Rat Sommeliers, Pneumatic Tube Flirting, Why Periods Hurt
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week
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Pneumatic Tube Flirting
- In 1920s Berlin clubs like Femina and Rezi, patrons could flirt via pneumatic tubes and table telephones.
- Patrons could send messages to others across the club in a low-stakes way.
- The tubes were stylized to look like golden snakes, adding to the allure.
- Some clubs even had switchboards that allowed patrons to send gifts to each other, much like streaming gifts on Twitch today.
- Femina was particularly large and tourist-friendly, with instructions in both German and English.
- Switchboard operators censored obscene messages.
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