The 1960s were full of strange products that promised to make everyday American life easier, prettier, healthier, or simply more modern. Department stores, catalogs, drugstores, and magazine ads offered inventions that could seem perfectly reasonable at the time and completely bizarre six decades later.
Some disappeared because technology improved. Others solved problems nobody worries about anymore. And a few are reminders of an era when putting something in a colorful box and calling it “modern” was often enough to get it into American homes.
1. The Hair-Drying Bonnet
Instead of pointing a dryer at your hair, you could attach a plastic bonnet to a hose and sit underneath it while warm air inflated the whole thing around your head. Portable bonnet dryers became a familiar sight in bedrooms and bathrooms, especially when elaborate hairstyles required serious drying time.
2. The Electric Hot Dog Cooker
Apparently, boiling a hot dog was too ordinary. Electric hot dog cookers promised a more modern solution, with dedicated countertop appliances designed almost entirely around preparing one of America’s simplest foods.
3. The Vibrating Exercise Belt
Gyms once had machines that wrapped a wide belt around the waist or hips and shook the body vigorously while the user simply stood there. The promise of getting a better figure without conventional exercise helped make them an unforgettable fitness fad.
4. The Electric Shoe Polisher
Why polish shoes by hand when electricity could do it? Motorized shoe polishers and buffers brought spinning brushes into homes, promising shiny dress shoes with considerably less elbow grease.
5. The Home Permanent Wave Kit
The unmistakable chemical smell of a permanent wave didn’t necessarily mean someone had visited a salon. Home perm kits brought bottles, rods, papers, and instructions straight to the bathroom mirror.
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6. The Electric Can Opener With a Built-In Knife Sharpener
A can opener wasn’t enough. Countertop models increasingly arrived with extra features, including knife sharpeners, turning a simple kitchen task into another opportunity to plug something into the wall.
7. The Home Facial Sauna
Long before elaborate skincare devices filled social media feeds, electric facial steamers promised salon-like beauty treatments at home. Users leaned their faces over small steaming appliances that looked somewhere between medical equipment and kitchen gadgets.
8. The Electric Blanket With a Giant Control Box
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Electric blankets weren’t strange by themselves, but their enormous bedside controllers certainly look unusual now. Big dials and thick cords allowed sleepers to choose their preferred warmth while electrical wiring ran through the blanket around them.
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9. The Automatic Cigarette Dispenser
Smoking was so embedded in everyday life that companies sold decorative dispensers specifically designed to present cigarettes to guests. Some mechanical versions pushed cigarettes upward one at a time, turning an unhealthy habit into a living-room novelty.
10. The Electric Scissors
Even scissors became electrified. Corded electric models promised to glide through fabric, paper, and other household materials with less effort, particularly appealing to people who regularly sewed at home.
11. The Butter Warmer
Serving cold butter apparently wasn’t elegant enough for some tables. Small electric warmers and specialized warming dishes kept butter soft and ready to pour or spread during a carefully prepared dinner.
12. The Portable Clothes Steamer Cabinet
Some households could refresh clothing inside compact steaming or drying cabinets rather than reaching immediately for an iron. They looked like miniature closets crossed with appliances and fit perfectly into the era’s fascination with automated housekeeping.
13. The Electric Hairbrush
Manufacturers experimented with electrifying practically every part of the beauty routine. Heated or powered brushes promised easier styling at home, joining an increasingly crowded collection of cords and appliances around the vanity mirror.
14. The Home Soda Fountain
Instead of simply opening a bottle, families could bring part of the drugstore soda-counter experience home. Countertop dispensers and carbonation gadgets promised fizzy drinks made right in the kitchen.
15. The Record Cleaning Machine
Records needed care, and the 1960s produced an assortment of brushes, fluids, rollers, and even powered devices designed to remove dust before the needle dropped. For serious listeners, maintaining the record collection could become its own ritual.
16. The Electric Drink Mixer
Before every kitchen had a collection of modern appliances, dedicated drink mixers promised milkshakes and malt-shop-style drinks at home. Their tall metal cups and chrome bodies made an ordinary kitchen suddenly feel a little like the local soda fountain.
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