I fell down a rabbit hole of research about inventions circa the 40s and was surprised by a bunch of things that have been around way longer than I thought and some that are strangely reccent, and compiled them into a list. Aka, a resource for fic writers.
Bananas (or rather, the ones we have today. The ones he’d be accustomed to, the Gros Michel, a sweeter, creamier species, went extinct in the 50s and was replaced with the bland Cavendish banana.)
High-fives (the low-five was actually invented first, around WW2, and he may have been familiar with that)
Buffalo Wings (invented in the 60s)
CPR (not really used until the late 40s, not widely known until the 50s)
Tiramisu (invented in the 80s)
Big Macs & McNuggets (while McDonald’s was founded in 1940, the former wasn’t introduced until the 60s, and the latter, the 80s)
Seat belts (the first car to have one was in the late 40s, and only became mandatory to wear them in the 80s. holy shit.)
Walmart (invented in 1962. Or really, the large-scale supermarkets as we know them today really)
Yellow tennis balls (prior to the 70s they were usually black or white)
Panadol (first sold in the US in the 50s)
The smiley face aka 🙂 (popularised in the 60s)
Now alternatively, here’s a list of things Steve WOULD (or possibly would) be familiar with:
I’m not sure why some of these surprised me.
Modern Sunglasses (have been around a lot longer than I thought, and were mass produced in the 20s)
Nokia (was first founded in 1865. I’m not kidding. They began as a pulp mill and moved into making rubber respirators for military from the 30s onwards)
Nintendo (been around since 1889 as a toy company, during the 40s they made playing cards. Wouldn’t be implausible that he knew about Nintendo, perhaps from Morita)
Krispy Kreme (opened in 1937, didn’t spread widely until the 50s however)
Kool-Aid (introduced in the 30s)
Oreos (introduced in 1912)
Printed/graphic tees (didn’t become a trend until the 60s-70s, but they certainly existed in the 40s)
Hoodies (originated in the 30s, worn by workers in cold New York warehouses. Meaning, it’s entirely plausible Bucky could’ve been wearing hoodies in the 40s)
Malls (they weren’t called that back then, but they certainly had shopping centres or plazas since the 1800s)
Converse sneakers (invented in 1908 and have barely changed since!)
I didn’t expect anyone to really reblog this wow! Here’s a couple more things to add to the list:
Would not have known about:
Velcro (patented in 1951)
Modern Sunscreen (in 1944 they had ‘Red Vet Pet’, used by soldiers it was described as a “disagreeable red, sticky substance similar to petroleum jelly”)
Bubble Wrap (1957)
Slinkies (Not sold until 1947)
Microwave oven (invented just a year after he went under)
Frisbees (invented in 1948)
Acrylic paint (not sold commercially until the 50s)
Roller blades (1979)
Would have likely known about:
Reeses’s Peanut Butter Cups (introduced in 1928)
Mountain Dew (introduced in 1940)
Twinkies (1930)
M&M’s (1941)
Lay’s Potato Chips (1932)
Tootsie Pops (1931)
Levi’s Jeans (been around since the 1850s!)
Duct Tape (been around since the early 1900′s, at this time it was called duck tape)
3-D movies (the first 3-D movie with the red/blue glasses was in 1922!)
Monopoly (1935)
Nescafe coffee (1938)
Coming back to this because I found out a few more!
More things he would likely not be familiar with:
Butter chicken (1950s)
Wireless TV remote (invented 1955)
Superglue (not sold until 1958)
Saran wrap (1949. ok and cool fact, the name Saran comes from the combined names of the creators cat and dog, Sarah and Ann!)
Colour TV (invented in his time, but not broadcasted until the 50s)
Things he would possibly/likely be familiar with:
Electric guitars (invented 1931)
Electric washing machines (as early as 1904. They look nothing like they do now though and I doubt he owned one.)
Laundromats (since the 30s or earlier)
Electric razors (produced in 1937)
Air conditioner (invented in 1902)
Pop up toaster (1919)
Robots (in 1928 the humanoid robot Eric was created. Funnily enough during Steve’s time the word ‘robot’ was pronounced as ‘row-boat’)
… omg i didn’t know steve’s bouncy frisbee of death predated actual frisbees I’M SO DELIGHTED RN
WAIT LET’S MAKE THIS EVEN BETTER…
Frisbees were invented in 1948. World War 2 ended three years previously.
So, lets say three year anniversary of Captain America’s ‘death’, a toy company decides to bring out a toy to commemorate the great captain.
