1 00:00:00,960 --> 00:00:03,560 Speaker 1: A few months ago, which, let's face it might as 2 00:00:03,560 --> 00:00:05,880 Speaker 1: well be ten years ago. I went out on the 3 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:09,920 Speaker 1: road to promote my Mobituaries book. The names I was 4 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: asked most about famous first brother Billy Carter, screen legend, 5 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:19,439 Speaker 1: Audrey Hepburn, and the original Siamese twins Chang and Hang. 6 00:00:20,239 --> 00:00:23,759 Speaker 1: I'm imagining a wacky road trip with the four of them. Now, 7 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:26,640 Speaker 1: if in some parallel universe they were to take a 8 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: road trip, I would hope they'd take it in the 9 00:00:29,200 --> 00:00:33,600 Speaker 1: vehicle that was once synonymous with family fund and adventure. 10 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:38,559 Speaker 1: Please enjoy this mobid for the station Wagon, which I 11 00:00:38,640 --> 00:00:42,839 Speaker 1: recorded for the audiobook version of the Mobituaries book, and 12 00:00:42,920 --> 00:00:46,159 Speaker 1: please enjoy the bonus on the back end of this bonus, 13 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: Death of a Leviathan the station Wagon to two thousand eleven. 14 00:01:01,520 --> 00:01:04,080 Speaker 1: My family had a station Wagon for a couple of 15 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:07,240 Speaker 1: years in the early nineteen seventies, but I was only 16 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:09,319 Speaker 1: three or four at the time, so I can barely 17 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:13,000 Speaker 1: remember it. It was yellow, I think, or maybe it 18 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,320 Speaker 1: was cream colored. Was it a Chevy? What I do 19 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:19,120 Speaker 1: know is that one afternoon my mother put my brother 20 00:01:19,160 --> 00:01:21,959 Speaker 1: in the back seat after a doctor's appointment, and the 21 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:25,679 Speaker 1: car started rolling backward in the parking lot allah Angie 22 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: Dickinson and policewoman my mother had to jump into the 23 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:32,440 Speaker 1: front seat and pull the emergency brake. This was reason 24 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:35,120 Speaker 1: enough for my father to trade in the station wagon 25 00:01:35,280 --> 00:01:39,039 Speaker 1: for an Impoli sdan soon after, and just like that, 26 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:42,320 Speaker 1: the one thing that made us like TV's Brady Family, 27 00:01:42,520 --> 00:01:45,720 Speaker 1: and who were more all American than the Bradies, was gone. 28 00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:49,920 Speaker 1: For a few decades. From the mid fifties to the 29 00:01:49,960 --> 00:01:55,160 Speaker 1: mid eighties, station wagons like the Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser, the 30 00:01:55,240 --> 00:01:59,200 Speaker 1: Chrysler Town and Country, and the Ford Country Squire were 31 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: as central to the American dream as the white picket 32 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: fence and the basketball hoop in the driveway. These were 33 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: the quintessential family cars. If y I the Bradies had 34 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:14,119 Speaker 1: at least two different station wagons, both of them Plymouth Satellites, 35 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:18,360 Speaker 1: and the bigger the wagon, the cooler the family. By 36 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 1: the nineteen seventies, the Ford Country Squire was a nearly 37 00:02:21,960 --> 00:02:25,560 Speaker 1: nineteen ft long behemoth and got a whopping eight to 38 00:02:25,680 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: ten miles to the gallon. You could cram four or 39 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 1: five kids into the back seat. But that's not where 40 00:02:32,200 --> 00:02:35,520 Speaker 1: I wanted to be anytime I was lucky enough to 41 00:02:35,639 --> 00:02:38,680 Speaker 1: ride in one, and I'm sure I befriended some kids 42 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: because their families had station wagons. I headed straight for 43 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:47,040 Speaker 1: the way back with the seats folded down. The freedom, 44 00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,799 Speaker 