Today In History with The Retrospectors

The hip-swivelling Hula Hoop craze swept through America within months of its 1958 debut - yet Wham-O didn’t receive a patent for it until 5th March, 1963. 

The toy had first come to the attention of Arthur K. 'Spud' Melin, the company’s co-founder, when Australian swimsuit model Joan Anderson demonstrated it in California. Appending the ‘hula’ name to it tapped into the zeitgeist for Hawaiian imagery, but manufacturing it out of inexpensive plastic tubing was a masterstroke.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain the innovative business model of Melin and his partner, Richard Knerr, which also begat Frisbee, Hackey-Sack and Slip n’Slide; discover how demonstrations in school playgrounds accelerated the trend’s virality; and learn about the novelty songs inspired by the craze… 

Further Reading:

• ‘History of the Hula Hoop - Trivia and More’ (ThoughtCo, 2019): https://www.thoughtco.com/hula-hoop-history-1991893

• ‘Unsung hero behind hula hoop invention dies aged 101’ (BBC News, 2025): https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c70x4w4z138o

• ‘Wham-O Frisbee & Hula Hoop Commercial’ (Wham-O, 1960s): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsJ9fwhFzE8

#Toys #Business #50s #US

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The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. 

Edit producer: Ollie Peart.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

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John Lennon's controversial statement that the Beatles were more popular than Jesus was first published in the London Evening Standard on 4th March, 1966. The reporter, Maureen Cleave, documented the eccentricities of Lennon's life and his dissatisfaction with fame and wealth; his musings on religion went almost completely unnoticed.

That all changed months later, when American shock jocks unearthed Lennon's comments, sparking widespread outrage, leading to a media frenzy that inspired boycotts, record burnings, and KKK death threats. In Memphis, fear reached its peak when a cherry bomb sparked panic during a Beatles concert - one of the last live gigs they would ever perform.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly expose the cynicism of the DJs who jumped on the Beatles-burning bandwagon; explain how the fallout from Lennon's statement lingered long after the tour, even inspiring Mark David Chapman’s fanaticism; and discover which board-game the Beatles used to unwind with in the evenings…

Further Reading:

• When John Lennon's 'Jesus' Controversy Turned Ugly (Rolling Stone, 2016): https://www.rollingstone.com/feature/when-john-lennons-more-popular-than-jesus-controversy-turned-ugly-106430/

• ‘Beatle bonfires’ (The Pop History Dig, 2017): https://pophistorydig.com/topics/tag/beatle-bonfires/

• ‘The Beatles Press Conference’ (Aug 12, 1966): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZaI7m1xpAg

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Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

This episode originally aired in 2024.

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Sending rude mail was dealt a devastating blow on 3rd March, 1873, when the campaign against pornography, reproductive health, birth control, and abortion led by self-appointed ‘Special Agent’ of the US Postal Service Anthony Comstock went all the way to Washington. 

After the ‘Comstock Act’ became law, books were banned, ‘obscene’ pamphlets were destroyed, and, in Comstock’s home state of Connecticut, birth control was banned - even within a marriage.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly discover what Comstock thought of the women he met at the White House; reveal his earliest crackdowns on licentiousness; and uncover George Bernard Shaw’s trolling of ‘Comstockery’ in the New York press…

Further Reading:

• ‘How an Anti-Obscenity Crusader Policed America's Mail for Decades’ (HISTORY, 2022): https://www.history.com/news/comstock-act-1873-obscenity-contraception-mail

• ‘Anthony Comstock's "Chastity" Laws’ (PBS American Experience): https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/pill-anthony-comstocks-chastity-laws/#:~:text=In%20the%20late%201860s%2C%20Comstock%20began%20supplying%20the,the%20contraceptive%20industry%20as%20one%20of%20his%20targets.

• ‘The Man Who Hated Women: Sex, Censorship, and Civil Liberties in the Gilded Age’ (National Archives, 2022): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9IS0S-B5HU

Love the show? Support us! 

Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… 

… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. 

Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

This episode originally aired in 2023.

#1800s #Politics #Publishing

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King Kong roared onto the silver screen on March 2nd, 1933, in an extraordinary simultaneous screening at Radio City and the Roxy, New York - attracting 10,000 viewers in one hit.

The buzz around the film was no accident — RKO Pictures had blitzed the public with an aggressive marketing campaign, including publishing a novelization before the film’s release and producing a radio serial that aired twice a week.

In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly explain how animation genius Willis O’Brien brought Kong to life through a mixture of stop-motion and scale-models; reveal how Fay Wray was pitched her iconic role; and discover that contemporary critics weren’t as awed by the film’s lauded SFX as you might imagine…

Further Reading:

• ’King Kong - The History of a Movie Icon from Fay Wray to Peter Jackson. By Ray Morton’ (Applause, 2005): https://books.google.co.uk/books/content?id=UPXbsJLVgCcC&pg=PA78&img=1&zoom=3&hl=en&bul=1&sig=ACfU3U1G3kZHHv8P03ttnCr8p18YdlLsJw&w=1280

• ’The first (and original) King Kong’ (The Independent, 2005): https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/the-first-and-original-king-kong-518889.html

• ‘King Kong: The Practical Effects Wonder’ (Katie Keenan, 2023): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4sFn3Qiw9g

Love the show? Support us! 

Join  🌴CLUB RETROSPECTORS🌴to DITCH THE ADS and get an additional full-length episode each SUNDAY… 

… Plus, get weekly bonus bits, and unlock over 100 bits of extra content. 

Join now with a free trial on Apple Podcasts or Patreon and support our show ❤️

The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.

Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.

Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

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New Orleans witnessed its first modern Mardi Gras procession - kick-started by a group of students eager to revive the traditional masquerade, banned for six decades - on 27th February, 1827. 

The city’s parades and revelry can trace their origins back to ancient pagan festivals and European traditions, cemented by the arrival of French-Canadian explorer (and MASSIVE ‘Fat Tuesday’ fan) Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville into Louisiana in 1699. 

In this episode, The Retrospectors Krewe dig into the celebration’s impact on revenue and refuse; consider the discriminatory practices that accompanied the festivities until the late 20th century; and get angry about the British equivalent: Pancake Day… 

Further Reading:

• ‘Here's a Brief History of Mardi Gras and How It All Started’ (The Manual, 2024): https://www.themanual.com/culture/history-of-madi-gras/

• ‘Unmasking the History of Mardi Gras in New Orleans’ (The Crescent Magazine, 2022): https://tulanemagazine.com/unmasking-the-history-of-mardi-gras-in-new-orleans/

• ‘Mardi Gras New Orleans Louisiana 4K’ (Dan Usher Films, 2017): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Bv1mFl9SI4

We'll be back on Monday - unless you join CLUB RETROSPECTORS, where we give you ad-free listening AND a full-length Sunday episode every week!Plus, weekly bonus content, unlock over 70 bonus bits, and support our independent podcast.Join now via Apple Podcasts or Patreon. Thanks!The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill.Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Ollie Peart.Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2026.

This episode originally aired in 2024.
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