Most Popular Saturday Evening Post Articles of 2017

As 2017 draws to a close, we share our most popular articles that were published this year.

1. 7 Reasons to Hang on to Your Landline Phone

Thinking of ditching your landline? Make sure you understand the pros and cons first.

2. 10 Most Bizarre Inauguration Facts

Do you know which president’s podium caught on fire, who gave the longest inaugural address, or who first wore long pants to his inauguration? Find out with these inauguration facts!

3. Coping with Estranged Adult Children

At what point do our adult children cease to be the adoring babies we once knew? One writer shares her very personal story. ‘

4. 8 Most Embarrassing Presidential Family Members

Which president had the most embarrassing relative? From drunkards to doofuses, here is our list of the 8 worst offenders.

5. The Average American Today and on the Eve of World War I

What it means to be an “average American” today is in many ways so different from what it meant a century ago, when the United States entered World War I.’

6. 8 Most Embarrassing Presidential Gaffes

Gaffes, for any president, seem to be inevitable. Below is a list of the eight most regrettable moments from the highest office.’

7. The Nude Look Takes Over: 50 Years Ago

Fifty years ago, the Post featured bathing suits with low backs and cut-outs that were considered slightly scandalous. Even some modern readers decided this 50-year-old article was too much for them!’

8. The Art of the Post: The Rockwell Cover that Led to a Marriage

David Apatoff shares the story of the time Norman Rockwell inadvertently played matchmaker for a neighbor’s daughter.’

9. 11 Facts about Presidents and Approval Ratings

Which president was the most popular? Whose approvals fell most dramatically? Our 11 facts about presidential approvals show you the most loved and loathed.’

10. You’re Probably Alive Because of a Moldy Cantaloupe from Peoria

Scientists struggled to mass-produce penicillin until two doctors found the perfect moldy cantaloupe at a market in Illinois.’

10 Most Bizarre Inauguration Facts

If you thought you knew everything about presidential inaugurations, here are some facts that might be new to you. Know of other interesting inauguration details? Tell us in the comments.

1. Two presidents have taken the oath of office four times: Franklin D. Roosevelt (who was elected four times) and Barack Obama. At Obama’s first inauguration, Chief Justice John Roberts flubbed the wording of the oath. Obama re-took the oath in private a few days later, and then for good measure, recited the oath again in public. The oath for his second term brings the total to four.
2. The podium at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration caught on fire because of a faulty space heater hidden under the lectern.
3. At least three presidents did not swear the oath on a bible: John Quincy Adams, Teddy Roosevelt, and Lyndon B. Johnson. Johnson took the oath on Air Force One following Kennedy’s assassination, and in the chaos, mistook Kennedy’s Catholic missal for a bible.
4. Three presidents didn’t attend the inauguration of their successors: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, and Andrew Jackson.
5. The longest inaugural address was given by William Henry Harrison, who talked for more than two hours on a cold, wet day.
6. The shortest inaugural address was George Washington’s second. It was 136 words long.
7. The first president to wear long pants to his inauguration was John Quincy Adams. (Earlier presidents wore knee-length breeches.)
8. Warren G. Harding was the first president to go to his inauguration in a car. It was a Packard Twin Six supplied by the Republican National Committee.
9. Only one president both took and administered the presidential oath. William H. Taft took the oath when he became president in 1909, and later, when he was chief justice of the Supreme Court, he administered oaths to Calvin Coolidge and Herbert Hoover.
10. The only president sworn in by a woman was Lyndon B. Johnson.  Federal district judge Sarah Hughes administered the oath to Johnson on Air Force One, following Kennedy’s assassination.