So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[2jakes]

Contrary to popular mythology, George Washington's dentures were not made of wood.

These dentures are in the collection at Mount Vernon – the only remaining full-set in existence.

 

[Edward]

Costumes like this that try to "capture" the 1920s-40s gangster look. No one dressed like this! It looks ridiculous, and I'm tired of seeing crap like this when looking for actual vintage examples. And then this leads people to believe that this was the definitive bad-ass style of the time. What the mob were wearing may look outlandish today, and was probably ostracized at the time, it's nowhere near like these modern renditions.

What I idn intersrting is how often most men's casual ideas of what men wore in the twenties more often resembles clothing from the later 40s and 50s, when many of the classic gangster pictures were made, typically with little regard for period costume.

 

[2jakes]

What I idn intersrting is how often most men's casual ideas of what men wore in the twenties more often resembles clothing from the later 40s and 50s, when many of the classic gangster pictures were made, typically with little regard for period costume.

I agree!
When these classic gangster pictures
"Little Caesar" and "Public Enemy"
were made in 1931, Al Capone was sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion in that year.
There was probably not much regard in the Hollywood costume dept. to search
for period clothing.


What I find amusing is Dr. Zhivago and Julie Christie's hairdo that will forever
cement the film to the 1960s.

As much as I enjoyed Faye Dunaway
in Beatty's "Bonnie & Clyde".
Check out the photos of the real
Bonnie Parker and the length of her
dress in comparison to Ms. Dunaway's.
Ms. Parker may have taken the wrong
path towards committing crime but
she never would've stepped outside in
a short-length dress. Oh my!

 

[Fading Fast]

...What I find amusing is Dr. Zhivago and Julie Christie's hairdo that will forever
cement the film to the 1960s....

Similarly, Linda Evans' do and eyeshadow in "The Big Valley" look much more 1960s than 1880s Old West. And while some period pieces today go to painstaking lengths to, at least, get the details right, even when they do - like in "Mad Men -" it is still off or exaggerated in some way.

While "Mad Men's" clothes are correct (and I've read interviews with the show's costume designer - she made sure of that), I have never seen (or very, very rarely have seen) an of-the-period picture from the '60s that looks like a scene out of "Mad Men."

And as noted in an earlier post - "Boardwalk Empire" captured a world that didn't exist, but don't you wish it did (which, my guess, is the point).

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Similar to the real estate bust of '08. For a couple three or four years new subdivisions came to a screeching halt with foundations and roads mostly in. There were a few near where I was living at the time.

It also saw the phenomenon of foreclosure ghost towns. -- entire neighborhoods of foreclosed homes sitting empty and abandoned, stripped by scavengers or even trashed by their former owners out of spite.

 

[tonyb]

It also saw the phenomenon of foreclosure ghost towns. -- entire neighborhoods of foreclosed homes sitting empty and abandoned, stripped by scavengers or even trashed by their former owners out of spite.

Yeah, it was an outrage in so many ways.
Although for people whose eyes weren't bigger than their wallets, the post-crash period was a great time to buy. A friend bought a place for less than half what a previous owner paid just a couple years or so prior.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Above, Fading Fast mentions that these days even 8th century Vikings have perfect teeth. Well, they had them back then, too. Maybe not perfect but usually better than most 21st century people's. I've examined numerous ancient, Dark Ages and Medieval skulls and they usually have a full mouth of strong, white teeth. Remember they had no refined sugar in their diet. No coffee, tea or tobacco, the agents that stain modern peoples' teeth. The idea of the toothless Middle Ages is false. Few people lived long enough for their teeth to wear down. The decline set in in the 17th century, mainly because of exploitation of New World resources. Sugar, once extremely rare, became cheap and abundant. Tobacco, an exotic habit of the rich, became a universal passion with the establishment of plantations in Virginia. Drinking spirits had been rare and confined to festive occasions. Europeans had been wine and ale drinkers for many centuries. Suddenly Europe was awash in cheap rum, a side product of the sugar refining process. In the next century gin hit the English working class the way crack cocaine hit America's inner cities in the '90s. The Middle Ages weren't as filthy, unhygenic and unhealthy as we imagine. If people could just get enough to eat their diet was pretty healthy, if monotonous by our standards. Real squalor began when people left the comparatively healthful countryside and crowded into city slums with the onset of the Industrial Revolution. That was when Europeans became stunted, sickly and toothless.

In the Era, it was very rare for an American over the age of 35 or so to have all their own teeth -- and it was very common for someone under 40 to have a full set of dentures. Lack of dentition was a major reason why men were declared unfit for military service in both World Wars, and false teeth were so common you could buy them in the Sears catalog.

