What were some of the most bizarre 900 numbers of the 1980s and 1990s? How in the world did crash test dummies become celebrities? What are some infamous banned drinks?
Episode 180 answers those questions with a heavy prescription of nostalgia.
It begins with the story behind the crash test dummies. No, not the 1990s alternative band. We look at how a safety measuring tool became a beloved part of 1980s pop culture. You will learn a lot from these dummies.
We go way back in the day and dive into some of the weirdest 900 numbers of the 1980s and 1990s. In a time where it seemed like every celebrity, musician, and cartoon character had their own hotline these are the ones that really make you shake your head and laugh.
This week's Top 5 showcases banned drinks. These were at one point popular but have since been removed from shelves or so drastically altered that they don't resemble what people knew.
There is a brand new This Week In History and Time Capsule centered around the tragic Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 02 (00:00):
Hello, world, and welcome to the In My Footsteps
podcast.
I am Christopher Setterlund,coming to you from the vacation
destination known as Cape Cod,Massachusetts, and this is
episode 180.
We are overflowing withnostalgia as we end the month of
(00:21):
January.
We're going to kick the showoff with a look back at the
story behind the crash testdummies.
No, not the band.
We're going to go way, way backin the day and look at some of
the weirdest 900 numbers fromthe 1980s and 90s.
Hopefully you didn't call anyof these.
There'll be a brand new topfive that are going to be the
(00:44):
top five banned drinks.
Good luck trying to find any ofthese.
And there'll be a brand newThis Week in History and Time
Capsule centered around theSpace Shuttle Challenger
disaster.
All of that is coming up rightnow on episode 180 of the In My
Footsteps podcast.
January is almost over.
(01:06):
We're almost into the month oflove that is February.
We got an early gift you willlove this podcast episode.
This was one of those monthswhere, because of how the
calendar goes, there were fivepodcast episodes this month.
So I hope you've enjoyed theextra episodes.
It's crazy, 180 episodes.
(01:28):
When I started this, sure, Iwould have loved to have gotten
to this point, but I wasn'tsure.
All the work that goes in everyweek—research, recording,
editing, marketing— And there'sstill so much more to go.
If you saw my lists of topics,potential topics for future
episodes, you'd probably belike, man, he's going to be
(01:51):
doing this forever.
And I wouldn't say forever, butI keep finding new things to
use as topics.
Pop culture, nostalgia, thesethings never go away.
So it's just a matter offinding areas that I haven't
mined yet for content.
And as we're here at 180episodes...
Naturally, I couldn't do thiswithout you who listen, who
(02:13):
share, who tell others, youknow, check out this content,
whether it's the audio podcast,all the videos on YouTube, the
blogs.
My biggest thanks go out to myPatreon subscribers, Laurie,
Mary Lou, Ashley, Kevin, Leo,Marguerite, Neglectoid, Crystal.
(02:33):
Thank you all so much for beingmy biggest supporters, my
biggest backers.
$5 a month gets you access tobonus podcast episodes,
including one that will be goingup in a few days.
February 1st is three daysaway.
There'll be a new podcastepisode dropping for Patreon
subscribers.
And I'm always looking for newthings to put up there, not just
(02:56):
for subscribers, but for thefree tier.
After last week's Me vs.
AI Top 5 that I did, I'mthinking about doing another one
of those just for Patreonsubscribers.
I just have to find the topicto speak about and then the time
to create the AI voice, whichwas Bonsai Buddy last week, for
(03:19):
those of you that didn't hearthe podcast.
I know I say it every week, butthis is going to be a fun show.
I had a lot of good ideas to gothrough.
The cold weather of the dogdays of winter have left me
inside a lot and a lot more timeto research.
So enough with the teases,let's get into it.
(03:41):
Let's start off episode 180 ofthe podcast with a look at the
crash test dummies.
80s and 90s kids, rejoice, herewe go.
You could learn a lot from adummy.
No, not me.
We're going to start the showoff talking about the crash test
dummies.
And no, I'm not talking aboutthe band.
(04:01):
Yes, I can only play a littlebit of that song.
It reminds me of a CampbellSoup commercial.
The crash test dummies, thewhole concept of these
mannequins, the talkingmannequins that they use to test
(04:23):
vehicles to see how they wouldsurvive crashes...
This was something that poppedin my head not that long ago.
But rather than have thissegment just be me talking
about, remember thosecommercials?
It has to be more substance toit.
So I had to do the researchabout the whole history of crash
test dummies leading into thePSAs from the 80s and such.
(04:45):
Those of you that grew up inthe 80s into the 90s will likely
be able to picture in your headthe crash test dummies.
But fear not if you don'tremember, because that's what
I'm here for, is to fill you in,fill in the gaps.
The crash test dummies, theones that were in the PSAs, and
crash test dummies in general,they're a symbol of safety and
(05:09):
science.
The mannequins were designed tosave lives by simulating the
human body during car crashes.
And that's what they startedas.
Just things that you would useto show how humans would react
in a car accident.
Never, I'm sure, when theystarted the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration,I'm sure they never thought that
(05:33):
eventually they'd become popculture icons.
An interesting fact about crashtest dummies in general, they
began in the mid-20th century.
as automobile manufacturerssought better ways to improve
car safety.
But before these mannequins,the crash tests were conducted
using cadavers or animals.
(05:55):
So that means to test out thesecrashes, you would put dead
bodies in there or animals.
I don't know what kind ofanimals you would put in the car
to smash.
I'm figuring it had to be largeenough.
I would hope it wasn't dogs,but you could probably fit...
I don't know.
Deer.
Could you fit a deer in a car?
(06:15):
According to Tommy Boy, youcan.
These methods were effective tosome degree, but naturally
raised ethical concerns.
Just like I'm saying, you'regoing to really put live
animals, I would assume, inthese cars and then smash them?
Things changed in 1949.
The first true crash test dummywas named Sierra Sam.
(06:39):
and was developed by the SierraEngineering Company.
Sierra SAM was originallydesigned to test ejection seats
in aircraft.
By the 1960s, General Motorsintroduced the more human-like
crash test dummies.
One, the original was calledHybrid 1, and then there was
(07:00):
Hybrid 2 in the early 1970s.
The Hybrid 1 and Hybrid 2 crashtest dummies They featured
better anatomical accuracy,standardized data collection,
and if you look them up, theydon't look much different than
what you would think of with thecrash test dummies in the 80s
(07:20):
and 90s.
Eventually, the gold standardof crash test dummies was the
Hybrid 3, introduced in 1976.
This sophisticated designincluded sensors to measure
impact forces on the head, neck,chest, pelvis, and legs.
So by this point, we're decadesinto having crash test dummies,
(07:42):
and that's just what they'refor, in laboratories seeing
safety features of vehicles.
We fast forward, though, towhat most of you are here for.
That is the crash test dummiesas mascots.
In 1985, the NHTSA launched agroundbreaking public safety
(08:03):
campaign featuring twoanthropomorphic crash test
dummies.
They were named Vince andLarry.
Speaker 07 (08:11):
Get up.
Safety belt test at nine.
Hurry.
Not another windshield test.
Count me out.
What?
The old pro backing down from amotorhome?
Nothing like that.
I'm just tired of trying toconvince people to wear safety
belts.
No one's listening.
Speaker 02 (08:23):
This was that time period in the mid-1980s where
seatbelt laws, they had beenthere but they were never
enforced.
I mean, when I was a kid,seatbelts were an option.
I can remember riding around inthe back of my stepfather's
pickup truck.
There were no seatbelts backthere.
Or being in the back of ourblue station wagon when the way
(08:46):
back, five or six of us kids,there were no seatbelts back
there.
This is where they were tryingto crack down on seatbelt laws.
So the NHTSA created thispublic safety campaign to
promote seatbelt use, safedriving, and it combined humor
and education to engage a wideraudience.
This is also around the sametime where there was Operation
(09:10):
Last Call to crack down on drunkdriving.
So it was like a whole wave ofsafety when it came to vehicles.
These PSAs would show Vince andLarry, sometimes they'd be at
home, waking up to go into theirjob, which was to be the crash
test dummies.
Speaker 07 (09:29):
Dashboard du jour for Vince under glass.
But Vince, look out! Even withairbags, Vince, you still gotta
remember to buckle your safetybelt.
Now you tell me.
Speaker 02 (09:45):
There was one really funny...
And where they escaped.
So rather than crash into thewall where the bullseye was for
the car, they take off drivingout of the lot.
They were meant to beeducational, but they became
(10:16):
instantly recognizable,wisecracking characters who
humorously endured the carcrashes to demonstrate the
dangers of not wearing safetybelts.
There'd be them being thrownaround their cars, smashed into
the windshields, flying throughthe air.
They'd be in pieces.
I always remember when I was akid thinking the crash test
(10:39):
dummies were Reminding me alittle bit of if they put
clothes on C-3PO.
I don't know, maybe I'm theonly one that ever saw that
connection.
All the PSAs would end with thesame line.
Speaker 00 (10:53):
You could learn a lot from a dummy.
Buckle your safety belt.
Speaker 02 (10:56):
Yes, that's the one.
The campaign was one of themost effective safety
initiatives of its time.
In 1980, only 11% of driversused safety belts.
By 1990, that number had jumpedto 49%.
And I'm sure a lot of that camedown to the funny PSAs with the
(11:18):
crash test dummies.
Although it is stillinteresting that even after all
that, it was still just abouthalf the people use seatbelts.
I'm sure the NHTSA was thrilledwith the increase of seatbelt
usage.
But I'm sure they were alsohappy with money they could make
with Vince and Larry the CrashTest Dummies becoming cultural
(11:40):
icons.
In 1991, toy manufacturer Tycoreleased a line of Crash Test
Dummies action figures.
These toys allowed kids tosimulate crashes.
The action figures would breakapart on impact.
And you know little kids lovethat.
