Small and difficult beginning for Baby on Board car sign
In 1985, a year after its debut, the ubiquitous yellow Baby on Board car sign had been affixed to more than three million cars in the US. Massachusetts resident Michael Lerner started Safety 1st, a brand that marketed everything frompoison alert labels to soft tap caps so that babies wouldn't hurt their heads in the tub. Lerner, who had no children of his own, recalled feeling anxious as he drove his 18-month-old nephew home from a family gathering in a congested traffic area. He convinced department stores that the signs belonged in the infant section, not their automotive display and it was there it took off. Once Baby on Board caught on, it became easy for companies to manufacture parody replicas: Baby Driving, Grandma on Board ... Road safety experts had reservations about signs obstructing the driver's view and some states allowed them on the lower half of the back windscreen, but other states had police officers giving drivers a US$30 ticket. In 1986, the Insurance Information Institute declared the signs posed a hazard for drivers who could become distracted by trying to read them. In 2000, Lerner sold the company for US$38 million. In 2014, the owners estimated more than 10 million signs had been sold. (Via Mental floss.com)
Going it alone ... together
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"Some time ago my Grandma was staying with my Auntie," writes a reader. "They went shopping and after a while my Grandma said she was tired and was going to sit in the car parked on the street. Auntie said she wouldn't be long and Grandma went to the car to wait for her. Grandma got to the car and was seated for some time when she noticed chocolate in the centre console and indulged. Not long after a strange man approached and asked her if she was 'alright love', she said 'yes fine thank you'. She then noticed my Auntie, beckoning her to get out of the car, standing behind the nice strange man. My Auntie's car was parked one over and virtually identical to the one she got in. She did wonder where the chocolate came from ... "
Video: You made it through James Cameron's laboured fictional account, now watch the Titanic actually sink in real time. (You will need 2 hours and 40minutes).