1: the danger. I loved being thrown against the side when 45 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:53,520 Speaker 1: the car turned, all the better when other kids were 46 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:56,600 Speaker 1: back there, all of us ricocheting off each other after 47 00:02:56,639 --> 00:03:00,320 Speaker 1: a pizza party at Shakey's. Riding in the way back 48 00:03:00,440 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: gave me the same out of control thrill I got 49 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: from roller coasters. Related thought, I used to fantasize about 50 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:10,639 Speaker 1: climbing into the dryer so I could just spin and spin. 51 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:13,520 Speaker 1: It's probably a good thing I didn't figure out how 52 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: to turn the dryer on from the inside. What gave 53 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,640 Speaker 1: these cars an extra flare was the vinyl applicate wood 54 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:24,239 Speaker 1: grain paneling. It made it feel like a house on wheels. 55 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:28,200 Speaker 1: The paneling was a throwback to the earliest station wagons, 56 00:03:28,400 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: which were made mostly of wood. These wagons were d 57 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:35,080 Speaker 1: i y affairs. The customer would buy the chassis of 58 00:03:35,240 --> 00:03:38,200 Speaker 1: say a Model T, then ordered the wood body from 59 00:03:38,200 --> 00:03:41,120 Speaker 1: a coach builder or hire a carpenter to make it 60 00:03:41,160 --> 00:03:44,520 Speaker 1: and bolt it on. It was just much lighter and 61 00:03:44,600 --> 00:03:47,160 Speaker 1: easier to build the body out of wood, says my 62 00:03:47,240 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: friend Matt Anderson, curator of Transportation at the Henry Ford Museum. 63 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:55,080 Speaker 1: The technology just didn't exist at that time to build 64 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: a large body out of steel. By the nineteen thirties, 65 00:03:58,720 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: these vehicles and any where beauties were known as woodies. 66 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 1: The earliest station wagons were used on farms or as 67 00:04:07,160 --> 00:04:12,720 Speaker 1: delivery vehicles and to transport passengers between railroad stations and hotels. 68 00:04:13,400 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: That's how the vehicle got the name station wagon. This 69 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:19,720 Speaker 1: is the kind of factoid I love. By the time 70 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 1: the baby boom hit, the station wagon had caught on 71 00:04:22,600 --> 00:04:28,400 Speaker 1: with families. The first real modern station wagon is Plymouth Suburban, 72 00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:31,960 Speaker 1: says Matt. It's got an all steel body. The name 73 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: itself tells you how that vehicle was marketed. The rise 74 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:38,280 Speaker 1: of the suburbs was a big factor in the adoption 75 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,600 Speaker 1: of the station wagon. Now, it's true that station wagons 76 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: were an absolute nightmare for any teenager learning to parallel park. 77 00:04:46,920 --> 00:04:49,760 Speaker 1: They were larger than the standard parking space, the site 78 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 1: lines were miserable, and I'm pretty sure that rear defrosters 79 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: hadn't been invented yet. And of course they were dangerous. 80 00:04:57,279 --> 00:05:00,360 Speaker 1: The way back was a death chamber. Are the more 81 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:03,200 Speaker 1: safety conscious. There was a rear facing fold up seat, 82 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:07,719 Speaker 1: introduced by Chrystler in seven. It had seatbelts, not that 83 00:05:07,760 --> 00:05:10,080 Speaker 1: you could ever find them. It also had the benefit 84 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: that someone sitting back there could call out whenever luggage 85 00:05:13,400 --> 00:05:16,160 Speaker 1: strapped to the roof rack came free and tumbled out 86 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:19,919 Speaker 1: onto the highway. By the early nineteen eighties, the family 87 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 1: station Wagon was already beginning to acquire value as kitch. 