Smokey The Bear

Learn all about the origin of America's fire-prevention mascot, Smokey The Bear!




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The Biltmore Estate - Asheville, NC




Gifford Pinchot, the first professional forester in the U.S.




German forester, Carl Alwin Schenck
Founder of the first forestry school in the U.S.




The first CFFP fire-prevention poster, 1943




Bambi Fire-Prevention Poster, 1943




The first Smokey Bear Poster by Albert Sta

Learn all about the origin of barbering, one of the world's oldest professions!




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Ancient Egyptian Tomb Relief of Barbering




Egyptian Barber Razors




Depiction of Tonsure




Medieval Bloodletting




A Medieval Barber Pole




An early barbers' manual.




King Camp Gillette




Gillette's Safety Razor




Gillette's Safety Razor Patent (1904)

Learn all about the surprisingly old origin of the durable, blue fabric we call the blue jean!




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Woad Dye




Indigo Dye




John Kay's Flying Shuttle (1733)




James Hargreaves's Spinning Jenny (1770)




Edmund Cartwright's Power Loom (1785)




Eli Whitney's Cotton Gin (1793)




Slater's Mill (1790)




Lowell, Massachusetts




Jacob Davis's and Levi Strauss's Patent Letter (1873)



The

Back by popular demand, more idiom origins!




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WWI No Man's Land Photo




Joseph Heller’s satirical war novel from 1961




George Orwell's 1949 Dystopian Novel
The origin of "Big Brother"




The 1944 film that spawned the term "Gaslight."



Daniel Chapter 5
The origin of the phrase "the writing on the wall."




Matthew 5:13
The origin of "the salt of the earth."

Learn all about the origins of birthday celebration traditions!




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Libum (Ancient Cake)




Savillum (Ancient Cake)




Placenta (Ancient Cake)




Patty Smith Hill & Mildred J Hill,
co-creators of Good Morning To All.

Learn all about the origins of the happiest place on earth: Disneyland!




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Marceline, MO




Electric Park




Electric Park




The site-selection study conducted by the Stanford Research Institute.




Concept Art for Disneyland




160 acres of orange groves, the future site of Disneyland.




Aerial view of the same land after construction.




Construction Photo




Construction of the Sl

Learn all about how we got playgrounds, and why they are the way they are!




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Children's Playground in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco.




The Hull House




Jane Addams, co-founder of the Hull House




Seward Park, NYC




Junk Playground, London




Retired Concrete Animal Playground Structure




Mid-Century Space Age Playgrounds




Ancient Greek Sculpture (1450 - 1300 BCE)




5th centu

Learn all about the origins of common expressions we use all the time!




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The origin of "loose cannon."




A "clean Bill of Health" report from 1810.




The origin of "back to the drawing board." (1941)




A 1868 Safety Coffin patent.




The earliest documented use of "chew a bullet." (1796)




The earliest recorded use of "bite the bullet." (1891)

Learn all about the origins of the food storage containers we all call Tupperware!




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Leo Baekeland, inventor of the first fully-synthetic plastic: Bakelite (1907)




Earl Tupper




Wonder Bowl Patent




The Wonder Bowl




Brownie Wise




A Tupperware Party




Brownie Wise on the cover of Business Week magazine.




Brownie Wise's Autobiography

Learn all about the development of advertising, and who pioneered the practice of jingles!




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The first political cartoon advertised in print.
Benjamin Franklin, 1754


The Original (Jolly) Green Giant, 1928


Leo Burnett's Tony The Tiger (1952)


Leo Burnett's Marlboro Man (1954)


Leo Burnett's Toucan Sam (1963)


Leo Burnett's Pillsbury Doughboy (1965)


Leo Burnett's Maytag Repairman (1967)


A Whe