Smash their toy and it breaksinto pieces, but it's meant to
(12:02):
so you can just put it backtogether.
In 1993, there was a TV show, acartoon, The Incredible Crash
Test Dummies that was on FoxKids.
And this also spun off intocomic books.
So in less than 10 years, thesesafety mascots went from being
just in a laboratory to havingPSA commercials, toys, comic
(12:26):
books, TV shows.
I can't really think ofanything else to compare it to.
Something that was never reallymeant to become pop culture
icon worthy, and it did.
It didn't stop there.
Vince and Larry the Crash TestDummies made guest appearances
on talk shows, children'sprogramming.
(12:47):
As I mentioned at the top ofthe segment, they inspired an
alternative band, the Crash TestDummies.
It's like they became symbolsof safety and risk.
They were referenced inparodies, cartoons.
But why?
Why did Vince and Larry work?
It was...
(13:07):
rooted in their unique abilityto combine humor with a serious
message.
Because if you strip away thefunny voices and the funny PSAs,
you're talking about peoplepotentially dying in violent car
accidents.
That's not really an easy topicto talk about, especially PSAs
where kids like me, I was eightyears old when the first one
(13:28):
came out.
I'm sure I thought it waspretty funny seeing them get all
destroyed.
But these anthropomorphicdummies embodied the
consequences of unsafe driving.
Having them laying there withtheir arms and legs ruined, you
couldn't really do that with areal person.
It would be way too bloody andviolent to have in a commercial
(13:50):
on TV.
The comedic tone made it wherethe message would resonate
without feeling overly grim orpreachy.
Vince and Larry the Dummies,they helped bridge the gap
between new legislation forautomobile safety and public
buy-in, making safety cool andcomprehensible.
(14:12):
Vince and Larry the Dummies didnot make it out of the 90s.
The campaign officially endedin 1999.
For those wondering, Vince wasvoiced by a man named Jack
Burns.
And Larry was voiced by a mannamed Lorenzo Music, who he may
not have a familiar name to you.
(14:33):
Maybe he does.
But I always remember LorenzoMusic as the voice of Garfield
in the 1980s on the TV shows.
By the time the Vince and Larrycampaign ended, the NHTSA
reported that in 1999, nearly70% of people were using their
seatbelt.
And if you miss Vince andLarry, the costumes are a part
(14:56):
of the Smithsonian Institute.
You can go there and put one ofthe crash test dummies in
Archie Bunker's chair.
So to sum it up, I mean, crashtest dummies started as
scientific tools to improveautomotive safety, but they
evolved into unlikely popculture icons.
I'm sure some of the clips thatI've shared in this segment
(15:16):
have brought some of you of acertain age group back to those
times.
where crashed-ass dummies werecelebrities.
They have left an indeliblemark both on science and
culture, and it teaches us allthat, well, you know, sometimes
you really can learn a lot froma dummy.
Speaker 00 (15:36):
You could learn a lot from a dummy.
Buckle your safety belt.
Speaker 02 (15:46):
This week in history, we are going back 39
years ago to January 28th, 1986and the tragic Space Shuttle
Challenger disaster.
This is probably one of thefirst events that I actually
have some vivid memories of.
So I was in second grade.
I was eight years old.
(16:07):
The big thing with the SpaceShuttle Challenger was that
Krista McAuliffe, who was aschool teacher, was going to be
in space forever.
doing lessons from the shuttle.
So being a child in elementaryschool, that really resonated
with me.
The space shuttle program wasinitiated in the 1970s to
(16:27):
develop a reusable spacecraftcapable of carrying humans and
cargo into space.
It marked a significant shiftfrom the expendable launch
systems that they had previouslyused By the early 1980s, the
shuttle had become a symbol oftechnological prowess and
ambition.
The Space Shuttle Challengerhad successfully completed nine
(16:50):
missions prior to this disaster.
I do know that I did not seethis live when it happened, but
I believe that there were someclasses in my school where they
had TVs to watch it live.
I am assuming my class was oneof the unlucky ones, or I guess
lucky ones, to not see it.
(17:10):
So in the days leading up tothe launch, there were concerns
raised about unusually coldweather at Kennedy Space Center.
Temperatures dipped belowfreezing on the morning of
January 28th, leading toformation of ice on the launch
pad.
Engineers from Morton Fekel,the contractor responsible for
the shuttle's solid rocketboosters, warned that the cold
(17:35):
could compromise the O-ringseals, which were critical to
preventing hot gases fromescaping the boosters.
Despite these warnings, NASAmanagers proceeded with the
launch, partly due to schedulepressures and the high-profile
nature of the mission.
At 11.39 a.m.
Eastern Time, the Challengerlifted off, and only 73 seconds
(17:58):
into the flight, the shuttleexploded.
It disintegrated.
resulting in the death of allseven crew members as my memory
serves me in second grade ibelieve that our principal came
on over the intercom and saidsomething about the space
shuttle disaster in myelementary school it was
(18:21):
kindergarten through secondgrade so i don't know if He was
announcing it more for theteachers to know so they could
answer any questions.
Because me at eight years old,I don't think I would have
understood.
The Challenger disaster was adevastating blow to NASA and the
nation.
There was an immediateinvestigation led by the Rogers
(18:43):
Commission.
And this investigation revealedthat the O-ring seals had
indeed failed due to the coldtemperatures.
This allowed hot gases tobreach the booster joint,
leading to the structuralfailure of the shuttle.
As a result of this, the spaceshuttle program was grounded for
nearly three years whileextensive safety modifications
(19:03):
were made.
One of the most significantchanges was the redesign of the
solid rocket boosters to includea new O-ring seal design and
additional safety measures.
Teacher Krista McAuliffe, sheis immortalized in the McAuliffe
Shepard Discovery Center inConcord, New Hampshire.
As she was born in Boston, Ivisited it years ago.
(19:27):
It's really interesting ifyou're into space travel
science.
The new safety measures, theyhaven't been perfect.
As the space shuttle Columbiadisintegrated upon re-entry into
the Earth's orbit in 2003.
The Challenger disaster, itremains a poignant chapter in
the history of spaceexploration, a testament to the
(19:48):
bravery of those who ventureinto the unknown, and a reminder
of the responsibilities thatcome with such endeavors.
And that horrific space shuttleChallenger disaster occurred 39
years ago this week in history.
All right, we will try to bringthe mood up a little with a
(20:10):
brand new time capsule.
We're going to stick to thatsame date, January 28th, 1986.
What was going on in the worldof pop culture back then?
Well, let's find out.
The number one song was At ThisMoment by Billy Vera and the
Beaters.
This is a song that I couldn'tremember it, so I had to go and
(20:32):
play it.
And immediately I was like, oh,I know this song.
It was actually releasedseveral years earlier and went
back to number one because itwas a mainstay song for that
season of Family Ties and theromance between Alex Keaton and
Ellen Reed, Michael J.
Fox and Tracy Pollard who endedup really getting married.
(20:53):
The song was clearly BillyVera's greatest hit ever of his
career.
But an interesting fact is thathe has written several famous
TV show themes.
including the themes for EmptyNest and King of Queens.
So there you go.
The number one movie was Downand Out in Beverly Hills, and
(21:16):
you could get into the theaterwith a ticket costing $3.71.
It was only a few weeks ago inepisode 177, when I talked about
1980's Fox TV show Fails, thatI mentioned the TV version of
Down and Out in Beverly Hills.
This is totally coincidencethat this movie was number one.
(21:36):
The movie stars Nick Nolte,Bette Midler, Richard Dreyfuss,
about a rich but dysfunctionalfamily that saves the life of a
down-on-his-luck homeless man inBeverly Hills who is basically
trying to drown himself in theirpool.
The movie is 77% fresh onRotten Tomatoes and made over
(21:57):
$62 million on a budget of $14million.
So it was way more successfulthan the TV version of this
movie.
The number one TV show was TheCosby Show, because it's the
mid-1980s, and of course itwould be.
This is the show about theHuxtables living in Brooklyn.
(22:18):
The show was on from 1984 to1992.
201 total episodes.
Five of the show's eightseasons saw it finish number one
in the ratings.
So that's why anytime I do atime capsule from this period,
it's usually the Cosby showthat's number one.
And if you were around backthen, January 28th, 1986, maybe
(22:42):
you were in second grade like apodcast host was at the time.
Maybe you did well on a mathproject like I might have done
at the time.
Well, you deserve a toy, sowe're going to bring you to Toys
R Us.
So much for so much less,always, as they say.
There are various He-ManMasters of the Universe action
(23:07):
figures for $5.97 each.
You can get a Power Wheelsall-terrain motorcycle for
$1.14.97.
a stereo headphone cassetteplayer for $9.97, but it is not
a Sony Walkman.
It's some brand called Crown.
And if you enter now, you couldpossibly win a five-minute toy
(23:30):
run sponsored by Toys R Us andNickelodeon.
So get your entries in there.
Then you can get a thousand ofthose He-Mans and Power Wheels.
But that'll wrap up anotherTime Capsule, another This Week
in History.
We go from hard to find toysnow to drinks that are
impossible to find.
(23:51):
As we look at some banneddrinks on a brand new top five.
Oh man, this is going to be alot of interesting things to
talk about here as we talk aboutbanned drinks.
I was able to find five goodones as far as drinks that are
(24:14):
banned.
The honorable mentions is goingto be a lot of additives, more
generic, general types ofdrinks.
For me, as someone that hasenjoyed energy drinks for quite
a while and pre-workout thingsfor going to the gym, ready to
drink stuff, There were a lot ofexamples of drinks that had had
(24:37):
their formulas changed, so theyweren't necessarily banned, but
their original formulas were, Iguess if that makes sense.
This happens a lot withpre-workout stuff, where it'll
have things that are in it thatat first the FDA doesn't even
know about them, and then aftertime and more research, they
(24:58):
find out that these things arebad for you.
I specifically remember apre-workout substance called
Jacked, and the E in Jacked wasa 3, so I would say it was Jack
3D.
