There were a lot of things we believed or did in the sixties we don’t do today, and yet we’re not all that different.
Back in the day, people wanted to lose weight just as much as they do today. And just like today, they wanted to find the magical way to do it effortlessly and quickly. Enter the vibrating belt workout machine, which supposedly was going to jiggle your fat off your belly and hips while you just stood there, with the help of a wide vibrating belt around the offending areas.
People found it popular and tried it frequently even if doctors knew it did little to give them the body shape they wished for.
Flight attendants at the time were called stewardesses, and they were all chosen to be beautiful young women with specifications designed to make them look like models come alive. It was at a time where young ladies were looking to strike a good match with an affluent passenger by serving drinks in a plane. Today, the method may have changed but the goal isn’t necessarily off the table.
Seatbelts, too, were a thing considered a nuisance or unnecessary. They were either optional accessories for the car or designed in such an uncomfortable way that people were not happily using them. It would be a while before technology and experience convinced people to strap in.
Social etiquette was vastly different, too. People, especially young ladies, were expected to speak in pleasant, confident tones and have body language that predisposed people positively to them. Today, we may call that ‘people skills and package them in a different way for current sensibilities, but no matter how bizarre-sounding, the advice was sound.
When it came to marriage, women tended to stay at home, keeping the house and preparing themselves and the environment to be pleasant. It sounds bizarre to modern ladies perhaps, but it was just a different distribution of labor.
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