This Was A Thing: The Retro Podcast

Pogs… or Milk Caps if you’re a boomer…. were like a flash in the pan in the mid 90’s. Collectable pieces of cardboard that ended up fading out just as quicky as they were introduced. Just like marbles before them, Pogs got banned from schools.   Pogs caused schoolyard scuffles and because kids were playing for keeps, they were essentially gambling… Playgrounds were becoming Las Vegas… Kids co...

This week love is in the air and nothing says love like downloading Hinge, Tindr, Grindr, and FarmersOnly to find that perfect mate for you….until someone better comes along.   But before the technological revolution how did people meet one another? Through the personal ads of course.   This week Rob teaches Ray about 17th Century ways of mating, coded sexuality needs in Europe, why it w...

There hasn’t been anything quite like “The Super Bowl Shuffle”… And for good reason. Professional athletes can be boastful from time to time, but in 1985, it was taken to a whole new level! All lead by Bears Wide Receiver, Willie Gault. The Chicago Bears would produce a single (the first of its kind on Audio Cassette), film a music video (Second in sales to “Thriller”), and win a Super Bowl (beati...

Zhere once waz a drink zhat made ze world ztand up and zake notice......Ok, we can't do this anymore. It was Zima, a clear malt beverage that intoxicated, barely, the entire world for a brief and shining moment. This week Rob teaches Ray about the Clear Beverage Craze of the 1990s, the very bizarre commercials of Bartles & Jaymes, how the Russians changed the game of marketing, the sad traject...

She was an Academy Award winning actress, one of the first AIDS activists, and an icon around the world for her stunning beauty. She also broke gender norms and societal expectations with eight trips down the aisle with seven different men.....not all at the same time, of course. Rob teaches Ray about Elizabeth Taylor and her eclectic group of husbands which include: The great Uncle of Paris Hilto...

Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle was one of the most popular silent film comedy stars of the 1910’s. After signing a big contract in 1920, it seemed that Arbuckle was on top of the world! That is until a wild party ended in the very suspicious death of a young actress named Virginia Rappe. Tabloid papers took the story and ran with it....without a true investigation. Faced with sexual assault and mans...

It's a mad, mad, mad, mad story about money, movies, and madcap mysteries! In 1963, one of the most serious film directors decided to prove to the world he could be funny......well, sort of........What he ended up creating was the The Treasure Hunt Comedy, a forgotten staple of film comedies. Rob teaches Ray about It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Scavenger Hunt, Million Dollar Mystery, and Rat Rac...

Happy New Years, dear listener! Getting healthy is a classic New Years Resolution and what better way to get trim than with Thigh Master! Thigh Master had a major grip on early 90’s fitness, but it wouldn’t get to the top without the help of a wonderfully peppy spokesperson Suzanne Somers. Yes, Chrissy Snow from “Three’s Company”, herself! She “used to do aerobics ‘til she dropped! Then she found...

Get out your tap shoes, Francis, we are going dancing tonight....and tomorrow....and for the next five months! This week we look at the swinging and sadistic world of 1930s Dance Marathons which were ways for Depression Era Americans to make some money dancing for hours on end....while other Americans watched and waited for injuries, blood, and violence!   Rob gives Ray a lesson in the histor...

Our listeners have been nice this year so Santa has told us to give you all a gift! Brody Karn, Esq. teaches us about one of the most intriguing fads of the 19th Century: Pedestrianism. There is a doping scandal, cheating accusations, Walkers becoming the faces of trading cards, ethnic turf walking wars, women breaking the glass ceiling of athleticism, and so much more! Plus, Nathan Lane stars in....

Remember Cabbage Patch Kids..... those odd looking dolls with hard plastic heads that took the 80’s by storm? And how that storm turned into riots? In 1983 Cabbage Patch Mania ruled the holiday season and parents just HAD to get their hands on one for Little Carol and even Littler Patti. This week, Ray teaches Rob all about Bunny Bees, BabyLand General Hospital, and how creator Xavier Roberts MAY...

A legend stuck in the past or a victim of ageism? To celebrate Being the Ricardos , we take a look at Lucille Ball's last sitcom, Life With Lucy ,...from which she was fired. Yes, the Queen of Comedy was fired! Rob teaches Ray about Lucille Ball's career post I Love Lucy, her bizarre television movies in the 1970s (including Lucy becoming President of NBC), how Lucy was courted by ABC, why The Cos...

