Check out my other new & used items>>>>>>HERE! (click me)A dark but hilarious mock advertisement in magnet form
2006 EPHEMERA, INC. "RITALIN!" FRIDGE MAGNET
DETAILS:
"So Much Easier Than Parenting!"
This rare refrigerator magnet find features a humorous but fictitious Ritalin advertisement aimed at parents. The retro novelty fridge magnet, crafted by the renowned Ephemera, Inc., captures the essence of a bygone era and pairs it with biting humor to amuse the witty pop art fan. This magnet is not only a functional accessory for your refrigerator but also a captivating conversation starter.
The centerpiece of this magnet is a delightful photo featuring the quintessential classic family of the 1950s. With their perfectly coiffed hair, beaming smiles, and impeccably dressed attire, they epitomize the idyllic image of a wholesome family unit. The cleverly integrated slogan, "Ritalin! So Much Easier Than Parenting!," at first glance appears lighthearted but rather is satirical and the underlying message is very much bleak and heartbreaking.
What sets this magnet apart is its rarity and scarcity. Produced in 2006, it has become increasingly hard to find, making it a true collector's item for enthusiasts of Ritalin memorabilia. Its limited availability and unique design make it an exceptional addition to any collection.
Dimensions:
Approximately 2-1/8" x 3-1/8"
CONDITION:
In
excellent, pre-owned condition.
Please see photos.
To ensure safe delivery all items are carefully packaged before shipping out.
THANK YOU FOR LOOKING. QUESTIONS? JUST ASK.
*ALL PHOTOS AND TEXT ARE INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY OF SIDEWAYS STAIRS CO. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.*
"Methylphenidate, sold under the brand names Ritalin and Concerta among others, is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant used medically to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and, to a lesser extent, narcolepsy. It is a primary medication for ADHD (e.g. in the UK[12]); it may be taken by mouth or applied to the skin, and different formulations have varying durations of effect, commonly ranging from 2–4 hours.[2] Methylphenidate's efficacy as a athletic performance enhancer, cognitive enhancer, aphrodisiac, and euphoriant is supported by research.[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] However, the manner in which methylphenidate is used for these purposes (high doses and temperatures, alternate routes of administration, etc.) can result in severe unintended side effects.[22][23][21]
Common adverse reactions of methylphenidate include: tachycardia, palpitations, headache, insomnia, anxiety, hyperhidrosis, weight loss, decreased appetite, dry mouth, nausea, and abdominal pain.[6] Withdrawal symptoms may include: chills, depression, drowsiness, dysphoria, exhaustion, headache, irritability, lethargy, nightmares, restlessness, suicidal thoughts, and weakness.[2]
Methylphenidate is believed to work by blocking the reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine by neurons.[24][25] It is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant of the phenethylamine and piperidine classes. Despite the claim made by some urban legends, it is not a cocaine derivative nor analog; cocaine is a local anesthetic and ligand channel blocker with SNDRI action, while methylphenidate is an NDRI with 2–3 fold selectivity for the dopamine transporter (DAT) over the norepinephrine transporter (NET). Cocaine is also more potent in serotonin transporters (SERTs) than NDRI sites.[26][27]
Etymology
The word methylphenidate is a portmanteau of the chemical name, Methyl-2-phenyl-2-(piperidin-2-yl) acetate." (wikipedia.org)
"A magnet is a material or object that produces a magnetic field. This magnetic field is invisible but is responsible for the most notable property of a magnet: a force that pulls on other ferromagnetic materials, such as iron, steel, nickel, cobalt, etc. and attracts or repels other magnets.
A permanent magnet is an object made from a material that is magnetized and creates its own persistent magnetic field. An everyday example is a refrigerator magnet used to hold notes on a refrigerator door. Materials that can be magnetized, which are also the ones that are strongly attracted to a magnet, are called ferromagnetic (or ferrimagnetic). These include the elements iron, nickel and cobalt and their alloys, some alloys of rare-earth metals, and some naturally occurring minerals such as lodestone. Although ferromagnetic (and ferrimagnetic) materials are the only ones attracted to a magnet strongly enough to be commonly considered magnetic, all other substances respond weakly to a magnetic field, by one of several other types of magnetism.
Ferromagnetic materials can be divided into magnetically "soft" materials like annealed iron, which can be magnetized but do not tend to stay magnetized, and magnetically "hard" materials, which do. Permanent magnets are made from "hard" ferromagnetic materials such as alnico and ferrite that are subjected to special processing in a strong magnetic field during manufacture to align their internal microcrystalline structure, making them very hard to demagnetize. To demagnetize a saturated magnet, a certain magnetic field must be applied, and this threshold depends on coercivity of the respective material. "Hard" materials have high coercivity, whereas "soft" materials have low coercivity. The overall strength of a magnet is measured by its magnetic moment or, alternatively, the total magnetic flux it produces. The local strength of magnetism in a material is measured by its magnetization.
An electromagnet is made from a coil of wire that acts as a magnet when an electric current passes through it but stops being a magnet when the current stops. Often, the coil is wrapped around a core of "soft" ferromagnetic material such as mild steel, which greatly enhances the magnetic field produced by the coil....Common uses
Hard disk drives record data on a thin magnetic coating
Magnetic hand separator for heavy minerals
Magnetic recording media: VHS tapes contain a reel of magnetic tape. The information that makes up the video and sound is encoded on the magnetic coating on the tape. Common audio cassettes also rely on magnetic tape. Similarly, in computers, floppy disks and hard disks record data on a thin magnetic coating... Older types of televisions (non flat screen) and older large computer monitors: TV and computer screens containing a cathode ray tube employ an electromagnet to guide electrons to the screen.[27]
Speakers and microphones: Most speakers employ a permanent magnet and a current-carrying coil to convert electric energy (the signal) into mechanical energy (movement that creates the sound). The coil is wrapped around a bobbin attached to the speaker cone and carries the signal as changing current that interacts with the field of the permanent magnet. The voice coil feels a magnetic force and in response, moves the cone and pressurizes the neighboring air, thus generating sound. Dynamic microphones employ the same concept, but in reverse. A microphone has a diaphragm or membrane attached to a coil of wire. The coil rests inside a specially shaped magnet. When sound vibrates the membrane, the coil is vibrated as well. As the coil moves through the magnetic field, a voltage is induced across the coil. This voltage drives a current in the wire that is characteristic of the original sound.
Electric guitars use magnetic pickups to transduce the vibration of guitar strings into electric current that can then be amplified. This is different from the principle behind the speaker and dynamic microphone because the vibrations are sensed directly by the magnet, and a diaphragm is not employed. The Hammond organ used a similar principle, with rotating tonewheels instead of strings.
Electric motors and generators: Some electric motors rely upon a combination of an electromagnet and a permanent magnet, and, much like loudspeakers, they convert electric energy into mechanical energy. A generator is the reverse: it converts mechanical energy into electric energy by moving a conductor through a magnetic field.
Medicine: Hospitals use magnetic resonance imaging to spot problems in a patient's organs without invasive surgery.
Chemistry: Chemists use nuclear magnetic resonance to characterize synthesized compounds.
