Lesser Tedium

Lesser Tedium

Home
Archive
About
What I’m Doing Next 🧱
You might be wondering, now that Lesser Tedium is done, what am I doing with your email address? The short answer is more Tedium. Here’s the long…
 • 
Ernie Smith
2
Napoleon’s Resting Place 🪦
One of the most remote islands in the world, St. Helena, held Napoleon during the last few years of his life. He’s still there—and St. Helena just got…
 • 
Ernie Smith
3
Clip Art Before Computers ✂️
The forgotten early history of clip art speaks to a time in which the medium was distributed through literal books in which the art could be clipped…
 • 
Ernie Smith
A Tree Made Of Metal 🌲
Try as they might, it is hard to hide a camouflage a cell tower. For one thing, the towers are way bigger than the trees they’re meant to look like.
 • 
Ernie Smith
Consider The Plastic Lemon 🍋
The plastic lemon is one of the best-known kitsch objects, but its common nature created trademark problems that a British court had to settle.
 • 
Ernie Smith
Japan’s Record Rental Revolution 💿
Despite much complaining from trade groups, Japan’s record-rental model made the country’s music industry much stronger in the long run—after some…
 • 
Ernie Smith
A Matter of Adhesion ✉️
Why did we decide to lick stamps and envelopes, anyway? Well, it turns out that it was key to the success of the modern-day mail system.
 • 
Ernie Smith
Delivery First 📦
Why the C.O.D. model became popular in the time before the credit card—and why many countries have yet to give up on it.
 • 
Ernie Smith

June 2023

Where Do the Coupons Go? 🛒
In the 1950s, a manufacturer’s coupon clearing house had a problem: How do we get rid of all these used coupons? They actively destroyed the local…
 • 
Ernie Smith
The Game Genie’s Great Gift 🎮
It was more than just a way to cheat. The Game Genie was a gateway to remix culture that we’re seeing amplified with ChatGPT.
 • 
Ernie Smith
The Formula That Shaped Cable TV 📺
A forgotten TV show from the late ’80s played a massive influence on how cable television was made—so much so that the formula it spawned is better…
 • 
Ernie Smith
What Happened to Saturday Morning? 📺
The tale of E/I programming, the federal regulation that zapped the energy out of the Saturday morning cartoon.
 • 
Ernie Smith
© 2025 Ernie Smith
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture