As this 1956 magazine ad so painfully reminds us, shag carpeting was not invented in the 1970s.

Interesting the twists they took to make the color names sound so picturesque. There are only a couple of problems here: St. Louis is the name of two cemeteries. "Tombstone gray, for that death warmed-over look." A nutrea is really spelled nutria, and it's well, a rodent. Might as well ask for squirrel or rat-colored carpet. To be fair, nutria were raised for their fur value. Still, the idea of a swamp rat carpet just gives me the willies.

Take that as you will from someone who drives a beige car that the manufacturer prefers to call "champagne."

And yes, they even had bizarre multi-toned shag carpet back then. The description of the Charleston reminds me of the stuff that was in our own living room when we moved in - only it came with the added color of Burnt Orange for that just-tossed Mexican food effect. (We got that stuff out as soon as possible before we were put off Tex-Mex for good!)

This company - as far as I know - is still around.