Their formula got changed.
There was one called NOExplode, which is still around.
Their formula got changed.
(25:20):
There was a drink calledRedline by a company called VPX.
And that drink wasdiscontinued, so not really
banned, but I had people thatwould refer to it as liquid
crack in case you wondered howpotent Redline was.
With this top five, they're inno particular order.
(25:41):
And the honorable mentions,like I said, I'm going to get
into those because I wasn't sureif it fell into the category of
these things have been bannedor if the formulas have to be
changed.
So let's just get into them andyou can decide.
For the honorable mentions, avery recent one is red dye
number three has been banned.
(26:02):
It's typically for coloringthings like strawberry milk.
Some of those would have reddye number three in them to give
it that strawberry color.
Another recent additive thatwas banned is brominated
vegetable oil.
It was a chemical additive thathelped prevent flavoring oils
(26:23):
from separating.
What I found as far as thedrinks go, there were a lot of
drinks from Walmart that hadthis in it, but that was just
banned last year in July.
The other honorable mention,and we're going to get into a
lot more of these, iscaffeinated alcoholic beverages.
I mean, it kind of is commonsense.
(26:44):
You're going to combine anupper and a downer together.
It's kind of rolling the dice,like, well, let's see what this
does to them.
There were several differentcaffeinated alcoholic beverages,
but the A number one, as far asthis list goes, and was the
whole reason I started this bandDrinks Top Five, we're just
(27:08):
going to jump right in withnumber one, Four Loco.
Caffeine, alcohol, what couldhappen?
Sometimes referred to as ablackout in a can.
This drink debuted in 2005.
It was marketed as an energydrink.
After a year, they weren'treally making money on this Four
(27:30):
Loko, so they slightly changedthe formula and upped the
alcohol content, which reallymade it take off in popularity,
but also in danger.
There are multiple examples ofpeople dying from drinking Four
Loko, or at least their deathskind of being around it.
with lawsuits against thecompany.
(27:51):
This is what led to, in 2010,them having to drop the caffeine
from the Four Loko.
You can still get the drink,but it's just alcohol.
No more caffeine.
In an interesting segue, I saidafter a year, the creators of
Four Loko changed the formulaslightly.
That's because it originallyhad something called wormwood in
(28:14):
it, which was supposedly apsychoactive ingredient that was
a big part of what is numbertwo on this list, absinthe.
Absinthe is an anise-flavoredspirit.
Anise is kind of like licorice.
This is an interesting caveat,much like for loco.
Absinthe is only legal in theUnited States when that
(28:37):
psychoactive wormwood is removedfrom it.
Even without the wormwood, itis a highly potent alcohol,
ranging anywhere from 90 to 148proof.
Absinthe was originally createdin Switzerland in the late 18th
century and became popularamong writers like Ernest
(28:59):
Hemingway, Lewis Carroll, whowrote Alice in Wonderland, which
makes it make more sense if hewas on absinthe, Wormwood is the
psychoactive hallucinogen inabsinthe.
This drink was banned in theUnited States in 1915, so over
100 years that the originalformula has been banned.
(29:20):
The revival of absinthe beganin the 1990s as they produced it
without the wormwood.
The hits just keep on cominghere as we move to number three,
powdered alcohol.
I had no idea this was even athing.
The concept of highly potentpowdered alcohol dates back to
(29:44):
the late 1960s in Japan.
Sato Food Industries createdthis powder called Alcock.
In 1974, the Sato Companypatented the process for making
alcohol powder.
Test sales began in 1977 underthe name SureShot.
(30:04):
which coincidentally is thetitle of a Beastie Boys song,
and now I wonder if that's wherethey got it from.
In the U.S., it's commonlyreferred to as palkohol, a
combination of powder andalcohol, and it's illegal with
the latest info I've seenshowing that 27 states have
voluntarily banned thispalkohol.
(30:24):
Have any of you ever tried itor even heard of powdered
alcohol?
Number four is Vin Mariani.
This was created by AngeloMariani, a French chemist, in
the 1860s, and it's a cocainewine.
So it's like you think FourLoko was bad.
(30:45):
Can you imagine alcohol andcocaine mixed together in a
bottle?
It's amazing when you thinkback to the late 19th century,
all the products that hadcocaine in it, including
Coca-Cola, the original formulahad trace amounts of cocaine in
it.
The irony being that VinMariani was an inspiration for
(31:08):
John Pemberton's creation ofCoca-Cola.
Now, what's interesting aboutthis, it's a little bit of a
gray area because the VinMariani wasn't actually banned,
but Angelo Mariani did not passdown the recipe.
So when he died, no one couldmake it anymore.
But I still added it in becauseI haven't heard of anything
(31:31):
like this.
A cocaine alcohol mixture.
So it's sort of like you justassume that this is banned.
But I couldn't make this allalcoholic drinks that have been
banned.
I got to grab one straight frommy own life.
Number five is Ephedra tea.
Ephedra was a weight loss dietproduct.
(31:54):
This was banned, taken off themarket after many people died
from it.
Me, I'm still going strong now,but Ephedra tea was exactly
what it sounds like.
It was a drink, I think it wasblack tea, but it had Ephedra in
it.
I can remember taking this whenI was in college.
The only way I can describeEphedra tea was that as I was
(32:20):
drinking it and after I was donedrinking it, I felt like
someone was strangling me.
That's because my bloodpressure would spike.
I know, not exactly safe orresponsible, but when you're in
your early 20s, you see yourselfas invincible, so why not try?
This ephedra was no joke.
I actually have directconnections to someone who died.
(32:43):
My aunt Susan, one of herclosest friends, died from
ephedra.
And this was before I wasdrinking the ephedra tea.
So I couldn't pretend to bestupid.
I went looking online to try tofind an image of the bottle for
the ephedra tea, and I actuallydid find it.
If you type in Google ephedratea drink 1990s, you'll see the
(33:08):
bottle black and orange with anE in the center that's got kind
of a lightning bolt as part ofit.
I don't remember when exactlythe drink was banned.
But I do know that ephedraitself as a stimulant supplement
was banned in 2004.
So I'm assuming it was aroundthe same time.
So there you go.
(33:29):
Top five banned drinks.
I would assume none of you haveever had Vin Mariani since it
went away over a hundred yearsago.
But if you tried any of theothers, I think it's a good
thing that these things havebeen banned.
But that's just me.
This is going to be such a funsegment.
(33:55):
I've wanted for a while to talkabout the bane of parents'
existence in the 80s into the90s and the 900 numbers.
TV stars, musicians, cartooncharacters, they all had their
own phone numbers that kidscould call, speak to their
(34:16):
favorites.
I would always say get yourparents' permission first, but I
mean, come on.
It's also, ironically, a bit ofa timely segment, as when you
look back, the very first 900number in the United States was
Ask President Carter.
This was for his radio program.
So this was March 1977 that youcould call this number, ask a
(34:39):
question to the President of theUnited States.
900 numbers are pay-per-callnumbers.
Those of you that are youngerthat have no idea about these
things, it would be a hotline, aphone number you would call.
The first minute would be moreexpensive.
Then it would be cheaper foreach additional minute.
(35:01):
I do remember my sister Kateracking up a pretty good phone
bill on the New Kids on theBlock hotline in the late 1980s.
I am pretty sure that she didnot ask her parents' permission.
What I wanted to do for thissegment, though, was look at the
weirdest hotline numbers fromthe 80s and 90s.
(35:22):
I'm sure to the youngerlisteners, all of this is weird,
but there were definitely somethat were weirder.
I'm sure at some point I coulddo a part two of this where it
would be the most popularhotline numbers ever, if there's
a such thing as that.
What I have here, though, arenine of my choices for the
weirdest hotline numbers ever.
(35:44):
The first one that I found wasthe Jessica Hahn tells all
hotline.
Speaker 09 (35:50):
Jessica Hahn is an actress and model.
Speaker 02 (36:08):
She's known mainly for being on the Howard Stern
show a lot in the 90s, being inPlayboy magazine a couple of
times.
Her hotline, though, had to dowith the allegation she made
against televangelist Jim Bakerfor sexual assault.
The incident occurred in 1980,but her accusations happened in
(36:31):
1987.
And it's a very serioussituation.
Jim Baker stepped down as thehead of the PTL satellite
network.
But for a couple of years inthe late 80s, early 90s, you
could call this phone number andJessica Hahn would tell you all
the details of what went onwith Jim Baker.
1-900-568-6868.
(36:53):
This was $2 a minute.
And I'm pretty sure like withmost of these hotlines, the
people on them would speakslowly so that you'd use up more
of these minutes.
The next one is somethingcalled roommates, but it's with
two different words, roommates.
Speaker 10 (37:13):
Roommates are special.
Together, they share theirprivate romances.
Call and be a part of it.
12 minutes minimum
Speaker 02 (37:25):
of ultimate fun.
This seems to be the early1990s.
1-900-737-2233.
This was one of those very latenight ones where you would call
and it's like a party line withquote-unquote hot girls talking
to you.
There were tons and tons ofthese types of phone numbers.
(37:48):
I didn't want to have this listbe all of those, but I had to
put at least one.
The crazy thing about this one,about the roommate's hotline...
was that it was $3 a minute andthe call was a minimum of 12
minutes.
You want to talk about rackingup a bill pretty quick.
The commercial I found is from1991.
(38:09):
So if you spent $36 on thephone call in 1991, that's the
equivalent of just over $83 whenadjusted for inflation to 2025
that you would be spending atminimum on a phone call with hot
girls interested in talking toyou.
Yikes.
There was also phone lottery900 numbers.
(38:34):
So there was more than one ofthese.
This was like the equivalent ofbuying a scratch ticket.
Call a specific 900 number andif you were the lucky caller or
had the right number or whateverit was, you'd win a prize.
I couldn't find what theseprizes were, what the odds of
you winning were.
