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The kitschy contrivances of Kansas City
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On June 17 John Houghtaling, a Kansas City native who invented the Magic Fingers Vibrating Bed, died at the age of 92. Houghtaling (pronounced HUFF-tay-ling) invented the vibrating bed—which featured a mechanical vibrator attached to the box spring and a coin meter attached to the vibrator—in his Glen Rock, N.J. basement in 1958.
Kitschy, stimulating, and comfortable, the vibrating bed became a staple of American pop culture. “Magic Fingers quickly carries you into the land of tingling relaxation and ease,” a label on the device proclaimed. “Put in a quarter, turn out the light, Magic Fingers makes ya feel all right,” Jimmy Buffett sang in his song “This Hotel Room.”
In 1976 Kansas City-based advertising agency Bernstein-Rein created McDonald’s Happy Meal, after the giant fast-food restaurant chain asked the agency to help it attract more children. When Bernstein-Rein founder Bob Bernstein observed his 10-year-old-son Steve reading a cereal box at breakfast, he was inspired to create a boxed burger-fries-drink-dessert-toy package that had games and cartoons printed on the side. Once dubbed the Happy Meal, it became one of the burger chain's most successful offerings after its national launch in 1979.
In 1971, Kansas City-based Rival Co., then based in Kansas City, purchased the Naxon Beanery All-Purpose Cooker from Naxon Utilities Corp. in Chicago. That was the basis for yet another great idea cooked up in Kansas City—Rival’s slow-cooker crock-pot.
In 1958, the first Pizza Hut restaurant opened in Wichita, Kan., and then the fast-food-pizza chain quickly spread across the American landscape. Pizza Hut became part of the pop-culture lexicon because of its bland, mediocre pizza and its odd name. The “hut” name stemmed from the sign on the original building, which allowed room for only three more letters to modify the word “pizza.”
M&M candies (the shellac-coated chocolate candies that “melt in your mouth and not in your hand”) weren’t invented in Kansas City—as some websites claim—but in the early 1950s, Kansas City’s Midwest Research Institute, working for M&Ms, perfected a process in which 3,300 pounds of chocolate centers could be coated every hour.
Delving deeper into the roots of American history, the Kansas City metro area produced two quintessentially 19th century inventions embodying the essence of the American spirit: The cowboy hat and cowboy boots. Both of these icons of classic western clothing would later accumulate kitsch value in the 20th century.
In 1865, John B. Stetson of St. Joseph, Mo., invented the American cowboy hat. The cowboy original hat, “the Boss of the Plains,” featured a high crown and a wide brim. The sweatband bore Stetson’s name and, in countless cowboy novels and movies, the word “Stetson” became synonymous with cowboy hat.
Though many Texans disagree, most historians agree that Charles Hyer of Olathe, Kan. (a Kansas City suburb) invented what came to be known as the cowboy boot in 1875. According to legend, a Colorado cowboy came to Hyer’s cobbler shop, Hyer Brothers Boots, and requested a boot with a pointed toe, higher heel, and scalloped fronts and backs to make it more suitable to a cowboy’s needs. Hyer took the challenge and the cowboy reportedly liked the boots so much that he told other people about them.
The cowboy hat and cowboy boots became kitschy through 20th century pop culture—western movies, radio, TV shows, songs, and pulp fiction. Popularity for western apparel peaked in the 1980s after the 1980 movie “Urban Cowboy,” with John Travolta, and the 1980s TV show “Dallas.” In the 1990s a whole passel of ersatz cowboys wore ten-gallon hats as country music stars found success singing a watered-down blend of country music and rock-and-roll.
Also working hard to increase the kitsch value of western wear were presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, who both wore cowboy hats and boots to “clear brush” at their ranches. Capping the era of fake cowboys, Madonna briefly donned a cheesy miniature cowboy hat at the dawn of the 21st century for some reason.