Chucks are used in the metalworking field to hold objects. Magnets are also used in other types of fastening devices, such as the magnetic base, the magnetic clamp and the refrigerator magnet.
Compasses: A compass (or mariner's compass) is a magnetized pointer free to align itself with a magnetic field, most commonly Earth's magnetic field.
Art: Vinyl magnet sheets may be attached to paintings, photographs, and other ornamental articles, allowing them to be attached to refrigerators and other metal surfaces. Objects and paint can be applied directly to the magnet surface to create collage pieces of art. Metal magnetic boards, strips, doors, microwave ovens, dishwashers, cars, metal I beams, and any metal surface can be used magnetic vinyl art.
Science projects: Many topic questions are based on magnets, including the repulsion of current-carrying wires, the effect of temperature, and motors involving magnets.[28]
Magnets have many uses in toys. M-tic uses magnetic rods connected to metal spheres for construction.
Toys: Given their ability to counteract the force of gravity at close range, magnets are often employed in children's toys, such as the Magnet Space Wheel and Levitron, to amusing effect.
Refrigerator magnets are used to adorn kitchens, as a souvenir, or simply to hold a note or photo to the refrigerator door.
Magnets can be used to make jewelry. Necklaces and bracelets can have a magnetic clasp, or may be constructed entirely from a linked series of magnets and ferrous beads.
Magnets can pick up magnetic items (iron nails, staples, tacks, paper clips) that are either too small, too hard to reach, or too thin for fingers to hold. Some screwdrivers are magnetized for this purpose.
Magnets can be used in scrap and salvage operations to separate magnetic metals (iron, cobalt, and nickel) from non-magnetic metals (aluminum, non-ferrous alloys, etc.). The same idea can be used in the so-called "magnet test", in which a car chassis is inspected with a magnet to detect areas repaired using fiberglass or plastic putty.
Magnets are found in process industries, food manufacturing especially, in order to remove metal foreign bodies from materials entering the process (raw materials) or to detect a possible contamination at the end of the process and prior to packaging. They constitute an important layer of protection for the process equipment and for the final consumer.[29]
Magnetic levitation transport, or maglev, is a form of transportation that suspends, guides and propels vehicles (especially trains) through electromagnetic force. Eliminating rolling resistance increases efficiency. The maximum recorded speed of a maglev train is 581 kilometers per hour (361 mph).
Magnets may be used to serve as a fail-safe device for some cable connections. For example, the power cords of some laptops are magnetic to prevent accidental damage to the port when tripped over. The MagSafe power connection to the Apple MacBook is one such example." (wikipedia.org)
"Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposing or shaming the perceived flaws of individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement.[1] Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society.
A feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm —"in satire, irony is militant", according to literary critic Northrop Frye—[2] but parody, burlesque, exaggeration,[3] juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This "militant" irony or sarcasm often professes to approve of (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist wishes to question.
Satire is found in many artistic forms of expression, including internet memes, literature, plays, commentary, music, film and television shows, and media such as lyrics.
Etymology and roots
The word satire comes from the Latin word satur and the subsequent phrase lanx satura. Satur meant "full" but the juxtaposition with lanx shifted the meaning to "miscellany or medley": the expression lanx satura literally means "a full dish of various kinds of fruits".[4]
The word satura as used by Quintilian, however, was used to denote only Roman verse satire, a strict genre that imposed hexameter form, a narrower genre than what would be later intended as satire.[4][5] Quintilian famously said that satura, that is a satire in hexameter verses, was a literary genre of wholly Roman origin (satura tota nostra est). He was aware of and commented on Greek satire, but at the time did not label it as such, although today the origin of satire is considered to be Aristophanes' Old Comedy. The first critic to use the term "satire" in the modern broader sense was Apuleius.[4]
To Quintilian, the satire was a strict literary form, but the term soon escaped from the original narrow definition. Robert Elliott writes:
As soon as a noun enters the domain of metaphor, as one modern scholar has pointed out, it clamours for extension; and satura (which had had no verbal, adverbial, or adjectival forms) was immediately broadened by appropriation from the Greek word for "satyr" (satyros) and its derivatives. The odd result is that the English "satire" comes from the Latin satura; but "satirize", "satiric", etc., are of Greek origin. By about the 4th century AD the writer of satires came to be known as satyricus; St. Jerome, for example, was called by one of his enemies 'a satirist in prose' ('satyricus scriptor in prosa'). Subsequent orthographic modifications obscured the Latin origin of the word satire: satura becomes satyra, and in England, by the 16th century, it was written 'satyre.'[1]
The word satire derives from satura, and its origin was not influenced by the Greek mythological figure of the satyr.[6] In the 17th century, philologist Isaac Casaubon was the first to dispute the etymology of satire from satyr, contrary to the belief up to that time.[7]
Humour
The rules of satire are such that it must do more than make you laugh. No matter how amusing it is, it doesn't count unless you find yourself wincing a little even as you chuckle.[8]
Laughter is not an essential component of satire;[9] in fact there are types of satire that are not meant to be "funny" at all. Conversely, not all humour, even on such topics as politics, religion or art is necessarily "satirical", even when it uses the satirical tools of irony, parody, and burlesque.
Even light-hearted satire has a serious "after-taste": the organizers of the Ig Nobel Prize describe this as "first make people laugh, and then make them think".[10]
Social and psychological functions
A satire by Angelo Agostini to Revista Illustrada mocking the lack of interest from Emperor Pedro II of Brazil in politics toward the end of his reign.
