askhistorians

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In the sitcom Married... with Children, protagonist Al Bundy is able to support himself, his homemaker wife, and two children on the income he earns as a shoe salesman in a strip mall in the suburbs of Chicago. Was this at all realistic for the late 1980s/early 1990s?	13860
The 1992 song "Baby Got Back" implies that White people in America disdained large female posteriors. Was this, in fact, the cultural norm at the time? And if so, to what degree, if any, did the song itself lead to a change in zeitgeist vis a vis derrieres?	5750
I'm a medieval British peasant and I come home from the fields to find my wife shtuping the plowman from the next farm. Assuming it's a voluntary shtup, what remedies are available to me?	3941
How did the default "ding dong" (descending major third) doorbell sound develop and become so commonplace?	984
Where does the traditional "pimp" outfit, typically a long frock coat, vest, wide-brimmed hat, ostentatious shoes and accessories, all with garish colors and fabrics, originate?	314
The 1950's television program "The Adventures of Superman" introduces Superman as fighting a "never ending battle for truth, justice, and the American Way." What exactly was "the American way," in the minds of the writers of the series and their intended audience?	263
Karl Marx apparently despised Simón Bolívar, referring to him as "falsifier, deserter, conspirator, liar, coward and looter." Were Marx's feelings shared by Latin-American Marxists, such as Fidel Castro and Ernesto Guevara?	238
In literature and film set in the first half of the 20th century, a large number of people seem to make their homes in hotels. Was the term "hotel" used differently at this time, or did people commonly live in hotels long term? If the latter, how did this arrangement work?	233
What is the origin of the "doofus dad" trope in commercials and other North American media?	97
At one point in Back to the Future, Part II, Marty urges Doc to ram Biff's car, to which Doc replies: "He's in a '46 Ford, we're in a Delorean. He'd rip through us like we were tin foil." Is this true? If so, what changed in car body materials and construction from the 1940s to the 1980s?	78

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