Why Do We Knock on Wood?

Man knocking on wood

Author Bess Lovejoy

November 4, 2025

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If you’ve ever said something like, “The car has been working perfectly all year — knock on wood,” and then rapped your knuckles on the nearest wooden surface, you’re in good company. Across much of the English-speaking world, this simple gesture is a charm against misfortune, a way to avoid tempting fate. Americans typically say “knock on wood,” while Britons prefer “touch wood.” Either way, the impulse is the same: to protect good luck, or to keep a hopeful statement from backfiring. But where does this mysterious superstition come from?

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The Tree Spirit Theory

One of the most common explanations for the custom of knocking on wood points to ancient pagan beliefs, particularly among Celtic peoples. Trees — especially oak, ash, and hazel — were once considered sacred, believed to be inhabited by spirits or minor gods. Knocking on a tree trunk might have been a way to rouse these spirits and ask for protection, or to thank them for a stroke of good fortune. Another variation holds that people knocked on trees to chase away evil forces lurking in the wood, or to prevent those spirits from overhearing boasts and punishing the speaker’s hubris.

This idea fits neatly with what we know about ancient tree worship. Sacred groves once dotted the landscape of Europe and other parts of the world, serving as meeting points between humans and the divine. Trees symbolized the structure of the cosmos — roots in the underworld, branches in the heavens — and were thought to house powerful spirits.

In this light, touching or knocking on wood might seem like a lingering echo of those early spiritual traditions. But there’s a problem with that idea: No direct evidence connects those ancient practices to our modern superstition. Indeed, there’s a silence of more than a thousand years between the Christianization of Europe and the first written reference to touching wood.

The Wood of the Cross

Another explanation for knocking on wood situates the custom within Christian belief. Because the cross on which Jesus was crucified was made of wood, some have suggested that touching or knocking on wood invokes his protection. The gesture would thus serve as a small, everyday reminder of divine safeguarding — a miniature act of faith disguised as habit.

As comforting as this story sounds, folklorists note that it, too, rests on speculation. If the practice had genuinely Christian origins, it would likely appear in medieval writings or sermons, but no such references exist. Instead, the first recorded mention of “touch wood” appears in 1805. That’s long after both the supposed age of tree spirits and the early Christian church.

Playground Games

The relatively late appearance of the first reference to tradition provides an important clue. According to folklorists Jacqueline Simpson and Steve Roud, the earliest known use of touching wood as a superstition comes from a children’s chasing game mentioned in R. Anderson’s Ballads in the Cumberland Dialect (1805). In games such as “tiggy touchwood,” players were safe from being tagged as long as they touched something wooden — a door, a fence, a tree. It was, quite literally, a gesture of protection.

Roud believes the link between this playground rule and the later superstition is more than coincidence. In his book The Lore of the Playground, he writes: “Given that the game was concerned with ‘protection,’ and was well known to adults as well as children, it is almost certainly the origin of our modern superstitious practice of saying, ‘Touch wood.’ The claim that the latter goes back to when we believed in tree spirits is complete nonsense.”

Oxford’s Dictionary of English Folklore agrees. Its editors found no trace of the custom before the 19th century, dismissing the tree spirit and Christian cross theories as romantic inventions. They note that the expression seems to have evolved alongside similar protective phrases such as “touch iron” or “cold iron,” which date back slightly earlier. In these games and sayings, touching a material — whether wood or metal — created a temporary zone of safety. Over time, the action detached from the game and entered everyday speech.

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A Popular Idiom

By the late 19th century, “touch wood” had become a widespread English idiom, often used by people who didn’t actually carry out the gesture. The American form, “knock on wood,” followed soon after, perhaps adapting the phrase to a more physical action. Today, the superstition has spread around the globe. In Turkey, people knock twice on wood and tug one earlobe to fend off bad luck; in Italy, the equivalent phrase is “touch iron.” Even those who claim not to be superstitious often find their hand reaching for the nearest table, doorframe, or desk after making a hopeful remark.

The endurance of the habit may say less about ancient religion and more about human psychology. Whether we imagine spirits in trees or not, it feels good to do something — however small — to protect a fragile piece of luck. Knocking on wood offers a tiny illusion of control in a world full of chance.

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The Sound of Safety

In the end, “knock on wood” likely has less to do with druidic groves or sacred crosses than with a game of tag played two centuries ago. What began as a child’s rule of protection — touch wood and you’re safe — grew into a ritual for adults offering a comforting gesture that bridges hope and superstition. Even if its ancient roots are more imagined than real, the impulse behind it endures: to shield ourselves, however briefly, from the whims of fate.

The Curious History of the Piggy Bank

Piggy Bank, circa 1950

Author Bess Lovejoy

November 4, 2025

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If you’ve ever dropped spare change into a rotund, smiling, ceramic pig, you may have wondered: Why a pig? The idea of putting coins inside a chubby farm animal may seem whimsical, but the story of how pigs became the symbol of savings reaches back further than you might expect — and the real explanation busts a common myth that’s been circulating since the 1990s.

Pigs as the Original Savings Account

Before there were coin jars, there were pigs — real ones. In modest households across Europe, pigs were literal stores of value. A piglet bought in spring could be fattened on kitchen scraps and garden waste and, come winter, would provide both food and money. As the Bank of Canada Museum puts it, “A pig — a real one — is an excellent store of value.” In many rural communities, a family’s pig was essentially its bank: a source of meat, trade goods, or emergency cash. This value was collected by slaughtering the pig, just like how you might break a piggy bank to access the coins it stores.

This down-to-earth connection between pigs and thrift helps explain why the animal became a symbol of savings in many cultures. In Germanic folklore, pigs represent luck and plenty. Someone who’s had a stroke of good fortune is said to have Schwein gehabt — literally, “got pig.” Even today, New Year’s Eve in parts of Europe is celebrated with marzipan or chocolate candies known as “lucky pigs.” It was likely German immigrants, with their own Sparschwein (“saving pig”), who carried this fond association to the United States around the start of the 20th century.

The Myth of the Orange Clay

Still, if you’ve spent time online or read one of the many popular history books on the origins of everyday things, you’ve probably heard another story. There’s a common myth that claims that the word “piggy” comes from pygg, an orange clay supposedly used in the Middle Ages in Western Europe to make cheap household dishes, pots, and jars. The story goes that people would drop their spare coins into jars made of pygg. Centuries later, when the word pygg was forgotten but the sound remained, potters began shaping money jars like pigs — a pun that stuck.

It’s a clever tale, but one with no historical basis. On his website, etymologist Michael Quinion calls it “false in every particular.” No record exists of pygg clay, orange or otherwise, except for in modern retellings of the piggy bank story, and there’s no evidence that medieval English people called their coin jars pygg banks. The myth seems to have spread from a 1989 popular-knowledge book and was amplified by chain emails and blogs in the early days of the internet. Like a good fable, it endures because it’s simple and funny — not because it’s true.