Probably zero.
(38:55):
I mean, this is one of thestupidest ideas there is.
It reminds me of the Simpsonsepisode where Homer basically
calls Las Vegas to make a bet.
And he says, like, I'll puteverything on black on roulette
and then it's red.
And he just yells, all right,I'll send you a check.
It's like that, except youdon't even bet.
(39:15):
You're just giving them moneyfor them to say, nope, you lose.
There was the Grandpa Munsterhotline.
Hiya kids,
Speaker 05 (39:25):
it's me, your friend Grandpa.
I gotta tell you, I am startinga new club, and I want you to
join.
It's called the Junior Vampiresof America.
I mean, you'll hear scarymonster stories.
Speaker 02 (39:38):
Actor Al Lewis, who played Grandpa Munster on the TV
show in the 60s, had a hotlinein the 80s.
1-900-909- $4,300 to talk toGrandpa Munster about, I don't
know, how the family's doing.
In the ads for it, you knowit's geared towards kids because
(39:59):
it says you can become a juniorvampire.
So if this is the late 1980s,and I would have been 10, 11
years old, I don't remember theMunsters being on.
It would have been like myparents, and I highly doubt they
were going to call GrandpaMunster.
Oh, but you could get a freevampire patch, but it's $2 for
(40:23):
the first minute, 45 cents eachadditional minute.
One that I'm sure was probablypretty popular when it was out
was the Dial an Insult 900number.
Speaker 06 (40:34):
1902insult
Speaker 02 (40:52):
was the phone number.
I found ads from 1989, 90.
You'd call up and you'd getjokes you could tell people or
insults you could say to people.
One of the ads says it'll makeyour bad day worse.
So it's like you're in 1989 andyou have a bad day at work and
you call the insult hotline andthey say, hey, you suck.
(41:14):
And it's like, all right, well,that goes perfectly with the
rest of my day.
It would have been fun to tryif it wasn't $2 for the first
minute and $1 for eachadditional minute.
can imagine being an 11, 12year old boy calling this insult
hotline, laughing at all thestupid jokes that were probably
(41:34):
right in my age group.
And you just laugh and laughuntil my mother gets the phone
bill and it's like $50 worth ofdialing insult.
So these hotlines here, Ididn't put them in any
particular order.
Because if I was putting themin order, the number one best
(41:54):
one would be the next one that'sthe crying hotline.
$2
Speaker 08 (42:05):
for the
Speaker 02 (42:16):
first minute to call up and have people make you
cry?
The commercials are just peoplecrying on the phone.
It's so stupid.
The commercial is just splicedin scenes of different people
just bursting into tears whileon the phone.
It looks like something thatmust be fake, but no, it's real.
(42:37):
I'm figuring they probably gotsome business from people just
curious, like, what in the worldis this?
But I wouldn't think they wouldget a lot of repeat business.
If you're spending your Fridaynights in the late 80s calling
the crying hotline repeatedly,you've got some serious issues.
We move on from crying hotlineto something a little more
(43:00):
lighthearted.
That is the Jose Cansecohotline.
Speaker 01 (43:04):
Hi, I'm Jose Canseco and I want to talk to you.
So call 1-900-234-JOSE.
I'll give you the latest scoopon baseball and my personal
life.
If you want to know if I usesteroids, how fast I drive or
about why I was carrying thatgun, call 1-900-234-JOSE.
Speaker 02 (43:20):
1-900-234-JOSE.
And this is from 1990 when hewas at the peak of his
popularity as a baseball playerfor the Oakland A's.
Yes, loads and loads ofcelebrities and athletes had
their own hotlines.
I just love the fact that inthis ad for it, he's standing
(43:41):
next to his sports car and says,if you want to find out if I do
steroids or why I was carryinga gun, call my hotline.
It's $2 for the first twominutes, so it's a deal, and
then $1 for the additionalminutes.
With reviews at the time fromnewspapers saying that it was
(44:03):
just Canseco talking about hisday.
Oh, there's no baseball gametoday.
And in case you were wonderingif Canseco needed the money, his
salary in 1990 when thishotline was big was about $2
million.
Or just under $5 million whenadjusted for inflation to 2025.
So he really didn't need moneyfrom his hotline.
(44:26):
There was also a zombie hotlinein the late 1980s.
The
Speaker 04 (44:34):
phone zombies are very, very dead.
But they're not in theirgraves.
And they're not walking thenight.
Speaker 03 (44:48):
They're in the phone line and
Speaker 02 (44:49):
they've got your number! 1-900-490-DEAD Calling
up to hear zombie noises?
This one says it's $2 per call.
I don't know if that means youcould sit there for 20 minutes
listening to zombies make noise.
You'd either get this sounds ofzombies coming towards you on
(45:09):
the phone, or every now and thenyou would get connected to a
live zombie.
You could ask it questions.
How do brains taste?
The last one here on theweirdest hotline numbers of the
80s and 90s was talking to...
Kitty, the first lady ofbasketball?
Because this was the other bigthing.
(45:31):
You had a lot of the phone sexnumbers, like roommates, like
that one.
But there was a lot of gamblingones, too.
I mentioned the phone lottery.
But this one is just as bad.
You get betting tips fromKitty.
This was in the early 1990s,and Kitty's calls were $3 a
minute.
with stories at the time sayingthat she was so good at
(45:56):
dragging out these phone callsthat she often wouldn't give the
callers any betting tips untilthey were about 10-11 minutes
in.
So that means you had alreadyspent $30 at least on this phone
call before you get bettingtips from someone who claims to
be good at gambling.
This is one I could not findmuch information about this.
(46:18):
That would tell me this numberprobably didn't last that long.
I would figure it wouldn't taketoo many people calling up and
being strung along for 10 plusminutes and getting those phone
bills before it was like, yeah,we don't want to call Miss Kitty
for her betting tips.
Do any of you out there haveany idea who this Kitty the
(46:39):
First Lady of basketball was?
Did any of you call any ofthese weird hotline numbers?
Thankfully, I did not ever callany of those numbers.
I think mainly because mysister got in trouble for the
New Kids on the Block one.
So if I wanted to call HulkHogan's hotline or something, I
knew I'd get in trouble.
(47:00):
But there you go.
A fun look back in the day when900 hotline numbers were all
the rage.
And then all the parents thatgot the bills were all enraged.
There's a good segue for you.
But until next time, that'sgoing to wrap up episode 180 of
the In My Footsteps podcast.
(47:22):
Thank you for making it thisfar.
Whether this is your firstepisode you've ever listened to
or whether you've been theresince day one or you binged to
catch up, I appreciate all ofyou who tune in wherever you're
from.
If you live within a few milesof me on Cape Cod, or you're
from New England, the Northeast,anywhere in the United States,
(47:45):
or all over the world.
I will do my best each week tokeep bringing you more warm and
fuzzy nostalgia, pop culture.
Look back at the good old daysthat get older every day.
I still have times where Ithink the 90s were 20 years ago.
Oh no, next year is my 30-yearhigh school reunion, so yeah,
(48:08):
that's just lovely to thinkabout.
We continue the march towardsepisode 200.
Next week is episode 181.
We will look at some weird,bizarre, possibly funny news
stories from the 1960s.
We're going to have a doubledip of shopping game shows as we
(48:30):
look at Supermarket Sweep andShop Till You Drop.
We'll look at the top fivemusic fails of the 1980s.
And there'll be more on episode181 next week.
If you enjoy my content, like Isaid, $5 a month on Patreon
gets you access to bonus podcastepisodes.
(48:51):
I've got some ideas of thingsI'm going to be trying to do on
the paying tier and the freetier for Patreon to bring more
people aboard.
You can always subscribe onYouTube.
That costs nothing.
I've got hundreds of videos upthere from Cape Cod and New
England travel to podcastsegments, full podcast episodes,
(49:14):
but those are just the coverart with my voice.
So it's not a video podcast.
So don't go into it thinking itis.
Check out Initial Impressions2.0, the blog about my weekly
life, the random fun and foolishthat goes on.
I also do a video version, thewebcam weekly wrap up podcast.
(49:37):
I try to do it weekly, butsometimes scheduling just does
not allow it.
Recording the podcast, thevideo podcast is not hard.
It's more the editing of itthat takes a while.
I had said when I first startedit, I would try to do it
weekly, but it would probablyend up being bi-weekly.
And I think that may be whatends up happening.
(49:59):
There's only so much time inthe day for my actual day job,
all my other content work.
I've said before, I typicallyspend 15 hours or more a week on
content work, creating,editing, marketing.
So your support means a lotbecause I love doing all this
(50:19):
stuff and I'll keep putting inthe effort as long as the
viewers, listeners, readers arethere.
If you're interested in any ofmy nine books, visit my website,
ChristopherSetterlin.com.
Created, run, updated by myoldest friend, Barry.
It's weird because I don't haveany book events on my schedule
(50:41):
so far for 2025, and that's bydesign.
I'm trying to leave as muchroom as I can in my schedule for
things that might pop up, likemy first film role, my first
acting gig that's coming up inMarch.
But you never know, I mightfinish recording this episode
and I get an email from somerandom library or bookstore
(51:03):
wanting me to come speak.
But that wraps up January, onemonth down in 2025, going into
February, the love month withValentine's Day.
Even if it's cold, if it'ssnowy, if it's cold rain, which
is terrible, try to do your bestto get out there, get some
vitamin D.
(51:24):
It will help your mood, exceptif you're walking in the cold
rain and snow.
Before you know it, though,spring will be here again.
Well, not on Cape Cod.
That'll be late May.
For the most of the rest ofyou, it'll be here soon.
And just remember to make timefor those that matter, because
you never know.
Every person you're going tosee or interact with for the
(51:48):
last time at some point.
And we typically don't knowwhen or where that's going to
happen.
So just enjoy every moment youhave with the people that matter
the most.
And I will do my best to makemy content matter.
