Take A Trip Down Memory Lane... Do You Remember These 37 Strange Fads?

[Dien Rice]

Okay... Maybe not all of them are strange...

But some of them certainly are!

To relate this to business... It's said that fads return every 17 years or so. Nowadays, I see young ladies wearing brightly colored stockings under dresses and skirts - and wow, I remember when girls dressed like that in the 1980s! (It's a bit like a time warp...)

Here are 37 fads to check out...

One of the strangest?


Telephone-booth stuffing!

Unfortunately, telephone booths are disappearing as cell phones become more popular! So alas... this one probably won't return!

Here's where you can find the other 36 fads...

http://www.neatorama.com/2007/01/16/...pt-the-nation/

- Dien

P.S. You can sometimes make money by "reviving" a fad. Joe Cossman made millions by "reviving" an interest in spud guns... (Among other things...)

Here's an interesting article about Joe Cossman and Milton Levine, and how they turned ant farms into a fad... http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fsb/f...1972/index.htm

Dien,

Great subject...

Think Creatively and Fresh new business ideas will Evolve.

A couple Super Fad resources to Help Get you Started...

Read about Fads from the past 100 years: hula hoops, disco, pet rocks, goldfish swallowing, flagpole sitting, mood rings, Rubik's Cubes, 3D movies, ...
http://www.crazyfads.com/

And Lets not Forget those Bad Fads...
http://www.badfads.com/

Phil

Thanks Dien its nice to go down memory lange but
I tell you I think I need more Ginko Biloba because
some of them I do not remember at all.

But I bet if you come across those products they
would be great to sell on Ebay.

Here's what else old may be selling as well.

Take a look at the price these old Elmer Wheeler copywriting
products went for:


Elmer Wheeler sizzling on Ebay

And
Here's
Another

Vintage Elmer Wheeler

Hmmm...because I was so tiny, I was always chosen to be a 'topper' in the phone booths...up there with the spider webs and all...Actually, the guys usually had them all cleaned out (they were kind and didn't want spiders crawling all over them, too!

I loved my D.A. hair cut, too...looked great on me then, believe it or not...but a bit masculine for my taste.

I HATED those blankety blank hoop skirts! Mostly they got stuffed in the trunk once I was out of the house (ditto those blasted multi layer petticoats)...The guys had it easy then except when they tried to be gentlemen and help us into the car and got something or other caught in the car door or on themselves and so on. Grins and giggles time...and usually red faces, too.

Thanks for the memories...even if they're from before your time (well, for some of you at least).

Sandi Bowman

It's funny that these are listed as "fads" because....

We've got an ant farm - I figured that they had been popular since I was a kid

The Metric system - We use it daily in the shop and couldn't live without it. I find it hard to believe that us Americans haven't totally adapted to it because it makes so much more sense than the silly system we currently use.

Pac-Man - Still my favorite game when I go to the arcade. My son loves it too.

Rubik's Cube - For 30 years, I've never been without one and have probably never gone a month without trying to figure it out. It's always been like a lifelong goal to solve the thing and I finally did late last year. Actually, "solve" is a big word. I watched some videos explaining how to do it and I'm now convinced that almost anybody can do it with a couple hours of instruction.

Waterbeds - I haven't been without one since I was 10 but I've upgraded to a Somma

Fads? I don't know, but I'd sure like to see that Toga Party thing get revived.

And thanks for the link about the spud gun. We were just talking about building one of these the other day.

Jim

it is a cycle ...of sorts...

was reading an article ( my add keeps my memory blocked on exactly )..but a marketing firm researched new products according to the old book
CYCLES...

occur every 13, 27 and 54 years....just look at the products, and the dates of their popularity ...interesting ...


thanks
bob

I go back to holly hope but not the telephone thing that is before my time. You guys can't be that old. I thought I was older than dirt.

I know I spelled it wrong please forgive me I just got up. I don't know how to spell it anyway. Holla hops maybe?

[Dien Rice]

Originally Posted by Joetrevison

I know I spelled it wrong please forgive me I just got up. I don't know how to spell it anyway. Holla hops maybe?

Hi Joe,

Hula hoops...!

I just came across some interesting info about hula hoops... And how its history actually holds some "money-making" lessons...

Apparently, they're an ancient "invention" - in ancient Greece, they were used to help people lose weight! It was also popular in England in the 14th century.

Then, in the 1950s, the Wham-O company brought it back into fashion with a plastic version (and a marketing campaign). They couldn't patent it - because the invention was at least 2,500 years old! However, they did protect themselves by trademarking the name "hula hoop". So they are the only ones allowed to "officially" use that name for their product!

(Wham-O also performed a similar trick with the Frisbee - they didn't invent it, but they came up with the popular name, and own the trademark.)

I think this shows some important things...

• Ancient toys (and maybe other items?) can be brought back from history and become popular today in a "modern" form...
• Even if you can't protect your product with a patent, you may be able to protect it with a trademark - if your name enters popular usage...!

You can read more about the history at the "hula hoop" article on Wikipedia and at About.com ...

By the way, the history also suggests another idea. I wonder if the hula hoop could come back again - but this time as a "weight loss" product?

Cheers,

Dien

I just saw a girl at my gym a few weeks ago using a hula hoop to some music that she brought along with her. She was having fun.

Originally Posted by Dien Rice

Hi Joe,

Hula hoops...!

I just came across some interesting info about hula hoops... And how its history actually holds some "money-making" lessons...

Apparently, they're an ancient "invention" - in ancient Greece, they were used to help people lose weight! It was also popular in England in the 14th century.

Then, in the 1950s, the Wham-O company brought it back into fashion with a plastic version (and a marketing campaign). They couldn't patent it - because the invention was at least 2,500 years old! However, they did protect themselves by trademarking the name "hula hoop". So they are the only ones allowed to "officially" use that name for their product!

(Wham-O also performed a similar trick with the Frisbee - they didn't invent it, but they came up with the popular name, and own the trademark.)

I think this shows some important things...

• Ancient toys (and maybe other items?) can be brought back from history and become popular today in a "modern" form...
• Even if you can't protect your product with a patent, you may be able to protect it with a trademark - if your name enters popular usage...!

You can read more about the history at the "hula hoop" article on Wikipedia and at About.com ...

By the way, the history also suggests another idea. I wonder if the hula hoop could come back again - but this time as a "weight loss" product?

Cheers,

Dien