…because sometimes editors and the reading public are even more anal retentive than we are.
Okay, so I was writing a scene wherein a son and father are clearing out the deceased wife’s things. There I came to a screeching halt. My problem: did they have plastic garbage bags in 1960? More to the point: did they have plastic garbage bags in Harlan County, Kentucky, in 1960?
So I did some quick research online and really didn’t turn up a lot of anything, except that plastic bags were invented by a pair of Canadians in 1950. That didn’t help much. So I called my mother-in-law. We both laughed until our sides split. She said, “But I was only 11 in 1960.” I asked, “But if you needed to take something somewhere, what did you put it in?” She said, “I don’t think we even had garbage pick-up back then. But if we took something somewhere, we put it in a black plastic garbage bag.” Then she said, “Back then, people burned their garbage or threw it into the river.” I told her I’d keep digging and call her back.
In the end, I wound up e-mailing Hefty, well the company owners of Hefty, Pactiv. Within twenty minutes, I had a response to the question When were Hefty trash bags first introduced in the United States? The response: Under the brand name of Kordite®, 1955. Under the brand name of Hefty®, 1957.
I still need to call my mother-in-law back.
{ 9 } Comments
"or threw it in the river" — :warped:
Hey, that's how it was done. :roll: :roll: :roll:
I know how you feel.
I had to research once to find out if people used Bingo daubers in the late 60's.
Oh jeeze…So did they? LOL
ftr, one of my cousins told me that more than likely in such a place as Harlan County in 1960, one used cardboard boxes lined with newspapers to pack things. Makes sense to me, so that's what I'm going with.
Honestly, I gave up. I didn't call the bingo dauber company though. I asked a few people and we were pretty certain they existed, so I left it in the story. So far, no one has called to say otherwise. LOL
That rocks! :)
Generally, people did not use plastic garbage bags in 1960. They may have been introduced earlier, but that doesn't mean most people had ever seen one. In fact, plastic anything was not in general use in 1960. Milk was delivered in bottles by the milkman. Even bread was either in waxed paper or cellophane (whatever happened to that)?
Garbage was either burned or dumped directly into a garbage can. Naturally, the cans had to be cleaned frequently, a job I despised.
In the 1967 movie "The Graduate" a line that many people of that era (me) remember was the famous '.. buy stock in plastic.. .' Paraphrasing of course.
And that is my two pennies..
Thanks Hal. That helps me tons, man! What you said seems to be general consensus. I still need to call my mother-in-law back. LOL
Actually come to think about it, that I remember I never really saw my family use plastic by way of garbage or storage until I was in my teens – when Mommy and I moved into our apartment in 1985 and started disposing of our garbage in the Dumpster around the side of the building…Something else to ponder.