1. Lead-Based Makeup For centuries, women powdered their faces with lead-based makeup to achieve a pale, porcelain complexion. At the time, pale skin was seen as a mark of beauty and wealth, but no one fully realized that the makeup […]

1. Midnight Bell Ringing In many small towns, people believed the sound of bells could scare away bad luck. At midnight, church bells would ring in specific patterns, and the echoes filled the streets when everyone else was asleep. Children

1. A Locked Box with No Key Some librarians have stumbled upon heavy wooden boxes tucked behind shelves, locked tight with no key in sight. The boxes often look worn, as though they’ve been handled for decades but never opened.

1. A&P For generations, A&P was more than a grocery store, it was a household name. Known as “The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company,” it was once the largest grocer in the United States. Small towns depended on their

1. Joyland Amusement Park, Wichita, Kansas Joyland was the kind of place where kids could ride a wooden coaster that creaked with every turn and parents could relax under the shade of the midway. It opened in 1949 and ran

1. Mercury Thermometers Back in the day, classrooms had mercury thermometers floating around like they were no big deal. Kids would use them for science experiments or sometimes just to check the room temperature. The problem, of course, is that

1. Bologna Sandwiches Sometimes the quickest lunch was just two slices of white bread and a cold slab of bologna. If you were lucky, maybe there was a squirt of mustard or a slice of cheese, but often it was