Comments on: Party PEPPER-UPPERS (Dec, 1952) http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/05/03/party-pepper-uppers/ Yesterday's tomorrow, today. Fri, 10 Feb 2012 12:01:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.4 By: Blurgle http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/05/03/party-pepper-uppers/comment-page-1/#comment-161864 Blurgle Fri, 11 May 2007 02:51:00 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/05/03/party-pepper-uppers/#comment-161864 Remember too, Caya, that at this point in time lots of people took drugs - valium and barbiturates were being handed out like candy, and pot was beginning to become popular. Heroin was the junkie's drug of choice (and yes, there were junkies). Cocaine had been popular 25 years earlier but had become less so due to its cost. What they didn't have were screaming headlines on every newspaper telling them that drugs were a horrible, horrible scourge. They also had (as you say) sexism, racism (there were lynchings in the 50s), and homophobia, and non-conformity was viewed with the kind of horror we reserve for white supremacists and the like. Remember too, Caya, that at this point in time lots of people took drugs – valium and barbiturates were being handed out like candy, and pot was beginning to become popular. Heroin was the junkie’s drug of choice (and yes, there were junkies). Cocaine had been popular 25 years earlier but had become less so due to its cost.

What they didn’t have were screaming headlines on every newspaper telling them that drugs were a horrible, horrible scourge.

They also had (as you say) sexism, racism (there were lynchings in the 50s), and homophobia, and non-conformity was viewed with the kind of horror we reserve for white supremacists and the like.

]]> By: Caya http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/05/03/party-pepper-uppers/comment-page-1/#comment-150611 Caya Thu, 03 May 2007 18:44:49 +0000 http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2007/05/03/party-pepper-uppers/#comment-150611 I was just about to write in a comment about how much I would rather have lived in this era, where stupid party games are considered "party pepper-uppers", and not life-destroying, soul-destroying drugs. That is, until I caught sight of the next article down, about the "Girl Chemist". She's 22 years old, and called a "girl". The article doesn't fail to note that she is "attractive" with "no shortage of male admirers"- and the bulk of the pages are devoted to her face, not her accomplishments. And THAT is the kind of thing that made my mother into a Hippie Feminist. I was just about to write in a comment about how much I would rather have lived in this era, where stupid party games are considered “party pepper-uppers”, and not life-destroying, soul-destroying drugs. That is, until I caught sight of the next article down, about the “Girl Chemist”. She’s 22 years old, and called a “girl”. The article doesn’t fail to note that she is “attractive” with “no shortage of male admirers”- and the bulk of the pages are devoted to her face, not her accomplishments. And THAT is the kind of thing that made my mother into a Hippie Feminist.

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