Can you put together a meaningful thought or idea in six seconds or less? What about a moderately funny video? It’s hard! But there was some GOLD in them there Vine hills! Ray teaches Rob about how Vine helped launch the careers of Shawn Mendes, King Bach, and yes, even Jake and Logan Paul. We also revisit some of our favorite Vines of years past including Rob’s favorite – a teacher’s reaction to...

A dirty old man or the first victim of cancel culture? Benny Hill was one of the world's most recognizable comedians. In the 1970s, he dominated UK television. In the 1980s, he was either loved/loathed in over 140 different countries. By the 1990s, he was cancelled, metaphorically and physically. Rob introduces Ray to the naughty world of Benny Hill, how Benny revolutionized television comedy, the...

Batman has defeated countless crooks and criminals but there was one he could not defeat: Consumerism.   Learn about the the 1997 summer blockbuster that made people question the merits of super hero movies and one so poorly received, it nearly killed the genre: Batman & Robin (1997)   Rob gives Ray a lesson in the history of the Caped Crusader, the brilliance of Tim Burton, the Dann...

McDonald’s. One of the most beautiful words in any language. It’s a franchise known around the world for all of it’s success! Sometimes they’ll even bring back menu items that are fan favorites, because that’s what the people want! McRib, anyone? But for all of this success, there were bound to be some failures… Or as we like to call them, McFailures. This week Ray teaches Rob about everythin...

You are a new country. You have a constitution. If anything goes wrong, don't worry, the constitution will tell us what to do.......or will it?   Learn about the death of President William Henry Harrison, the first time a President died in office, and the forgotten constitutional crisis that followed, as well as a deep dive into the 25th Amendment that tried to correct those errors. Rob gives...

It’s a Halloween Extravaganza this week on  This Was A Thing . Who’s hosting, you ask? TV Funnyman Paul Lynde, of course! Ray teaches Rob all about The Paul Lynde Halloween Special. Who was there to share a drink (or six) with Paul? Well, just about every spooky TV personality you could think of: Carol Brady, Mr. Wiggins, Witchy Poo/Wicked Witch of the West, Donnie and Marie, Billy Barty, Sue...

You know those weird looking figurines on your grandmother's shelves? Those little Aryan children clad in leiderhosen and looking adorable against bucolic backdrops? They are not only worth a "fortune" they were the bane of Hitler's existence....well.....one of them.   Learn about female entrepreneur Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel who sought to create beautiful pieces of art celebrating her s...

You’ve heard of the “Curse of the Bambino”, “Curse of the Billy Goat”, and even “Merkle’s Boner." But the case that changed baseball forever was The 1919 World Series Scandal, better known as "The Black Sox Scandal," because itt was discovered that players were betting against their own team! Ray teaches Rob about players like “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Eddie Cicotte, “Buck” Weaver, and “Chick” Gandi...

Can you feel it? Can you feel the spirit? Can you feel the spirit moving your money right into the bank accounts of Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker?   To coincide with the brilliant "The Eyes of Tammy Faye" we are doing a deep dive into the scandal that brought down the PTL ministries and how Jim Bakker got away with embezzlement for so long.....he had some help from the man upstairs.....Ronald Rea...

Don’t worry folks, the Bradys are BACK! But this time the whole bunch is singing and dancing! Yes, even Alice.   This week, Ray tells Rob all about “The Brady Bunch Variety Hour” a show that may have been panned back in the 70s, but is loved in 2021, and how The Bradys became America's first franchised family.   And don’t worry! You don’t just get Mike, Carol, and the kids! No, no! A sle...

Grab your coonskin cap (and your checkbooks) because the Patron Saint of Consumerism, pioneer Davy Crockett, is here and he's ready to turn his name into a brand and his checkered past into an economic boom.    Rob gives Ray a lesson in the history of how Davy Crockett wasn't all who he was cracked up to be, the greatest economic loss of Walt Disney, the oh so stiff acting of Fess Parker...

What would you do if your six-year-old child was suddenly suspended over 7,000 feet in the air and traveling solo over the treacherous terrain of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado? Call the media, of course! Doesn't make sense? Well, very little about this 2009 Balloon Boy Incident does. This week, Ray fills Rob in on all the juicy details of an event that took the news by STORM. Why would the Heene...

Strap on those leg warmers and get ready to break the glass ceiling because we are going back to the 80s and doing a deep dive into the history of Jazzercise!   Learn about the Patron Saint of Sweat, Judi Sheppard Missett, who not only broke the exercise glass ceiling but built it through sweat, tears, and a funky beat.   Rob gives Ray a lesson in the history of female exercise including...