If you're spending an hour withthe podcast with me or more
time binging on whatever elseI've got on all of my different
(52:10):
social networks, I appreciateall the support.
And remember, in this life,don't walk in anyone else's
footsteps.
Create your own path and enjoyevery moment you can on this
journey we call life because younever know what tomorrow
brings.
This has been the In MyFootsteps podcast.
(52:30):
I am Christopher Setterlund.
You already knew that.
I'll talk to you all againsoon.
Hello, world, and welcome to the In My Footsteps
podcast.
I am Christopher Setterlund,coming to you from the vacation
destination known as Cape Cod,Massachusetts, and this is
episode 180.
We are overflowing withnostalgia as we end the month of
(00:21):
January.
We're going to kick the showoff with a look back at the
story behind the crash testdummies.
No, not the band.
We're going to go way, way backin the day and look at some of
the weirdest 900 numbers fromthe 1980s and 90s.
Hopefully you didn't call anyof these.
There'll be a brand new topfive that are going to be the
(00:44):
top five banned drinks.
Good luck trying to find any ofthese.
And there'll be a brand newThis Week in History and Time
Capsule centered around theSpace Shuttle Challenger
disaster.
All of that is coming up rightnow on episode 180 of the In My
Footsteps podcast.
January is almost over.
(01:06):
We're almost into the month oflove that is February.
We got an early gift you willlove this podcast episode.
This was one of those monthswhere, because of how the
calendar goes, there were fivepodcast episodes this month.
So I hope you've enjoyed theextra episodes.
It's crazy, 180 episodes.
(01:28):
When I started this, sure, Iwould have loved to have gotten
to this point, but I wasn'tsure.
All the work that goes in everyweek—research, recording,
editing, marketing— And there'sstill so much more to go.
If you saw my lists of topics,potential topics for future
episodes, you'd probably belike, man, he's going to be
(01:51):
doing this forever.
And I wouldn't say forever, butI keep finding new things to
use as topics.
Pop culture, nostalgia, thesethings never go away.
So it's just a matter offinding areas that I haven't
mined yet for content.
And as we're here at 180episodes...
Naturally, I couldn't do thiswithout you who listen, who
(02:13):
share, who tell others, youknow, check out this content,
whether it's the audio podcast,all the videos on YouTube, the
blogs.
My biggest thanks go out to myPatreon subscribers, Laurie,
Mary Lou, Ashley, Kevin, Leo,Marguerite, Neglectoid, Crystal.
(02:33):
Thank you all so much for beingmy biggest supporters, my
biggest backers.
$5 a month gets you access tobonus podcast episodes,
including one that will be goingup in a few days.
February 1st is three daysaway.
There'll be a new podcastepisode dropping for Patreon
subscribers.
And I'm always looking for newthings to put up there, not just
(02:56):
for subscribers, but for thefree tier.
After last week's Me vs.
AI Top 5 that I did, I'mthinking about doing another one
of those just for Patreonsubscribers.
I just have to find the topicto speak about and then the time
to create the AI voice, whichwas Bonsai Buddy last week, for
(03:19):
those of you that didn't hearthe podcast.
I know I say it every week, butthis is going to be a fun show.
I had a lot of good ideas to gothrough.
The cold weather of the dogdays of winter have left me
inside a lot and a lot more timeto research.
So enough with the teases,let's get into it.
(03:41):
Let's start off episode 180 ofthe podcast with a look at the
crash test dummies.
80s and 90s kids, rejoice, herewe go.
You could learn a lot from adummy.
No, not me.
We're going to start the showoff talking about the crash test
dummies.
And no, I'm not talking aboutthe band.
(04:01):
Yes, I can only play a littlebit of that song.
It reminds me of a CampbellSoup commercial.
The crash test dummies, thewhole concept of these
mannequins, the talkingmannequins that they use to test
(04:23):
vehicles to see how they wouldsurvive crashes...
This was something that poppedin my head not that long ago.
But rather than have thissegment just be me talking
about, remember thosecommercials?
It has to be more substance toit.
So I had to do the researchabout the whole history of crash
test dummies leading into thePSAs from the 80s and such.
(04:45):
Those of you that grew up inthe 80s into the 90s will likely
be able to picture in your headthe crash test dummies.
But fear not if you don'tremember, because that's what
I'm here for, is to fill you in,fill in the gaps.
The crash test dummies, theones that were in the PSAs, and
crash test dummies in general,they're a symbol of safety and
(05:09):
science.
The mannequins were designed tosave lives by simulating the
human body during car crashes.
And that's what they startedas.
Just things that you would useto show how humans would react
in a car accident.
Never, I'm sure, when theystarted the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration,I'm sure they never thought that
(05:33):
eventually they'd become popculture icons.
An interesting fact about crashtest dummies in general, they
began in the mid-20th century.
as automobile manufacturerssought better ways to improve
car safety.
But before these mannequins,the crash tests were conducted
using cadavers or animals.
(05:55):
So that means to test out thesecrashes, you would put dead
bodies in there or animals.
I don't know what kind ofanimals you would put in the car
to smash.
I'm figuring it had to be largeenough.
I would hope it wasn't dogs,but you could probably fit...
I don't know.
Deer.
Could you fit a deer in a car?
(06:15):
According to Tommy Boy, youcan.
These methods were effective tosome degree, but naturally
raised ethical concerns.
Just like I'm saying, you'regoing to really put live
animals, I would assume, inthese cars and then smash them?
Things changed in 1949.
The first true crash test dummywas named Sierra Sam.
(06:39):
and was developed by the SierraEngineering Company.
Sierra SAM was originallydesigned to test ejection seats
in aircraft.
By the 1960s, General Motorsintroduced the more human-like
crash test dummies.
One, the original was calledHybrid 1, and then there was
(07:00):
Hybrid 2 in the early 1970s.
The Hybrid 1 and Hybrid 2 crashtest dummies They featured
better anatomical accuracy,standardized data collection,
and if you look them up, theydon't look much different than
what you would think of with thecrash test dummies in the 80s
(07:20):
and 90s.
Eventually, the gold standardof crash test dummies was the
Hybrid 3, introduced in 1976.
This sophisticated designincluded sensors to measure
impact forces on the head, neck,chest, pelvis, and legs.
So by this point, we're decadesinto having crash test dummies,
(07:42):
and that's just what they'refor, in laboratories seeing
safety features of vehicles.
We fast forward, though, towhat most of you are here for.
That is the crash test dummiesas mascots.
In 1985, the NHTSA launched agroundbreaking public safety
(08:03):
campaign featuring twoanthropomorphic crash test
dummies.
They were named Vince andLarry.
Speaker 07 (08:11):
Get up.
Safety belt test at nine.
Hurry.
Not another windshield test.
Count me out.
What?
The old pro backing down from amotorhome?
Nothing like that.
I'm just tired of trying toconvince people to wear safety
belts.
No one's listening.
Speaker 02 (08:23):
This was that time period in the mid-1980s where
seatbelt laws, they had beenthere but they were never
enforced.
I mean, when I was a kid,seatbelts were an option.
I can remember riding around inthe back of my stepfather's
pickup truck.
There were no seatbelts backthere.
Or being in the back of ourblue station wagon when the way
(08:46):
back, five or six of us kids,there were no seatbelts back
there.
This is where they were tryingto crack down on seatbelt laws.
So the NHTSA created thispublic safety campaign to
promote seatbelt use, safedriving, and it combined humor
and education to engage a wideraudience.
This is also around the sametime where there was Operation
(09:10):
Last Call to crack down on drunkdriving.
So it was like a whole wave ofsafety when it came to vehicles.
These PSAs would show Vince andLarry, sometimes they'd be at
home, waking up to go into theirjob, which was to be the crash
test dummies.
Speaker 07 (09:29):
Dashboard du jour for Vince under glass.
But Vince, look out! Even withairbags, Vince, you still gotta
remember to buckle your safetybelt.
Now you tell me.
Speaker 02 (09:45):
There was one really funny...
And where they escaped.
So rather than crash into thewall where the bullseye was for
the car, they take off drivingout of the lot.
They were meant to beeducational, but they became
(10:16):
instantly recognizable,wisecracking characters who
humorously endured the carcrashes to demonstrate the
dangers of not wearing safetybelts.
There'd be them being thrownaround their cars, smashed into
the windshields, flying throughthe air.
They'd be in pieces.
I always remember when I was akid thinking the crash test
(10:39):
dummies were Reminding me alittle bit of if they put
clothes on C-3PO.
I don't know, maybe I'm theonly one that ever saw that
connection.
All the PSAs would end with thesame line.
Speaker 00 (10:53):
You could learn a lot from a dummy.
Buckle your safety belt.
Speaker 02 (10:56):
Yes, that's the one.
The campaign was one of themost effective safety
initiatives of its time.
In 1980, only 11% of driversused safety belts.
By 1990, that number had jumpedto 49%.
And I'm sure a lot of that camedown to the funny PSAs with the
(11:18):
crash test dummies.
Although it is stillinteresting that even after all
that, it was still just abouthalf the people use seatbelts.
I'm sure the NHTSA was thrilledwith the increase of seatbelt
usage.
But I'm sure they were alsohappy with money they could make
with Vince and Larry the CrashTest Dummies becoming cultural
(11:40):
icons.
In 1991, toy manufacturer Tycoreleased a line of Crash Test
Dummies action figures.
These toys allowed kids tosimulate crashes.
The action figures would breakapart on impact.
And you know little kids lovethat.
Smash their toy and it breaksinto pieces, but it's meant to
(12:02):
so you can just put it backtogether.
In 1993, there was a TV show, acartoon, The Incredible Crash
Test Dummies that was on FoxKids.
And this also spun off intocomic books.
So in less than 10 years, thesesafety mascots went from being
just in a laboratory to havingPSA commercials, toys, comic
(12:26):
books, TV shows.
I can't really think ofanything else to compare it to.