Satire and irony in some cases have been regarded as the most effective source to understand a society, the oldest form of social study.[11] They provide the keenest insights into a group's collective psyche, reveal its deepest values and tastes, and the society's structures of power.[12][13] Some authors have regarded satire as superior to non-comic and non-artistic disciplines like history or anthropology.[11][14][15][16] In a prominent example from ancient Greece, philosopher Plato, when asked by a friend for a book to understand Athenian society, referred him to the plays of Aristophanes.[17][18]
Historically, satire has satisfied the popular need to debunk and ridicule the leading figures in politics, economy, religion and other prominent realms of power.[19] Satire confronts public discourse and the collective imaginary, playing as a public opinion counterweight to power (be it political, economic, religious, symbolic, or otherwise), by challenging leaders and authorities. For instance, it forces administrations to clarify, amend or establish their policies. Satire's job is to expose problems and contradictions, and it is not obligated to solve them.[20] Karl Kraus set in the history of satire a prominent example of a satirist role as confronting public discourse.[21]
For its nature and social role, satire has enjoyed in many societies a special freedom license to mock prominent individuals and institutions.[22] The satiric impulse, and its ritualized expressions, carry out the function of resolving social tension.[23] Institutions like the ritual clowns, by giving expression to the antisocial tendencies, represent a safety valve which re-establishes equilibrium and health in the collective imaginary, which are jeopardized by the repressive aspects of society.[24][25]
The state of political satire in a given society reflects the tolerance or intolerance that characterizes it,[19] and the state of civil liberties and human rights. Under totalitarian regimes any criticism of a political system, and especially satire, is suppressed. A typical example is the Soviet Union where the dissidents, such as Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and Andrei Sakharov were under strong pressure from the government. While satire of everyday life in the USSR was allowed, the most prominent satirist being Arkady Raikin, political satire existed in the form of anecdotes[26] that made fun of Soviet political leaders, especially Brezhnev, famous for his narrow-mindedness and love for awards and decorations....Satire versus teasing
In the history of theatre there has always been a conflict between engagement and disengagement on politics and relevant issue, between satire and grotesque on one side, and jest with teasing on the other.[36] Max Eastman defined the spectrum of satire in terms of "degrees of biting", as ranging from satire proper at the hot-end, and "kidding" at the violet-end; Eastman adopted the term kidding to denote what is just satirical in form, but is not really firing at the target.[37] Nobel laureate satirical playwright Dario Fo pointed out the difference between satire and teasing (sfottò).[38] Teasing is the reactionary side of the comic; it limits itself to a shallow parody of physical appearance. The side-effect of teasing is that it humanizes and draws sympathy for the powerful individual towards which it is directed. Satire instead uses the comic to go against power and its oppressions, has a subversive character, and a moral dimension which draws judgement against its targets.[39][40][41][42] Fo formulated an operational criterion to tell real satire from sfottò, saying that real satire arouses an outraged and violent reaction, and that the more they try to stop you, the better is the job you are doing.[43] Fo contends that, historically, people in positions of power have welcomed and encouraged good-humoured buffoonery, while modern day people in positions of power have tried to censor, ostracize and repress satire.[36][39]
Teasing (sfottò) is an ancient form of simple buffoonery, a form of comedy without satire's subversive edge. Teasing includes light and affectionate parody, good-humoured mockery, simple one-dimensional poking fun, and benign spoofs. Teasing typically consists of an impersonation of someone monkeying around with his exterior attributes, tics, physical blemishes, voice and mannerisms, quirks, way of dressing and walking, and/or the phrases he typically repeats. By contrast, teasing never touches on the core issue, never makes a serious criticism judging the target with irony; it never harms the target's conduct, ideology and position of power; it never undermines the perception of his morality and cultural dimension.[39][41] Sfottò directed towards a powerful individual makes him appear more human and draws sympathy towards him.[44] Hermann Göring propagated jests and jokes against himself, with the aim of humanizing his image.
Classifications by topics
Types of satire can also be classified according to the topics it deals with. From the earliest times, at least since the plays of Aristophanes, the primary topics of literary satire have been politics, religion and sex.[47][48][49][50] This is partly because these are the most pressing problems that affect anybody living in a society, and partly because these topics are usually taboo.[47][51] Among these, politics in the broader sense is considered the pre-eminent topic of satire.[51] Satire which targets the clergy is a type of political satire, while religious satire is that which targets religious beliefs.[52] Satire on sex may overlap with blue comedy, off-color humor and dick jokes.
Scatology has a long literary association with satire,[47][53][54] as it is a classical mode of the grotesque, the grotesque body and the satiric grotesque.[47][55] Shit plays a fundamental role in satire because it symbolizes death, the turd being "the ultimate dead object".[53][54] The satirical comparison of individuals or institutions with human excrement, exposes their "inherent inertness, corruption and dead-likeness".[53][56][57] The ritual clowns of clown societies, like among the Pueblo Indians, have ceremonies with filth-eating.[58][59] In other cultures, sin-eating is an apotropaic rite in which the sin-eater (also called filth-eater),[60][61] by ingesting the food provided, takes "upon himself the sins of the departed".[62] Satire about death overlaps with black humor and gallows humor.
Another classification by topics is the distinction between political satire, religious satire and satire of manners.[63] Political satire is sometimes called topical satire, satire of manners is sometimes called satire of everyday life, and religious satire is sometimes called philosophical satire. Comedy of manners, sometimes also called satire of manners, criticizes mode of life of common people; political satire aims at behavior, manners of politicians, and vices of political systems. Historically, comedy of manners, which first appeared in British theater in 1620, has uncritically accepted the social code of the upper classes.[64] Comedy in general accepts the rules of the social game, while satire subverts them.[65]
Another analysis of satire is the spectrum of his possible tones: wit, ridicule, irony, sarcasm, cynicism, the sardonic and invective.[66][67]
The type of humour that deals with creating laughter at the expense of the person telling the joke is called reflexive humour.[68] Reflexive humour can take place at dual levels of directing humour at self or at the larger community the self identifies with. The audience's understanding of the context of reflexive humour is important for its receptivity and success.[68] Satire is found not only in written literary forms. In preliterate cultures it manifests itself in ritual and folk forms, as well as in trickster tales and oral poetry.[23]
It appears also in graphic arts, music, sculpture, dance, cartoon strips, and graffiti. Examples are Dada sculptures, Pop Art works, music of Gilbert and Sullivan and Erik Satie, punk and rock music.[23] In modern media culture, stand-up comedy is an enclave in which satire can be introduced into mass media, challenging mainstream discourse.[23] Comedy roasts, mock festivals, and stand-up comedians in nightclubs and concerts are the modern forms of ancient satiric rituals." (wikipedia.org)
"Humour (Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body, known as humours (Latin: humor, "body fluid"), controlled human health and emotion.
People of all ages and cultures respond to humour. Most people are able to experience humour—be amused, smile or laugh at something funny (such as a pun or joke)—and thus are considered to have a sense of humour. The hypothetical person lacking a sense of humour would likely find the behaviour to be inexplicable, strange, or even irrational. Though ultimately decided by personal taste, the extent to which a person finds something humorous depends on a host of variables, including geographical location, culture, maturity, level of education, intelligence and context. For example, young children may favour slapstick such as Punch and Judy puppet shows or the Tom and Jerry cartoons, whose physical nature makes it accessible to them. By contrast, more sophisticated forms of humour such as satire require an understanding of its social meaning and context, and thus tend to appeal to a more mature audience.
Theories
Main article: Theories of humour
Many theories exist about what humour is and what social function it serves. The prevailing types of theories attempting to account for the existence of humour include psychological theories, the vast majority of which consider humour-induced behaviour to be very healthy; spiritual theories, which may, for instance, consider humour to be a "gift from God"; and theories which consider humour to be an unexplainable mystery, very much like a mystical experience.[1]
The benign-violation theory, endorsed by Peter McGraw, attempts to explain humour's existence. The theory says 'humour only occurs when something seems wrong, unsettling, or threatening, but simultaneously seems okay, acceptable or safe'.[2] Humour can be used as a method to easily engage in social interaction by taking away that awkward, uncomfortable, or uneasy feeling of social interactions.