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When “Pig” Meant Pottery

It’s possible that there’s a link between pigs and money that does have to do with language, however. In Scotland and northern England, the word “pig” referred to all sorts of earthenware vessels — pitchers, jars, and pots — as far back as the 15th century. (The word was occasionally spelled pygg as a variant, but had nothing to do with a particular kind of clay.) It’s not clear where this meaning of “pig” came from, but it might have been influenced by the roundness of some of the objects, or perhaps from the older word piggin (a small pail).

By the late 1700s in Scotland, pirly pigs — money banks with a slot for coins — were in use. The word pirly may come from pyrl, meaning “to poke,” as in poking coins into the slot. But this use of “pig” referred to the class of earthenware vessel to which it belonged, and the banks were not shaped like the animal.

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The Birth of the Pig Bank

What we now call “piggy banks” didn’t always have such a cutesy name. Initially, they were just called “pig banks.” The earliest known reference to a “pig bank” appears in an 1898 Jersey Journal item. There’s a similar example from the Oregonian in 1900: “The latest novelty — The Pig Bank. You have to kill the pig to get the money — 25¢ each.” That phrasing — “kill the pig” — wasn’t just cute marketing; it described the design. These early pig banks had no removable stopper, so the only way to retrieve your coins was to smash the vessel open. Inconvenient, yes, but it encouraged thrift and discouraged theft.

The word “piggy bank” doesn’t appear on record until about a decade later, in a 1913 issue of The Dietetic and Hygienic Gazette. By then, the coin-storing pig had become a fixture in children’s rooms, a charming mix of toy and moral lesson on the value of saving. The first mention of a “piggy bank” in the millions of newspapers preserved by the Library of Congress’ “Chronicling America” website comes in 1914, in a column called “Sleepy Time Stories” that ran in a New Jersey newspaper. It describes a child being promised a quarter in a piggy bank if she can figure out how to lure her brother away from some toy trains.

Coin-Holding Pigs Around the World

The idea of putting coins into pigs isn’t unique to the U.S. or Europe. Long before American kids were dropping nickels into smiling porcelain pigs, people elsewhere had similar ideas. Archaeologists have uncovered terracotta pig-shaped money boxes from roughly 14th-century Java called celengans, after the Javanese word for “pig.” These centuries-old “piggy banks” are thought to have been used to store Chinese copper coins and symbolized prosperity. However, this tradition is unlikely to have influenced the piggy banks of today — and it might just be another example of the symbolic power of the pig across cultures.

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Why the Pig Endures

The piggy bank, then, isn’t the product of a simple pun on pygg. While the precise origins are unclear, they may involve a confluence of linguistic quirks, cultural symbolism, and practical farming economics. Real pigs fattened a family’s fortune; clay pigs protected coins until the time came to “harvest” them. German Sparschwein crossed the Atlantic, and by the early 20th century, American “pig banks” had become “piggy banks” — icons of thrift that still survive in kids’ rooms and bank commercials. Even today, the pig remains the mascot of saving, whether in ceramic, plastic, or app form.

Why Do People Have Such Big Foreheads in Old Paintings?

“Portrait of a Lady” painting, circa 1460

Author Tony Dunnell

November 4, 2025

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Europe’s Renaissance period spanned the 14th through 17th centuries, forming a bridge between the Middle Ages and the modern era. It was marked by cultural, artistic, and intellectual developments, as well as a surge of interest in classical scholarship and values.

During this influential time, the arts flourished, and names such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael, and Botticelli were forever etched into history — along with, as it happens, the surprisingly large foreheads that many Renaissance paintings depicted.

If you’ve ever examined the portraits from this era, you may have noticed a strange preponderance of spacious brows, especially in depictions of women. Examples abound, whether it be Rogier van der Weyden’s “Portrait of a Lady,” Petrus Christus’ “Portrait of a Young Girl,” or the numerous portraits of aristocratic women painted by Jan van Eyck. For a modern audience, it’s quite a peculiar look. So what exactly was going on here?

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Beauty Ideals During the Renaissance

The large foreheads seen in many Renaissance works of art were not simply creative exaggerations or anatomical quirks — they were deliberate reflections of the beauty standards at the time. During the Renaissance, a high, broad forehead was considered a hallmark of feminine beauty, virtue, and intelligence — with the extended brow possibly suggesting a larger brain. The look also gave an almost babylike appearance to people’s faces, perhaps a deliberate effort to capture the era’s values of purity and innocence.

It’s impossible to say precisely when, where, or even why this fashion trend emerged, but it was likely influenced by literature, and particularly poetry. In the 14th century, the Italian poet Petrarch wrote more than 300 sonnets to his beloved, Laura, in which he at times comments on her beautiful forehead (“that sweet face, that hair, that brow”). And in the “General Prologue” of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, written between 1387 and 1400, the author’s description of a nun is very similar to the typical beauty standards of the Renaissance:

Very seemly her pleated wimple was;
Her nose was fine; her eyes were grey as glass;
Her mouth was small and therewith soft and red;
But certainly her forehead was fairly spread;
It was almost a full span broad, I own.

A “wimple” was a cloth head-covering common in the Middle Ages. In this case, it didn’t cover the nun’s forehead, which Chaucer describes in positive terms as being almost a span wide — a span being a unit of length measuring the distance from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger, typically about 9 inches.

Poetic influences such as these may have popularized the notion, at least in aristocratic circles, that a large forehead was a thing of beauty. It was certainly a well-established look during the Renaissance, as documented in Italian writer and poet Agnolo Firenzuola’s 16th-century work On the Beauty of Women. He suggests, “The forehead must be broad, that is, wide, high, fair, and serene. Many people prefer the height, which is measured from the hairline to the edge of the eyebrows and the nose, to be a third of the face.”

Forehead Plucking

The majority of Renaissance women were not blessed with a naturally large forehead, a fact that made forehead plucking a common practice. Women would often pluck their forehead hairs for a higher hairline; other methods included rubbing the hairline with a rough stone or burning off the hair with quicklime.

If that seems extreme, other hair-removal methods were entirely bizarre. Around 1500, the Italian noblewoman Caterina Sforza produced a manuscript called Gli Experimenti in which she details more than 400 cosmetic, medicinal, and alchemical recipes, including one for forehead hair removal. The recipe recommends tying a cloth bathed in a mixture of egg whites and mastic gum powder to the forehead, and then leaving it overnight. After a handful of applications, bat blood and fine lead powder were applied to prevent hair growing back.

Many other depilatory treatments such as this existed specifically targeting the top of the forehead — one of which involved rotten beef and powdered maggots. Most of these procedures would have been uncomfortable and time-consuming, and yet people, especially among the aristocracy, were very much committed to these beauty rituals. And while it’s entirely likely that Renaissance artists may have exaggerated certain foreheads out of simple flattery, their paintings documented the actual beauty standards of the time.