Something that was never reallymeant to become pop culture
icon worthy, and it did.
It didn't stop there.
Vince and Larry the Crash TestDummies made guest appearances
on talk shows, children'sprogramming.
(12:47):
As I mentioned at the top ofthe segment, they inspired an
alternative band, the Crash TestDummies.
It's like they became symbolsof safety and risk.
They were referenced inparodies, cartoons.
But why?
Why did Vince and Larry work?
It was...
(13:07):
rooted in their unique abilityto combine humor with a serious
message.
Because if you strip away thefunny voices and the funny PSAs,
you're talking about peoplepotentially dying in violent car
accidents.
That's not really an easy topicto talk about, especially PSAs
where kids like me, I was eightyears old when the first one
(13:28):
came out.
I'm sure I thought it waspretty funny seeing them get all
destroyed.
But these anthropomorphicdummies embodied the
consequences of unsafe driving.
Having them laying there withtheir arms and legs ruined, you
couldn't really do that with areal person.
It would be way too bloody andviolent to have in a commercial
(13:50):
on TV.
The comedic tone made it wherethe message would resonate
without feeling overly grim orpreachy.
Vince and Larry the Dummies,they helped bridge the gap
between new legislation forautomobile safety and public
buy-in, making safety cool andcomprehensible.
(14:12):
Vince and Larry the Dummies didnot make it out of the 90s.
The campaign officially endedin 1999.
For those wondering, Vince wasvoiced by a man named Jack
Burns.
And Larry was voiced by a mannamed Lorenzo Music, who he may
not have a familiar name to you.
(14:33):
Maybe he does.
But I always remember LorenzoMusic as the voice of Garfield
in the 1980s on the TV shows.
By the time the Vince and Larrycampaign ended, the NHTSA
reported that in 1999, nearly70% of people were using their
seatbelt.
And if you miss Vince andLarry, the costumes are a part
(14:56):
of the Smithsonian Institute.
You can go there and put one ofthe crash test dummies in
Archie Bunker's chair.
So to sum it up, I mean, crashtest dummies started as
scientific tools to improveautomotive safety, but they
evolved into unlikely popculture icons.
I'm sure some of the clips thatI've shared in this segment
(15:16):
have brought some of you of acertain age group back to those
times.
where crashed-ass dummies werecelebrities.
They have left an indeliblemark both on science and
culture, and it teaches us allthat, well, you know, sometimes
you really can learn a lot froma dummy.
Speaker 00 (15:36):
You could learn a lot from a dummy.
Buckle your safety belt.
Speaker 02 (15:46):
This week in history, we are going back 39
years ago to January 28th, 1986and the tragic Space Shuttle
Challenger disaster.
This is probably one of thefirst events that I actually
have some vivid memories of.
So I was in second grade.
I was eight years old.
(16:07):
The big thing with the SpaceShuttle Challenger was that
Krista McAuliffe, who was aschool teacher, was going to be
in space forever.
doing lessons from the shuttle.
So being a child in elementaryschool, that really resonated
with me.
The space shuttle program wasinitiated in the 1970s to
(16:27):
develop a reusable spacecraftcapable of carrying humans and
cargo into space.
It marked a significant shiftfrom the expendable launch
systems that they had previouslyused By the early 1980s, the
shuttle had become a symbol oftechnological prowess and
ambition.
The Space Shuttle Challengerhad successfully completed nine
(16:50):
missions prior to this disaster.
I do know that I did not seethis live when it happened, but
I believe that there were someclasses in my school where they
had TVs to watch it live.
I am assuming my class was oneof the unlucky ones, or I guess
lucky ones, to not see it.
(17:10):
So in the days leading up tothe launch, there were concerns
raised about unusually coldweather at Kennedy Space Center.
Temperatures dipped belowfreezing on the morning of
January 28th, leading toformation of ice on the launch
pad.
Engineers from Morton Fekel,the contractor responsible for
the shuttle's solid rocketboosters, warned that the cold
(17:35):
could compromise the O-ringseals, which were critical to
preventing hot gases fromescaping the boosters.
Despite these warnings, NASAmanagers proceeded with the
launch, partly due to schedulepressures and the high-profile
nature of the mission.
At 11.39 a.m.
Eastern Time, the Challengerlifted off, and only 73 seconds
(17:58):
into the flight, the shuttleexploded.
It disintegrated.
resulting in the death of allseven crew members as my memory
serves me in second grade ibelieve that our principal came
on over the intercom and saidsomething about the space
shuttle disaster in myelementary school it was
(18:21):
kindergarten through secondgrade so i don't know if He was
announcing it more for theteachers to know so they could
answer any questions.
Because me at eight years old,I don't think I would have
understood.
The Challenger disaster was adevastating blow to NASA and the
nation.
There was an immediateinvestigation led by the Rogers
(18:43):
Commission.
And this investigation revealedthat the O-ring seals had
indeed failed due to the coldtemperatures.
This allowed hot gases tobreach the booster joint,
leading to the structuralfailure of the shuttle.
As a result of this, the spaceshuttle program was grounded for
nearly three years whileextensive safety modifications
(19:03):
were made.
One of the most significantchanges was the redesign of the
solid rocket boosters to includea new O-ring seal design and
additional safety measures.
Teacher Krista McAuliffe, sheis immortalized in the McAuliffe
Shepard Discovery Center inConcord, New Hampshire.
As she was born in Boston, Ivisited it years ago.
(19:27):
It's really interesting ifyou're into space travel
science.
The new safety measures, theyhaven't been perfect.
As the space shuttle Columbiadisintegrated upon re-entry into
the Earth's orbit in 2003.
The Challenger disaster, itremains a poignant chapter in
the history of spaceexploration, a testament to the
(19:48):
bravery of those who ventureinto the unknown, and a reminder
of the responsibilities thatcome with such endeavors.
And that horrific space shuttleChallenger disaster occurred 39
years ago this week in history.
All right, we will try to bringthe mood up a little with a
(20:10):
brand new time capsule.
We're going to stick to thatsame date, January 28th, 1986.
What was going on in the worldof pop culture back then?
Well, let's find out.
The number one song was At ThisMoment by Billy Vera and the
Beaters.
This is a song that I couldn'tremember it, so I had to go and
(20:32):
play it.
And immediately I was like, oh,I know this song.
It was actually releasedseveral years earlier and went
back to number one because itwas a mainstay song for that
season of Family Ties and theromance between Alex Keaton and
Ellen Reed, Michael J.
Fox and Tracy Pollard who endedup really getting married.
(20:53):
The song was clearly BillyVera's greatest hit ever of his
career.
But an interesting fact is thathe has written several famous
TV show themes.
including the themes for EmptyNest and King of Queens.
So there you go.
The number one movie was Downand Out in Beverly Hills, and
(21:16):
you could get into the theaterwith a ticket costing $3.71.
It was only a few weeks ago inepisode 177, when I talked about
1980's Fox TV show Fails, thatI mentioned the TV version of
Down and Out in Beverly Hills.
This is totally coincidencethat this movie was number one.
(21:36):
The movie stars Nick Nolte,Bette Midler, Richard Dreyfuss,
about a rich but dysfunctionalfamily that saves the life of a
down-on-his-luck homeless man inBeverly Hills who is basically
trying to drown himself in theirpool.
The movie is 77% fresh onRotten Tomatoes and made over
(21:57):
$62 million on a budget of $14million.
So it was way more successfulthan the TV version of this
movie.
The number one TV show was TheCosby Show, because it's the
mid-1980s, and of course itwould be.
This is the show about theHuxtables living in Brooklyn.
(22:18):
The show was on from 1984 to1992.
201 total episodes.
Five of the show's eightseasons saw it finish number one
in the ratings.
So that's why anytime I do atime capsule from this period,
it's usually the Cosby showthat's number one.
And if you were around backthen, January 28th, 1986, maybe
(22:42):
you were in second grade like apodcast host was at the time.
Maybe you did well on a mathproject like I might have done
at the time.
Well, you deserve a toy, sowe're going to bring you to Toys
R Us.
So much for so much less,always, as they say.
There are various He-ManMasters of the Universe action
(23:07):
figures for $5.97 each.
You can get a Power Wheelsall-terrain motorcycle for
$1.14.97.
a stereo headphone cassetteplayer for $9.97, but it is not
a Sony Walkman.
It's some brand called Crown.
And if you enter now, you couldpossibly win a five-minute toy
(23:30):
run sponsored by Toys R Us andNickelodeon.
So get your entries in there.
Then you can get a thousand ofthose He-Mans and Power Wheels.
But that'll wrap up anotherTime Capsule, another This Week
in History.
We go from hard to find toysnow to drinks that are
impossible to find.
(23:51):
As we look at some banneddrinks on a brand new top five.
Oh man, this is going to be alot of interesting things to
talk about here as we talk aboutbanned drinks.
I was able to find five goodones as far as drinks that are
(24:14):
banned.
The honorable mentions is goingto be a lot of additives, more
generic, general types ofdrinks.
For me, as someone that hasenjoyed energy drinks for quite
a while and pre-workout thingsfor going to the gym, ready to
drink stuff, There were a lot ofexamples of drinks that had had
(24:37):
their formulas changed, so theyweren't necessarily banned, but
their original formulas were, Iguess if that makes sense.
This happens a lot withpre-workout stuff, where it'll
have things that are in it thatat first the FDA doesn't even
know about them, and then aftertime and more research, they
(24:58):
find out that these things arebad for you.
I specifically remember apre-workout substance called
Jacked, and the E in Jacked wasa 3, so I would say it was Jack
3D.
Their formula got changed.
There was one called NOExplode, which is still around.
Their formula got changed.
(25:20):
There was a drink calledRedline by a company called VPX.
And that drink wasdiscontinued, so not really
banned, but I had people thatwould refer to it as liquid
crack in case you wondered howpotent Redline was.
With this top five, they're inno particular order.