Others believe that 'the appropriate use of humour can facilitate social interactions'.[3]
Views
Some claim that humour should not be explained. Author E. B. White once said, "Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind."[4] Counter to this argument, protests against "offensive" cartoons invite the dissection of humour or its lack by aggrieved individuals and communities. This process of dissecting humour does not necessarily banish a sense of humour but directs attention towards its politics and assumed universality.[5]
Arthur Schopenhauer lamented the misuse of humour (a German loanword from English) to mean any type of comedy. However, both humour and comic are often used when theorising about the subject. The connotations of humour as opposed to comic are said to be that of response versus stimulus. Additionally, humour was thought to include a combination of ridiculousness and wit in an individual; the paradigmatic case being Shakespeare's Sir John Falstaff. The French were slow to adopt the term humour; in French, humeur and humour are still two different words, the former referring to a person's mood or to the archaic concept of the four humours.[citation needed]
Non-satirical humour can be specifically termed droll humour or recreational drollery.[6][7]
Sociological factors
As with any art form, the acceptance of a particular style or incidence of humour depends on sociological factors and varies from person to person. Throughout history, comedy has been used as a form of entertainment all over the world, whether in the courts of the Western kings or the villages of the Far East. Both a social etiquette and a certain intelligence can be displayed through forms of wit and sarcasm. Eighteenth-century German author Georg Lichtenberg said that "the more you know humour, the more you become demanding in fineness."...Laughter
A man laughing
One of the main focuses of modern psychological humour theory and research is to establish and clarify the correlation between humour and laughter. The major empirical findings here are that laughter and humour do not always have a one-to-one association. While most previous theories assumed the connection between the two almost to the point of them being synonymous, psychology has been able to scientifically and empirically investigate the supposed connection, its implications, and significance.
In 2009, Diana Szameitat conducted a study to examine the differentiation of emotions in laughter. They hired actors and told them to laugh with one of four different emotional associations by using auto-induction, where they would focus exclusively on the internal emotion and not on the expression of laughter itself. They found an overall recognition rate of 44%, with joy correctly classified at 44%, tickle 45%, schadenfreude 37%, and taunt 50%.[45]: 399 Their second experiment tested the behavioural recognition of laughter during an induced emotional state and they found that different laughter types did differ with respect to emotional dimensions.[45]: 401–402 In addition, the four emotional states displayed a full range of high and low sender arousal and valence.[45]: 403 This study showed that laughter can be correlated with both positive (joy and tickle) and negative (schadenfreude and taunt) emotions with varying degrees of arousal in the subject.
This brings into question the definition of humour, then. If it is to be defined by the cognitive processes which display laughter, then humour itself can encompass a variety of negative as well as positive emotions. However, if humour is limited to positive emotions and things which cause positive affect, it must be delimited from laughter and their relationship should be further defined." (wikipedia.org)
"The 1950s (pronounced nineteen-fifties; commonly abbreviated as the "Fifties" or the "'50s") (among other variants) was a decade that began on January 1, 1950, and ended on December 31, 1959.
Throughout the decade, the world continued its recovery from World War II, aided by the post-World War II economic expansion. The period also saw great population growth with increased birth rates and the emergence of the baby boomer generation.
Despite this recovery, the Cold War developed from its modest beginnings in the late 1940s to a heated competition between the Soviet Union and the United States by the early 1960s. The ideological clash between communism and capitalism dominated the decade, especially in the Northern Hemisphere
In the United States, a wave of anti-communist sentiment known as the Second Red Scare aka McCarthyism resulted in Congressional hearings by both houses in Congress. In the Soviet Union, the death of Joseph Stalin would lead to a political campaign and reforms known as "De-Stalinization" initiated by Nikita Khrushchev leading to the deterioration between the relationship of the USSR and the People's Republic of China in the 60s.
The beginning of the Cold War lead to beginning of the Space Race with the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 and the United States would create NASA in response in 1958. Along with increased testing of nuclear weapons (such as RDS-37 and Upshot–Knothole) called the arms race, the tense geopolitical situation created a politically conservative climate.
The beginning of decolonization in Africa and Asia also took place in this decade and accelerated in the following decade albeit would lead to several conflicts throughout the decade and so on. Wars include the First Indochina War, Malayan Emergency, Korean War, the Algerian War, the First Sudanese Civil War, the Vietnam War, the Cuban Revolution, and the Suez Crisis. Coups include the Egyptian revolution, the Iranian coup d'état, the Guatemalan coup d'état, the 14 July Revolution in Iraq, and the Pakistani coup d'état in 1958.
Television, which first reached the marketplace in the 1940s, became a common innovation in American homes during the 1950s culminating in the Golden Age of TV. This led many to purchase more products and upgrade whatever they currently had resulting in mass consumerism. While outside of America, it would take a few decades for TV to become commonplace in other countries.
The 1950s saw a turning point for polio with the successful discovery of the polio vaccine. Following the widespread use of poliovirus vaccine in the mid-1950s, the incidence of poliomyelitis declined rapidly in many industrialized countries while it would gradually decline for the next few decades in developing countries reducing the number of death rates from this disease.
During the 1950s, the world population increased from 2.5 to 3.0 billion, with approximately 1 billion births and 500 million deaths....Popular culture
In the 1950s Pez candies were released, and became popular in pop culture.
In the 1950s Pez candies were released, and became popular in pop culture.
In the 1950s lengthy poodle skirts were popular.
In the 1950s lengthy poodle skirts were popular.
In the 1950s leather jackets were popular and worn by many. Pictured is a 1950s leather jacket label.
In the 1950s leather jackets were popular and worn by many. Pictured is a 1950s leather jacket label.
The jukebox was particularly popular in the 1950s, and was used as entertainment in public establishments such as diners and malt/soda shops.
The jukebox was particularly popular in the 1950s, and was used as entertainment in public establishments such as diners and malt/soda shops.
TV shows like I Love Lucy, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and Father Knows Best were popular during the original and first Golden Age of Television era.
TV shows like I Love Lucy, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet, and Father Knows Best were popular during the original and first Golden Age of Television era.
The 1950s were the true birth of the rock and roll music genre, led by figures such as Chuck Berry (pictured), Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and others.
The 1950s were the true birth of the rock and roll music genre, led by figures such as Chuck Berry (pictured), Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Jerry Lee Lewis and others.
Two Summer Olympic Games were held in the 1950s, Helsinki in 1952 and Melbourne in 1956 (both during the Cold War).
Two Summer Olympic Games were held in the 1950s, Helsinki in 1952 and Melbourne in 1956 (both during the Cold War).
Motorcycle clubs became more prominent in the 1950s. Pictured is a vintage 1950s motorcycle toy.
Motorcycle clubs became more prominent in the 1950s. Pictured is a vintage 1950s motorcycle toy.
Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn were important figures in 1950s popular culture, appearing in many films and magazines.
Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn were important figures in 1950s popular culture, appearing in many films and magazines.
The 1950s was the beginning period of rapid television ownership. In their infancy, television screens existed in many forms, including round.
The 1950s was the beginning period of rapid television ownership. In their infancy, television screens existed in many forms, including round.
The creation and expansion of many multinational restaurant chains still in existence today, including the likes of McDonald's (as a franchise), IHOP, Pizza Hut and Burger King, all occurred in the 1950s.
The creation and expansion of many multinational restaurant chains still in existence today, including the likes of McDonald's (as a franchise), IHOP, Pizza Hut and Burger King, all occurred in the 1950s.
Many famous children's books released in the 1950s, including Beezus and Ramona and The Cat in the Hat.
Many famous children's books released in the 1950s, including Beezus and Ramona and The Cat in the Hat.