10 Defunct Fast-Food Restaurants That People Used To Love

Shuttered Burger Chef in Cincinnati

Author Kristina Wright

October 29, 2025

Love it?47

There’s something timeless about fast food: the neon-lit parking lots, the scent of grilled burgers and deep-fried chicken, the thrill of unwrapping something hot and delicious. The experience is as satisfying today as it was 50 years ago.

Americans’ love affair with fast food began with White Castle, the first chain fast-food restaurant, founded in 1921 in Wichita, Kansas. Famous for its small “slider” burgers, standardized production, and spotless kitchens, White Castle created the template for fast food as we know it — and it’s still going strong today, with 345 locations across the U.S.

A few decades later, McDonald’s took the concept nationwide, opening its first franchised restaurant in 1955. Today, Mickey D’s operates more than 13,000 U.S. locations and 28,000 internationally, serving billions of burgers, fries, and shakes in more than 100 countries. Along the way, dozens of other fast-food chains emerged, but not all stood the test of time.

From burger empires to roast beef innovators and seafood specialists, here are 10 defunct fast-food restaurants that once ruled the roadsides and mall food courts before disappearing (or nearly so). How many of these vintage chains have you visited?

Burger Chef

At its peak in the 1970s, Burger Chef was one of America’s largest fast-food chains, boasting more than 1,200 locations across 38 states. Founded in 1958, it earned a loyal following for its flame-broiled burgers, creative advertising, and its Funmeal, a kids’ combo that debuted before McDonald’s introduced the Happy Meal.

The chain’s reputation took a hit after a tragic incident in 1978 in which four employees disappeared in an unsolved murder. This tragedy, combined with growing competition from Burger King and McDonald’s and some corporate missteps, caused the chain’s decline, and it was eventually sold to Hardee’s in 1982.

Red Barn

With more than 3,000 locations across 19 states and several countries, Red Barn was once a major player in the fast-food landscape. Established in Ohio in 1961, this beloved dining spot was memorable for its barn-shaped buildings and its jingle, “When the hungries hit / Hit the Red Barn.” The chain pioneered salad bars and self-service beverage stations long before they became industry standards, and it introduced the cartoon characters Chicken Hungry, Big Fish Hungry, and Hamburger Hungry.

Despite it being one of the first chains to have a self-serve salad bar and introducing a double-decker burger (Big Barney) years before the McDonald’s Big Mac, corporate mergers and rising competition in the 1970s led to Red Barn’s bankruptcy in 1986.

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Burger Queen/Druther’s

Burger Queen was founded in 1956 in Winter Haven, Florida — two years after Burger King’s debut — serving burgers, fries, milkshakes, and later, fried chicken, breakfast, and salad bar items. At its peak, the chain had more than 200 U.S. locations and a cartoon mascot, Queenie Bee, introduced in 1971.

But legal battles with Burger King and Dairy Queen complicated growth, and the chain rebranded as Druther’s in 1980 to better reflect its broader menu. After forming an equity partnership with Dairy Queen in the late 1980s, most Druther’s locations became Dairy Queen franchises, leaving only one independent Druther’s in Campbellsville, Kentucky.

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Arthur Treacher’s Fish & Chips

Founded in 1969 in Columbus, Ohio, this restaurant was named after English actor Arthur Treacher and capitalized on the British pop culture craze with its fast-food take on fish and chips. At its height, the chain had 826 locations across the U.S., many featuring something that hadn’t been seen before in the fast-food world: a baked potato bar.

Unfortunately for the chain, the 1970s “Cod War” between the U.K. and Iceland sent fish prices soaring, while changing consumer tastes and declining interest in fried seafood further hurt profits. By the late 1980s, most locations had closed or been rebranded. Today, only three stand-alone Arthur Treacher’s restaurants remain.

Henry’s Hamburgers

Launched by Bresler’s Ice Cream Company in 1954 in Chicago, Henry’s Hamburgers once rivaled McDonald’s, with more than 200 locations across 35 states. Known for its “10 burgers for a dollar” deal, as well as 15-cent burgers, 10-cent fries, and colorful signage, it was a family favorite during the fast-food boom.

But inconsistent franchise oversight, failure to modernize for drive-thru trends, and declining sales doomed the brand by the mid-1970s. Today, a single Henry’s remains in Benton Harbor, Michigan — and has offered drive-thru service since 1988.

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Rax Roast Beef

Founded in 1967 in Springfield, Ohio, Rax Roast Beef quickly became a formidable rival to Arby’s — expanding to more than 500 locations across 38 states by the mid-1980s. Known for its roast beef sandwiches and buffet-style salad bars, Rax aimed to elevate fast food with upscale decor and a diverse menu.

However, a misguided rebrand featuring the controversial “Mr. Delicious” mascot and an expanded menu that included pizza and Chinese food led to confusion and declining sales. Bankruptcy filings and ownership changes followed, and by the 1990s, most locations had closed. Today, only six Rax restaurants remain: one in Illinois, one in Kentucky, and four in Ohio.

Sandy’s

Sandy’s got its start in 1958 in Peoria, Illinois, when a group of local entrepreneurs were denied a McDonald’s franchise. With Scottish-themed branding, a tartan-clad mascot named Sandy, and signature items such as the “Big Scot” burger, the chain emphasized thrift, speed, and friendly service. At its height, Sandy’s boasted more than 240 locations across 20 states.

In 1972, the chain merged with Hardee’s, and by 1979, the Sandy’s name was phased out — though a few independent franchises carried the brand into the 1980s under names such as Zandy’s and Bucky’s.

Wetson’s

Wetson’s, founded in Levittown, New York, in 1959, grew into a regional hamburger chain with 72 locations at its peak in the 1960s and early 1970s. The brand was known for its budget pricing, the “Big W” signature sandwich, and clown mascots named Wetty and Sonny — plus slogans such as “Look for the Orange Circles.”

As national chains such as McDonald’s and Burger King expanded into the New York market, though, Wetson’s steadily lost ground. By the mid-1970s, it had merged with Nathan’s Famous — after which most Wetson’s locations were closed or rebranded.

D’Lites

Promising healthier fast-food options, D’Lites offered lower-calorie burgers, diet shakes, and other healthier takes on drive-thru favorites long before wellness culture went mainstream. After the first location opened in Norcross, Georgia, in 1978, the chain rode the early ’80s fitness craze to expand rapidly, reaching more than 100 locations across 19 states.

Overexpansion and high costs eventually led to bankruptcy in 1986. By 1987, most locations were either closed or acquired and converted into Hardee’s locations, as Hardee’s sought to grow quickly in the same regions. Short-lived though it was, D’Lites helped pioneer the idea that fast food could be healthier.

