“This Fidel Castro character won’t last. That beard is far too absurd.”
~U.S. Politics in the 1950’s
It’s remarkable to think about how things used to put us on edge in the past when they seem pretty innocuous right now. Similar to looking back at fads you partook in as a child (pogs, anyone?) when you look at what the nation feared years ago, and compare it to how we view them now, it all seems pretty silly. The most relevant example we as a staff can think of would have to do with the fervor surrounding Fidel Castro and Cuba.
Yes, we get it, having a communist power so close to America during the Cold War’s perpetual game of nuclear chicken was probably very terrifying at the time. But we’re talking about a man who America unsuccessfully tried to poison the beard of who now is considered such an afterthought that most of you reading this aren’t sure if he’s alive (he is) or if he’s still in power (he is not).
Of course, our stacks of archives from the 1950s remembers everything, and we have no shame about pointing out how incorrect our views were in the 1950’s. So that is why we present you today with…
The Informative American: CUBA! COMMUNISTS! CAPITALIZED LETTERS! (Originally Published June, 1959)
America Fun Fact of the Day 