It's annoying to get a cut on your knuckles, because they're a hard place to put a Band-Aid. If you put it on too tight, you can’t move your finger and if you put it on too loose, it easily slips off. Of course, you can buy Band-Aids made to go over knuckles, but unless you have a MacGyver-level first-aid kit, you probably only have basic strips.
A new video shared by everyone's "mom hack bestie" Autumn Grace, aka HonestlyAutumnb, on Instagram shows an easy way to transform a run-of-the-mill strip Band-Aid into a fully-functional knuckle bandage. “This is one of the best band aid life hacks!” she captioned the video.
To transform a strip bandage into a knuckle Band-Aid, you must make two cuts with scissors, and voila! "The hack I never thought I needed to know until today!" VermillionChicago commented on the post.
Some people left the obvious comment that “you can just buy butterfly bandages,” but the point of the hack is to make do with what you have so you don’t have to run to the store while you’re bleeding. This is one of those hacks that seems obvious, but in five decades on this planet, it never occurred to me to cut the bandage. That’s probably why HonestlyAutumnb has more than 440,000 subscribers on Instagram.
Next time you cut yourself cooking and don’t want to wear a cumbersome strip bandage on your knuckle, now you know how to modify one so you can cook without bleeding on the brisket.
Can we bring back some 50s fridge features, please?
There are very few things that would make people nostalgic for the 1950s. Sure, they had cool cars and pearl necklaces were a staple, but that time frame had its fair share of problems, even if "Grease" made it look dreamy. Whether you believe your life would've been way more interesting if you were Danny Zuko or not, most would agree their technology was...lacking.
All eras are "advanced" for their time, but imagine being dropped off in the 50s as someone from the year 2023. A recent post by Historic Vids on Twitter of a 1956 commercial advertising a refrigerator, however, has some people thinking that when it came to fridges, maybe they were living in the year 2056. I don't typically swoon over appliances, yet this one has me wondering where I can purchase a refrigerator like this.
Of course, there's no fancy touch screen that tells you the weather and asks how you'd like your ice cubed. It's got more important features that are actually practical.
Like a fruit drawer that not only pulls down so you can quickly check your inventory, but also pulls completely out.
"A big picture window hydrator for fruits and vegetables," the actress says while demonstrating. "It tilts down to show you your supply at a glance, and it also lifts out, so you can take it over to the sink when there's a fresh supply to be washed and put away."
Yeah, that could be helpful and reduce the clutter in your fridge from all those clear storage bins companies designed to essentially do the same thing but maybe in a more cumbersome way. But the cool factor of the vintage refrigerator didn't stop there. You know how sometimes it's like playing Jenga removing leftovers? Well, this fridge has shelves that slide out nearly completely. Oh, the amount of reduced stress that would give folks sneaking a late snack after a holiday meal.
Watch the fascinating video below:
\u201cThis refrigerator from 1956 has more features than modern day fridges\u201d
One commenter said, "Can we vote to bring this back?" and I have to agree. Take my money.
For a little extra fun, check out the full commercial below and marvel not only at the refrigerator but at how our attention spans for advertisements have diminished over the decades.
Couple investigating noises accidentally awaken a bear.
It's not uncommon to hear something outside of your house, especially if it's close to trash pick-up day. Raccoons and stray cats treat an overflowing trashcan like a holiday dinner, and even if you weren't sure if you heard something or not, the torn trash bags confirm your suspicion.
This is a pretty universal experience in America, so hearing a rustle under your house typically conjures images of a trash panda that got stuck. But for one family, the noises weren't coming from a raccoon at all. In a viral video on TikTok that has over 10 million views, a couple is outside looking for the source of the noises they've been hearing. The woman is filming at a fairly safe distance, while the guy investigates their crawl space.
Everything is going well. They hear what sounds like a hiss and with relief exclaim that it's a raccoon.
They were wrong. Like pee your pants, everyone for themselves, wrong.
As the man tries to move whatever is blocking access to the crawl space, he stands back and sprays something into the small opening. Another man is seen holding a broom to help shoo the little mask-wearing friend on its way, when the panel that closes the area starts to move, right before it busts open from the inside.
In that moment, the man forgot he had a wife and a friend. He ran as he yelled, "Oh, it's a bear!"
If you live in an area that frequently has bear sightings, it's important to remember that bears like to hide in dark cool places, like crawl spaces or under a pool deck. So secure your crawl spaces and other areas around your home that might make a bear think it's a good place to take a long nap. No one wants to explain why they hurdled their kids and stiff-armed their grandma to get back into their house.
An MTA employee rescues a 3-year-old child on the tracks.
Five Metropolitan Transportation Authority employees are hailed as heroes for their quick thinking and diligence in the April 6 rescue of a young boy. Locomotive Engineer William Kennedy was operating a southbound Hudson Line train near Tarrytown, a few miles north of New York City, when he noticed an unusual object on the northbound track.
That “object” was a 3-year-old boy.
Kennedy sent an emergency call out to all trains in the area, catching the attention of a northbound conductor, Shawn Loughran, and a trainee. Loughran slowed down his train as he approached the child, who was straddling the electrified third rail.