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Pup ’n’ Taco

Founded in 1956 as a drive-in stand in Pasadena, California, Pup ’n’ Taco served an unusual but much-loved menu of hot dogs, tacos, burgers, pastrami sandwiches, and tostadas. The first fast-food restaurant officially named Pup ’n’ Taco opened in Pasadena in 1965, and at its peak the chain had 108 locations, mostly in Southern California and also in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

In 1984, Taco Bell (then part of PepsiCo) acquired 99 of the Pup ’n’ Taco locations, largely for their real estate, which effectively ended the chain. A few stores in New Mexico survived the deal under the name Pop ’n’ Taco, two of which lasted until 2013.

The Biggest Movie the Year You Were Born

“Star Wars: Episode IV,” 1977

Author Kristina Wright

October 29, 2025

Love it?75

There’s nothing quite like the magic of movies to capture a moment in time. Every era of American history has its unforgettable films that stayed with us, and looking back at the biggest movies of each decade gives us a chance to remember the stories, stars, and cultural moments that defined generations.

This list spotlights the films that topped the domestic box office in the U.S. and Canada from the 1920s to the 2020s, revealing what audiences lined up to see each year. Because many movies continued to earn through long theatrical runs and later rereleases, each title on the list reflects the top-earning film in the year it was released. And while reliable box-office tracking dates back only to 1977, earlier titles on the list are based on the best available studio records and industry estimates.

So grab your popcorn, settle in, and take a trip through more than a century of movie history to rediscover the biggest film the year you were born.

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1920s

The 1920s cemented Hollywood’s status as the world’s movie capital and transformed film into the decade’s defining form of entertainment. Audiences loved films such as The Ten Commandments and The Big Parade, while matinee idols including Douglas Fairbanks, Rudolph Valentino, and Clara Bow captured the glamour and energy of the Jazz Age. By decade’s end, cinema itself was transformed — 1927’s The Jazz Singer introduced synchronized sound, marking the birth of the “talkie” and forever changing the way audiences experienced the movies.

1920 – Way Down East
1921 – The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse
1922 – Robin Hood
1923 – The Ten Commandments
1924 – The Sea Hawk
1925 – The Big Parade
1926 – What Price Glory?
1927 – The Jazz Singer
1928 – The Singing Fool
1929 – The Broadway Melody

1930s

Hollywood’s golden age on display in the 1930s as audiences flocked to theaters to escape the harsh realities of the Great Depression. Grand musicals, screwball comedies, and sweeping historical epics provided the glamour and adventure people craved. Walt Disney revolutionized animation with Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, while Gone With the Wind closed the decade as a record-breaking movie phenomenon.

1930 – Whoopee!
1931 – City Lights
1932 – Shanghai Express
1933 – King Kong
1934 – It Happened One Night
1935 – Mutiny on the Bounty
1936 – San Francisco
1937 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs
1938 – Alexander’s Ragtime Band
1939 – Gone With the Wind

1940s

Shaped by World War II and its aftermath, the 1940s saw Hollywood balance patriotism, hope, and realism. Wartime dramas such as Sergeant York rallied the home front, while postwar hits such as The Best Years of Our Lives explored the challenges of returning home. The Hollywood studio system reached its height, turning out polished stars and prestige pictures that defined midcentury American film.

1940 – Boom Town
1941 – Sergeant York
1942 – Mrs. Miniver
1943 – For Whom the Bell Tolls
1944 – Going My Way
1945 – The Bells of St. Mary’s
1946 – The Best Years of Our Lives
1947 – Forever Amber
1948 – The Red Shoes
1949 – Samson and Delilah

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1950s

The 1950s were a decade of reinvention that brought sweeping change to Hollywood as studios battled the rise of television. Epic spectacles such as The Ten Commandments (a loose remake of the 1923 silent film) and Ben-Hur drew audiences back to theaters, while innovations such as Cinerama and CinemaScope made movies bigger and more immersive than ever.

1950 – Cinderella
1951 – Quo Vadis
1952 – The Greatest Show on Earth
1953 – Peter Pan
1954 – White Christmas
1955 – Lady and the Tramp
1956 – The Ten Commandments
1957 – The Bridge on the River Kwai
1958 – South Pacific
1959 – Ben-Hur

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1960s

The 1960s bridged Hollywood’s golden age and a bold new era of filmmaking. Movies including The Sound of Music and Cleopatra carried on Old Hollywood’s grandeur, even as films such as The Graduate captured a younger generation’s restless spirit. Tradition and rebellion shared the screen, signaling the cultural and creative shift that would give rise to New Hollywood.

1960 – Spartacus
1961 – West Side Story
1962 – The Longest Day
1963 – Cleopatra
1964 – Mary Poppins
1965 – The Sound of Music
1966 – Hawaii
1967 – The Graduate
1968 – Funny Girl
1969 – Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

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1970s

The 1970s reinvented Hollywood and gave birth to the modern blockbuster. With The Godfather, Jaws, and Star Wars, visionary directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas proved that artistic vision and audience appeal could go hand in hand. From Rocky’s underdog triumph to Grease’s nostalgic musicality, audiences embraced movies that blended grit, hope, and spectacle — laying the foundation for the franchises that still dominate cinema today.

1970 – Love Story
1971 – Fiddler on the Roof
1972 – The Godfather
1973 – The Exorcist
1974 – Blazing Saddles
1975 – Jaws
1976 – Rocky
1977 – Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope
1978 – Grease
1979 – Kramer vs. Kramer

1980s

The 1980s cemented Hollywood’s blockbuster era, driven by bigger budgets, dazzling special effects, and unforgettable soundtracks. Franchises such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Back to the Future dominated theaters, while hits including Ghostbusters and Top Gun captured the decade’s high-energy style.

1980 – Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back
1981 – Raiders of the Lost Ark
1982 – E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial
1983 – Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi
1984 – Ghostbusters
1985 – Back to the Future
1986 – Top Gun
1987 – Three Men and a Baby
1988 – Rain Man
1989 – Batman

1990s

The 1990s saw the rise of CGI take blockbuster spectacle to a whole new level. Jurassic Park and Titanic shattered box-office records, while Disney’s renaissance reached new heights with Aladdin and The Lion King. The decade also marked the birth of fully computer-animated features with Toy Story and cemented event filmmaking (movies capturing real-life events) as a cultural phenomenon, blending cutting-edge technology with emotional storytelling.

1990 – Home Alone
1991 – Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1992 – Aladdin
1993 – Jurassic Park
1994 – The Lion King
1995 – Toy Story
1996 – Independence Day
1997 – Titanic
1998 – Saving Private Ryan
1999 – Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace

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2000s

The 2000s were defined by sprawling franchises, fantasy worlds, and technological leaps in filmmaking. Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and Pirates of the Caribbean drew devoted audiences, while Spider-Man and The Dark Knight signaled the rise of the modern superhero era. Avatar pushed the boundaries of visual effects and 3D cinema, and animated hits such as Shrek 2 captivated viewers of all ages.

