Pop Culture Origins

October 1, 2009

Interview with Martin Smith, author of the book Poplorica: A Popular History of the Fads, Mavericks, Inventions, and Lore that Shaped Modern America

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Mike Carruthers:

It’s fascinating to trace back the origins of things today that we take for granted - like the popularity of alcohol and drug rehab.

Martin Smith: 

You can trace that directly back to the 1970’s when First Lady Betty Ford went public with her addiction to alcohol and painkillers.

Martin Smith

Martin Smith, co-author of the book Poplorica, says today there is an open dialogue about drug and alcohol rehabilitation.

That was just unheard of before Betty Ford went public with her situation.

The disposable diaper was a huge development that changed the lives of many families back in the 60’s. But early disposable diapers were huge and made of absorbent paper until someone finally figured out…

There’s this super absorbent gel that absorbs many, many times its weight in liquid. What if we put a strip of that super absorbent gel into disposable diapers? Now the problem with disposable diapers, of course, is that they end up in landfills but it’s less of a problem because the diapers are half the size they used to be.

Now in many ballparks today you can’t buy beer after the 7th inning and that is traceable back to 1974 in Cleveland when the Indians had 10-cent beer night.

By the national anthem people were pretty well lit up. Well the whole thing degenerates into a riot, remains one of the only games that was ever canceled because of rioting. And some of the rules that exist in ballparks today can be traced directly to that moment.

To hear the complete unedited interview click here.