When the train screeched to a halt, Assistant Conductor Marcus Higgins didn't waste a second. Leaping down the tracks, he sprinted 40 yards ahead of the train, scooping up the young child like a guardian angel.
"The timing couldn't have been more perfect, you know. If it was a minute later [or] a minute sooner I wouldn't have seen him," Kennedy told Fox 5 New York, adding that if the child would have touched the third rail, he "would have been hurt really bad."
"Physically, he seemed ok, we didn't know at the time that he was autistic, non-verbal,” Higgins told Fox 5. When they got him off the tracks, Higgins says he “had a smile on his face."
Safely cradling the little one, Higgins whisked him on board the train, and the crew set off towards Tarrytown Station. When they arrived, they were greeted by MTAPD officers and Tarrytown EMS, ready to ensure the child's safety.
During the daring rescue, the boy's mother and sister frantically looked for the child. They were spotted by police sobbing on a street corner. The police put two and two together and reunited the boy with his family at the station. The mother told the MTA employees that the boy was autistic and nonverbal.
Five MTA employees were awarded commendations for their daring rescue of the boy.
MTA Metro-North President and Interim Long Island Rail Road President Catherine Rinaldi presents heroism commendations to Metro-North Assistant Conductor Marcus Higgins and Locomotive Engineer William Kennedy at the Railroad Committee meeting at Headquarters on Monday, Apr 24, 2023.
Photo by Marc A. Hermann / MTA
“These fine team members embodied the qualities we want our employees to exhibit while on duty, alert, responsive, knowledgeable and helpful,” Metro-North Railroad President and Interim LIRR President Catherine Rinaldi said. “With the bravery and calm comportment of superheroes, they averted a horrific outcome and saw to it that this little boy was not going to become a statistic. We salute their efforts and compassion and heartily thank them for their dedication to the people we serve.”
Chris Fraina (left) and Max Chong (right) are signal maintainers who saw the mother crying while on their way to work and, having heard about the found child, approached the mother. Reunion with the child followed at Tarrytown Station.
Photo credit: Rob Cervini/Metro-North Railroad
“Everybody’s quick thinking and the perfect timing allowed us to get this child off the tracks and back to his family,” Kennedy said in a statement. “In the heat of the moment, when you see a child in this situation, your first instinct is to make sure they’re safe,” Assistant Conductor Marcus Higgins said in a statement. “I’m glad our crew was there and able to help.”
“I’m just so happy it all worked out, and everything fell into place,” Locomotive Engineer Shawn Loughran said.
“It’s a great feeling knowing that we were able to help reunite this family,” Signal Maintainer Christopher Fraina said. “In those minutes that must have felt like hours to them, I’m so glad we were in the right place at the right time.”
Usually when we think of corsets, the words suffocation, fainting and shifting organs probably come to mind.
This is certainly what Bernadette Banner has come across in the comments section of her Youtube channel, where she shares all kinds of fashion history education. The general consensus is that Victorian women were either all incredibly tiny or that they went to extremely dangerous lengths to achieve the highly exaggerated signature silhouette of the era, which was to have the bust 10 inches larger than the waist, with the hips 15 inches larger. 34-26-36, for example.
This notion is certainly backed by Hollywood, where we normally see women of that time period being laced up so tightly they can barely breathe, suffering under the crushing weight of whalebone and the patriarchy.
As Banner breaks down in her video below, this is not entirely true. In reality, Victorian women deployed numerous different strategies that are nothing at all like we see in movies. One tactic is, dare I say, shockingly modern.
Tactic #1 Reduction
Okay, so first things first—some women did reduce their waist size through corset use alone. However, Banner notes that this really only worked for those who had a larger, softer, body type. By comparison, people with more athletic or thin body types wouldn’t be able to get much reduction in their waistline, and certainly not without effort, pain and discomfort.
“This is something that Hollywood very often misinterprets when it’s presenting historical periods,” Banner says, saying that normally a very thin actress is cast and then corseted down.
Having a naturally thin person in the role isn’t a problem, she adds, as “every body type existed all throughout history.” The real issue is that costume designers try to further reduce their waists with an uncomfortable corset to achieve an hourglass look, rather than augmenting the hips and the bust.
Which brings us to…
Tactic #2 Augmentation
Why cinch when you can stuff, amirite? This strategy is fairly straightforward
Banner demonstrates this by augmenting her own slim silhouette as she puts on a corset pre-padded at the hips and bust (though padding over the corset was also done…fashion is eternally nuanced). Since the corset is actually very flexible, she can also breathe and move easily.
From here, women would add in frills, fluffs, bustle and petticoats of varying sizes to get the desired ratio.
Tactic #3 Illusion
We’ve discussed clever placements of what goes on under the dress. But Banner explains that Victorians would also create an illusion of an hourglass with their outer garments as well. It’s not coincidence that this time period is when we had the “largest skirts in history,” Banner says. But it’s not just fluffy skirts—there were also puffy sleeves, elongated shoulder lines or shoulder padding, and special jackets, coats and belts to “trick the eye into seeing a very specific shape.”
