Now and Then Again: The Way We Were and the Way We Are

ISBN-10: 0970007469
ISBN-13: 9780970007469
Category: History
Pages: 302
Language: English
Published: 2015-08-14
Author: Joseph Mirsky

Description

A wide-ranging compilation of jewelry store newsletter articles about consumer and middle class issues, food, drink, money, economics, politics, and the lighter side of life, as well as jewelry.Many articles about the past are eerily resonant today, hence the title: an 1899 prediction that the Chinese will mass produce goods "not for their own use, but for us and at such ruinous prices that the labor market of the world will suffer a terrible blow," (Made in China), virtually identical ads for cure-alls in 1903 and 2012 (Snake Oil). The economy was stupid in 1896, too: "Leak Through Economics" is from Bryan's Cross of Gold speech. That corrupting new music is old, shown by quotes about the waltz in 1813, ragtime in 1902, Stravinsky in 1913, swing in 1936, rock and roll in 1957, and Keith Richards dissing hip-hop in 2007 (All Shook Up). The Great Recession got you depressed? Read about the Panic of 33 in ancient Rome (Oeconomia est, O Asine!). While in Rome, go down to Pompeii and read the Graffiti on the walls: "Chie, I hope your hemorrhoids rub together so much that they hurt worse than when they ever have before!" (The Handwriting on the Wall).Some of the diverse topics in the book are an elephant who didn't get a peanut because it was paid for with a lead slug flattening the offender with a stream of water (Never Cheat an Elephant), the rise of the Christmas tree and decline of the Christmas stocking (O Weinachtsbaum), counterfeiters who printed money while in prison in 1899 (Passing the Buck), airline barf bags with ads on them (Ad Nauseum), and an article about a 1927 robot who answered the phone and who, when asked his favorite book at a booksellers convention, replied "Is Sex Necessary?" by James Thurber (Is Sex Necessary?). The article is accompanied by a wonderful photo of a woman hugging the protesting robot.The book is like a newspaper: you don't have to read it sequentially, so you won't get bored. You can read what interests you.

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