This photo of Stephen King comes from Life Magazine in 1982. Credit: Reddit
Stephen King With His $12,000 “Wang” Word Processor, 1982
Known as the “King of Horror”, Stephen King is one of the wealthiest authors in the world with a net worth of $500 million. From 1973 to 1981, Wang Laboratories was a company that produced computers, fax machines, and word processors. The brand was very short-lived, and ultimately couldn’t keep up with the likes of Apple. At $12,000, you had to be as successful as Stephen King to afford a Wang Word Processor to begin with! This image was published in a 1982 issue of Life Magazine. At the time, many people were still using typewriters, because computers were too expensive for the average person. It wasn’t until the 1990’s when personal computers would become more affordable, and programs like Microsoft Word made word processing machines obsolete.
In the 2010’s, there was a huge “Tiny House” movement that spread throughout the world as people began to downsize their homes after the Great Recession of 2008. At the same time, there was an uptick of people getting into “van life”, which is the process of converting a van into a tiny home on wheels. But this photo from 1926 proves that people had this idea long before the current tiny house movement. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of information on the photo. I would love to see the inside of this mobile home. But we are left with the exterior, showing a cute little house built around a car.
This Greyhound bus station came with state-of-the-art coin operated TV’s. Credit: Reddit
Ashtrays and Coin-Operated Televisions in the LA Greyhound Bus Terminal, 1969
It’s funny how something that once seemed like modern luxury is now old-fashioned and dated in so many ways. As a kid in the 1990’s, I would have loved to see these coin-operated TV’s at a bus station. When you’re waiting for your bus to arrive, there is not much you could do back then besides read a book, newspaper, or magazine. But nowadays, almost everyone owns a smartphone or an iPad, so you can watch media for free on your personal devices. Smoking indoors didn’t become illegal in all enclosed spaces until 2011. So it’s still a fairly new law, but it makes these indoor ashtrays obsolete.
Famous photograph from 1899, taken by Félix Thiollier. Credit: Reddit, Félix Thiollier
Lady and Her Horse on a Snowy Day, 1899
This photo by Félix Thiollier is absolutely beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that a lot of people like to hang it on the wall in their home. It captures movement so perfectly. And with the snow surrounding the woman and the horse, it almost feels like a magical place to be. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of information about this photo available online. I wish we knew the story behind this stunning picture, but it may actually be a good picture to use for writing prompts, if you’re the creative type.
Two of the girls in the picture weren’t lucky enough to get a Cabbage Patch Kid. Credit: Reddit
The Cabbage Patch Craze, 1983-84
On Reddit, the title of this photo says, “Only some of us were lucky enough to get a Cabbage Patch Kid during the craze in 1983/84.” In 1983, Cabbage Patch dolls were so scarce, that it caused literal riots to break out in stores as parents frantically tried to buy them. During Christmas time, some parents even drove hundreds of miles to get their hands on one. At the time, Cabbage Patch dolls cost $21, which is closer to $62 after inflation. To make matters worse, people would resell the dolls for $50, which is more like $147 today. As time went on, the cost of the doll increased. After a quick check online, I saw that they go for around $40 to $60 each, depending on the style.
