I'm not sure what all the near-disasters that Pamela Austin was made to face had to do with a "Dodge rebellion," but apparently this series of ads was very popular in the 1960s.
In a series of commercials for the automaker, the game starlet [Pamela Austin] can be seen "falling off cliffs, shooting out of cannons, and cracking up airplanes" a la Pearl White, all to get the audience to "Join the Dodge rebellion!" Austin was an immediate hit and fan clubs sprung up all across college campuses. Her impact was huge. She took advantage of the publicity and starred as the ultimate damsel-in-distress orphan Pauline in the projected TV series The Perils of Pauline opposite Pat Boone as her star-crossed lover. The pilot was reworked three times before being rejected by the network and wound up being re-edited for a theatrical release in 1967.
Jan 2005: Three months after writing an article in a student newspaper denouncing seatbelt laws as intrusions on individual liberties, Derek Kieper died when a vehicle he was in skidded off an icy road into a ditch. Two others in the car, who were wearing seatbelts, survived. Derek, however, was not wearing a seatbelt.
I don't know if Kieper ever officially won a Darwin Award, but he's certainly been nominated for one by many people.
Lincoln Journal Star - Jan 5, 2005
Posted By: Alex - Mon Dec 27, 2021 -
Comments (2)
Category: Death, Cars
I'm surprised someone isn't selling a battery-operated version of these today as a gag gift. Wouldn't even need to be for motorists. Perfect for anyone out for a stroll in the rain.
The Oklahoma Freedom Call - Feb 8, 1934
"Miss Paddie Naismith, noted English racing chauffeur, is shown wearing the very latest in motor modes, rain goggles, with wipers 'n' everything. A small fan, you can see it over the bridge of the nose, operates the wipers when the car is travelling at speeds in excess of 15 M.P.H. Its inventor is L.A.V. Davoren of London." — International News Photo, Oct 1933 image source: reddit
Beauty advice from The Pittsburgh Press (Feb 20, 1938):
The greatest menace to beautiful feminine figures is auto legs. Such is the contention of LeRoy Prinz, Paramount dance director, who makes a living out of his ability to tell a good leg when he sees one. The leg impressario insists that American girls spend so much time riding and so little time walking that the legs don't get enough exercise to develop in shapely fashion, but become knobby, knock-kneed and skinny.
The Gramocar has gone under a variety of different names: Chorocco, Record Runner, Soundwagon, and Vinyl Killer. But I like Gramocar the best.
It was invented in the 1970s by a team at Sony who had the idea that instead of playing a vinyl record by spinning the disc and keeping the needle stationary, it would be possible to keep the disc stationary and move the needle. They designed the moving needle as a miniature VW van, with built-in speakers, that drove in circles around the surface of a record.
Sony got a patent on the invention (US4232202) but was initially reluctant to manufacture it, saying, "We are a hi-fi company, not a toy company." But they changed their mind, and some were sold in Japan. In that way, the Gramocar gained enough of a following that other manufacturers eventually began making them. And you can still buy one today at RecordRunner.jp.
If Aristophanes's Lysistrata was rewritten to be set in Memphis during the 1930s, it could be about all the young women banding together to refuse to date any boys who drove faster than the speed limit.
Pretty Mary Agnes Peeples, 19, is taking an active part in the campaign to make Memphis, Tenn., the safest city in 1939. Mary is wearing a "30" button which means she promises to observe the 30-mile speed limit and will refuse to date boys who violate the speed laws.
Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.