Althouse: Remember when plastic was wonderful?

September 13, 2022

Remember when plastic was wonderful?

They probably made this weird shit too. pic.twitter.com/1hL2k7YeL1
— Dooboofay (@ALPacaUrfudge) September 13, 2022

32 comments:

Darkisland said...: Cellophane is not plastic. It is a paper product made from cellulose (trees)

John Stop fascism vote republican Henry; 9/13/22, 7:48 AM
Christopher B said...: There's a reason people started using disposable items like drinking cups in public situations. Somewhat amazing that none of our betters seemed to remember why in 2020 and 2021.; 9/13/22, 7:52 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Swaddling film.; 9/13/22, 8:12 AM
Biff said...: I loved SuperElasticBubblePlastic when I was a kid, and not just because of the distinctive fumes!; 9/13/22, 8:14 AM
Caroline said...: I remember thumbing through an old vogue magazine from the 50s that advertised Lysol as a feminine hygiene product. It would be nice if we could lay on a little humility as we survey “best practices” currently in vogue, for many of these will end in ignominy. But no. We think our age the GOAT, and prostrate ourselves before “experts” and the god “science”.; 9/13/22, 8:17 AM
sphilben said...: I had the SuperElasticBubblePlastic as a kid... and I think I am still high as a result of the trippy fumes, man!; 9/13/22, 8:29 AM
MayBee said...: I too loved the smell of SuperElasticBubblePlastic! All the wonderful plastic smells of childhood-- there was a red goo, the smell of Super Thing Maker, the smell of resin in the art kit to make paper weights. I love them all!; 9/13/22, 8:41 AM
tim maguire said...: Super Elastic Bubble Plastic was pretty cool, even if it did taste weird.; 9/13/22, 8:42 AM
West TX Intermediate Crude said...: Plastic is still wonderful.
Look around, see everything made of plastic. Now imagine it made of wood or metal.
More expensive, less functional. The wood would be from trees that had to be cut and milled, then regrown with fertilizer and harvested with heavy petroleum fueled machinery. Metal has to be mined, refined, transported.
They would rather you do without.
Leftism in a phrase.; 9/13/22, 8:53 AM
Lurker21 said...: I just remember the commercials. We didn't have the stuff, so I never sniffed it, let alone eat it.

"One word: plastics."; 9/13/22, 9:07 AM
JAORE said...: I'm in the market for a wood Tesla... damn that plastic.; 9/13/22, 9:12 AM
MadTownGuy said...: 'I just have one word for you. Just one word...'; 9/13/22, 9:18 AM
Joe Smith said...: I do remember that plastic bubble stuff.

It was pretty noxious and would never be approved as a toy today.

It could have been used to seal your roof.

Super70s twitter account is hilarious...one of the few I read on a regular basis.; 9/13/22, 9:21 AM
Meade said...: The whiff off the work sheets fresh and still warm from the mimeograph machine. Heavenly.; 9/13/22, 9:34 AM
rcocean said...: I hate these stupid sort of tweets: "Fucking celophane.."

Ok. And? Am I supposed to devine what attitude of superority is being expressed?

Anyway, Plastic was being attacked as being fake and lowclass for a long time even before the 70s. Remember the Graduate?; 9/13/22, 9:48 AM
Charlie said...: Super 70's Sports is one of the top 5 Twitter accounts to follow. Highly recommended.; 9/13/22, 10:00 AM
Josephbleau said...: Frank Zappa warned us of how plastic people are such a drag and asked us what will we do when the label comes off, and the plastic's all melted.

Plastic was the adjective of hippie culture. It was a common word on Joe Friday's police show. But I did like the bubble stuff. The bubbles set and got hard, and you could throw them at people and such.; 9/13/22, 10:29 AM
Mike said...: Plastic is everywhere. And it is one of the four things that modern civilization (at least in the western world) relies on. Add in steel, cement and fertilizer--which all require fossil fuels to make. Not that the boys and girls in the Green Nude Eel recognize the fact.

You can't make any of the four of these things about of sunshine and unicorn flatulence.; 9/13/22, 10:33 AM
Howard said...: From the days when Lemon Pledge contained dioxin, doctors promoted smoking and gasoline had tetraethyl lead. No seatbelts, major US Cities had Beijing air quality and hydrogen bombs were exploded in the atmosphere.; 9/13/22, 10:35 AM
effinayright said...: These hanky-sniffing pukes who mock plastics would be mewling and puling into their foamy lattes about massive deforestation if we had to still use wood to make thousands of every day products---if we could make them at all.

For starters, ever notice how much plastic is now used in home construction for support beams, exteriors, trim, decking, stairs and plumbing?

And how 'bout insulation? Wanna go back to horsehair plaster or asbestos?

No thanks, Tivek is far better.; 9/13/22, 10:47 AM
Jamie said...: Only once did I manage to talk the parents into getting me some SuperElasticBubblePlastic. It was SO hard to blow a bubble.

Do they sell SuperBalls any more? Or are they too much of a choking hazard for teens who enjoy noshing on Tide Pods? Those little dudes were fun!; 9/13/22, 10:51 AM
Joe Smith said...: 'The whiff off the work sheets fresh and still warm from the mimeograph machine. Heavenly.'

A fresh pack of unlit cigarettes (and I'm not a smoker) is amazing...; 9/13/22, 11:02 AM
Kate said...: Oh, that's a stork beak! Wondered why a turkey was sizing up the juicy baby.

A baby that big better be delivered by stork. Yikes.; 9/13/22, 11:04 AM
Old and slow said...: Super Elastic Bubble Plastic was pretty cool.; 9/13/22, 11:25 AM
Rusty said...: When you consider the alternative plastic is pretty awesome stuff.; 9/13/22, 11:26 AM
Ann Althouse said...: “ Frank Zappa warned us of how plastic people are such a drag and asked us what will we do when the label comes off, and the plastic's all melted.”

On a positive note, the Airplane had “Plastic Fantastic Lover.”; 9/13/22, 12:30 PM
Joe Bar said...: That Elastic Bubble Plastic smelled like airplane glue and got you a little high!; 9/13/22, 2:21 PM
realestateacct said...: The 1000 year old man (Mel Brooks) was asked by his interviewer (Carl Reiner) what the greatest invention in his life was. He claimed it was saran wrap.

Seriously plastic for food storage is a major contributor to health. I would be surprised if the rejection of plastic wasn't killing people already.; 9/13/22, 6:48 PM
Mikey NTH said...: It is wonderful. So useful, so many varieties.; 9/13/22, 8:59 PM
Kirk Parker said...: Meade, you mean a ditto machine, not a mimeograph. The former used an alcohol-based solvent ("Ditto" is IIRC is borrowed from a trademark; the generic term for the device is "spirit duplicator".); 9/13/22, 11:26 PM
Rusty said...: Have the greens considered that plastic comes from fossil fuels? Although I suspect, like all leftists, they have no idea what they're talking about.; 9/14/22, 7:32 AM
CJinPA said...: Readers of Lileks.com know what the top ad is saying.

Cellophane meant fresh, clean and sanitary. We take those traits for granted now, but they were not as common in the early 20th century. So, you see -- what's that? Just shut up and mock the dead white people? Yes sir, Mr. Pop Culture.; 9/14/22, 10:36 AM