Music
Further information: 1950s in music, Rock and roll, Timeline of musical events § 1950s, First rock and roll record, and List of acts who appeared on American Bandstand
Elvis Presley was the best-selling musical artist of the decade. He is considered as the leading figure of the rock and roll and rockabilly movement of the 1950s.
Popular music in the early 1950s was essentially a continuation of the crooner sound of the previous decade, with less emphasis on the jazz-influenced big band style and more emphasis on a conservative, operatic, symphonic style of music. Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Frankie Laine, Patti Page, Judy Garland, Johnnie Ray, Kay Starr, Perry Como, Bing Crosby, Rosemary Clooney, Dean Martin, Georgia Gibbs, Eddie Fisher, Teresa Brewer, Dinah Shore, Kitty Kallen, Joni James, Peggy Lee, Julie London, Toni Arden, June Valli, Doris Day, Arthur Godfrey, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Guy Mitchell, Nat King Cole, and vocal groups like the Mills Brothers, The Ink Spots, The Four Lads, The Four Aces, The Chordettes, The Fontane Sisters, The Hilltoppers and the Ames Brothers. Jo Stafford's "You Belong To Me" was the #1 song of 1952 on the Billboard Top 100 chart.
The middle of the decade saw a change in the popular music landscape as classic pop was swept off the charts by rock-and-roll. Crooners such as Eddie Fisher, Perry Como, and Patti Page, who had dominated the first half of the decade, found their access to the pop charts significantly curtailed by the decade's end.[12] Doo-wop entered the pop charts in the 1950s. Its popularity soon spawns the parody "Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp)".
Rock-n-roll emerged in the mid-1950s with Sam Cooke, Elvis Presley, Jackie Wilson, Gene Vincent, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Little Richard, James Brown, Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly, Bobby Darin, Ritchie Valens, Duane Eddy, Eddie Cochran, Brenda Lee, Bobby Vee, Connie Francis, Neil Sedaka, Pat Boone, Ricky Nelson, Tommy Steele, Billy Fury, Marty Wilde and Cliff Richard being notable exponents. In the mid-1950s, Elvis Presley became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll with a series of network television appearances and chart-topping records. Chuck Berry, with "Maybellene" (1955), "Roll Over Beethoven" (1956), "Rock and Roll Music" (1957) and "Johnny B. Goode" (1958), refined and developed the major elements that made rock and roll distinctive, focusing on teen life and introducing guitar solos and showmanship that would be a major influence on subsequent rock music.[13] Bill Haley, Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, The Everly Brothers, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, Conway Twitty, Johnny Horton, and Marty Robbins were Rockabilly musicians. Doo-wop was another popular genre at the time. Popular Doo Wop and Rock-n-Roll bands of the mid to late 1950s include The Platters, The Flamingos, The Dells, The Silhouettes, Frankie Lymon and The Teenagers, Little Anthony and The Imperials, Danny & the Juniors, The Coasters, The Drifters, The Del-Vikings and Dion and the Belmonts.
Harry Belafonte in 1954, whose breakthrough album Calypso (1956) was the first million-selling LP by a single artist.
The new music differed from previous styles in that it was primarily targeted at the teenager market, which became a distinct entity for the first time in the 1950s as growing prosperity meant that young people did not have to grow up as quickly or be expected to support a family. Rock-and-roll proved to be a difficult phenomenon for older Americans to accept and there were widespread accusations of its being a communist-orchestrated scheme to corrupt the youth, although rock and roll was extremely market-based and capitalistic.
Jazz stars in the 1950s who came into prominence in their genres called bebop, hard bop, cool jazz and the blues, at this time included Lester Young, Ben Webster, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus, Art Tatum, Bill Evans, Ahmad Jamal, Oscar Peterson, Gil Evans, Jerry Mulligan, Cannonball Adderley, Stan Getz, Chet Baker, Dave Brubeck, Art Blakey, Max Roach, the Miles Davis Quintet, the Modern Jazz Quartet, Ella Fitzgerald, Ray Charles, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Nina Simone, and Billie Holiday.
The American folk music revival became a phenomenon in the United States in the 1950s to mid-1960s with the initial success of The Weavers who popularized the genre. Their sound, and their broad repertoire of traditional folk material and topical songs inspired other groups such as the Kingston Trio, the Chad Mitchell Trio, The New Christy Minstrels, and the "collegiate folk" groups such as The Brothers Four, The Four Freshmen, The Four Preps, and The Highwaymen. All featured tight vocal harmonies and a repertoire at least initially rooted in folk music and topical songs.
On 3 February 1959, a chartered plane transporting the three American rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson goes down in foggy conditions near Clear Lake, Iowa, killing all four occupants on board, including pilot Roger Peterson. The tragedy is later termed "The Day the Music Died", popularized in Don McLean's 1971 song "American Pie". This event, combined with the conscription of Presley into the US Army, is often taken to mark the point where the era of 1950s rock-and-roll ended.
Television
An American family watching television together in 1958.
The 1950s are known as the Golden Age of Television by some people. Sales of TV sets rose tremendously in the 1950s and by 1950 4.4 million families in America had a television set. Americans devoted most of their free time to watching television broadcasts. People spent so much time watching TV, that movie attendance dropped and so did the number of radio listeners.[14] Television revolutionized the way Americans see themselves and the world around them. TV affects all aspects of American culture. "Television affects what we wear, the music we listen to, what we eat, and the news we receive."[15]
Film
Further information: 1950s in film
Cary Grant as Roger O. Thornhill in North by Northwest (1959)
European cinema experienced a renaissance in the 1950s following the deprivations of World War II. Italian director Federico Fellini won the first foreign language film Academy Award with La Strada and garnered another Academy Award with Nights of Cabiria. Sidney Poitier became the first Black actor to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor for the 1958 film The Defiant Ones (an award he later won in the 1960s). In 1955, Swedish director Ingmar Bergman earned a Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival with Smiles of a Summer Night and followed the film with masterpieces The Seventh Seal and Wild Strawberries. Jean Cocteau's Orphée, a film central to his Orphic Trilogy, starred Jean Marais and was released in 1950. French director Claude Chabrol's Le Beau Serge is now widely considered the first film of the French New Wave. Notable European film stars of the period include Brigitte Bardot, Sophia Loren, Marcello Mastroianni, Max von Sydow, and Jean-Paul Belmondo.
Japanese cinema reached its zenith with films from director Akira Kurosawa including Rashomon, Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, and The Hidden Fortress. Other distinguished Japanese directors of the period were Yasujirō Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi. Russian fantasy director Aleksandr Ptushko's mythological epics Sadko, Ilya Muromets, and Sampo were internationally acclaimed as was Ballad of a Soldier, a 1959 Soviet film directed by Grigory Chukhray.
In Hollywood, the epic Ben-Hur grabbed a record 11 Academy Awards in 1959 and its success gave a new lease of life to motion picture studio MGM.
Beginning in 1953, with Shane and The Robe, widescreen motion pictures became the norm.
The "Golden Era" of 3D cinematography transpired during the 1950s.