88 00:05:23,960 --> 00:05:27,200 Speaker 1: We know this for a fact because in nine Warner 89 00:05:27,240 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: Brothers released Harold Ramos's National Lampoon's Vacation. The true star 90 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 1: of that movie is not the bumbling Chevy Chase but 91 00:05:35,880 --> 00:05:40,440 Speaker 1: the wagon Queen Family Truckster, an enormous hearst like vehicle 92 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:43,000 Speaker 1: that is gradually gutted over the course of the film 93 00:05:43,279 --> 00:05:47,560 Speaker 1: due to a combination of vandalism and incompetent driving. But 94 00:05:47,640 --> 00:05:51,400 Speaker 1: as the movie Vacation was celebrating the station Wagon, its 95 00:05:51,440 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 1: demise was looming. There were warning signs. The oil crisis 96 00:05:55,760 --> 00:05:59,800 Speaker 1: of nineteen seventy three made fuel efficiency a priority for consumers. 97 00:06:00,320 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 1: The ingenuity of Japanese engineering was making it harder and 98 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:07,279 Speaker 1: harder to stay loyal to American cars that handled poorly 99 00:06:07,320 --> 00:06:11,039 Speaker 1: and seemed in constant need of repair. Then came what 100 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:16,040 Speaker 1: car journalist Amos Kwan has called the testosterone robbing minivan, 101 00:06:16,480 --> 00:06:22,159 Speaker 1: which Leaya Coca introduced to Chrysler in with better fuel economy, 102 00:06:22,320 --> 00:06:25,440 Speaker 1: more headroom, and best of all, a sliding side door. 103 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:29,200 Speaker 1: The minivan was a hit among practical minded car pooling 104 00:06:29,240 --> 00:06:34,000 Speaker 1: soccer moms. Mandatory car seats rang the death knell of 105 00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:38,520 Speaker 1: the way back. The station wagon belonged to the golden 106 00:06:38,520 --> 00:06:41,800 Speaker 1: age of the highway, the new system of interstates built 107 00:06:41,800 --> 00:06:45,760 Speaker 1: by Eisenhower and Kennedy. Up through the eighties, that highway 108 00:06:45,800 --> 00:06:50,200 Speaker 1: system represented nothing less than freedom itself, flight from dreary 109 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:53,920 Speaker 1: routines of city and suburb, access to all our nation's 110 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:58,320 Speaker 1: great beauty and natural attractions. But then, with traffic and 111 00:06:58,400 --> 00:07:02,279 Speaker 1: suburban sprawl getting worse and worse, those endless highways were 112 00:07:02,320 --> 00:07:05,440 Speaker 1: no longer our means of escape. They became another part 113 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,680 Speaker 1: of what we needed to escape from. And so after 114 00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:11,080 Speaker 1: the minivan, we fell in love with the four wheel 115 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 1: drive suv, the kind that, at least in the commercials, 116 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: could drive right over a guardrail, plow through a rocky 117 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 1: river bed and scale a craggy mountain at forty five degrees. 118 00:07:22,440 --> 00:07:25,640 Speaker 1: Maybe it was the renewed nuclear fears of the eighties, 119 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:29,560 Speaker 1: or just a vague sense of looming catastrophe, but suddenly 120 00:07:29,600 --> 00:07:33,160 Speaker 1: we all needed military grade vehicles of our own, something 121 00:07:33,240 --> 00:07:35,720 Speaker 1: that could get traction on a glacier and stand up 122 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,360 Speaker 1: to machine gun fire if needed when the next blizzard, hurricane, 123 00:07:39,440 --> 00:07:42,320 Speaker 1: or wildfire hit. Local and state authorities weren't going to 124 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: save us. In two thousand eleven, Volvo announced that it 125 00:07:46,640 --> 00:07:50,680 Speaker 1: would stop selling station wagons in the United States. Sales 126 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:55,400 Speaker 1: had dropped from forty to four hundred and eighty in 127 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:59,720 Speaker 1: two thousand ten. Auto buffs immediately began to mourn its 128 00:07:59,720 --> 00:08:03,080 Speaker 1: path sing, But the truth is that by two thousand eleven, 129 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 1: the station wagon was already long dead. The Volvo wagon 130 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:09,960 Speaker 1: of the nineties was no more a real station wagon 131 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:14,040 Speaker 1: than a barn swallow was a real dinosaur. At best, 132 00:08:14,520 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 1: it was a stunted descendant of the magnificent monsters that 133 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:22,800 Speaker 1: roamed American highways during the late Cretaceous period of American 134 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:26,600 Speaker 1: automotive history. