8 iconic trends from the 60s with insane origins

In the 1960s the pets known as sea-monkeys were all the rage in the younger generation. This novelty pet was advertised as being similar in appearance to a tiny human with fins. Excited children would see the ads and spend months saving up for the little creatures. However, after dumping the eggs into an aquarium the result was quite disappointing. Instead of the joyous mermaids they had seen advertised, kids found out that their sea-monkeys were just ordinary brine shrimps.

A British man named Edward Craven Walker would change mood lighting for years to come with his invention of the lava lamp. In 1963 he was watching an egg timer at a pub that was made from a cocktail shaker. The shaker had been filled with liquid which began to bubble from the heat of the stovetop. He soon hired a man named George Smith to invent a formula that combined paraffin wax tetrachloride, mineral oil and water. This was put inside a heated glass tube allowing it to bubble and create pretty mood lighting.

By 1965, one hundred million dollars of Barbie merchandise was sold. Barbie is the one to help Mattel the biggest toy company in the world. The first Barbie doll was created by Ruth and Elliot Handler (owners of Mattel) after watching their daughter play with paper dolls. They realized that there weren’t any 3-dimensional dolls to play with and dress. Barbie was named after their daughter for the idea.

Having perfectly straight hair was one of the biggest fashion trends for women in the 1960s. Someone with curly or wavy hair was smart enough to pull out an ironing board and iron. Soon girls were ironing their friends' hair on Friday nights before going to the movies. With enough hairspray, it was sure to stay straight and fashionable. Of course, this exercise took a lot of trust. If you left the iron in one place for too long, the hair would burn off. Thankfully, the invention of the hair straightener replaced this potentially dangerous trend.

Science and medicine have come a long way over the decades. But it’s still shocking to discover what terrible things people used to put in their bodies. In the 1960s, an over-the-counter drug known as mercurochrome was used as a popular antiseptic. Children with scraped knees or cut fingers would go to their mothers for a bandage and a quick slathering of mercurochrome on the affected area. What’s shocking about this product is that it contained mercury which is now known to be extremely dangerous.

While big hair was considered extremely fashionable in the 60s, another popular trend was teasing your hair to make it as big as possible. Hair helmets and beehives took copious amounts of time as well as hairspray. The result was impressively huge and glamorous hair.

Model planes were made from balsa wood. Kids would make them and fly them just like paper airplanes though these planes flew better. Over time companies stopped making them because kids were sniffing the glue used to make these planes.

These wide legged pants were derived from Navy styled uniforms and became very popular with the young society in the 1960s. Elvis Presley, Sonny and Cher helped make bell bottoms a fashion statement for the hippies and counterculture audience. They were typically made of denim until they were produced with corduroy and polyester, so they could be worn in any situation.