While I'm a great fan of Dan for his manifold and always classy contributions to spanking culture, I think Holly has a point here.
We can't go back to the time when spanking references were peppered throughout films, plays, books and TV shows -- because part of the excitement of those references came from our fantasy that they reflected a world in which it was acceptable and even expected for a man to put a woman over his knee if he saw fit.
As exciting as it is for many of us to remember those times, that particular "world" should probably never have existed, and feminism should be congratulated, not derided for moving us away from the "I Love Lucy" days.
To say we are only talking about films here misses the point, which Holly expressed rather well, that the films and culture are inextricably linked.
I'll admit I'm sorry that mainstream spanking references are primarily of the ironic variety now -- but of course we still have Shadow Lane videos to help us step into that fantasy world any time we want.