Posted on 02/21/2007 10:07:19 AM PST by Incorrigible
By TRACY DAVIS
Christina Wall uses only technology that was in existence before 1950 as part of her master's project. (Photo by Eliyahu Gurfinkel)
In this pre-1950 land, there are no frozen dinners, no non-stick skillets and no fast food franchises. She can't use a dishwasher, clothes dryer or microwave; she has no access to ATMs, DVDs or CDs.
Wall, 32, an Eastern Michigan University graduate student, hasn't left her west-side Ann Arbor home for another plane in the space-time continuum. She's simply going a month — through March 2 — without using any technology created since 1950. It's part of her master's degree project on the impact of technology in modern life.
When she has a headache? Uncoated aspirin instead of ibuprofen. When she needs to contact a friend? Snail mail or an antique rotary phone. When it snows? Sledding instead of reality TV. Her project is a completely original conception, said Professor Denise Pilato, who teaches in EMU's College of Technology.
"In some ways it's an experiment,'' she said. "And being that it's an experiment, there are a lot of surprises for her.''
Perhaps most surprising is that there have been so many happy ones. For example, Wall estimates she'll save up to $400 this month because it feels more "real'' to spend cash than to use an ATM card.
And she has found her day has more hours.
"It's amazing,'' she said. "I literally feel I like I have 40 hours in a day. I realize how much time was sucked up with TV, and more specifically the Internet and e-mail.''
The classically trained pianist now has time to practice 45 minutes daily, to read books, to sit down to breakfast and to reconnect with friends.
Neighbor Margaret Steneck, a retired University of Michigan history professor, has taken great interest in the project. "It's not just what was available in 1950, but what would someone living in her house, in her socioeconomic range, be able to afford and have available to them,'' she said.
For example, television had been invented by 1950, but it wasn't commonplace. And certain types of cosmetics — lipstick and hair conditioners were around but don't appear to have been commonly used by most women, according to Wall's research.
Wall's friends, family and students have had to readjust as well. To the ire of some of her students, Wall, a graduate student instructor at EMU, is not available via e-mail and is not posting her lectures online. Now, students have to phone Wall or go to her office hours to talk to her.
"It was interesting and it was sad,'' she said. "You can just see how addicted students are now, and that they have the expectation things are going to be spoon-fed to them. ... Now, they feel like they can't have a normal conversation. And by losing that skill, they become fearful of them. I feel like part of the reason to do this is we're in this spiral that's not good.''
She hasn't decided yet how her life will be changed when she is done, but it will definitely be changed, she said. She's considering doing more work on the idea and pursuing a Ph.D.
Wall admits she has "cheated'' by using a video camera to record some of her experiences. She hopes to make a documentary when she's done.
Wall graduates in April, so she'll soon start writing up her project. But on what? Typewriter or computer?
"I haven't decided yet,'' she said with a laugh.
To read more about Wall's project, go to http://retrochicky.blogspot.com. Of course, it hasn't been updated since January since Wall can't access her computer or use the Internet, but you can read about her research and preparations.
***
Examples of modern conveniences that were not invented or not widely available before 1950:
— Four-wheel drive. The vehicle credited with being the first four-wheel drive internal combustion engine car was built shortly after 1900. But four-wheel and all-wheel drive didn't become commonplace among consumer-driven road vehicles until well after 1950.
— Garbage disposals first came onto the market in 1938, but because many cities forbade putting food waste into sewage systems, they weren't widely used until years later.
— Disposable diapers were invented in 1950 but not widely available; cloth diapers were standard.
— Voicemail. Its inventor, Gordon Matthews, applied for a patent in 1979. The first answering machine was invented in 1935 and was three feet tall, but the machines were not widely used until decades later.
— Smoke alarms. The battery-powered household devices were first designed in the late 1960s.
Sources: Christina Wall, Wikipedia, EnchantedLearning.com, About.com, Fcc.gov.
(Tracy Davis is a reporter for the Ann Arbor (Mich.) News. She can be contacted at tdavis(at)annarbornews.com.)
Not for commercial use. For educational and discussion purposes only.
I read last year about a guy that did this. Two things that were interesting:
1. There was no such thing as "good" vodka in the US in the 1950's.
2. If you follow the instructions for brewing coffee in the 1950's if you took it black, you could put a spoon in your cup full of coffee and easily see the spoon all the way to the bottom. Try that at starbucks, even with an 8 ounce cup...
One of my chores when I was kid was ironing my father's cotton broadcloth shirts. You practically had to shoot the wrinkles out of them.
I do remember sprinkling the clothes with water, putting them in the refrigerator for a while wrapped in a towel, and then ironing them. Made the wrinkles easier to get out.
No skirt. No cow.
There were a LOT more dirt/gravel roads and parking lots.
Driving on roads in the rain could be dangerous too. Roads only had a line in the middle. Nothing on the sides.
Also, nowadays a yellow dashed line in the middle of the road means two way traffic. White means both lanes go in the same direction (like on freeways/tollways). In the 50's they were all white.
This is one of the things I have noticed in some low budget movies and tv shows. They are supposed to take place sometime before 1970, but the roads are painted/striped as they are today.
Also, roads didn't have the nice shoulders they do today.
>>That's pretty cool. I did not know TV went back to the 1940s.<<
I believe it was invented around 1929 in Great Briton. IIRC, it was even being broadcast in the 30's in GB but the war put everything on hold.
>>Why would she need birth control?<<
That's right! This is the 50's. The only reason for doing "it" was to produce a pregnancy. ;)
The local stations signed off at midnite - 2am while I was in college. This would have been early 90s.
How do I know this? My college didn't have cable.
She needs to be using drum brakes, bias ply tires, and leaded gas for sure. Although she would get "full service" when she stopped to fuel up - and maybe even a free bar of soap or green stamps with her fuel purchase.
She could visit McDonalds though - if they would sell burgers for 15 cents and fries for a dime.
Yes, this is how we did the ironing. We had an old milk bottle adapted with a sprinkler top. First you dried the clothes outdoors, then wet them down again. They were saved in the refrigerator sometimes but usually in bushel baskets covered with a damp towel. The iron was not a steam iron and it weighed quite a lot.
I did about three bushel baskets full of ironing a week and was extremely good at it. This was my favorite household chore, especially in summer because I'd set the ironing board up in the cool basement and turn on WWVA (the Wheeling, WVA country music station).
>>There was plenty of fast food. <<
Absolutely. They just were not national chains. And the food was MUCH better. Whenever you find an independent burger stand you see what I mean.
Not to mention the changes in grade for some roads. I think there is a section of Rt 66 in New Mexico (La Bajada) where the cars had to go up backwards because they didn't have fuel pumps and the cars would stall when their gravity-fed carbs became starved for fuel.
I read that Popular Science article that someone linked to earlier in the thread.
Explains the cans of 'Chock full O' Nuts' and the weak coffee my parents STILL make.
I was born in 1954. I distinctly remember driving on paved roads at night and seeng the headlights emphasize the washboard qualities of the road.
Damn, them's ugly shoes.
I'm curious why she has the phone facing away from her.
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