(25:41):
And the honorable mentions,like I said, I'm going to get
into those because I wasn't sureif it fell into the category of
these things have been bannedor if the formulas have to be
changed.
So let's just get into them andyou can decide.
For the honorable mentions, avery recent one is red dye
number three has been banned.
(26:02):
It's typically for coloringthings like strawberry milk.
Some of those would have reddye number three in them to give
it that strawberry color.
Another recent additive thatwas banned is brominated
vegetable oil.
It was a chemical additive thathelped prevent flavoring oils
(26:23):
from separating.
What I found as far as thedrinks go, there were a lot of
drinks from Walmart that hadthis in it, but that was just
banned last year in July.
The other honorable mention,and we're going to get into a
lot more of these, iscaffeinated alcoholic beverages.
I mean, it kind of is commonsense.
(26:44):
You're going to combine anupper and a downer together.
It's kind of rolling the dice,like, well, let's see what this
does to them.
There were several differentcaffeinated alcoholic beverages,
but the A number one, as far asthis list goes, and was the
whole reason I started this bandDrinks Top Five, we're just
(27:08):
going to jump right in withnumber one, Four Loco.
Caffeine, alcohol, what couldhappen?
Sometimes referred to as ablackout in a can.
This drink debuted in 2005.
It was marketed as an energydrink.
After a year, they weren'treally making money on this Four
(27:30):
Loko, so they slightly changedthe formula and upped the
alcohol content, which reallymade it take off in popularity,
but also in danger.
There are multiple examples ofpeople dying from drinking Four
Loko, or at least their deathskind of being around it.
with lawsuits against thecompany.
(27:51):
This is what led to, in 2010,them having to drop the caffeine
from the Four Loko.
You can still get the drink,but it's just alcohol.
No more caffeine.
In an interesting segue, I saidafter a year, the creators of
Four Loko changed the formulaslightly.
That's because it originallyhad something called wormwood in
(28:14):
it, which was supposedly apsychoactive ingredient that was
a big part of what is numbertwo on this list, absinthe.
Absinthe is an anise-flavoredspirit.
Anise is kind of like licorice.
This is an interesting caveat,much like for loco.
Absinthe is only legal in theUnited States when that
(28:37):
psychoactive wormwood is removedfrom it.
Even without the wormwood, itis a highly potent alcohol,
ranging anywhere from 90 to 148proof.
Absinthe was originally createdin Switzerland in the late 18th
century and became popularamong writers like Ernest
(28:59):
Hemingway, Lewis Carroll, whowrote Alice in Wonderland, which
makes it make more sense if hewas on absinthe, Wormwood is the
psychoactive hallucinogen inabsinthe.
This drink was banned in theUnited States in 1915, so over
100 years that the originalformula has been banned.
(29:20):
The revival of absinthe beganin the 1990s as they produced it
without the wormwood.
The hits just keep on cominghere as we move to number three,
powdered alcohol.
I had no idea this was even athing.
The concept of highly potentpowdered alcohol dates back to
(29:44):
the late 1960s in Japan.
Sato Food Industries createdthis powder called Alcock.
In 1974, the Sato Companypatented the process for making
alcohol powder.
Test sales began in 1977 underthe name SureShot.
(30:04):
which coincidentally is thetitle of a Beastie Boys song,
and now I wonder if that's wherethey got it from.
In the U.S., it's commonlyreferred to as palkohol, a
combination of powder andalcohol, and it's illegal with
the latest info I've seenshowing that 27 states have
voluntarily banned thispalkohol.
(30:24):
Have any of you ever tried itor even heard of powdered
alcohol?
Number four is Vin Mariani.
This was created by AngeloMariani, a French chemist, in
the 1860s, and it's a cocainewine.
So it's like you think FourLoko was bad.
(30:45):
Can you imagine alcohol andcocaine mixed together in a
bottle?
It's amazing when you thinkback to the late 19th century,
all the products that hadcocaine in it, including
Coca-Cola, the original formulahad trace amounts of cocaine in
it.
The irony being that VinMariani was an inspiration for
(31:08):
John Pemberton's creation ofCoca-Cola.
Now, what's interesting aboutthis, it's a little bit of a
gray area because the VinMariani wasn't actually banned,
but Angelo Mariani did not passdown the recipe.
So when he died, no one couldmake it anymore.
But I still added it in becauseI haven't heard of anything
(31:31):
like this.
A cocaine alcohol mixture.
So it's sort of like you justassume that this is banned.
But I couldn't make this allalcoholic drinks that have been
banned.
I got to grab one straight frommy own life.
Number five is Ephedra tea.
Ephedra was a weight loss dietproduct.
(31:54):
This was banned, taken off themarket after many people died
from it.
Me, I'm still going strong now,but Ephedra tea was exactly
what it sounds like.
It was a drink, I think it wasblack tea, but it had Ephedra in
it.
I can remember taking this whenI was in college.
The only way I can describeEphedra tea was that as I was
(32:20):
drinking it and after I was donedrinking it, I felt like
someone was strangling me.
That's because my bloodpressure would spike.
I know, not exactly safe orresponsible, but when you're in
your early 20s, you see yourselfas invincible, so why not try?
This ephedra was no joke.
I actually have directconnections to someone who died.
(32:43):
My aunt Susan, one of herclosest friends, died from
ephedra.
And this was before I wasdrinking the ephedra tea.
So I couldn't pretend to bestupid.
I went looking online to try tofind an image of the bottle for
the ephedra tea, and I actuallydid find it.
If you type in Google ephedratea drink 1990s, you'll see the
(33:08):
bottle black and orange with anE in the center that's got kind
of a lightning bolt as part ofit.
I don't remember when exactlythe drink was banned.
But I do know that ephedraitself as a stimulant supplement
was banned in 2004.
So I'm assuming it was aroundthe same time.
So there you go.
(33:29):
Top five banned drinks.
I would assume none of you haveever had Vin Mariani since it
went away over a hundred yearsago.
But if you tried any of theothers, I think it's a good
thing that these things havebeen banned.
But that's just me.
This is going to be such a funsegment.
(33:55):
I've wanted for a while to talkabout the bane of parents'
existence in the 80s into the90s and the 900 numbers.
TV stars, musicians, cartooncharacters, they all had their
own phone numbers that kidscould call, speak to their
(34:16):
favorites.
I would always say get yourparents' permission first, but I
mean, come on.
It's also, ironically, a bit ofa timely segment, as when you
look back, the very first 900number in the United States was
Ask President Carter.
This was for his radio program.
So this was March 1977 that youcould call this number, ask a
(34:39):
question to the President of theUnited States.
900 numbers are pay-per-callnumbers.
Those of you that are youngerthat have no idea about these
things, it would be a hotline, aphone number you would call.
The first minute would be moreexpensive.
Then it would be cheaper foreach additional minute.
(35:01):
I do remember my sister Kateracking up a pretty good phone
bill on the New Kids on theBlock hotline in the late 1980s.
I am pretty sure that she didnot ask her parents' permission.
What I wanted to do for thissegment, though, was look at the
weirdest hotline numbers fromthe 80s and 90s.
(35:22):
I'm sure to the youngerlisteners, all of this is weird,
but there were definitely somethat were weirder.
I'm sure at some point I coulddo a part two of this where it
would be the most popularhotline numbers ever, if there's
a such thing as that.
What I have here, though, arenine of my choices for the
weirdest hotline numbers ever.
(35:44):
The first one that I found wasthe Jessica Hahn tells all
hotline.
Speaker 09 (35:50):
Jessica Hahn is an actress and model.
Speaker 02 (36:08):
She's known mainly for being on the Howard Stern
show a lot in the 90s, being inPlayboy magazine a couple of
times.
Her hotline, though, had to dowith the allegation she made
against televangelist Jim Bakerfor sexual assault.
The incident occurred in 1980,but her accusations happened in
(36:31):
1987.
And it's a very serioussituation.
Jim Baker stepped down as thehead of the PTL satellite
network.
But for a couple of years inthe late 80s, early 90s, you
could call this phone number andJessica Hahn would tell you all
the details of what went onwith Jim Baker.
1-900-568-6868.
(36:53):
This was $2 a minute.
And I'm pretty sure like withmost of these hotlines, the
people on them would speakslowly so that you'd use up more
of these minutes.
The next one is somethingcalled roommates, but it's with
two different words, roommates.
Speaker 10 (37:13):
Roommates are special.
Together, they share theirprivate romances.
Call and be a part of it.
12 minutes minimum
Speaker 02 (37:25):
of ultimate fun.
This seems to be the early1990s.
1-900-737-2233.
This was one of those very latenight ones where you would call
and it's like a party line withquote-unquote hot girls talking
to you.
There were tons and tons ofthese types of phone numbers.
(37:48):
I didn't want to have this listbe all of those, but I had to
put at least one.
The crazy thing about this one,about the roommate's hotline...
was that it was $3 a minute andthe call was a minimum of 12
minutes.
You want to talk about rackingup a bill pretty quick.
The commercial I found is from1991.
(38:09):
So if you spent $36 on thephone call in 1991, that's the
equivalent of just over $83 whenadjusted for inflation to 2025
that you would be spending atminimum on a phone call with hot
girls interested in talking toyou.
Yikes.
There was also phone lottery900 numbers.
(38:34):
So there was more than one ofthese.
This was like the equivalent ofbuying a scratch ticket.
Call a specific 900 number andif you were the lucky caller or
had the right number or whateverit was, you'd win a prize.
I couldn't find what theseprizes were, what the odds of
you winning were.
Probably zero.
(38:55):
I mean, this is one of thestupidest ideas there is.
It reminds me of the Simpsonsepisode where Homer basically
calls Las Vegas to make a bet.
And he says, like, I'll puteverything on black on roulette
and then it's red.
And he just yells, all right,I'll send you a check.
It's like that, except youdon't even bet.
(39:15):
You're just giving them moneyfor them to say, nope, you lose.
There was the Grandpa Munsterhotline.
Hiya kids,
Speaker 05 (39:25):
it's me, your friend Grandpa.
I gotta tell you, I am startinga new club, and I want you to
join.
It's called the Junior Vampiresof America.
I mean, you'll hear scarymonster stories.
Speaker 02 (39:38):
Actor Al Lewis, who played Grandpa Munster on the TV
show in the 60s, had a hotlinein the 80s.
1-900-909- $4,300 to talk toGrandpa Munster about, I don't
know, how the family's doing.
In the ads for it, you knowit's geared towards kids because
(39:59):
it says you can become a juniorvampire.
So if this is the late 1980s,and I would have been 10, 11
years old, I don't remember theMunsters being on.
It would have been like myparents, and I highly doubt they
were going to call GrandpaMunster.
Oh, but you could get a freevampire patch, but it's $2 for
(40:23):
the first minute, 45 cents eachadditional minute.
One that I'm sure was probablypretty popular when it was out
was the Dial an Insult 900number.
Speaker 06 (40:34):
1902insult
Speaker 02 (40:52):
was the phone number.
I found ads from 1989, 90.
You'd call up and you'd getjokes you could tell people or
insults you could say to people.
One of the ads says it'll makeyour bad day worse.
So it's like you're in 1989 andyou have a bad day at work and
you call the insult hotline andthey say, hey, you suck.
(41:14):
And it's like, all right, well,that goes perfectly with the
rest of my day.
It would have been fun to tryif it wasn't $2 for the first
minute and $1 for eachadditional minute.
can imagine being an 11, 12year old boy calling this insult
hotline, laughing at all thestupid jokes that were probably
(41:34):
right in my age group.
And you just laugh and laughuntil my mother gets the phone
bill and it's like $50 worth ofdialing insult.
So these hotlines here, Ididn't put them in any
particular order.
Because if I was putting themin order, the number one best
(41:54):
one would be the next one that'sthe crying hotline.
$2
Speaker 08 (42:05):
for the
Speaker 02 (42:16):
first minute to call up and have people make you
cry?
The commercials are just peoplecrying on the phone.
It's so stupid.
The commercial is just splicedin scenes of different people
just bursting into tears whileon the phone.
It looks like something thatmust be fake, but no, it's real.
(42:37):
I'm figuring they probably gotsome business from people just
curious, like, what in the worldis this?
But I wouldn't think they wouldget a lot of repeat business.
If you're spending your Fridaynights in the late 80s calling
the crying hotline repeatedly,you've got some serious issues.
We move on from crying hotlineto something a little more
(43:00):
lighthearted.
That is the Jose Cansecohotline.
Speaker 01 (43:04):
Hi, I'm Jose Canseco and I want to talk to you.
So call 1-900-234-JOSE.
I'll give you the latest scoopon baseball and my personal
life.
If you want to know if I usesteroids, how fast I drive or
about why I was carrying thatgun, call 1-900-234-JOSE.
Speaker 02 (43:20):
1-900-234-JOSE.
And this is from 1990 when hewas at the peak of his
popularity as a baseball playerfor the Oakland A's.
Yes, loads and loads ofcelebrities and athletes had
their own hotlines.
I just love the fact that inthis ad for it, he's standing
(43:41):
next to his sports car and says,if you want to find out if I do
steroids or why I was carryinga gun, call my hotline.
It's $2 for the first twominutes, so it's a deal, and
then $1 for the additionalminutes.
With reviews at the time fromnewspapers saying that it was
(44:03):
just Canseco talking about hisday.
Oh, there's no baseball gametoday.
And in case you were wonderingif Canseco needed the money, his
salary in 1990 when thishotline was big was about $2
million.
Or just under $5 million whenadjusted for inflation to 2025.
So he really didn't need moneyfrom his hotline.
(44:26):
There was also a zombie hotlinein the late 1980s.
The
Speaker 04 (44:34):
phone zombies are very, very dead.
But they're not in theirgraves.
And they're not walking thenight.
Speaker 03 (44:48):
They're in the phone line and
Speaker 02 (44:49):
they've got your number! 1-900-490-DEAD Calling
up to hear zombie noises?
This one says it's $2 per call.
I don't know if that means youcould sit there for 20 minutes
listening to zombies make noise.
You'd either get this sounds ofzombies coming towards you on
(45:09):
the phone, or every now and thenyou would get connected to a
live zombie.
You could ask it questions.
How do brains taste?
The last one here on theweirdest hotline numbers of the
80s and 90s was talking to...
Kitty, the first lady ofbasketball?
Because this was the other bigthing.
(45:31):
You had a lot of the phone sexnumbers, like roommates, like
that one.
But there was a lot of gamblingones, too.
I mentioned the phone lottery.
But this one is just as bad.
You get betting tips fromKitty.
This was in the early 1990s,and Kitty's calls were $3 a
minute.
with stories at the time sayingthat she was so good at
(45:56):
dragging out these phone callsthat she often wouldn't give the
callers any betting tips untilthey were about 10-11 minutes
in.
So that means you had alreadyspent $30 at least on this phone
call before you get bettingtips from someone who claims to
be good at gambling.
This is one I could not findmuch information about this.
(46:18):
That would tell me this numberprobably didn't last that long.
I would figure it wouldn't taketoo many people calling up and
being strung along for 10 plusminutes and getting those phone
bills before it was like, yeah,we don't want to call Miss Kitty
for her betting tips.
Do any of you out there haveany idea who this Kitty the
(46:39):
First Lady of basketball was?
Did any of you call any ofthese weird hotline numbers?
Thankfully, I did not ever callany of those numbers.
I think mainly because mysister got in trouble for the
New Kids on the Block one.
So if I wanted to call HulkHogan's hotline or something, I
knew I'd get in trouble.
(47:00):
But there you go.
A fun look back in the day when900 hotline numbers were all
the rage.
And then all the parents thatgot the bills were all enraged.
There's a good segue for you.
But until next time, that'sgoing to wrap up episode 180 of
the In My Footsteps podcast.
(47:22):
Thank you for making it thisfar.
Whether this is your firstepisode you've ever listened to
or whether you've been theresince day one or you binged to
catch up, I appreciate all ofyou who tune in wherever you're
from.
If you live within a few milesof me on Cape Cod, or you're
from New England, the Northeast,anywhere in the United States,
(47:45):
or all over the world.
I will do my best each week tokeep bringing you more warm and
fuzzy nostalgia, pop culture.
Look back at the good old daysthat get older every day.
I still have times where Ithink the 90s were 20 years ago.
Oh no, next year is my 30-yearhigh school reunion, so yeah,
(48:08):
that's just lovely to thinkabout.
We continue the march towardsepisode 200.
Next week is episode 181.
We will look at some weird,bizarre, possibly funny news
stories from the 1960s.
We're going to have a doubledip of shopping game shows as we
(48:30):
look at Supermarket Sweep andShop Till You Drop.
We'll look at the top fivemusic fails of the 1980s.
And there'll be more on episode181 next week.
If you enjoy my content, like Isaid, $5 a month on Patreon
gets you access to bonus podcastepisodes.
(48:51):
I've got some ideas of thingsI'm going to be trying to do on
the paying tier and the freetier for Patreon to bring more
people aboard.
You can always subscribe onYouTube.
That costs nothing.
I've got hundreds of videos upthere from Cape Cod and New
England travel to podcastsegments, full podcast episodes,
(49:14):
but those are just the coverart with my voice.
So it's not a video podcast.
So don't go into it thinking itis.
Check out Initial Impressions2.0, the blog about my weekly
life, the random fun and foolishthat goes on.
I also do a video version, thewebcam weekly wrap up podcast.
(49:37):
I try to do it weekly, butsometimes scheduling just does
not allow it.
Recording the podcast, thevideo podcast is not hard.
It's more the editing of itthat takes a while.
I had said when I first startedit, I would try to do it
weekly, but it would probablyend up being bi-weekly.
And I think that may be whatends up happening.
(49:59):
There's only so much time inthe day for my actual day job,
all my other content work.
I've said before, I typicallyspend 15 hours or more a week on
content work, creating,editing, marketing.
So your support means a lotbecause I love doing all this
(50:19):
stuff and I'll keep putting inthe effort as long as the
viewers, listeners, readers arethere.
If you're interested in any ofmy nine books, visit my website,
ChristopherSetterlin.com.
Created, run, updated by myoldest friend, Barry.
It's weird because I don't haveany book events on my schedule
(50:41):
so far for 2025, and that's bydesign.
I'm trying to leave as muchroom as I can in my schedule for
things that might pop up, likemy first film role, my first
acting gig that's coming up inMarch.
But you never know, I mightfinish recording this episode
and I get an email from somerandom library or bookstore
(51:03):
wanting me to come speak.
But that wraps up January, onemonth down in 2025, going into
February, the love month withValentine's Day.
Even if it's cold, if it'ssnowy, if it's cold rain, which
is terrible, try to do your bestto get out there, get some
vitamin D.
(51:24):
It will help your mood, exceptif you're walking in the cold
rain and snow.
Before you know it, though,spring will be here again.
Well, not on Cape Cod.
That'll be late May.
For the most of the rest ofyou, it'll be here soon.
And just remember to make timefor those that matter, because
you never know.
Every person you're going tosee or interact with for the
(51:48):
last time at some point.
And we typically don't knowwhen or where that's going to
happen.
So just enjoy every moment youhave with the people that matter
the most.
And I will do my best to makemy content matter.
If you're spending an hour withthe podcast with me or more
time binging on whatever elseI've got on all of my different
(52:10):
social networks, I appreciateall the support.
And remember, in this life,don't walk in anyone else's
footsteps.
Create your own path and enjoyevery moment you can on this
journey we call life because younever know what tomorrow
brings.
This has been the In MyFootsteps podcast.
(52:30):
I am Christopher Setterlund.
You already knew that.
I'll talk to you all againsoon.
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