You too can throw a small plastic disk painted in red, blue and white and have it return to your hand.
Popularity skyrockets and everyone wants one so the company is just like ‘score let’s call ‘em frisbees after so-and-so as to avoid having to pay royalties.
And that is how the MCU gained frisbees, Captain America’s true legacy to the people of the world.
(Steve is fucking delighted when he comes out of the ice and the original company decides to send him a vintage ‘Captain America Flying Sheild’ as a present.)
I still love how Logan is literally just Les Mis, if instead of singing Valjean and Cosette just had knives for hands
“Hey do you know that one movie starring Hugh Jackman? The one where he plays a grizzled old famously unnaturally Strong guy who was imprisoned/tortured to the point of almost losing his humanity…. his character has an ordinary human name that starts with J (James, Jean) but people dehumanize him by calling him his Captivity Number™ (Weapon X, Prisoner 24601). His life is turned around when a kindly old mentor figure shows him compassion (Professor Xavier, Bishop Myriel) and sets him down the path to redemption. And then! Then he meets this young girl who aLSo has an “I was treated like an animal/slave” backstory. After the girl’s mother tragically dies the two become a father-daughter duo, each helping each other recover from their Tragic Pasts. But there’s a problem: not only is Hugh Jackman’s character In Hiding, but there are ALSO people hunting for the girl! See, Jackman’s character helped rescue her from the Horrible People who raised her as their slave (Donald Pierce and co, the Thenardiers) but now those people want her back. So they’re on the run from both the Law™ and the girl’s former “caretakers”. And while at first Hugh Jackman’s character is the one protecting the daughter, by the end of the film he is clearly the vulnerable one– and while they both protect each other he ultimately needs her more than she needs him. And the story ends with Hugh Jackman’s character dying as his adopted daughter begs him to stay, although at least he died holding her hand and knowing that after a life of untold horrors he finally found a family”
My fave thing about Black Panther is that they had the perfect setup for the Jabari to be the villains. The challenge, the black and white aesthetic, the toothy masks and secluded mountain lair surrounded by ice and snow and rock… and instead, they turn out to be cool warrior dudes led by a nerd who makes ill-timed (and hilarious) jokes and who’s only stated issue with T’Challa’s reign (besides an old feud that’s been pretty much been left alone for a couple hundred years) is that he doesn’t think it’s a good idea for a sixteen year old to be running all of Wakanda’s R&D department, which considering he’d never met Shuri before is a very valid thing to be worried about.
surprise when nathaniel says “no mommy im a girl” and natasha says A TRUE DOUBLE AGENT I LOVE YOU NATASHA
I’m sorry. I read the thing and thought it was just about THE BEST EVER. And then I arted.
Natasha Romanoff. Godmommy to end all godmommies.
Natasha Romanoff belongs to Marvel . Artwork by Meredith McClaren
It took me too long to reblog this because I was making incomprehensible noises and flailing my arms like a 3 year old.
She’s taking her god-daughter to ballet classes!!!!!!!
Sorry, my heart just sploded.
THIS IS PERFECT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT I LOVE IT SOMEBODY FIC THIS
No, imagine riding back home with Aunt Nat after dance class and little Natasha in tears telling her godmother how the other kids on school pick on her and the teachers insist on calling her Nathaniel, and Nat has this lowkey murder look in her eyes and grips the wheel tighter, then pulls it all under because she’s a kid and she has enough to deal with and smiles and tells her it will be alright and hey, wanna go grab some ice-cream.
And next Monday suddenly every list has Natasha Barton under her picture and all the teachers call her Natasha and use she and her and girl and in the rare cases someone slips everybody else looks at them with panicked reproach do not fuck this up are you trying to get us all killed, and there’s been established a zero-tolerance anti-bullying policy over the weekend.
Peter Parker, a Gen Z kid, screws up: Fuck, guess I’ll kill myself.
Steve Rogers, an artist during the 30’s and a soldier during WWII who knows full well what Dadaism and fatalistic humor are: There’s bleach under the sink–
Bucky Barnes, the guy who listened to Steve’s art rants in the 30’s, watched his back in WWII and went through 70+ years of shit: –And a rope in the supply closet if you want options.
Rest of the Avengers: ?????!!!!!!!?????
Shuri, also a gen z kid: don’t be a coward, jump out the window. Have some style would you
Vision, the human internet who knows what Gen Z humor is: do a flip