Neatorama

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• The Woman Who Tried to Stamp Out Kissing
• The Power of a Smile
• Traffic Cones Turned into Suit of Armor
• An Old Fashioned Pounding

The Woman Who Tried to Stamp Out Kissing Posted: 31 May 2022 07:32 PM PDT Imogene Rechtin was horrified by the idea of germs. Germ theory was still relatively new when Rechtin decided people were just plain kissing each other too much, and spreading germs to everyone they met. Women often greeted each other with a short kiss on the lips, and some people even kissed both cheeks when they met! At a party in 1910, Rechtin's revulsion at a reception line in which the hostess kissed all attendees inspired her mission to stop such promiscuous germ sharing. She began a movement, and an organization called the World Health Organization (really) to push for less kissing, even in the privacy of one's home. Rechtin's campaign was ridiculed in the press. It was seen as just another of many public reform campaigns of the time, like women's suffrage, temperance, or the strange ideas of health gurus like John Harvey Kellogg. The campaign to end kissing only lasted a year and a half. But Rechtin's story is worth remembering, because she was right. Promiscuous kissing is a surefire way to transfer germs. Beyond that, her efforts highlighted the lack of body autonomy for women. Read about Imogene Rechtin and her campaign against kissing at Smithsonian.

The Power of a Smile Posted: 31 May 2022 01:00 PM PDT Borzah Yankey has a TikTok channel dedicated to making people smile. Yankey has been told he has an infectious smile ever since he was a kid. The Winnipeg, Manitoba, resident started posting smile videos on TikTok to give people something to smile about during the pandemic. He's been quite successful at that. Not only does he have a nice smile, he's got a mouth full of bright white teeth that you can't miss. The effect of his videos, particularly on babies, has sparked a TikTok challenge called “try not to smile.” It's pretty near impossible. But it's spawned a huge number of reaction videos, particularly from parents of babies, who use Yankey's face to brighten their children's moods. Watching these kids catch a smile will make you smile, too. Someone mentioned that the five seconds of black screen at the end was so that people can see their own faces reflected in their phone screen... smiling. -via reddit

Traffic Cones Turned into Suit of Armor Posted: 31 May 2022 10:55 AM PDT I cut 24 traffic cones into small pieces and joined them together to make armor that I could wear. pic.twitter.com/rTAp1msxrd — 安居 智博 (@kami_robo_yasui) May 27, 2022 No, it's not the world's worst Transformer, but an impressive suit of plastic armor (+2 to AC, -3 to Dex) cut and assembled by Kami Robo, a Japanese artist famous for making robot figures out of anything, as well as robot-themed art in a wide variety of media. 24 traffic cones went into this suit, which is remarkably flexible. I'm not sure how the user breathes and it's likely to get very hot quickly. Here's a photo of Kami Robo standing next to the suit, which appears light enough to carry easily. Kami Robo's other creative robots include one made of rubber ducks, Halloween pumpkin toys, and Christmas tree stars. -via The Awesomer

An Old Fashioned Pounding Posted: 31 May 2022 09:42 AM PDT Oh my. This newspaper announcement might bring up a vision of the bedroom sign we featured a couple of months ago. And this is for a couple who isn't married yet! But there's more here than meets the eye. When I saw this clipping from Bad Newspaper, I tried hard to figure out where the typo was, and what it's supposed to say. There is no typo. An Old Fashioned Pounding is a real thing. Today we would call it a food shower, when friends and community come together to stock a pantry with staples like flour, sugar, cornmeal, beans, and spices. The name comes from the fact that a lot of these goods were sold by the pound. It's a great idea for a newly married couple, or for someone who is establishing a new home. Traditionally, churches did it when a new pastor took up residence in a parsonage.   Considering the way the term "pounding" is used in the 21st century though, you might want to call your party a food shower, just to keep the prurient puns to a minimum.

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