Animated films in the 1950s presented by Walt Disney included Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan and Lady and the Tramp, followed by Sleeping Beauty....Fashion
See also: 1945–60 in Western fashion
Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell in 1953, showing American fashions and popular hairstyles of the era
Liz Taylor in the 1950s, a fashion icon of the era
The 1950s saw the birth of the teenager and with it rock n roll and youth fashion dominating the fashion industry. In the UK the Teddy boy became both style icons and anti-authoritarian figures. While in America Greasers had a similar social position. Previously teenagers dressed similarly to their parents but now a rebellious and different youth style was being developed. This was particularly noticeable in the overtly sexual nature of their dress. Men wore tight trousers, leather jackets and emphasis was on slicked, greasy hair.
New ideas meant new designers who had a concept of what was fashion. Fashion started gaining a voice and style when Christian Dior created “The New Look” collection. The 1950s was not only about spending on luxurious brands but also the idea of being comfortable was created. It was a time where resources were available and it was a new type of fashion. Designers were creating collections with different materials such as: taffeta, nylon, rayon, wool and leather that allowed different colors and patterns. People started wearing artificial fibers because it was easier to take care of and it was price effective.[16] It was a time where shopping was part of a lifestyle. " (wikipedia.org)
"A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with dialogue, and ends in a punch line, whereby the humorous element of the story is revealed; this can be done using a pun or other type of word play, irony or sarcasm, logical incompatibility, hyperbole, or other means.[1] Linguist Robert Hetzron offers the definition:
A joke is a short humorous piece of oral literature in which the funniness culminates in the final sentence, called the punchline… In fact, the main condition is that the tension should reach its highest level at the very end. No continuation relieving the tension should be added. As for its being "oral," it is true that jokes may appear printed, but when further transferred, there is no obligation to reproduce the text verbatim, as in the case of poetry.[2]
It is generally held that jokes benefit from brevity, containing no more detail than is needed to set the scene for the punchline at the end. In the case of riddle jokes or one-liners, the setting is implicitly understood, leaving only the dialogue and punchline to be verbalised. However, subverting these and other common guidelines can also be a source of humour—the shaggy dog story is an example of an anti-joke; although presented as a joke, it contains a long drawn-out narrative of time, place and character, rambles through many pointless inclusions and finally fails to deliver a punchline. Jokes are a form of humour, but not all humour is in the form of a joke. Some humorous forms which are not verbal jokes are: involuntary humour, situational humour, practical jokes, slapstick and anecdotes.
Identified as one of the simple forms of oral literature by the Dutch linguist André Jolles,[3] jokes are passed along anonymously. They are told in both private and public settings; a single person tells a joke to his friend in the natural flow of conversation, or a set of jokes is told to a group as part of scripted entertainment. Jokes are also passed along in written form or, more recently, through the internet.
Stand-up comics, comedians and slapstick work with comic timing and rhythm in their performance, and may rely on actions as well as on the verbal punchline to evoke laughter. This distinction has been formulated in the popular saying "A comic says funny things; a comedian says things funny"." (wikipedia.org)
"Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, gallows humor, or dark humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discuss. Writers and comedians often use it as a tool for exploring vulgar issues by provoking discomfort, serious thought, and amusement for their audience. Thus, in fiction, for example, the term black comedy can also refer to a genre in which dark humor is a core component. Popular themes of the genre include death, crime, poverty, suicide, slavery, genocide, forced labor, torture, war, violence, terrorism, discrimination, disease, racism, sexism, homophobia, rape, incest, pedophilia, and human sexuality.
Black comedy differs from both blue comedy—which focuses more on crude topics such as nudity, sex, and body fluids—and from straightforward obscenity. Whereas the term black comedy is a relatively broad term covering humor relating to many serious subjects, gallows humor tends to be used more specifically in relation to death, or situations that are reminiscent of dying. Black humor can occasionally be related to the grotesque genre.[1] Literary critics have associated black comedy and black humor with authors as early as the ancient Greeks with Aristophanes.[2][3][4][5][6][7][8][excessive citations]
Etymology
The term black humour (from the French humour noir) was coined by the Surrealist theorist André Breton in 1935 while interpreting the writings of Jonathan Swift.[9][10] Breton's preference was to identify some of Swift's writings as a subgenre of comedy and satire[11][12] in which laughter arises from cynicism and skepticism,[9][13] often relying on topics such as death.[14][15]
Breton coined the term for his 1940 book Anthology of Black Humor (Anthologie de l'humour noir), in which he credited Jonathan Swift as the originator of black humor and gallows humor (particularly in his pieces Directions to Servants (1731), A Modest Proposal (1729), Meditation Upon a Broomstick (1710), and in a few aphorisms).[10][13] In his book, Breton also included excerpts from 45 other writers, including both examples in which the wit arises from a victim with which the audience empathizes, as is more typical in the tradition of gallows humor, and examples in which the comedy is used to mock the victim. In the last cases, the victim's suffering is trivialized, which leads to sympathizing with the victimizer, as analogously found in the social commentary and social criticism of the writings of (for instance) Sade.
History
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Among the first American writers who employed black comedy in their works were Nathanael West[16] and Vladimir Nabokov,[16] although at the time the genre was not widely known in the US. The concept of black humor first came to nationwide attention after the publication of a 1965 mass-market paperback titled Black Humor, edited by Bruce Jay Friedman.[7][17] The paperback was one of the first American anthologies devoted to the concept of black humor as a literary genre.[8] With the paperback, Friedman labeled as "black humorists" a variety of authors, such as J. P. Donleavy,[7][8] Edward Albee,[7][8] Joseph Heller,[7][8] Thomas Pynchon,[7][8] John Barth,[7][8] Vladimir Nabokov,[7][8] Bruce Jay Friedman[7][8] himself, and Louis-Ferdinand Céline.[7][8] Among the recent writers suggested as black humorists by journalists and literary critics are Roald Dahl,[18] Kurt Vonnegut,[11] Warren Zevon, Christopher Durang, Philip Roth,[11] and Veikko Huovinen.[19] The motive for applying the label black humorist to the writers cited above is that they have written novels, poems, stories, plays, and songs in which profound or horrific events were portrayed in a comic manner. Comedians like Lenny Bruce,[12] who since the late 1950s have been labeled for using "sick comedy" by mainstream journalists, have also been labeled with "black comedy"." (wikipedia.org)
"Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inappropriate.[3][4][5][6]
ADHD symptoms arise from executive dysfunction,[7][8][9] and emotional dysregulation is often considered a core symptom.[10][11][12] In children, problems paying attention may result in poor school performance. ADHD is associated with other neurodevelopmental and mental disorders as well as some non-psychiatric disorders, which can cause additional impairment, especially in modern society. Although people with ADHD struggle to focus on tasks they are not particularly interested in completing, they are often able to maintain an unusually prolonged and intense level of attention for tasks they do find interesting or rewarding; this is known as hyperfocus.
The precise causes of ADHD are unknown in the majority of cases.[13][14] Genetic factors play an important role; ADHD tends to run in families and has a heritability rate of 74%.[15] Toxins and infections during pregnancy as well as brain damage may be environmental risks.