2000 – How the Grinch Stole Christmas
2001 – Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
2002 – Spider-Man
2003 – The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2004 – Shrek 2
2005 – Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith
2006 – Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
2007 – Spider-Man 3
2008 – The Dark Knight
2009 – Avatar

2010s

The 2010s were a decade of cinematic universes and blockbuster dominance as streaming and digital distribution began reshaping how audiences accessed films. Marvel redefined franchise filmmaking with The Avengers, Black Panther, and Avengers: Endgame, while legacy franchises such as Star Wars proved they could still break records.

2010 – Toy Story 3
2011 – Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
2012 – The Avengers
2013 – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
2014 – American Sniper
2015 – Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens
2016 – Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
2017 – Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi
2018 – Black Panther
2019 – Avengers: Endgame

2020s

The 2020s began amid major disruption as the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered theaters and delayed movie releases. As audiences returned, films such as Spider-Man: No Way Home, Top Gun: Maverick, and Barbie showcased the enduring appeal of big-screen nostalgia. The decade continues to evolve, with streaming, hybrid releases, and changing audience habits likely shaping the future of cinema.

2020 – Bad Boys for Life
2021 – Spider-Man: No Way Home
2022 – Top Gun: Maverick
2023 – Barbie
2024 – Inside Out 2

Why Are Men’s and Women’s Buttons on Opposite Sides?

Classic button-up shirt

Author Tony Dunnell

October 29, 2025

Love it?40

If you’ve ever tried putting on a shirt that was designed for someone of the opposite gender, you may have noticed something peculiar: The buttons are on the “wrong” side. Men’s shirts button left over right, with buttons running down the right side and buttonholes on the left. Women’s shirts do the opposite, buttoning right over left.

Before the rise of buttons, garments were typically laced together or fastened with brooches or clasps. Buttoned closures for garments became prevalent in the 13th century with the advent of the reinforced buttonhole — and the two opposing button configurations for men and women have existed for centuries. But why? Here’s a look at some of the theories behind this long-standing design choice.

Buttons and Battle

Historians don’t know for sure why men’s and women’s buttons are on opposite sides, but some of the most common explanations involve military considerations. According to the authors of The Art of Chivalry: European Arms and Armor From the Metropolitan Museum of Art, medieval breastplates were formed of two separate and overlapping plates. To ensure that an enemy’s lance point would not slip between the plates, they were pieced together with the left plate overlapping the right, “since it was standard fighting practice that the left side, protected by the shield, was turned toward the enemy,” the authors point out. For this reason, they argue, “men’s jackets button left to right even to the present day.”

Others have made similar observations. Due to the predominance of right-handedness (about 90% of humans are right-handed), swords were typically worn on the left side, so they could be drawn with the dominant right hand. According to Paul Keers in A Gentleman’s Wardrobe, men’s shirts and jackets were deliberately designed to button left over right “to avoid catching the pommel of one’s sword in the opening, when drawing it right-handed.”

From avoiding the piercing blows of lance tips to smoothly drawing weapons, there is some logic to the soldierly need for buttoning left over right. But there’s no definitive evidence to support these military theories — and while they might explain the need for buttons on the right, they don’t supply any answers as to why women’s buttons are on the opposite side.

Medieval Clothing

Arguably the most plausible explanation goes back to when buttons first became fashionable in Europe during the 13th and 14th centuries. At that time, they were often made from expensive materials such as gold, silver, and ivory, and were an indicator of status and wealth. Women’s clothing in particular could be highly elaborate, consisting of multiple garments such as petticoats, bloomers, gowns, corsets, and bustles.

Wealthy women with complex clothes often didn’t dress themselves and instead relied on the help of maids. So, when it came to buttons, the angle of attack was reversed. Men benefited from having buttons on the right side because they typically dressed themselves and people are predominantly right-handed. But when someone is dressing another person who’s facing them, the orientation is reversed. Clothing designers, therefore, crafted their outfits to be buttoned up by the hired help, with their high-society clients in mind. The trend then filtered down, becoming standard in women’s fashion and establishing a convention that persists today.

Breastfeeding, Horses, and Napoleon

Other theories exist, albeit of varying levels of plausibility. One involves the act of breastfeeding. Due to right-hand dominance, women tend to hold their infants in their left arm to keep their right arm relatively free. So, the theory posits, a shirt with the buttons on the left makes it easier for mothers to unbutton using their right hand, while providing slightly easier access. A second theory involves horseback riding and the once-common practice of women riding sidesaddle, which typically involved having both legs on the horse’s left side. By putting women’s shirt and dress buttons on the left, the amount of breeze entering their clothing would be reduced while the rider was trotting along.

Neither theory is particularly convincing, but both are more plausible than blaming the whole thing on Napoleon Bonaparte. Portraits of Napoleon often show the French general and later emperor with one hand tucked into his shirt or waistcoat. This pose was strangely common during the 18th and 19th centuries, when it was considered to demonstrate a kind of calm boldness. According to one button theory, women used to mock the emperor by mimicking his hand-in-waistcoat pose. In response, Napoleon ordered that all women’s shirts be buttoned on the opposite side of men’s to end any mockery at his expense. This fanciful theory seems to have gained at least some traction but is almost certainly apocryphal, as there is seemingly no supporting evidence and button placement conventions predate Napoleon’s era.

What Did Medieval Knights Actually Do?

Two knights dueling, 15th century

Author Timothy Ott

October 29, 2025

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Medieval knights, those armed and armored men (or in some rare cases, women) on horseback, thrived throughout Europe in the days before kings depended on standing armies to enforce their sovereignty. Renowned for their martial prowess and romanticized for their adherence to the moral code of chivalry, these warriors have been celebrated in fiction and the public imagination since the days when they were still an active fighting force.

And yet, like the modern-day movie star or professional athlete, these extolled individuals lived a life that was less glamorous than perception would have us believe. While there were indeed times when a knight would graciously woo a fair maiden or toast to a resounding battlefield victory with fellow soldiers, their hours were often occupied by more mundane activities. Here’s a taste of what everyday life was like for knights in the Middle Ages.

Military Service

As part of the medieval feudal system, knights often received a plot of land (known as a fief) from a king or another powerful noble in exchange for a period of military service, typically lasting 40 days out of a year. Such service might have required the knight to ride into a pitched battle, where they would attack enemies with a broadsword, lance, or mace. A knight might also have taken part in the siege of a castle or fortified town, or in a raid intended to destroy enemy villages and crops.

Despite the glory that could be attained from battlefield exploits, some knights ducked this service by paying a fee known as scutage. This arrangement worked out well for both sides; a busy knight could avoid having to leave behind their family and affairs, while their lord could use the money to hire mercenaries who were more enthusiastic about fighting.

