15 Modern Conveniences That Were Met With A Bizarre Amount Of Resistance

The world just wasn't ready for... cheeseburgers?
15 Modern Conveniences That Were Met With A Bizarre Amount Of Resistance

Change is hard, but technology is good. That's the constant push-pull of living in the modern world. Humans are both endlessly creative and also afraid of new developments. Sci-fi writer Douglas Adams once said that “anything that's invented between when you're 15 and 35 is new and exciting and you can probably get a career out of it. Anything invented after you're 35 is against the natural order of things.” And that feeling of “against the natural order of things” can really send people spiraling into moral panics. 

The world was full of toxic trolls long before comment sections (looking at you, comment section). But some of these toxic reactions seem downright silly to us today. People found reasons to sneer at light bulbs, needlessly gender umbrellas and teddy bears, and even approach cheeseburgers with skepticism. Here are a few modern comforts and conveniences that people recoiled at in their early stages:

REFRIGERATORS CRACKED .COM Ice block deliverymen were decimated by the refrigerator, and forced to evolve into ice cream men -- but not at first. Before the mass production of Freon dropped prices, a commercial fridge cost $520 (more than a Ford Model T).
UMBRELLAS CRACKED.COM In the 1750's, Jonas Hanway was the first Brit brave enough to take this French contraption to the streets. Everyone mistook it for a parasol, and threw literal trash at the mincing Frenchman. He was once attacked by a hansom cab driver, and responded by beating the sh* out of the guy with his umbrella.

Source: Atlas Obscura

AIRPLANES CRACKED French WWI general Ferdinand Foch once declared Airplanes are interesting scientific toys, but they are of no military value. I can't believe we ever named our precious fries after those military incompetents.
TEDDY BEARS CRACKED.co COM One Michigan pastor, Michael Esper, warned his congregation that the cursed bear is going to be a factor in the race suicide problem by destroying motherly instincts in little girls. The Idaho Recorder further explained: He can't wear pretty frocks and dainty underwear. Hence she loses the education involved in dainty garments.
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