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of 135 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 1: auto safety. A boy. If someone gave me the keys 136 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:33,600 Speaker 1: to a nineteen seventy nine Ford Country Squire, I'd be 137 00:08:33,720 --> 00:08:36,440 Speaker 1: sorely tempted to take a week off and ride that 138 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:42,199 Speaker 1: beast to the Grand Canyon, and other things from the 139 00:08:42,280 --> 00:08:48,359 Speaker 1: nineteen seventies that could have killed us McDonald's collectible drinking glasses. 140 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: Ronald McDonald has been the mascot of McDonald's ever since 141 00:08:53,520 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty three, when he was first played in TV 142 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:01,800 Speaker 1: ads by future Today weatherman Willard Scott. In nine seventy, 143 00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:05,600 Speaker 1: a lonely Ronald was joined by the hamburglar officer Big 144 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:10,079 Speaker 1: Back and the milkshake loving Grimace in McDonald Land, a 145 00:09:10,160 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: spectacularly imaginative concoction of ad agency Needum, Harper and Steers, 146 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:19,360 Speaker 1: which seemed awfully similar to the then popular kids TV 147 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: show hr Puffin Stuff. Google the images of Mary mc 148 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:25,560 Speaker 1: cheese and hr Puffin Stuff himself and you'll see what 149 00:09:25,600 --> 00:09:29,480 Speaker 1: I mean. The courts agreed and ordered McDonald's to pay 150 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 1: one million dollars to the show's producers, Small Fries. Given 151 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:37,160 Speaker 1: that the ad campaign had been so successful, the McDonald 152 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:42,240 Speaker 1: land characters became inescapable as a line of plastic action figures, 153 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:45,040 Speaker 1: a complete set of which goes for about six dollars 154 00:09:45,040 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: on eBay and as collectible drinking glasses, each one brightly 155 00:09:49,960 --> 00:09:53,480 Speaker 1: painted with a different character. It's a safe bet that 156 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:56,000 Speaker 1: a good half of the liquid I consumed growing up 157 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:59,360 Speaker 1: was via those glasses. But it turns out the glasses 158 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:04,520 Speaker 1: themselves weren't so safe. In July, the paint used on 159 00:10:04,559 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 1: the exterior was discovered to contain led content up to 160 00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:13,120 Speaker 1: eighteen times the legal limit. Although the company that manufactured 161 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:17,240 Speaker 1: the glasses, Owen's Illinois of Toledo, Ohio, declared that the 162 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:21,400 Speaker 1: glasses in no way present a health hazard, regulatory agencies 163 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:24,600 Speaker 1: weren't loving it. By that point, McDonald's had given away 164 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:27,720 Speaker 1: as many as sixty million of these i Q killers 165 00:10:27,880 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 1: in various promotions over five years. Under pressure from the 166 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:37,240 Speaker 1: Food and Drug Administration, they agreed to cease distribution. Unfortunately, 167 00:10:37,360 --> 00:10:40,160 Speaker 1: my family missed the memo, and the glasses remained and 168 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:43,040 Speaker 1: now were covered up until