From the monthly archives:

July 2009

School Book Covers

July 31, 2009
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Who remembers these? I have no idea why this popped into my head, but a couple of weeks ago I got to wondering why I never came across any of the old school book covers, with their advertisements for local businesses and the awful-tasting glue on the back. I looked all over the internet, and [...]

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The Handyman Generation

July 28, 2009
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Men in the 1950s, middle-class family men, took the do-it-yourself philosophy to a new level. Oh sure, previous generations shoed their own horses, rebuilt their Model-T Ford and painted the barn, but something new was happening in the years following WWII. I suppose a “perfect storm” of sorts led to the rise of the handyman. [...]

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Melmac Tableware

July 26, 2009
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A German invention from the early nineteenth century, Melamine became hugely popular in the 1950s. Numerous manufacturers began producing plastic tableware with melamine, the ware becoming universally known as “Melmac”. Melmac goods were available in many bright colors, making them right at home in the new color schemes of the era. A particularly durable thermoplastic, [...]

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Racing at the Motordromes

July 24, 2009
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Roughly 100 years ago, a form of motorsport came into being that seems almost inconceivable today. Inspired by, and evolved from, the velodrome bicycle tracks, these new “motordromes” were steeply-banked oval board tracks that hosted both motorcycle and automobile competitions. Dozens of companies produced motorcycles then, and the tracks saw machines by Cyclone, Indian, Excelsior, [...]

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Film Review: The Creeping Terror (1964)

July 22, 2009
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Getting my vote for the worst film of all time, The Creeping Terror has yet to find its way to DVD, at least not in any professional, widely-distributed form. But, as is often the case with many of the more obscure cult films, some industrious folk have put the film on disk, and I received [...]

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Flash-Matic Tuning

July 20, 2009
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Here’s an interesting 1955 advertisement for the Zenith “Flash-Matic” tuner, the first television that featured a wireless remote control. I actually like the pistol grip design, as it clearly fits the hand better than current controls. (plus, you could pretend it was a disintegrator ray-gun!) This was a cool new feature to be sure, but [...]

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Hop Up, March 1952

July 19, 2009
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Now this is a trip back in the way, waaay back machine! This is the March 1952 issue of the magazine Hop Up, a publication from the early years of auto customizing and hot-rodding. In the late ’40s/early ’50s the art of making a car go fast, or look fast, was still in the formative [...]

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Model Rocketry

July 17, 2009
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There was a brief period of my life, before my attentions shifted to motorcycles, cars and girls, that I lived and breathed model rockets. Constructed of cardboard tubing and balsa wood, the power behind amateur rocketry came in the form of solid propellant engines made specifically for the purpose by companies like Estes Industries. Colorado-based [...]

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Film Review: The Horror of Party Beach (1964)

July 16, 2009
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Some B-movies are hard to watch, their low budgets and amateurish productions resulting in a sleep-inducing viewing experience. But that cannot be said for The Horror of Party Beach, a cheapie horror flick that is a pleasure to watch, providing, of course, that you’re up for a little fun. And how could it not be [...]

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Schwinn Sting-Ray

July 14, 2009
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I can scarcely imagine childhood without a Sting-Ray bike. Yes, that’s me, high-water pants, white socks, penny loafers and all, on my campus green “fastback” model. The Schwinn Sting-Ray, and the many similar bikes from other companies, was a significant jump in bicycle design. They were built for fun, with a short wheelbase to facilitate [...]

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Joe Meek’s New World

July 13, 2009
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I remember listening to AM radio as a child, either from my portable Zenith or while in the car with my parents. Even at the age of six or seven I had definite preferences where popular music was concerned, and one of my favorites was the instrumental Telstar by the British pop group, The Tornados. [...]

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Handyhot Washing Machine

July 11, 2009
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I came across this neat portable washing machine the other day and almost passed it by. While hardly common, I do come across these once in a while, but the condition of this example was so good that I initially didn’t recognize it for what it was, a 1950 “Handyhot” portable clothes washer. Handyhot was [...]

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Dinosaurs Found in Fritos!

July 9, 2009
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I clearly recall my mom’s patience as I shook the boxes of lunch-size Fritos, hoping to find a particular dinosaur. Along with the single-serving chip bags, the cardboard box contained one of the small plastic toys, their diminutive size making them surprisingly hard to find. The top of the cardboard container was open, save for [...]

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Mattel’s V-RROOM! Motor

July 6, 2009
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It’s a Christmas I’ll never forget, even if I don’t recall the exact year. It was in the early ’60s, I had only recently learned to ride my bicycle, and I got a “V-RROOM!” motor for my bike. The plastic V-RROOM! motor looked like a single-cylinder motorcycle engine, and clipped to the frame of a [...]

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The Invasion of the Really Bad Movies

July 4, 2009
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Ask a group of film historians which decade produced the “tackiest” horror/sci-fi movies, and the 1950s would win hands-down. It seems that the American public had an insatiable appetite for “B” movies, those less-than-perfect specimens of the filmmaker’s art. Oddly enough, it’s the bad movies for which the era is remembered, not the many quality [...]

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Honeymoon Drinking Straws

July 2, 2009
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We hit the road yesterday for a shopping marathon, an all-day antiquing extravaganza. From 10:00am until 4:00pm we poked around in probably eight to ten shops or malls. In the small Texas town of Hico I picked up an interesting treasure for the modest sum of $2.00: a box of Honeymoon Sanitary Drinking Straws. The [...]

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Clutch Cargo

July 1, 2009
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Ever since television first found a place in American homes, children have been captivated by shows made just for them. Many today have fond memories of childhood heroes like Captain Video, Superman and the Lone Ranger, and those programs undoubtedly played a significant part in TV’s early success. I had the pleasure of growing up [...]

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