This is an attempt to catalog some of the cool, interesting, or just different aspects of various genres. These aren't intended to be complete; think of them more as way to spark interest in a genre and perhaps as a springboard for adventure ideas or to help set the flavor of the period. Additional ideas are welcome, esp. for the following genres:

Oriental Fantasy (AD 69 in FS terms, duh)
Pirates
1850/Victorian Era
1920's
WWII
1970's

Send ideas to me and let me know if you want your name on your submission.

1950's

 
Music
Hardboiled private eyes
Classic cars
Cold War
Communist plots to do various things
International espionage
Giant Monsters
  Godzilla
  Them
  Anything with a good dose of radiation
(from Max Rible) 
 Beatniks
 McCarthyism
 Red Scare
 Flying Saucers
 JamesBond
(from John Harper)
 Hot Rods
 The Birth of TV
 Atomic Power
 Switchblade gangs
 Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, and James Dean
 Think "Happy Days"... uh, but with kung fu.
 Fifties History

Pulp

 
Nazis
Voodoo
  Zombies
The guns
  Tommy Guns
  .45s
  Lugers with snail drum magazines
  Mausers (? may be too late)
Cool clothes
Classic cars
Gyrocopters
Dirigibles
Giant ocean liners
Lost/secret civilizations
Hollow Earth
Dinosaurs
Fabulous treasures
Weird Science
  Ming the Merciless
  The Rocketeer
Secret organizations
  Thuggee
  Fu Manchu
  Assorted Death Cults
Aerial dogfights
International espionage
Gangsters who don't Rap
Hardboiled private eyes
Femmes Fatal
4 out of 5 doctors recommend Camels for their patients who smoke 
Mystery!
Thrills!
Excitement!

1960's

 
Music
Psychedelic drugs and art
Mod clothes and hairstyles
Classic cars
Vietnam War
Cold War
Communist plots to do various things
International espionage
Campus unrest
Woodstock
Political assassinations
Superspies
  The Man From U.N.C.L.E.
  James Bond
  The Avengers
  Secret bases
  Villianous Masterminds
  Secret organizations
  Spy gadgets