about three years ago, by 169 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:45,240 Speaker 1: which point the images had faded to not much more 170 00:10:45,280 --> 00:10:48,800 Speaker 1: than outlines. My mother's response, but the painting was on 171 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:53,280 Speaker 1: the outside. PS. Let's all raise a non lead painted 172 00:10:53,280 --> 00:10:56,120 Speaker 1: glass to Willard Scott in the hopes that he lives 173 00:10:56,160 --> 00:11:04,319 Speaker 1: to announce his own hundredth birthday Quayludes. The pilot episode 174 00:11:04,360 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 1: of The Brady Bunch, just before they're married, Mike confesses 175 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:11,040 Speaker 1: to Carol that he has a case of nerves. Why 176 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 1: don't you take a tranquilizer, asks Carol. I took one, 177 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,600 Speaker 1: says Mike. Well maybe you should take another one, says Carol. 178 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:21,320 Speaker 1: Nothing doing, says America's dad. I want to be calm 179 00:11:21,400 --> 00:11:25,120 Speaker 1: for the ceremony, but there's the honeymoon to consider. Look, 180 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:27,520 Speaker 1: I have no idea how much of the Brady Honeymoon 181 00:11:27,600 --> 00:11:30,280 Speaker 1: was fueled by synthetic drugs, but the fact that the 182 00:11:30,320 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: quintessential family show of the era was promoting double doses 183 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:39,480 Speaker 1: of tranquilizers makes you realize how mainstream these things were. Queludes, 184 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:43,200 Speaker 1: the brand name for methoon, began as an insomnia and 185 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:47,319 Speaker 1: anxiety treatment and soon became a recreational drug, easy to 186 00:11:47,360 --> 00:11:49,959 Speaker 1: get from a doctor who didn't ask too many questions. 187 00:11:50,440 --> 00:11:53,880 Speaker 1: It fast became a popular club drug, sometimes called a 188 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:58,040 Speaker 1: disco biscuit, Highly addictive, even lethal when taken in large 189 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:01,960 Speaker 1: doses or mixed with alcohol. Coludes were finally banned in 190 00:12:02,000 --> 00:12:10,200 Speaker 1: the United States in a law in Apple A day 191 00:12:10,360 --> 00:12:15,160 Speaker 1: keeps the doctor away, right, not if it's sprayed with demeanor'side. 192 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,760 Speaker 1: The plant growth regulator, manufactured from the sixties through the 193 00:12:18,800 --> 00:12:22,640 Speaker 1: eighties by the Uni Royal Chemical Corporation and sold under 194 00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:25,640 Speaker 1: the brand name A Laar A Laura was sprayed on 195 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:28,280 Speaker 1: apples and other fruits in order to keep them on 196 00:12:28,320 --> 00:12:32,120 Speaker 1: the tree longer, aiding the ripening process and most important, 197 00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:36,160 Speaker 1: cutting down on labor costs for big fruit producers. But 198 00:12:36,320 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 1: evidence that a law causes cancer emerged during the nineteen seventies, 199 00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:45,560 Speaker 1: and the proof was overwhelming. A federal band finally passed 200 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:50,560 Speaker 1: Congress in A laar is still found all over crossword puzzles. 201 00:12:53,200 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 1: Shag carpeting Okay, I can't prove that shag garpeting huge 202 00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:01,160 Speaker 1: in the free love era of the nine sixties and seventies, 203 00:13:01,200 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: ever killed someone. But according to a two thousand one 204 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:08,280 Speaker 1: piece in the British newspaper The Telegraph, carpets function as 205 00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: toxic sponges, soaking in all kinds of pollutants that we 206 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 1: track in from the outside. Now imagine the billions of 207 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:19,560 Speaker 1: hippie micro organisms teeming inside those deep plush piles of 208 00:13:19,559 --> 00:13:22,599 Speaker 1: looped yarn that make up a shag carpet. Trillions of 209 00:13:22,679 --> 00:13:25,640 Speaker 1: the shag