Credit: Heritage Images/ Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Administrative and Legal Tasks

Along with armed protection, a knight was often required to provide civil and administrative duties to their lord. As explained in A Chronicle History of Knights, this may have entailed supplying political or military advice, witnessing the signing of documents, or serving as an ambassador.

A knight might also have served as a judge in a lord’s court or handled judicial responsibilities themselves by mediating disputes between the serfs under their watch and meting out punishment.

Battle

Like modern professional athletes, knights had to keep in fighting shape to prepare for the call to battle. As such, they regularly partook in drills to sharpen skills involving weaponry and horsemanship. Training equipment included the pell, a sturdy wooden post that withstood sword strikes, and the quintain, a rotating horizontal arm that served as a target for a thrusted lance. Additionally, activities such as wrestling and grappling helped knights keep their muscles strong and prepare for up-close personal combat.

Credit: Bildagentur-online/ Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Tournaments

Another means for demonstrating battle-ready skills came via participation in a tournament. These popular exhibitions typically featured knights competing in two main events. In the joust, two knights rode toward each other on horseback, each seeking to knock their opponent to the ground with a lance. In the melee, participants split into two teams and attacked each other in a massive brawl, with blunted weapons and designated neutral zones being the only real differences between these mock skirmishes and the real ones.

A strong performance could result in a financial windfall for a knight, in the form of the armor, horse, and a ransom from the opponent "captured" in a melee. A low-ranking knight could also impress one of the powerful nobles in attendance and wind up with a more prominent station in life. Conversely, an unsuccessful knight could lose a lot of money or sustain a serious injury in these exhibitions.

Land Management

According to Life of a Medieval Knight, a large chunk of the fief-holding knight's time was devoted to land management. While actual field work was the jurisdiction of the peasant laborers, the knight ensured that crops were planted and harvested on time, that livestock were properly attended to before slaughter, and that income-generating facilities such as mills and bakeries were operating smoothly.

Such oversight was crucial, as a knight depended on a high level of production from their holdings to meet the expenses of their position. By the 15th century, a set of armor cost a quarter of a knight's annual income, while a reliable warhorse could eat up an entire year's worth.

Credit: Art Collection 2/ Alamy Stock Photo

Church

Religion played a prominent role in the life of the knight. Many of these warrior members of the nobility had younger siblings who pursued careers as men and women of faith, and Christianity took an increasingly prominent role in official knight dubbing ceremonies in Europe as the Middle Ages progressed.

In turn, a respectable knight displayed their piety by regularly attending church. Many supported the church by sponsoring feasts and celebrations to mark important Christian holidays such as Christmas or Easter, or by supplying land and funds for infrastructure improvements.

Some knights joined one of the religious military orders, which required followers to adhere to monastic vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Among the better-known orders were the Knights Templar, which formed in the 12th century with the mission of protecting Christian pilgrims to Jerusalem, and the Knights Hospitallers, which surfaced around the same time and was devoted to providing shelter and medical care for travelers.

Recreation

Of course, all work and no play makes a knight a dull boy, and many enjoyed the chance to have some fun when opportunity allowed. One popular form of recreation was hunting, which doubled as a social event with family members, other nobles, and servants joining the efforts to track down wild boar and deer. The hunt also enabled the knight to demonstrate lessons learned in falconry, a favorite pastime of medieval nobility. Carrying a falcon or hawk on a gloved wrist, the owner would send their prized bird in pursuit of smaller prey with the flick of their arm.

Even with the onset of darkness or cold weather, the knight had options. Those seeking to scratch a competitive itch could focus on games of chess or backgammon. Others could enjoy the pleasures of reading, perhaps a tale about a gallant knight of yore such as Lancelot or Gawain, or take in the music and poetry provided by a traveling minstrel.

5 Inventions That Failed Spectacularly

Baby cage, 1936

Author Paul Chang

October 29, 2025

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From the wheel to the light bulb, innovation has played a central role in the story of human civilization. But history’s inventors also left behind a trail of misfires, failures, and downright disasters. Here are five ideas that promised to make life better, safer, or more efficient, but turned out to be spectacular flops.

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Baby Cages

In the early 20th century, crowded cities such as New York and London grappled with widespread tuberculosis. At the time, one common treatment was fresh air, prescribed by figures including the influential pediatrician Luther Emmett Holt. In his 1894 book, The Care and Feeding of Children, Holt wrote that babies exposed to fresh air enjoyed better appetites, brighter cheeks, and improved health.

Enter the baby cage — a wire enclosure fastened to an open window, which allowed apartment dwellers to suspend infants several stories above city streets to “air them out.” The first U.S. patent was granted to Emma Read of Spokane, Washington, in 1922, though the idea had circulated earlier. The baby cage briefly caught on, notably among members of the Chelsea Baby Club in London. Even Eleanor Roosevelt used one for her infant daughter Anna, until a horrified neighbor threatened to call the New York Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children. Baby cages declined in the second half of the 20th century, largely due to safety concerns.

X-Ray Shoe Fitters

In the 1940s and ’50s, shoe stores across the U.S. offered customers a peek inside their shoes. The shoe-fitting fluoroscope was a wooden box that displayed real-time moving X-ray images of customers’ feet. Invented by Boston physician Jacob Lowe in 1919, the device was originally designed to diagnose foot problems in World War I veterans, and was repurposed for retail use after the war.

Though the X-ray technology was real, the device was essentially a marketing gimmick to help shoe sellers boost sales by lending the fitting process a scientific veneer. But that was the least of the invention’s issues — the fluoroscopes emitted dangerous doses of radiation that far exceeded the maximum safe daily dose. As a result of growing awareness around the dangers of radiation, shoe-fitting fluoroscopes were banned by the late 1950s.

Credit: Science History Images/ Alamy Stock Photo

Thomas Edison’s “Little Monsters”

Even the illustrious Thomas Edison had his flops. In 1890, the inventor unveiled the world’s first talking doll, a technological milestone that combined phonograph technology with the classic toy. The 4-pound, 22-inch doll had a porcelain head, wooden limbs, and a tin torso that housed a miniature phonograph. Turning a crank on the doll’s back played wax recordings of nursery rhymes such as “Mary Had a Little Lamb” and “Jack and Jill.”

Unfortunately, Edison’s dolls didn’t speak so much as screech. Due to the low recording volume, the women voicing the rhymes were required to scream into the recorder, resulting in creepy recordings that upset customers. The dolls were also plagued by durability issues and were prone to breaking. Parents complained, children were terrified, and many of the 2,650 dolls sold were returned. Within weeks, Edison withdrew them from the market, ruefully calling them his “little monsters.” Today, Edison’s “monsters” are considered rare collector’s items and have been displayed at the Smithsonian.

Credit: Bettmann Archive via Getty Images

The Isolator

Science fiction pioneer Hugo Gernsback — founder of Amazing Stories magazine and namesake of the Hugo Awards — was also a prolific inventor. In 1925, he introduced one of his strangest creations: the Isolator, a helmet designed to eliminate distractions and maximize focus.

