The sixties were a strange time.
To think that back in the day, misogyny reigned supreme, workout machines were basically useless,
and seat belts were considered wholly unnecessary.
Without further ado, please buckle your seatbelt before we take this cringe-inducing trip down
memory lane...
History is full of crazy weight loss devices — but the craziest might be the vibrating
belt workout machine, which was supposed to jiggle the fat off you while you just stood
there.
According to the Orange County Register, the vibrating belt machine was a must-have device
in fitness centers for decades, although most health experts knew they were essentially
useless.
Still, people have continued to find variations on this device rather irresistible over the
years …
"Introducing the revolutionary Vibroaction belt.
Just turn it on and it will literally vibrate the fat away from your abs."
Deep down, people really want to believe there's some magical technique that will help us drop
those extra pounds without having to focus on diet and regular exercise.
You probably wouldn't be too surprised if we told you that many male executives hired
secretaries based on their looks in the 1960s.
But airlines really took that notion to the extreme.
You see, there's a reason most flight attendants can't stand being called "stewardesses" nowadays.
According to Vanity Fair, the word "stewardess" harkens back to a time when attending to people
on a flight basically boiled down to looking awesome in a mini skirt.
"Feeding and caring for a plane-load of passengers can be as glamorous as a stint behind the
counter at the five and ten."
In those days, you could get a job as a stewardess only if you were between the ages of 20 and
27, and happened to weigh no more than 140 pounds.
Oh, and you had to be at least 5-foot-2 but no taller than 5-foot-9.
OH, and you needed to be unmarried and childless, too.
Basically, you had to be conventionally attractive and potentially available.
"Stewardesses like jetlners must be slinky sex symbols.
Pilots can be homely and bald."
Job training included lessons on how to walk seductively and how to put on your makeup.
Meanwhile, you reportedly had to retire at the age of 32 — if not long before then:
"The stewardess works an average of eighteen months and then quits.
Just a year and a half.
Some get married…
Frequently to passengers."
Fifty years ago, people thought seat belts were annoying and oppressive.
In fact, most people didn't even want them in their cars.
According to Second Chance Garage, customers were so fed up with seatbelts by 1949 that
many people would actually cut them out of their cars with razor blades.
By the early 1960s, seatbelts were offered as optional equipment on the vast majority
of American cars, but that didn't really change anything.
Most people simply didn't want them... and even people who had them in their cars tended
not to use them.
By 1966, only about 30% of cars on the road in America had seatbelts, and approximately
44% of the people driving those cars used them full-time.
In 1968, the powers that be finally passed a law requiring seat belts as standard equipment
in all cars… but that didn't really change anything.
This wasn't just because people didn't like the idea of seatbelts.
Reportedly, some auto manufacturers were accused of designed the belts to be uncomfortable
-- as a sort of nose-thumb to government regulations.
That persistent hostility was largely the reason it took so long for anyone to actually
pass real laws.
The first mandatory seat belt law didn't reach the books until the mid-1980s — and that
was only in New York at first.
As The New York Times reported on December 1st, 1984:
"New York State's mandatory seat belt law - the first in the nation - went into effect
today.
Drivers and front-seat passengers must wear seat belts or face fines of up to $50."
"Fasten your seatbelt, please."
Throughout the sixties, teenage girls were spoonfed some terrible advice.
In 1967, Seventeen published a whole book of etiquette entitled The Seventeen Book of
Fashion and Beauty, which advised young women that
"Good speech is more important than the actual words you say … The sound.
The smile.
The gentleness, warmth, and vitality.
The voice that says, 'I like people.
I like you.'"
Meanwhile, the book also offered this not-so-cheerful tip:
'If a girl slumps her shoulders, it’s a safe bet she hopes nobody will notice anything
about her.
Probably nobody will.”
Women in the 1960s were basically expected to be subservient to their husbands.
"Ugh, this coffee is criminal."
"Honey, you killed the petunias!"
According to Little Things, women could refer to a number of manuals in order to clarify
whose needs came first.
Spoiler alert: The needs of the husband came first.
"Try the coffee."
"Coffee?
Oh, your coffee's always a real treat."
For example, Housekeeping Monthly's article "The Good Wife's Guide" instructed women to
"Have a delicious meal ready, on time for [your husband's] return."
Also, the article suggested that women should always,
"Touch up your makeup, put a ribbon in your hair, and be fresh-looking."
Meanwhile, the article assured that
"Catering for his comfort will provide you with immense personal satisfaction."
In conclusion: Yikes.
"Harold, is the coffee alright?"
"Mm-mmm."
"You mean it's as bad as yesterday?"
"Mm-hmm."
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