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Forgotten Fads and Fabulous Flops: An Amazing Collection of Goofy Stuff That Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time
Rhino records, repository of cultural detritus, turns away from '60s garage rock and sleazy lounge recordings for this collection of Things That Were Meant to Succeed... but Didn't. Entertaining tidbits profile such mega-flops as nasty-tasting, difficult-to-light smokeless cigarettes from RJ Reynolds; Colgate's chewable toothpaste (no kidding); and Kraft's precooked toaster bacon. Obscure failures, such as The Belly Bongo (a toy/musical instrument that was supposed to be the next hula-hoop) and comic book superhero Paranex the Fighting Fetus, receive their fair share of ridicule as well. Not to be missed is the section on product names that didn't translate well, such as Asian beverages Pipi and Mucos, and the American sports car Pinto, which faced difficulty when sold in Brazil where "pinto" is slang for "tiny penis."
- GenresNonfictionHistory
239 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1995
32 people want to read
About the author
Paul Kirchner
62 books35 followersPaul Kirchner is an American writer and illustrator born in New Haven, Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 8, 2015
The nice things about having kids as that you can keep reading or re-read the kind of books you read as a kid. I read the Guinness Book of World Records every year with bated breath. Ripley's Belief it or Not. Every year. I think I got such books from Scholastic in school--my parents didn't have a lot of money but they let me and my sister get all the books I wanted from them, in addition to joining my local library's Summer Reading Challenge and taking home literally dozens a book a week. I am still doing that kind of reading, and luckily, I think, so are my kids. Harry Potter, chapter books, illustrated books everywhere.. but also these list books. This book was a joy to slam through after having spent weeks reading conceptual sequential and esoteric art books designed for an audience of 17 people (and I am in that audience for sure!).
This kind of book is kind of like irreverent alternative comics, a thumbed nose to stuffy teachers insisting on "bettering yourself" with classics. This book is never boring, and amusing on every page, an alphabetical listing of failed ideas, much of which I knew about, such as: smellovision, amphicars. animal of the month club (they died in transit, oops), Nude Beer, Dry Beer, various bad records, books, candy, etc., Gay Ken dolls (you know you want one now, but in 1993 was the world quite ready? :), Edsel, Esperanto, Foam Homes, Happy to Be Me dolls (not that unrealistic Barbie figure, girls!), the Interbang punctuation mark (I remember when this was being proposed!! It's a combo question and exclamation mark to mean wtf…. which I want to reintroduce as an idea right now… for this book!), bird diapers, women's urinals, etc etc.
?!?! But I had a gas (seventies term, gone for good reasons) reading it! Escapism at its best.
This kind of book is kind of like irreverent alternative comics, a thumbed nose to stuffy teachers insisting on "bettering yourself" with classics. This book is never boring, and amusing on every page, an alphabetical listing of failed ideas, much of which I knew about, such as: smellovision, amphicars. animal of the month club (they died in transit, oops), Nude Beer, Dry Beer, various bad records, books, candy, etc., Gay Ken dolls (you know you want one now, but in 1993 was the world quite ready? :), Edsel, Esperanto, Foam Homes, Happy to Be Me dolls (not that unrealistic Barbie figure, girls!), the Interbang punctuation mark (I remember when this was being proposed!! It's a combo question and exclamation mark to mean wtf…. which I want to reintroduce as an idea right now… for this book!), bird diapers, women's urinals, etc etc.
?!?! But I had a gas (seventies term, gone for good reasons) reading it! Escapism at its best.
May 17, 2019
A compendium of trends that didn't make it off the ground (sometimes not even off of the drawing board!) As bizarre as they were, you won't find Pet Rocks or Garbage Pail Kids here because both met with tremendous success, albeit temporarily. Here you'll find TV shows that didn't make it past one entire episode, sodas that fell flat, and clothes that just didn't fit in anywhere in popular culture.
The book reads like an encyclopedia going from A-Z. I recently had surgery. So I appreciate the abbreviated nature of the entries as I've not been feeling up to reading something long or heavy.
One downside to this book is that it's over 20 years old. Published in 1995, there's tons of stuff that failed to make a lasting impact on pop culture that isn't in this book. Pepsi Clear, John Travolta's Battlefield Earth and the Facebook Phone are just a few failed entries ripe for a volume 2.
While author Paul Kirchner does not seem to have created a sequel, he does have a couple more books about failures that look quite interesting. One thing that Kirchner did fairly well throughout his commentary was be funny. Sometimes when a writer tries to entertain while educating, they miss the punchline badly. And while not every joke was a winner, the author did one of the better jobs at being informative and funny in a book such as this.
Forgotten Fads has long since gone out of print (But affordable copies can still be found on Amazon.) It was published by Rhino Books, a division of Rhino Records. In the 90s, with CDs taking the place of cassettes and vinyl, crafting box sets was a clever way to get people to fork over their cash for something that they had already bought in two other formats previously. Adding a book filled with interesting facts and breathtaking color photos was an incentive that sweetened that pot. In order to keep those presses from running idle, Rhino starting publishing large books about pop culture. However, it seems that Rhino Books was to become another one of the 'fabulous flops' of the 20th century as the publisher went defunct before the year 2000.
Perfect if you are a fan of Mysteries at the Museum. Especially because I have seen several of the items covered in this book on that show! I wonder if the producers use this book as their idea story bible?! An entertaining read, if you can find it.
The book reads like an encyclopedia going from A-Z. I recently had surgery. So I appreciate the abbreviated nature of the entries as I've not been feeling up to reading something long or heavy.
One downside to this book is that it's over 20 years old. Published in 1995, there's tons of stuff that failed to make a lasting impact on pop culture that isn't in this book. Pepsi Clear, John Travolta's Battlefield Earth and the Facebook Phone are just a few failed entries ripe for a volume 2.
While author Paul Kirchner does not seem to have created a sequel, he does have a couple more books about failures that look quite interesting. One thing that Kirchner did fairly well throughout his commentary was be funny. Sometimes when a writer tries to entertain while educating, they miss the punchline badly. And while not every joke was a winner, the author did one of the better jobs at being informative and funny in a book such as this.
Forgotten Fads has long since gone out of print (But affordable copies can still be found on Amazon.) It was published by Rhino Books, a division of Rhino Records. In the 90s, with CDs taking the place of cassettes and vinyl, crafting box sets was a clever way to get people to fork over their cash for something that they had already bought in two other formats previously. Adding a book filled with interesting facts and breathtaking color photos was an incentive that sweetened that pot. In order to keep those presses from running idle, Rhino starting publishing large books about pop culture. However, it seems that Rhino Books was to become another one of the 'fabulous flops' of the 20th century as the publisher went defunct before the year 2000.
Perfect if you are a fan of Mysteries at the Museum. Especially because I have seen several of the items covered in this book on that show! I wonder if the producers use this book as their idea story bible?! An entertaining read, if you can find it.
January 16, 2016
I love reading books with useless information! Never know when I might need it!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews