Weird Beliefs from the Near Past

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Things were so different back in the late 50s and the 60s. Sugar was not believed to be addictive or harmful to our health. Even today we continue to consume it but we do know better. Fat was considered the culprit and evidence that sugar and coronary heart disease were connected was brushed under the carpet. Airlines employed unmarried women as stewardesses. The profession was considered glamorous and even thrilling. But, they worked long hours with little time off and were poorly paid. In the 30s airlines began to demand unmarried women and they were made to retire by age 32. They wanted these women to look young and charming. Labor limits for these women such as no pregnancy and weight limits were abolished in the 1990s due to the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This came after years of litigation. Remember when seat belts became standard equipment in a car back in the mid-'60s? (They were first developed by Edward J. Claghorn in 1885.) Most people refused to wear them. Many even removed them from their cars and fought against seat belt laws. Now about 90% of all Americans use them on a regular basis and New Hampshire is the only state without a seat belt law. Along with these weird beliefs, there was also the belief that cigarettes were the best treatment for constipation in pregnant women and doctors even encouraged it. From the 50s up to the 90's it was believed that shark cartilage had cancer-fighting properties because they were one of the few creatures that didn't get cancer. We've come a long way and learned so much in the last nearly one hundred years. We can now Google and find the answer to anything that interests us.