Banner again demonstrates this scheme as she puts on her skirt with a tight waistband and wide, flat sash. Though with all the layering her waist is about an inch larger than it was before, it nonetheless looks smaller. The contrast is evident when she throws on the blouse and skirts sans the “sculptural understructures.”
Tactic #4 Image Manipulation
That’s right. You thought Photoshop was a new concept? Guess Again!
The ability to manipulate an image has been around almost as long as photography itself, and was “profuse in the late 19th century,” Banner says. Everything from waist shape to facial features to even skin texture could be altered.
Basically, just as you would never trust a too-perfect picture you see on social media, Banner warns you to similarly “never trust a picture of a Victorian. Especially when the waist looks absolutely impossibly tiny.”
And now the real question: Why do we think all Victorian women were tiny?
Banner answers that too. A major reason is the number of tiny garments that have survived from the time period. However, these pieces probably were only worn by young girls for a shorter amount of time, therefore endured less wear and tear.
In conclusion, Victorians were not ubiquitously impossibly small. They were simply masters of illusion, who created a mirage so convincing we still believe it today.
Heightened beauty standards still exist today—the rising popularity of cosmetic procedures is a clear indicator of that. While this might not inherently be a good or bad thing, more and more women are risking their health (not to mention their finances) in order to achieve that which is physically impossible. Banner argues that folks in the 21st century can perhaps take a lesson or two from Victorian women when it comes to achieving seemingly impossible aesthetic ideals without causing oneself harm.
As she astutely put it, “History teaches us that there are other options.”
You can find even more of Banner’s fascinating fashion history videos on Youtube.
Crooked teeth is a very, very common occurrence in our modern world. Nine out of ten people have at least some misalignment going on in their mouths. Over 4 million people wear braces in the United States alone. I don’t know about you, but I can still feel the utter sticker shock from my own teeth-straightening journey. (I call it a “journey” so it feels a little more whimsical and less devastating.)
And yet, this is not something our ancestors dealt with. Like…at all. How could it be that no one experienced this normal modern-day conundrum in a time when we had exponentially less technological advancement?
As it turns out, technology might be the culprit, and a video from Ted-Ed explains it all.
The prevailing theory in the scientific community is that millions of years ago, when humans were hunter-gatherers, their teeth had to work extra hard to grind down seeds, fruit, meat, etc., and make them digestible.
When humans began incorporating tools, food was broken down before it even entered the mouth. It only became more refined and easier to chew with the introduction of agriculture, followed by the innovations of the Industrial Revolution.
In a relatively short amount of time (12,000 years), teeth were basically relieved of most of their “pulverizing duties.” And while teeth were initially able to adapt to the gradual evolution of culinary changes, things simply changed too quickly to keep up. Over time, jaws have reduced in size much more quickly than our teeth have, leading to overcrowding and some…unique dental arrangements.
This also helps explain why wisdom teeth are such a pain. By the time these final molars come out, there is simply no room left in the mouth for them. This is why many people need them surgically removed in order to prevent discomfort or infection.
This theory has been tested on animals like spider monkeys and lyraxes, who were given naturally tough foods and artificially softened foods. Sure enough, the critters with the softer foods also developed narrower jaws, and more crooked teeth.
Bottom line: this issue has a lot more to do with lifestyle than anything genetic. Which is why different people in different parts of the world don’t deal with dental crowding at all, and even have room for wisdom teeth. Knowing this might not stop us from eating softer foods—it’s certainly not gonna make me give up warm gooey cookies any time soon, perfect smile and zero cavities be damned—but it’s certainly something to chew on.
You can watch the full video, based on a lesson by dental anthropologist G. Richard Scott, below:
Whether you're feeling stressed over end-of-the-school-year chaos, depressed over the challenges our world faces or refreshed by the beautiful spring blossoms blooming everywhere, you can surely use some extra doses of joy.
In this week's list, we have some delightful interactions between parents and young adult children, a hilarious take on millennials getting older, some helpful and entertaining animals, a throwback to one of the most iconic (and earwormy) jingles of all time, a photo that has been blowing people's minds and of course, some utterly adorable toddlers.
We hope these little nuggets brighten your day! Enjoy!
1. Watch this first-generation college student find out he got accepted to Harvard
It's a genuine photo. No editing tricks. the brown on the top right is a wall and below is its reflection. Still hard to picture, I know. Find the full explanation with other visual proof that there's nothing altered in the photo here.
6. Check out these stories of animals sensing when someone needed medical care
Those are some impressive spins there, buddy. Cat doesn't even know what to do with that.
8. Footage of the Chili's "Baby Back Ribs" song being recorded is pure nostalgic joy
Everyone who lived through the 90s had this song stuck in their head on repeat for years. Learn more about the famous vocalists behind the iconic jingle here.
9. Kiddo figures out how to give a thumb's up and it's 10 seconds of adorableness
Can't even talk, but he can sing along with Bruno. And the timing of those foot stomps. May we all dance with such abandon.
Hope that brought some smiles to your faces! Sign up for our free newsletter, The Upworthiest, here to get more posts like this one delivered to your inbox.
