MILK MONEY: Corporate Crystal Ball

A state lawmaker's comment warned that ending milk price controls would lead to "A few big firms will control milk." Fast forward 50 years: America’s 648,000 dairy farms dropped by 95% to only 24,470. Four corporate giants now pour nearly half America's milk. Was this prophecy or recipe? (Source: USDA report 2022)

Seven Years After Breaking Color Barrier, NC's First Black Trooper Fights Mustache Ban

Today it’s hard to imagine a 70’s trooper without a mustache, but Charles H. Johnson, NC's first Black trooper was suspended for challenging the ‘stache ban. Johnson’s challenge exposed how seemingly neutral workplace rules could mask lingering resistance to racial integration in 1974 North Carolina. Read an editorial from the Asheville Times on this story. 6 months later, Johnson was given his job back after similar legal cases in other states ruled that state employers had discriminated.

Scene from the Great Mall Migration

The meticulous inventory listing everything from Hushpuppies to Corningware reads like a time capsule of late-70s consumer culture, with polyester slacks marked down to $1.00 and 'Bold One' prewashed denim jeans for $10.88. When Belk Leggett bid farewell to 206 W. Franklin in 1978, they weren't just changing addresses - they were changing eras. Their old downtown space, now Might As Well sports bar, tells the story of how shopping, downtown Chapel Hill, and social patterns have changed over the past 5 decades.