Made of wood and felt, the helmet completely enclosed the wearer’s head, leaving only narrow slits for vision. After realizing that people became drowsy inside the helmet after 15 minutes, partly due to oxygen deprivation, Gernsback added an oxygen tank connected to the helmet by a tube. He claimed the device was 75% efficient and predicted it would be a “great investment” for anyone in need of focus. Though the Isolator never caught on, its spirit lives on in noise-canceling headphones and focus apps.

Credit: Fred Mott/ Hulton Archive via Getty Images

Anti-Bandit Bag

In the 1950s and ’60s, inventors sought clever ways to foil thieves — and few were as dramatic as the Anti-Bandit Bag. One of the most famous versions was debuted by French Canadian inventor John H.T. Rinfret in 1963. Rinfret, inspired by his experience of being robbed, designed a bag with a spring-loaded handle, which enabled the carrier to launch the bag’s contents all over the place in the event of a robbery.

Other anti-bandit bags spewed smoke and dye or triggered shrieking alarms when snatched. One model, aptly named the “Arrestor,” clamped onto the thief’s hand and blasted out three 12-foot telescoping metal rods, preventing the robber’s escape. None of these designs reached mass production, likely due to their unwieldiness, dubious efficacy, and potential to be triggered accidentally.

Popular Halloween Costumes Throughout the 20th Century

Men in costume, circa 1915

Author Kristina Wright

October 20, 2025

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For many of us, Halloween stirs memories of crisp autumn nights, glowing jack-o’-lanterns, and the childlike joy of heading out in disguise to go trick-or-treating. Each year, the Halloween costumes on display offered a glimpse into what captured people’s attention at the time — whether it was a favorite movie star, a superhero, or a good old-fashioned ghost or witch. Store-bought masks and homemade outfits reflected the mood of each decade, from the cowboys of the silver screen to the astronauts of the space race.

Looking back at the 20th century through its Halloween costumes is like flipping through a scrapbook of popular culture. Each era had its trends, icons, and traditions. Here’s a look at the popular costumes that defined a century of spooky celebrations.

Credit: Transcendental Graphics/ Archive Photos via Getty Images

1900s

At the turn of the century, Halloween in the U.S. remained closely tied to older folk customs, many brought by Irish and Scottish immigrants. Costumes were homemade, crafted from repurposed clothing, painted masks, or simple linen and gauze. Popular getups of the decade included ghosts, vagabonds, and witches, and many disguises reflected the folkloric goal of confusing or warding off spirits, blending masquerade with superstition.

Halloween “guising” involved putting on costumes and singing songs to earn treats, but masquerade parties were more common than door-to-door trick-or-treating. Some so-called “Halloween” images from that era may even represent Thanksgiving maskers, since the tradition of seasonal masking overlapped between holidays in some parts of the country.

1910s

In the 1910s, Halloween costumes remained largely homemade and steeped in the earlier decade’s emphasis on the eerie and the mysterious. People typically repurposed everyday clothing, sheets, and scraps of fabric and enhanced them with homemade masks, painted designs, or paper constructions. One recurring source of ideas during this era was Dennison’s Bogie Book, first issued in 1909. By the 1910s, it offered suggested costumes, cutouts, and crepe-paper techniques to make masks and decorative motifs. Among the most popular costumes were pirates, Pierrot clowns, Harlequin jesters, fortunetellers, and witches. Though trick-or-treating had not yet become standardized, masquerade parties and home gatherings grew more popular.

Credit: Hulton Deutsch/ Corbis Historical via Getty Images

1920s

In the 1920s, Halloween became more of a neighborhood celebration, with parades, block parties, and private gatherings emphasizing fun over fright. Costumes were still primarily homemade from household items and simple paper-mache masks. Popular disguises included ghosts, clowns, and witches, alongside fanciful characters such as animals or fairies. Dennison’s Bogie Book and Beistle Company’s paper decorations influenced costume ideas, with stars, moons, and black cats becoming standard motifs. Children in masks sometimes went door-to-door for treats, though the line between “tricks” and “treats” was still fuzzy.

Credit: Kirn Vintage Stock/ Corbis Historical via Getty Images

1930s

The 1930s marked a turning point, as mass-produced costumes began to supplement homemade disguises. Traditional favorites such as ghosts, clowns, devils, and witches continued to dominate, but companies such as A.S. Fishbach, Inc. began introducing inexpensive boxed outfits and masks, including licensed Walt Disney characters such as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Snow White.

At the same time, horror movies such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and The Mummy heavily influenced Halloween attire, popularizing vampires, Frankenstein-style monsters, and mummies that could be recreated with capes, theatrical makeup, and bandages. Though parties and parades remained staples, trick-or-treating slowly began taking hold, especially among children in urban and suburban areas.

Credit: Leila Grossman/ Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images

1940s

During the 1940s, Halloween costumes reflected both wartime realities and classic spooky traditions. Witches, ghosts, and pirates stayed popular, while the war years brought a surge of patriotic choices such as soldiers, sailors, nurses, and Uncle Sam. Licensed character costumes were becoming trendy, but a scarcity of materials meant many outfits were homemade from repurposed clothing. Halloween gatherings often centered on school events, parades, and neighborhood parties, where children could show off their disguises despite wartime rationing.

Credit: Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images

1950s

Postwar prosperity brought a golden age for Halloween costumes. The rise of television gave kids new heroes, and the mass production of boxed costumes by manufacturers such as Ben Cooper, Halco, and Collegeville made it easy for children across America to become their favorite characters. Cowboys and cowgirls, inspired by Westerns such as The Lone Ranger and Bonanza, dominated wardrobes, alongside Disney princesses — especially Cinderella, thanks to the 1950 film.

Meanwhile, superheroes such as Superman and Wonder Woman appeared on shelves, and sci-fi themes such as robots and spacemen hinted at America’s fascination with technology and the space race. Bright, colorful costumes helped fuel the suburban trick-or-treat boom, but most designs still emphasized classic “hero” or storybook archetypes.

Credit: American Stock Archive/ Archive Photos via Getty Images

1960s

The 1960s saw Halloween costumes move firmly into the world of pop culture. TV shows, comic books, and music stars played a big role in what kids wanted to dress up as, and store-bought costumes became more affordable and common. Superheroes remained popular, and emerging pop culture figures such as the Beatles also inspired disguises. Clowns, monsters, and pirates continued to be favorites, while classics such as ghosts and witches held their ground alongside cartoon favorites including Bugs Bunny.

Costume masks and makeup were more elaborate than in earlier decades, allowing for more character-driven looks. Costume parties for adults got bigger, too, making Halloween more of a family and community holiday than ever before.

