Good Old Days My Ass: 665 Funny History Facts & Terrifying Truths about Yesteryear

by David A. Fryxell

Welcome to the Not-So-Glorious DaysWith the uncertain economy, lingering wars, and the ever-present threats of everything from bird flu to Bieber Fever, it's tempting to long for the "good old days." But just how good were they?Buckle up for a bumpy ride down memory lane (and try not to get trampled) as these 665 funny history facts and terrifying truths reveal the unfortunate reality of life during the eighteenth, nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. From patents that should still be pending to hairdos that attract vermin, these horrors will leave you thankful you didn't have to struggle to live through them.Brace yourself as the truth hits you like an ice-cold Victorian-era shower with enough pressure to knock you unconscious. Get ready to shudder with laughter (or horror) at these funny moments in history that are not to be forgotten.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Humor

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 4, 2012

Reviews

[Sherrie Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid 4 stars.

I LOVE history and love reading about trivia through non-rose-colored glasses. He's right, the good old days are not good, just old. It's amazing we as a human race survived. Good book on history trivia with trivia on jobs, health, recreation, justice, medicine, and mush more. I just wish within each chapter it had been chronological and that each bit of trivia had at least a year date (while we know when the Victiorian era was, it covered DECADES).

Again, as I'm finding with most eBooks, quite a few typos. I'm beginning to understand for these trivia books, authors cut and paste items from the internet, format the book (and sometimes add pictures) but they never go back over to read it. Yeah, they may use a spellchecker, but there's a lot of typos with words that won't be caught by spellchecker. This is the main reason I didn't go for a 4.5 stars. Very tired of getting these eBooks with so many typos!

[Keri-Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I've read of interesting facts from history. I was relieved none of the facts or subjects were repeated like some books do in an effort to "inflate" the number of facts they can claim. I really liked how the categories were arranged and the clever titles of the chapters as well as the individual facts. A lot of thought went into this book, and research. One book I read recently had "history" facts, of which almost 50% occurred during my lifetime. Granted, anything that happened before today is history, but I was more interested in reading about things I didn't remember from my own life. Almost all the facts in "Good Old Days..." were from 100 years ago or earlier, something I really appreciated. May of them were every-day-life events for our ancestors, as I hoped they would be coming from an expert genealogist.

[Destiny Sanderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved all the facts and fun

[Geordie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This short book is a collection of odd-ball historical facts told in short vignettes. I was disappointed, though maybe part of the problem was that it wasn't really the book I'd expected. The rumor I'd heard (as well as the book's own introduction) led me to believe that the book was going to puncture the hypocritical adoration of how perfect society was in "the good old days". Ultimately, the historical facts tended to be superficial, seldom getting into details about these facts. Some of the facts, also, were more like pithy trivia items (the invention of shoes that let one skim across water, for example). While some of the historical facts were interesting, the book had far too many attempts to be humorous, none of which worked for me. Every factoid is introduced with a title that is almost always an attempt to be funny, many of them on a groan-inducing parallel to dad jokes, some of them ("Say Aloha to this!" about a tsunami that killed 179 people in Hawaii) just weird and cruel.

[Rita · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this is a fun little light-read, it was a bit disappointing. Many of the subjects were broken into 2 or 3 separate items when they could have been combined. It is good as a reminder of what life was like before a myriad of regulations which people complain about now. There were quite a few items about natural disasters that continue to happen, and we are fortunate to have some warning for (at least for weather-related events). The disppointment for me is that there is some but not much exploration into some aspects of daily life from earlier times, when there was no electricity, or central heating, or indoor plumbing. This would be daily life involving maintenance of outhouses, food storage and preparation, firewood, clean water, the amount of labor it took to manage a 'middle class' household, and other aspects of daily living that were mostly managed by women.

[Leah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chalk it up to that title, but when I was looking for something quick and light, the second I noticed this book I grabbed it. I usually love these kinds of reads, but this one missed the mark and so many of the facts could have easily been condensed into a larger paragraph. The Locust Plague of 1875, for example. One fact said the swarm wiped out one farmer's entire crop in a matter of hours. The next fact said that, once the crops were gone, the locust then ate fence posts, etc. Multiple facts on the list were devoted to the same topic; a paragraph or two instead of a single sentence would have made the book flow a little better? Still, there were some really interesting tidbits!

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this pretty entertaining and a quick read. It was a mix of facts that were new to me and some I already knew.

It does make one consider that after seeing all our past idiocies, what things were doing now that feel rational but in the future will look nuts. I suspect there will be a lot. If I had to bet on what's going to look nuts my guess is social media and how much time we spend on our phones.

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short little book that reminds us that the past was not as wonderful as we like to tell ourselves. It's written in short factoids, and it talks about medicine (no anesthesia), the work place (16 hour days...), and transportation (horses as a means of transport meant a LOT of pooh...everywhere), among other topics. Fun book!

[Quanita · Rating 5 out of 5]

The "terrifying truths" were really terrifying. So much history I've never known. The author has a list of sources if the reader wants to know more. One funny fact - a dog was sentenced to prison and given a inmate number because he killed a cat belonging to the mayor's wife. Facts range from biblical times through the 1900's. Some history is stranger the science fiction.

[Drew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun little book, quite amusing, and even educational. My only complaint is that it often drifted away from the central premise ("things weren't always wonderful in the past") to random trivia that fit into the different chapters. These other factoids were certainly fun and interesting, but they didn't necessarily have anything to do with "the good old days".

[Simona Klemenčič · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit too focused on the States from my perspective, but it doesn't say it wouldn't be. Entertaining reading for the morning commute, informative enough to share bits with coworkers first thing in the morning.

[Bradford D · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a realistic look back at how history wasn’t nearly as great as we seem to remember. It is in list form though, so it is not really set up to read from cover to cover. It works better to kill a few minutes here and there.

[Patti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learned some interesting things, but some things presented as "facts" and "truths" were merely opinions.

[Lisa Kizer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely not what I expected.

[Gerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

So-so. Some very funny interesting facts.

[Phil Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good waiting room reading.

Lots of stuff I’d never heard before.
Interesting tif-bits to share with the family. Conversation starter material. Three more words.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I love factoid books --this didn't really hit home for me. Aside from the catchy title --which is why I picked it up in the first place, there really wasn't a whole heck of a lot in this book that I didn't either already know or was surprised to find out. If you're a beginning trivia enthusiast --by all means, check this out from your local library. But I wouldn't pay for it. There are much better, well collected anthologies of trivia out there.

[Sandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting historical trivia.

[Deborah · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is was like to work before unions, child labour, corsets, all the lovely things we no longer have to put up with.

[Christine D · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually enjoy these type of books but there were too many little half facts. I think it should have focused on a couple dozen topics rather than bunches of snippets.

[Tiffanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting to see how things really were.

[Dee brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

A couple of facts (or more) were off. Other than that, this was an amusing book to read.

[Lori Ralph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short read

Quick read- interesting at times but full of brief factoids. This is a good book to have on tap when you only have a few minutes.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two problems with this book: 1. The spelling and grammar errors
2. Some of the facts are under the category of "things most people of even average intelligence should know