The Saturday Evening Post History Minute: The State Fair

We take a look at the origins of the state fair, a deep-fried slice of Americana with a combination of old traditions and wild entertainment.

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The Saturday Evening Post History Minute: 5 Quirky Facts about Rotary Phones

A few decades ago, telephones came one per house. They hung on the kitchen wall or perched on a hallway table. It seems quaint now, but that rotary-dial phone was a family’s lifeline to the outside world. Here are a few reasons people loved – or loathed – their rotary phones.

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The Saturday Evening Post History Minute: Our 100-Year-Old Trade War with China

In 1905, U.S. restrictions on Chinese immigration led to a boycott of American goods that ultimately reshaped the world’s economy.

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The Saturday Evening Post History Minute: The Air Mail Stamp that Was a Bad Omen

The first air mail stamp was printed with a huge mistake that soon became reality.

 

 

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The Saturday Evening Post History Minute: The Man Who Saved Andrew Johnson’s Presidency

On May 16, 1868, Andrew Johnson avoided being removed from the presidency by the vote of one senator, Edmund Ross. Was Ross a constitutional hero or a shameless opportunist?

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The Saturday Evening Post History Minute: Chung Ling Soo and the Deadly End of an Illusion

One hundred years ago, a famous magician’s life was cut short by a trick that went horribly wrong.

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The Saturday Evening Post History Minute: The Suffrage March Riot of 1913

In 1913, a group of suffragists decided to march on Washington, in what would become one of the most violent and chaotic episodes in the fight for women’s right to vote.

For more history videos, visit SaturdayEveningPost.com/history-minute.

The Saturday Evening Post How-To Video: Looking Natural in Front of a Camera

What do you do if someone points a video camera at YOU? TJ Walker shows you the secret to not being nervous, and how to look and sound your best when you find yourself in front of the camera.

See more videos from the Saturday Evening Post at saturdayeveningpost.com/video.

For more on media training, see our article in the July/August 2017 issue of the Post, “Pundit School: How Talking Heads Learn to ‘TV’” by Cable Neuhaus.

Vintage Christmas Tech Ads from The Saturday Evening Post

These ads might seem quaint now, but the products in them were on the cutting edge of technology in their day. Typewriters, radios, refrigerators, black-and-white TV sets: each of these was once as recent as smartphones, tablets and Chromecast are today.

The 1940 Frigidaire ad featuring Santa Clause includes a price tag of “Only $116.50,” the equivalent of almost $2,000 today. The 1948 Admiral “Triple Thrill” ad for an all-in-one entertainment center featuring a TV, radio, and phonograph player lists a price of $549.50. That’s over $5,300 in today’s dollars.

They’re an icon now, but Christmas lights were still new in 1922.

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Before the Macbook…

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You mean Sony didn’t invent headphones?

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A gift for the whole family from RCA.

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Many ads found a tenuous tie between electric lights and Jesus’s birth.

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This 1929 ad uses Art Deco style to sell modern appliances.

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That’s an oddly specific letter to Santa.

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They’ve been playing holiday music on the radio for at least 70 years.

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Westclox: “Give the gift of time.”

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Clocks and watches used to be common Christmas gifts.

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Here’s a hot pun:

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By 1938, RCA already had decades of history.

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That’s almost $2,000, once you adjust for inflation.

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A shift to military production didn’t stop advertisers during WW2.

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Imagine coming home to this:

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Portable typewriters were the laptops of their day.

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This ad has a watch idea for everyone.

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Even in 1957, typewriter technology was still advancing.

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This ad series from GE boasts the latest technology from fifty years ago.

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Making home movies in 1966.

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And now you can watch TV everywhere you go.

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The Saturday Evening Post’s New Year’s Recipe Challenge: And the Winner Is…

Thank you, dear readers, for submitting your delicious recipes for The Saturday Evening Post‘s New Year’s Recipe Challenge. We enjoyed tasting our way to a winner—a satisfyingly rich dessert packed with protein and our favorite ingredient, dark chocolate.

Congratulations Elana Amsterdam of Boulder, Colorado for passing our editors’ picky-palate test.

If you have a yummy recipe you’d like to share with our readers, send it to us at [email protected].

Gluten-Free Brownies

Gluten-Free Brownie

(Makes about 24 brownies)

Recipe Ingredients:

Recipe Preparation:
1. In a large bowl, blend almond butter until smooth with a hand blender
2. Blend in eggs, then blend in agave and vanilla
3. Blend in cocoa, salt and baking soda, then fold in chocolate chips
4. Grease a 9 x 13 pyrex baking dish
5. Pour batter into dish
6. Bake at 325° for 35-40 minutes

Per brownie:
203 calories
17 g fat
4 g saturated
10 g monounsaturated
3 g polyunsaturated
5 g protein
10 g carbs
2 g fiber
18 mg cholesterol
186 mg sodium

For more about Elana Amsterdam, visit her blog at elanaspantry.com.