Thursday, June 25, 2009

Old School Thursday: Technological Advances Edition

Today’s a day my six-year old self could surely get behind: National Strawberry Parfait Day. That was my go-to dessert order as a little kid and it still makes my mouth water.
In other news, today is all about the technology.

Today in 1630, the fork was allegedly introduced to American dining tables by Massachusetts Bay governor John Winthrop. It had been floating around Europe for years, but finally the savage colonials were able to eat with something other than a knife and their hands. Whew!

Decades later, in 1951, Pabst broke all the cultural barriers when it aired the first color beer commercial on TV. PBR-ing people for nearly 60 years. That is an accomplishment.

And finally, in 1974, the first checkout scanner was installed in a supermarket. Since that was a year before I was born, that means I never lived in a scannerless world – something I hadn’t realized, but that I am quite thankful for. I’m impatient enough when I’m behind someone who obviously doesn’t know how to use the self-scanning aisle. I can’t imagine how much yoga I’d have to do to get over old-timey cash registers in the grocery store.

Also, missed last week while we were at the beach: Robert Mondavi’s birthday (1913)! Even without knowing, I celebrated by drinking my weight in rose. French and Spanish rose (nothing from California) but still.

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