There have been weird trends and objects in the past that have been forgotten. Though they do not stay buried for long. People are digging up these trends and are spreading like wildfire due to how weird or unusual they have been.
In this article, we ‘ll uncover these fads as well as why they’re coming back. We’ll unpack why some fads from our past are making a comeback.
History Facts on The Trend Comebacks
Here we’ll discuss three categories: food, technology, and fashion, along with some interesting historical facts about each of them.
Forgotten Foods Making a Comeback
There have been an incredible number of dishes that were only known to historians or a small number of people. Thanks to YouTube, channels like Townsend are making people aware of these foods stuck in weird history. Let’s go through some of them.
Pemmican
Did you know there were energy bars during America’s pioneering age? These are pemmican, which is made of dried meat, rendered fat, and dried berries (an optional ingredient). The North American Indigenous people used bison, though you can use regular beef if you want to create these bars at home. According to history facts, the word comes from “pimî,” or the Cree word for fat. Rendered fat is essential to preserving pemmican for a significantly long time, making it an important survival food.
People are making their own pemmican as an alternative to the sugar-heavy energy bars. In addition, preppers are learning to make bulk amounts of this food. The fat and lack of moisture give the food a longer-lasting shelf life than candy bars.
Jello Salad
That strange and weird jello salad you often see in old magazine ads or commercials is coming back. As the name says, it is jello filled with vegetables. Ambitious housewives during the 60s would go beyond the normal vegetables by adding shrimps, hot dogs, mayonnaise, and other things you would never associate with jello.
Here are some history facts:
The rise of Jello salad during the 50s was due to the trend of convenience for housewives. It allows wives to create desserts or snacks much faster than baking a cake. However, there was a taboo about the excessive use of these convenient solutions. People think the cook is lazy when they consistently use instant cooking solutions like Jell-O. The 1950s housewives added more steps to demonstrate their effort in creating these Jell-O creations, leading to the intriguing gelatin salads.
Jello salad is making a comeback due to its interesting look. In an age of Instagram photos, you are likely to get plenty of likes and views for an image of a meat salad jello than for a steak. Attractive and controversial posts like jello salads allow creators to drive engagement in a time when they need strategies to increase views.
Outdated Technology That Refuses to Die
Even in the digital age, there are tech that are not being kept in closets forever. There are also others that are getting dug out by enthusiasts. Let’s go through these electronics and add some history facts about them.
Vinyl Records
Finding your favorite music is easier than before thanks to platforms like Spotify and YouTube. However, vinyl records are still getting sold. There are even companies making new ones and are able to sell them.
While nostalgia seems to be the factor for vinyl’s attraction, it is the sounds that music enthusiasts enjoy. There is a warm and rich tone coming from the needle’s reading of the track from a record. While there are ways you can simulate that tone digitally, enthusiasts wants to hear the authentic sound from an analog vinyl player.
There are some quick history facts on vinyl I want to cover:
It is a modern form of record made from polyvinyl chloride.
- The earliest form of commercially available record was the phonograph.
- The current form of vinyl emerged in 1948.
- The revolutionary tech of vinyl is its ability to play 331/3 RPM music speed. The advantage of a faster speed over the old 78 RPM is the ability to record a full album on one record.
- Vinyl gradually lost its popularity with the advent of CDs. However, it made a comeback around 2008 due to its value among music lovers and collectors.
Old Gaming Consoles and Computers
Let me add history facts to these statistics.
- The US video game market crashed in 1983 when it peaked at 3.2 billion USD, then dropped to 100 million at the end of the year.
- Gaming is a massive market. According to Statista, it was valued at 455 billion USD. This value stems from the increasing number of players worldwide. Because of its enormous scope, retro games are still highly sought after by older and newer audiences. The jump from 100 million to 455 billion users shows the immense popularity of gaming.
Players who lived out the 90s are fond of games from this era. Whether it is for the graphics, its gameplay, or simply just nostalgia, 90s gamers want to experience the titles they played decades ago. Additionally, younger audiences are drawn to games that were launched years before they were born.
Gaming companies are tapping into this demand on nostalgia by making retro titles available on new consoles and computers in the form of remasters or remakes. The majority of remasters allow everyone to play historical titles at 1080p resolution and with additional functions like save points or a content gallery. Others are aiming for the collector market by launching mini versions of consoles or arcades.
Odd Fashion Revivals Nobody Saw Coming
The most unexpected comebacks from the past are often from the fashion industry. Usually these garment or accessories add that important detail to complete a specific look. Here are the trendy comebacks from weird history.
Victorian Collars
Victorian Collars are coming back as designers searched for ways to add elegance and drama with a single accessory. Inspired by the 19th century, these high-neck, lace-trimmed collars once symbolized refinement and status.
Goth culture is also another reason for the comeback of Victorian collars. This style was made popular in Japan thanks to the musician Mana. He is a fashion designer who is popular for the Gothic Metal Band Moi Dix Mois.
Here are some fast history facts on Victorian fashion.
- Upper-class fashion often calls for tight-laced corsets, skirt adornments, and tight neck-line collars.
- Because they are not working women, they can wear clothing with impressive embroideries that limit their movements.
Platform Shoes
Believe it or not, platform shoes came out much earlier than the disco era. One of the earliest forms of this footwear is the Okobo, a wooden sandal with a raised heel. It is worn by apprentice geishas or of girls who are coming of age.
Here are some history facts: Platform shoes have also been around before the 1950s. There was the Rainbow sandal made by Salvatore Ferragamo for Judy Garland, the actress who played Dorothy in the classic Wizard of Oz. Entering the era of Disco, platform shoes became popular due to the performers wearing them. Glam rock artists like David Bowie often incorporate this footwear into their outfits to emphasize that larger-than-life persona for their fans.
Popularized by performers again, the Spice Girls made this footwear popular with a sneaker version in the 90s. Moving towards the 2000s, there was a trend among celebrities wearing platform shoes to add that appealing detail to their outfit. 2020s and beyond is much different, where platform shoes made a comeback due to the resurgence of 1970s fashion. This trend includes bell-bottom jeans and bold prints on various garments.
Wrap Up: Weirdest Comeback and Their History Facts
The interest in food, technology, and fashion resulted in the return of these trends and quirky points in our weird history. Nostalgia and curiosity are the fuel behind these comebacks since many want to experience them today. Did you experience any of these trends before? Drop a comment on which other historical items you want to make a comeback.
Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pemmican
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jello_salad
https://victrola.com/blogs/articles/beyond-the-needle-history-of-vinyl-records
https://www.statista.com/topics/868/video-games
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_fashion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okobo https://wwd.com/footwear-news/shoe-trends/platform-shoes-70s-1237703034/