As for those gleaming Ipana smiles you saw in the movies, nearly all film stars had a mouthful of caps, if not dentures. Mr. Gable, prior to his fame and his visits to "Dr. Cowan -- Credit Dentist", had a particularly gruesome and snaggle-toothed grin.

 

[3fingers]

I have a bunch of old news broadcasts sponsored by Dr. Cowan the friendly credit dentist. Open evenings above the Owl Drug.

 

[Bushman]

In the Era, it was very rare for an American over the age of 35 or so to have all their own teeth -- and it was very common for someone under 40 to have a full set of dentures.

My paternal grandparents, both born in the early 1930s, both had dentures by their early to mid 30s, while my Dad is 60 and only now getting new teeth.

 

[GHT]

My paternal grandparents, both born in the early 1930s, both had dentures by their early to mid 30s, while my Dad is 60 and only now getting new teeth.

From my childhood to my early twenties I regularly had fillings and tooth extractions. Then three things happened. I quit smoking, stopped having sugar in hot drinks and fluoride was added to our water supply. From then on the only dental work that I have needed was to replace the amalgam fillings with porcelain. I haven't had a scrap of tooth decay in 50 years. And that's the case for most of my peers too. Reading above about rotten teeth in the era, made me realise why today's ageing baby boomers don't have the old age look of their predecessors. When you lose your teeth you lose the facial muscle control with them, which in turn gives that characteristic old age appearance. I was actually going to post an image of a row of rotten teeth. Ugh! Too gross.

 

[Zombie_61]

Contrary to popular mythology, George Washington's dentures were not made of wood.
View attachment 111139
These dentures are in the collection at Mount Vernon – the only remaining full-set in existence.

Hokey smokes! No wonder he hated wearing them.

...As much as I enjoyed Faye Dunaway in Beatty's "Bonnie & Clyde". Check out the photos of the real Bonnie Parker and the length of her
dress in comparison to Ms. Dunaway's. Ms. Parker may have taken the wrong path towards committing crime but she never would've stepped outside in a short-length dress. Oh my!

Faye Dunaway's appearance is only the tip of the iceberg with regards to the number of things that are wrong in that movie.

Similarly, Linda Evans' do and eyeshadow in "The Big Valley" look much more 1960s than 1880s Old West...

Until I saw Mary McDonnell in Dances With Wolves in 1990, I hadn't realized native American women wore lip gloss.

 

[Trenchfriend]

Man, I hate, when service-telephone personnel upset me, while they ask irrelevant things, instead of answering my question or just connect me with the special department.

Again the reason, why sometimes e-mailing is better.

 

[Edward]

Contrary to popular mythology, George Washington's dentures were not made of wood.
View attachment 111139


These dentures are in the collection at Mount Vernon – the only remaining full-set in existence.

Jinkies, those look like they could easily lose you a finger!

As for those gleaming Ipana smiles you saw in the movies, nearly all film stars had a mouthful of caps, if not dentures. Mr. Gable, prior to his fame and his visits to "Dr. Cowan -- Credit Dentist", had a particularly gruesome and snaggle-toothed grin.

PLus ca change.... Although significantly more common than they were in my day, teeth braces are still far from as common in the UK as they seem to be in the US. You can always spot when some up and coming British actor or actress is about to make a bid to break into Hollywood because they suddenly have their teeth done as Hollywood demands. I remember when Billie Piper returned to Doctor Who after having hers done, and it looked like she was wearing dentures!

 

[Fading Fast]

...PLus ca change.... Although significantly more common than they were in my day, teeth braces are still far from as common in the UK as they seem to be in the US. You can always spot when some up and coming British actor or actress is about to make a bid to break into Hollywood because they suddenly have their teeth done as Hollywood demands. I remember when Billie Piper returned to Doctor Who after having hers done, and it looked like she was wearing dentures!

With Netflix, Amazon, etc. - hence, we see much more British TV - we've noticed, too, that British actors don't seem to have the overly perfect teeth of American actors.

For example, and I don't know if she had them fixed in the last year or two, but Keira Knightly has, IMHO, normal people teeth - they're fine, quite nice, but not perfectly aligned, perfectly white, perfectly gleaming.

My guess, she's a big enough star that she can do what she wants, but it is clear that at a level down from the top - American actors have super-perfect teeth and British actors don't have to. While - even if its smallish of me - I don't want to see a mouth of janky teeth, the super-perfect ones are jarring.

That said, I've noticed that most (not all) kids today, not only have straight, super-white teeth, their teeth seem better shaped and also, they seem to have really good gum lines. I'm just guessing, but they must be doing a lot more than just putting braces on these kids teeth as, when I went to school in the '70s, half the kids had braces, but their teeth didn't look anywhere near as good as kids' today do.