carpeting was inside a van. I'm not a 210 00:13:25,679 --> 00:13:28,640 Speaker 1: licensed to pediatrician, but I bet that encouraging a baby 211 00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:31,280 Speaker 1: to roll around a shag carpet from the nineteen seventies 212 00:13:31,360 --> 00:13:39,520 Speaker 1: would build up all sorts of immunity. Jarts. Jarts, also 213 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:43,520 Speaker 1: called lawn darts or javelin darts, were weighted metal darts 214 00:13:43,559 --> 00:13:46,200 Speaker 1: about a foot long that people used to toss around 215 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:48,680 Speaker 1: the backyard trying to get them to land inside a 216 00:13:48,679 --> 00:13:51,480 Speaker 1: plastic ring. If you threw them high enough, they could 217 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:55,080 Speaker 1: really gather speed as they plummeted to earth. Kids loved 218 00:13:55,240 --> 00:13:58,839 Speaker 1: charts until the government, citing several injuries and at least 219 00:13:58,840 --> 00:14:03,319 Speaker 1: one death, tried to banned them in After pushback from 220 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:07,600 Speaker 1: several dangerous toy lobbying groups, the Consumer Product Safety Commission 221 00:14:07,679 --> 00:14:11,200 Speaker 1: agreed to a compromise charts would be allowed only in 222 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:17,120 Speaker 1: sporting goods stores. Then, seven year old Michelle Snow was 223 00:14:17,160 --> 00:14:21,440 Speaker 1: tragically killed by a misthrown chart. Her father, David campaigned 224 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:26,120 Speaker 1: tirelessly for an outright ban, and eventually the CPSC voted 225 00:14:26,240 --> 00:14:28,960 Speaker 1: two to one to prohibit their sale. I got to 226 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:36,360 Speaker 1: wonder about that one no vote electric blankets. On a 227 00:14:36,480 --> 00:14:39,920 Speaker 1: cold winter night. During the Carter administration, there was nothing 228 00:14:39,960 --> 00:14:43,280 Speaker 1: like curling up under a soft, cozy blanket laced with 229 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:47,840 Speaker 1: thick electrical wiring. Before safety features like an automatic shutoff 230 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:52,120 Speaker 1: became mandatory in two thousand one. Exposed or damaged wiring 231 00:14:52,280 --> 00:14:55,960 Speaker 1: made electric blankets a serious fire hazard. We got rid 232 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:58,160 Speaker 1: of the two we owned when my father started worrying 233 00:14:58,200 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 1: we could be electrocuted. Even today, the American Pregnancy Association 234 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:06,200 Speaker 1: warns that the heat from an electric blanket can decrease 235 00:15:06,280 --> 00:15:10,320 Speaker 1: a mail user's fertility. Fun fact. In the vintage sci 236 00:15:10,360 --> 00:15:13,640 Speaker 1: fi invasion film The Thing from Another World, the monster 237 00:15:13,840 --> 00:15:15,800 Speaker 1: is freed from the block of ice in which he 238 00:15:15,880 --> 00:15:19,440 Speaker 1: is encased when an electric blanket is casually tossed aside, 239 00:15:19,800 --> 00:15:22,720 Speaker 1: melting the creature's prison and loosening him upon the world. 240 00:15:25,320 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: You Fee you fee spelled u f f I was 241 00:15:30,360 --> 00:15:34,120 Speaker 1: a kind of expanding foam insulation sprayed into walls and 242 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:36,920 Speaker 1: crawl spaces. As a kid, I thought it looked kind 243 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: of pretty like ready whip topping. The problem was that 244 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:44,680 Speaker 1: one of the f's in u F stands for formaldehyde, which, 245 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:48,240 Speaker 1: when sprayed into the air, poses a cancer risk. When 246 00:15:48,280 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 1: you fee's use became a cause of concern, manufacturers protested 247 00:15:52,800 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 1: that symptoms of exposure were limited to watery eyes, nasally irritation, wheezing, coughing, fatigue, 248 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:03,880 Speaker 1: red or blotchy skin, severe allergic reactions, burning sensations in 249 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:07,640 Speaker 1: the eyes and throat, nausea, difficulty breathing, headache, malaise, insomnia, 250 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:10,240 Speaker 1: and orexia. Loss of libido. I'm running out of room here.