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It’s time for another whimsical Tuesday Turnip search wherein I type a random phrase and we see what kind of interesting factoids “turn-up.”
Today I typed in “the history of STDs” expecting to regale you with such golden nuggets of information as: before 1960 Syphilis and Gonorrhea were the only major STDs. Chlamydia was first recognized in 1976 and AIDS in 1981, blah, blah, blah.
But I must forgo the ordinary to present two serious extraordinary finds that popped up, each deserving a little extra attention in today’s Turnip.
Of course, what we now call STDs were commonly known before the 1990s by the euphemistic handle “venereal diseases.” (The word venereal comes from the Latin, Venus, as you’d expect.) And while you might think America in the 40s, 50s, 60s, and even 70s would consider the subject of sexually transmitted diseases taboo, I present you with humorous evidence to the contrary:
Exhibit A:
A war-time poster aimed at keeping our soldiers protected at all costs. If you can’t see the print at the bottom there, it reads: “You can’t beat the Axis if you get VD.”
Now on to Exhibit B, which, by my way of thinking, is even more entertaining. It’s a recording of an actual TV jingle that was popular in the early 70s. And yes, they really are singing, “Anyone can share VD with someone nice as you!”
The TV spot doesn’t strike me as all that hilarious. I’d guess that the faux 20s style was a deliberate attempt to lighten the tone of the message without watering down the message itself. I’m pretty sure it was meant to be silly, and I bet its intended audience got the joke. By the way, your assumption that discussion of sexually transmitted diseases was taboo in the sixties and seventies couldn’t be further from the truth. Sexual topics were discussed at that time to an extent that isn’t even allowed by law today.
posted by Frank on 9-18-2007 at 5:21 am
I remember the commercials from the early 70s. A girl with long blond hair is at home with her family in the next room and she answers the phone. It’s her bf telling her he has VD. Her line is “Then I must have it too. What will I do?”. Funny to me then.
posted by Sheldon Siegel on 9-18-2007 at 7:55 am
And here’s the PSA..
youtube.com/watch?v=tK_jDA3qrUU
Wheee!
posted by Jess on 9-18-2007 at 8:57 am
can you post the jingle in a different format? my computer won’t play it or download the plugin I need
posted by Korin on 9-18-2007 at 9:28 am
sorry, korin, i can’t right now. but Jess has posted a link above your comment with the actual TV jingle on YouTube.
it’s good to know some people can’t access the plug-in, however. i’ll be sure to post mp3s in multi-formats going forward.
posted by David on 9-18-2007 at 10:29 am
I remember the commercial and I remember asking my Dad what VD was. I don’t remember what the told me though.
posted by Keith on 9-18-2007 at 11:26 am
I’ve seen another poster from WWI that pictures a G.I. standing on a pile of Spiked German helmets; it reads “You kept fit and defeated the Hun…now set a high standard-a clean America! Stamp out veneral disease!”
Some guy on ebay sells reprints of them and lots of other propaganda posters.
posted by Andrew on 9-18-2007 at 12:20 pm
I am having a different problem. The song will play automatically every time I access any page with it. This is the first time I have come back to Floss in three or four days because of the Phil Collins post. I am not getting any plugin notification on how to fix it or any controls on the area containing the song, it just plays without stopping. Looks like an AOL problem, given the only image I can see in the place of the file is part of an AOL logo. Please fix it, or put songs behind the jump or something.
posted by dukerayburn on 9-18-2007 at 5:24 pm
hmmm. sounds like AOL, but i’m glad to know there are problems with the plug-in. i’ll go back to linking to mp3s in the future. and sorry for the trouble!
posted by David on 9-18-2007 at 5:35 pm
Wasn’t that jingle in a movie? or TV show? Maybe TV Land has run it as one of their “retro” commercials. I know I’ve seen it/heard it somewhere before.
posted by Mary on 9-18-2007 at 6:34 pm
Thanks David. I love the Floss, and would feel terrible if such a weird thing stopped me from visiting in the future, but I hate having to mute my speakers or PC each time I come.
posted by Greg on 9-18-2007 at 9:50 pm