It affects about 5–7% of children when diagnosed via the DSM-IV criteria,[16] and 1–2% when diagnosed via the ICD-10 criteria.[17] Rates are similar between countries and differences in rates depend mostly on how it is diagnosed.[18] ADHD is diagnosed approximately twice as often in boys than in girls,[4] and 1.6 times more often in men than in women,[4] although the disorder is overlooked in girls or diagnosed in later life because their symptoms sometimes differ from diagnostic criteria.[19][20][21][22] About 30–50% of people diagnosed in childhood continue to have ADHD in adulthood, with 2.58% of adults estimated to have ADHD which began in childhood.[23][24][text–source integrity?] In adults, hyperactivity is usually replaced by inner restlessness, and adults often develop coping skills to compensate for their impairments. The condition can be difficult to tell apart from other conditions, as well as from high levels of activity within the range of normal behaviour. ADHD has a negative impact on patient health-related quality of life that may be further exacerbated by, or may increase the risk of, other psychiatric conditions such as anxiety and depression." (wikipedia.org)
"Retro style is imitative or consciously derivative of lifestyles, trends, or art forms from history, including in music, modes, fashions, or attitudes. In popular culture, the "nostalgia cycle" is typically for the two decades that begin 20–30 years ago.[1]
Definition
The term retro has been in use since 1972 to describe[2] on the one hand, new artifacts that self-consciously refer to particular modes, motifs, techniques, and materials of the past.[3] But on the other hand, many people use the term to categorize styles that have been created in the past.[4] Retro style refers to new things that display characteristics of the past. Unlike the historicism of the Romantic generations, it is mostly the recent past that retro seeks to recapitulate, focusing on the products, fashions, and artistic styles produced since the Industrial Revolution, the successive styles of Modernity.[5] The English word retro derives from the Latin prefix retro, meaning backwards, or in past times.
In France, the word rétro, an abbreviation for rétrospectif,[6] gained cultural currency with reevaluations of Charles de Gaulle and France's role in World War II. The French mode rétro of the 1970s reappraised in film and novels the conduct of French civilians during the Nazi occupation. The term rétro was soon applied to nostalgic French fashions that recalled the same period.[7]
Shortly thereafter retro was introduced into English by the fashion and culture press, where it suggests a rather cynical revival of older but relatively recent fashions.[8] In Simulacra and Simulation, French theorist Jean Baudrillard describes retro as a demythologization of the past, distancing the present from the big ideas that drove the modern age.[9]
Most commonly retro is used to describe objects and attitudes from the recent past that never seem modern.[10] It suggests a fundamental shift in the way we relate to the past. Different from more traditional forms of revivalism, "retro" suggests a half ironic, half longing consideration of the recent past; it has been called an "unsentimental nostalgia",[11] recalling modern forms that are no longer current. The concept of nostalgia is linked to retro, but the bittersweet desire for things, persons, and situations of the past has an ironic stance in retro style. Retro shows nostalgia with a dose of cynicism and detachment.[12] The desire to capture something from the past and evoke nostalgia is fuelled by dissatisfaction with the present....Objects
Until the 1960s, interiors were often decorated with antiques. During the 1960s in London, shops started selling pieces of second-hand furniture. These shops differed from the previous antique shops because they sold daily life objects from the recent past. These objects used to be seen as junk: Victorian enamel signs, stuffed bears, old furniture painted with union jacks, bowler hats etc. A new way of producing and consuming the past emerged and a broader range of objects from the recent past was used for new designs.[15]
Before the word retro came into use in the 1970s, the practice of adopting old styles for new designs was already common. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, designers borrowed from the past, for example, classicistic style.[16] The difference is that since the 1960s, people started to refer to the recent past.
In the 1980s, design history emerged as a discipline and several histories of design were published. The access to these overviews and the ability to experiment with computer design programs has caused an increase of retro designed objects in the last decades.[17]
Interior design
Retro lamp by IKEA, referring to the 1970s
Interior design magazines often show retro style as an interior decoration of mixed styles and objects from the past, second hand and new. For example, 1970s patterned wallpapers, combined with second-hand furniture also from the 1970s, the 1960s, or 1950s. The value of old artifacts has increased, because the objects used to be considered old-fashioned and every day.[18] In this case ‘retro’ indicates a value, which is also partly why today's retailers produce new objects in an old style.
Graphic design, typography, and packaging
Long before the use of the word retro, graphic design made reference to earlier graphic characteristics. William Morris can be seen as an example: for book design and other purposes he adopted Medieval production and stylistic models in 1891.[19] Furthermore, in the beginning of the twentieth century, Gothic, Baroque and Rococo motifs were used for new products.[20]
In typography, classicism has always been an influence and throughout the 20th century, and in early woodcut printing as well. The introduction of the technique of photocomposition in the 1960s allowed typographers greater flexibility in the selection and arrangement of type styles and sizes. For example, psychedelic typefaces were developed, gaining inspiration from Art Nouveau and other cultures.[21] Historicist styles are also used in the promotion and packaging of food and household products, referring to childhood memories and domestic nostalgic ideals.[22]
In logo designing, retro logos have been highlighted. Brands have incorporated retro logo designs to highlight their brand's voice and message: clean, classic, and reminiscent of the recent past.
Fashion design
A 1940s retro-style dress with turban, designed in a modern electric blue, modeled by Karlie Kloss at a 2011 Anna Sui show
In the 2000s and 2010s, there was a revival of pastel and neon colors, stereotypically associated with 1980s and early 1990s fashion (with the 1980s pastel revival being a rebirth of a 1950s trend). Also at this time, late 1980s-style high-waisted mom jeans made a comeback with female hipsters. In the 2010s and 2020s, 1990s fashion has made a comeback: many of the fabrics and patterns ubiquitous in that decade (such as crushed velvet and floral) are popular now, and Dr. Martens, a shoe brand popular in the 1990s, also made a strong comeback in the early 2010s, as 2011–12 was the British company's best-selling season of all time.[23]
Retro art
A 1950s-era poster in pop-art style, on which retro art is based.
The style now called retro art is a genre of pop art which was developed from the 1940s to 1960s, in response to a need for bold, eye-catching graphics that were easy to reproduce on simple presses available at the time in major centres. Retro advertising art has experienced a resurgence in popularity since its style is distinctive from modern computer-generated styling. Contemporary artist Anne Taintor uses retro advertising art as the centerpiece for her ongoing commentary on the modern woman. Specific styling features include analog machine design and vintage television programs." (wikipedia.org)
"Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the United Kingdom and the United States during the mid- to late-1950s.[1][2] The movement presented a challenge to traditions of fine art by including imagery from popular and mass culture, such as advertising, comic books and mundane mass-produced objects. One of its aims is to use images of popular culture in art, emphasizing the banal or kitschy elements of any culture, most often through the use of irony.[3] It is also associated with the artists' use of mechanical means of reproduction or rendering techniques. In pop art, material is sometimes visually removed from its known context, isolated, or combined with unrelated material.[2][3]
Amongst the early artists that shaped the pop art movement were Eduardo Paolozzi and Richard Hamilton in Britain, and Larry Rivers, Ray Johnson, Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns among others in the United States. Pop art is widely interpreted as a reaction to the then-dominant ideas of abstract expressionism, as well as an expansion of those ideas.[4] Due to its utilization of found objects and images, it is similar to Dada. Pop art and minimalism are considered to be art movements that precede postmodern art, or are some of the earliest examples of postmodern art themselves.[5]
Pop art often takes imagery that is currently in use in advertising. Product labeling and logos figure prominently in the imagery chosen by pop artists, seen in the labels of Campbell's Soup Cans, by Andy Warhol. Even the labeling on the outside of a shipping box containing food items for retail has been used as subject matter in pop art, as demonstrated by Warhol's Campbell's Tomato Juice Box, 1964 (pictured).