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1970s

The 1970s were a decade of wide-ranging Halloween trends, from rock stars such as Elvis Presley to television characters from shows including Charlie’s Angels and cartoon characters such as Scooby Doo. The release of Star Wars in 1977 sparked an unprecedented costume craze, with characters including Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia quickly becoming favorites alongside established comic book and cartoon superheroes.

Other popular costumes, from Willy Wonka to Dr. Frank-N-Furter from The Rocky Horror Picture Show, reflected the decade’s playful, colorful style. Meanwhile, political masks gained widespread popularity during this decade, with Richard Nixon’s face becoming one of the most satirized disguises of the era.

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1980s

Pop culture ruled Halloween in the 1980s — movie monsters, blockbuster heroes, musical stars, and sci-fi wonders all made their way into costumes. Kids dressed as Indiana Jones, Freddy Krueger, ET, or members of the Ghostbusters team. Superheroes were more visible than ever, buoyed by comics, TV shows, and growing toy licensing. Costumes inspired by pop stars such as Michael Jackson and Madonna also made the trick-or-treat rounds, while heavy metal and glam rock looks appealed to both kids and adults. Store-bought latex and vinyl masks became more realistic and detailed, and accessories such as makeup, props, and wigs became even more sophisticated.

1990s

The final decade of the 20th century blended nostalgia with a wave of fresh pop culture. Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin fueled a surge of princess costumes, while superheroes such as Batman and Spider-Man returned in fresh film adaptations that inspired a new generation of trick-or-treaters. By the mid-’90s, Power Rangers were everywhere, followed by the Pokémon craze at the decade’s end, with Pikachu and Ash among the most popular looks.

Kids also dressed as TV icons, from Barney to Bart Simpson. On the scarier side, Ghostface from the movie Scream became an instant classic, rivaled by monsters and cyborgs such as the Terminator. Adults leaned into both pop culture and parody with the Spice Girls and Austin Powers. By the end of the century, a holiday once steeped in folklore and traditions was well on its way to becoming the billion-dollar industry it is today.

6 Forgotten Collectibles From the 1950s

Boy with Robert the Robot

Author Timothy Ott

October 17, 2025

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Some famous toys from the 1950s, such as the Frisbee and Mr. Potato Head, became so embedded in popular culture that they remain in regular use or at least are recognized by kids even today. But not every popular collectible from that period survived for successive generations to incorporate into their playtimes. Here are six treasured toys from the 1950s that inspire warm feelings from those who remember the fun.

Robert the Robot

Thanks in part to the success of science fiction books such as Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot (1950) and films such as The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), hordes of American children grew up playing with imported tin toy robots in the early 1950s. However, the market was jolted in 1954 with the Ideal Toy Company’s Robert the Robot, the first plastic toy robot made in the United States.

Standing 14 inches tall, Robert moved on wheels by way of a cable-connected, hand-cranked remote control, while winding another crank on his back prompted him to blurt out, “I am Robert Robot, mechanical man. Drive me and steer me, wherever you can.” Robert proved popular enough to inspire two songs from the Cricket Records music label and even appeared in the 1956 film There’s Always Tomorrow, although he fell out of favor with the introduction of more advanced toy robots such as Mr. Machine the following decade.

Whee-Lo

Much like the ageless top, Whee-Lo was a toy that hooked kids not with flashy components but by displaying physics in motion. Introduced by Maggie Magnetic, Inc. in the early 1950s, Whee-Lo consisted of a double-pronged piece of curved wire and a red plastic wheel with a magnetized axle. When placed on the wire track and tilted, the wheel spun back and forth across both sides, reaching impressive speeds with well-timed turns of the wrist.

Whee-Lo remained an engaging boredom-killer for kids even as the 1950s gave way to subsequent decades and oversight of the product passed into the hands of Tarco and then Skilcraft. Today, identical-looking knockoffs can easily be found online.

Baking Powder Submarine

The 1950s were a prime time for digging packaged prizes out of cereal boxes. One such keepsake was the “working” submarine patented by brothers Henry and Benjamin Hirsch in 1955 and snapped up by the Kellogg Company. These tiny plastic submersibles featured an empty chamber that could be filled with baking powder (or another effervescent product, such as Alka-Seltzer) before being closed up; once placed in water, the submarines would sink to the bottom, until the water reacted with the baking powder to create carbon dioxide bubbles that pushed the piece back to the surface.

Despite the cheap nature of the enterprise, these toys were popular enough to spawn other baking powder-powered products including scuba divers and PT boats that propelled across the water instead of rising from its depths.

Wings “Friend or Foe” Trading Cards

1952 was a banner year for baseball card collecting; just ask anyone who was shrewd enough to hold onto a ’52 Topps card of New York Yankees star Mickey Mantle, which can fetch a sale price of more than $12 million. But that year, Topps also introduced its 200-card Wings set, featuring military aircraft from countries that participated in World War II and the then-ongoing Korean War.

Sold in 1-cent or 5-cent packs of chewing gum, the cards displayed a plane or helicopter in a horizontal layout on the front, while the back listed statistics and other information about the featured flying machine, as well as the silhouette of another aircraft in the set that asked viewers to determine if it was “friend or foe.” While the Wings cards never attained the popularity of the baseball sets, they have their fans among collectors today due to the strong artistic quality of the planes and the scenic backgrounds.

Credit: Gary Friedman/ Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Chatty Cathy

The year 1959 brought the arrival of a blond-haired doll named for the daughter of Mattel co-founder Ruth Handler, and needless to say, Barbie went on to become a worldwide hit. But Mattel introduced another seminal product that year with Chatty Cathy, the first commercially successful talking doll.

While talking dolls had been around since Thomas Edison debuted his prototype in 1890, many produced screechy noises that were hardly soothing to young children. Chatty Cathy, on the other hand, was capable of delivering 11 different phrases recorded by celebrated voice actress June Foray, activated by a pull string that connected to a small internal phonograph. Although the doll initially went out of production in 1965, Mattel found enough nostalgic cause to rerelease Chatty Cathy in the 1970s and again in the late 1990s.

Credit: My Childhood Memories/ Alamy Stock Photo

Give-A-Show Projector

Also appearing just before the end of the decade, Kenner’s Give-A-Show Projector was the kids’ version of the slide projectors that were popping up in living rooms across the country. Essentially a flashlight with a lens and a slot that permitted the passage of a colorful film strip across the light, the projector beamed images up to 4 feet tall on a wall or any otherwise suitable surface.

Standard sets came with 16 slide strips featuring popular characters from TV shows such as Rocky and Bullwinkle, George of the Jungle, and Captain Kangaroo, a format that enabled users to tell a story with the projections and proved a perfect match for licensing tie-ins. Later additions to the basic system resulted in the Talking Show Projector, which included a record with spoken stories to accompany the images, and the Super Show Projector, which came with blank slides and puppets so future directors could act out their own narratives.

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1930s

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2020s

Why Are Men’s and Women’s Buttons on Opposite Sides?