contributing scholarship money as well as waning public interest and changing marketing strategies.


More details here.

And also here.

The 1952 winner.



Posted By: Paul - Fri Jul 21, 2017 - Comments (3)
Category: Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Contests, Races and Other Competitions, 1930s, 1940s, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s

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