Origins
Charles Demuth, I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold 1928, collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
The origins of pop art in North America developed differently from Great Britain.[3] In the United States, pop art was a response by artists; it marked a return to hard-edged composition and representational art. They used impersonal, mundane reality, irony, and parody to "defuse" the personal symbolism and "painterly looseness" of abstract expressionism.[4][6] In the U.S., some artwork by Larry Rivers, Alex Katz and Man Ray anticipated pop art.[7]
By contrast, the origins of pop art in post-War Britain, while employing irony and parody, were more academic. Britain focused on the dynamic and paradoxical imagery of American pop culture as powerful, manipulative symbolic devices that were affecting whole patterns of life, while simultaneously improving the prosperity of a society.[6] Early pop art in Britain was a matter of ideas fueled by American popular culture when viewed from afar.[4] Similarly, pop art was both an extension and a repudiation of Dadaism.[4] While pop art and Dadaism explored some of the same subjects, pop art replaced the destructive, satirical, and anarchic impulses of the Dada movement with a detached affirmation of the artifacts of mass culture.[4] Among those artists in Europe seen as producing work leading up to pop art are: Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, and Kurt Schwitters.
Proto-pop
Although both British and American pop art began during the 1950s, Marcel Duchamp and others in Europe like Francis Picabia and Man Ray predate the movement; in addition there were some earlier American proto-pop origins which utilized "as found" cultural objects.[4] During the 1920s, American artists Patrick Henry Bruce, Gerald Murphy, Charles Demuth and Stuart Davis created paintings that contained pop culture imagery (mundane objects culled from American commercial products and advertising design), almost "prefiguring" the pop art movement." (wikipedia.org)
"A refrigerator magnet or fridge magnet is a small magnet, often attached to an artistic or whimsical ornament, which may be used to post items such as shopping lists, Christmas cards, child art or reminders on a refrigerator door, or which simply serves as decoration.[1][2][3] Refrigerator magnets come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, and may have promotional messages placed on them. In addition to refrigerators, refrigerator magnets are commonly placed on steel-backed whiteboards and bulletin boards, as well as other metal furniture such as filing cabinets and tool chests. Refrigerator magnets are popular souvenir and collectible objects.
Manufacture
Retail display of magnets
The first refrigerator magnets were cylindrical or solid rectangular magnets. Later, a flexible magnet was developed, composed of a high-coercivity ferrimagnetic or ferromagnetic compound (usually barium ferrite) mixed with a plastic binder.[4] This is extruded as a sheet and passes on a conveyor belt over a line of powerful cylindrical permanent magnets. These magnets are arranged in a stack with alternating magnetic poles facing up (N, S, N, S,...) on a freely rotating shaft. This impresses the plastic sheet with the magnetic poles in an alternating line format. No electromagnetism is used to generate the magnets. The pole-pole distance is on the order of 5 mm, but varies with manufacturer. Ferrite magnets are commonly used, too, with decorative elements attached to the magnets with adhesive. They were created in the 1920s.
Magnetic polarization
Halbach array polarisation
Magnetic viewing film showing magnetic poles of a refrigerator magnet
Unlike most conventional magnets that have distinct north and south poles, flat refrigerator magnets are magnetized during manufacture with alternating north and south poles on the refrigerator side.[5] This can be felt by taking two similar (or identical) refrigerator magnets and sliding them against each other with the "magnetic" sides facing each other: the magnets will alternately repel and attract as they are moved a few millimeters. One can note that magnetic field outside a uniformly magnetized thin sheet is actually zero, neglecting the edge effects (see, for instance, D. Budker and A. Sushkov, Physics in Your Feet", OUP, 2015). Most magnets have a special, slightly more sophisticated magnetization pattern called a Halbach array. This construction gives enhanced magnetic field on one side and almost zero magnetic field on the other.
Applications
Alphabetical refrigerator magnets
Magnetic poetry
Refrigerator magnets may be designed to decorate refrigerators. Refrigerator magnets are also widely given away as promotional products. Refrigerator magnets can be made from rubber, PVC, polyresin, metal, porcelain, epoxy, or a mixture of some of these materials. A business can put their logo on the magnets for marketing purposes.
Refrigerator magnets can also be souvenirs. Many souvenir shops throughout the world sell magnets with local charms printed.
Collecting
Collecting magnets is a hobby, with some collectors specializing in magnets from their travels, or of a particular theme.[6] They are sold at souvenir shops worldwide. There is no generally recognized term (e.g. numismatics for currency collecting) for magnet collecting. A Russian collector has proposed the term memomagnetics (Russian: мемомагнетика), derived from the words memoriale (Latin) and magnetis (Greek)[7] A collector of magnets would be called memomagnetist. These terms have been used by at least one Russian online community for magnet collectors.[8]
According to Collector's Lot magazine, in March 1999, Tony Lloyd of Cardiff, Wales, coined the term "thuramgist" for a "collector of fridge magnets".[full citation needed]. Another word is Ferrovenirist, a portmanteau of the Latin for magnet and souvenir.
Large collections
Refrigerator Magnets on a board - Private Collection
At one time, the largest verified collection of refrigerator magnets belonged to Louise J. Greenfarb from Henderson, Nevada (suburb of Las Vegas, United States). Her world record was included to the Guinness World Records with 19,300 items as of 1997.[9] According to the British "Book of alternative records", it grew to 29,000 as of February 2002, and later up to over 30,000 items.[10] Over 7,000 magnets from Greenfarb's collection were exhibited at the Guinness Museum in Las Vegas, which has since closed. According to her son, Bryan Greenfarb, as of November 2015 Louise still collects and has around 45,000 plus non-duplicate refrigerator magnets but the Guinness verification process, which can take over 6 plus months, is just too taxing to keep validating the exact number. Louise Greenfarb died December 7, 2019. Her son Bryan Greenfarb is in possession of her over 65,000 non-duplicate refrigerator magnets.
In January 1999, Tony Lloyd, a teacher in Cardiff, Wales, was interviewed by the Channel 4 Television programme Collector's Lot when it was ascertained that he had the largest collection of refrigerator magnets in Europe at that time, over 2000.[11] As of January 2016 he had a collection of over 4500. He was again interviewed by the BBC and ITV during 2017. In February 2018, whilst on holiday in Sri Lanka, his 104th country, Tony's collection surpassed 5,000 magnets.
Home crafts
Refrigerator magnets are also popular as crafts projects." (wikipedia.org)