 

[Edward]

I agree!
When these classic gangster pictures
"Little Caesar" and "Public Enemy"
were made in 1931, Al Capone was sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion in that year.
There was probably not much regard in the Hollywood costume dept. to search
for period clothing.


What I find amusing is Dr. Zhivago and Julie Christie's hairdo that will forever
cement the film to the 1960s.

As much as I enjoyed Faye Dunaway
in Beatty's "Bonnie & Clyde".
Check out the photos of the real
Bonnie Parker and the length of her
dress in comparison to Ms. Dunaway's.
Ms. Parker may have taken the wrong
path towards committing crime but
she never would've stepped outside in
a short-length dress. Oh my!

The worst crimes of period incorrectness seem mostly to have been in the sixties..... I think I've yet to see one of the classic war movies from that era where even the men have something approaching a haircut that looks, let alone is, right. Battle of Britain sticks out in my mind - the late-war, multi-panels Irvins, which would be significantly criticised now, are the least of the slips in that. Always amusing to see the Luftwaffe looking like a crowd of ton-up boys!

 

[Edward]

With Netflix, Amazon, etc. - hence, we see much more British TV - we've noticed, too, that British actors don't seem to have the overly perfect teeth of American actors.

For example, and I don't know if she had them fixed in the last year or two, but Keira Knightly has, IMHO, normal people teeth - they're fine, quite nice, but not perfectly aligned, perfectly white, perfectly gleaming.

My guess, she's a big enough star that she can do what she wants, but it is clear that at a level down from the top - American actors have super-perfect teeth and British actors don't have to. While - even if its smallish of me - I don't want to see a mouth of janky teeth, the super-perfect ones are jarring.

That said, I've noticed that most (not all) kids today, not only have straight, super-white teeth, their teeth seem better shaped and also, they seem to have really good gum lines. I'm just guessing, but they must be doing a lot more than just putting braces on these kids teeth as, when I went to school in the '70s, half the kids had braces, but their teeth didn't look anywhere near as good as kids' today do.

I suspect it's a mix of things. Probably greater awareness of what causes problems, as much as anything, nowadays.

 

[Fading Fast]

I suspect it's a mix of things. Probably greater awareness of what causes problems, as much as anything, nowadays.

I'm sure your'e right as something is going on because it's not just that kids' teeth are straighter today - but the shape, color (okay, that's the whitening stuff) and gum line are all meaningfully better than the kids who had their teeth "straightened" back in the '70s.

Full disclosure, I didn't have my teeth straightened as a kid, and after getting several professional opinions at the age of 50 (consensus, I needed to get braces now or I'd have bite and gum issues later - some small problems had already started cropping up) and saving up for a few years, I just finished Invisiline braces (still have the retainers in). My teeth look nice and straight (and the dentist says my gums and bite are better and will be healthier for much longer), but they don't look as nice as young kids teeth do.

 

[Zombie_61]

I never had my teeth straightened, but when I was very young I was misdiagnosed as epileptic and prescribed Dilantin as an anti-seizure medication. One of the potential negative side effects is a form of gingivitis, so my teeth were somewhat problematic for the first 25-30 years of my life. As a result, I've had so many root canals that I now have as many posts and crowns as I have natural teeth.

 

[Fading Fast]

I never had my teeth straightened, but when I was very young I was misdiagnosed as epileptic and prescribed Dilantin as an anti-seizure medication. One of the potential negative side effects is a form of gingivitis, so my teeth were somewhat problematic for the first 25-30 years of my life. As a result, I've had so many root canals that I now have as many posts and crowns as I have natural teeth.

Not fun, I'm sorry. A friend of mine as a kid had some kind of medicine that turn his all his teeth a yellow green (can't remember the medicine - maybe for an ear infection - but it was a bit of a national scandal at the time - not his case, specifically, but the medicine overall).

I was diagnosed with mild dyslexia in first grade (I think, my mother is hesitant about the story), which my parents decided was best to ignore - maybe good or bad, don't know, but letters and things still flip for me and I can't spell anything correctly. Today, they'd probably arrest my parents (but I think they sincerely didn't believe it was a big deal - we all knew a lot less then like "what the heck is dyslexia?").

 

[crawlinkingsnake]

Amazing to me is a neighbor who walks out their front door, never looks left or right, never acknowledging anyone around them. Would it hurt to just say "hey" or throw up their hand, or at least grunt? Are they so absorbed in their own little world they could care about anyone or anything else? Only looking up after someone speaks to them first. Of course I guess it's just my smart-ass self, as I now make a big deal of speaking to them, nearly falling all over them. I'm sure they thing I'm completely nuts.
Guess I'm just guilty of growing up in a small town where everyone spoke to everyone, including strangers. A regular Mayberry R.F.D. A place where a neighbor was truly a neighbor aka someone you could count on. Hey just sayin'...