Retro Reminiscing Video and Pictures – Do You Remember
online community focused on sharing and reminiscing about video, audio, and images that stir our memories of the past – old television, theme songs, commercials, print advertisements, the sights and sounds you remember
This holiday-themed tag appeared at the end of the I Love Lucy episode that aired on December 24, 1951. It became something of a tradition as it was aired in both 1952 and 1953 at the end of the episode that fell closest to Christmas day.
From October 1962 to September 1971, ABC aired a “highbrow series for children” called Discovery. Historical and cultural themes were emphasized in each program. In its first season it began as a 25-minute weekday series, but failed to attract much of an audience. In 1963 it switched to a Sunday morning timeslot where it remained for the duration of its run. Hosted by Virginia Gibson (later Bill Owen joined Gibson as a co-host), the show is fondly remembered by children of that era because it was, for years, the only network show that aired on Sunday mornings that was not an adult-oriented political or news panel show. Each year that Discovery aired it was followed by the last two digits of the year. He is the opening and closing of a Discovery ’68 episode.
Check out these bands playing in the Bay Area of California back in July 1976. An eye-opener is to look at the prices to see big-name entertainment. $8 a ticket was the highest ticket? I checked the same paper a decade later and the highest price was $16. The Consumer Price Index Inflation Calculator says $1 is now worth $4.66 in 1976 dollars, so an $8 ticket would be $37.28 in today’s money. $1 in 1986 has $2.37 buying power in 2020. So a $16 ticket is the same at $37.28. When did ticket sales get outrageous? BC (Before Corona) concert tickets would be going for hundreds of dollars if you could get them. What happened?
So, does anyone have memories of seeing these groups in concert?
This is sort of a history of cereals we enjoyed as kids. Cereal actually started as a granola style concoction in the 1800’s that needed to be soaked in liquid to soften it up. Water made it soggy but the milk did the trick!
So which was your favorite as a kid? How about now as an adult? My all-time favorite is probably Lucky Charms. I also like Count Chocula from time to time. Cheerios, Frosted Flakes, Wheaties have stood the test of time unlike fad cereals like Mr. T and CP3Os . But what about Crispy Critters? Wow, think about that!
In September 1993 still fresh off Johnny Carson’s retirement Fox Network wanted to get in the late-night talk show circuit. Dolly Parton was considered but her agent said no but recommended Chevy Chase who signs a $3 million contract. Chevy also secured the ownership right like Carson.
Fox was so confident in the show’s success they even went so far as to spend $1 million in renovating the old Aquarius Theater on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, then renaming it the Chevy Chase Theater.
Chase found it difficult to connect with his guests but was comfortable with his skits. The biggest issue was that he had trouble connecting with the audience which was apparent with many of the skits falling flat with them.
After five weeks or 29 shows, Fox pulled the plug. They promised sponsors 5-6 million viewers nightly but the average was fewer than 3 million. In the last week, it dropped below 2 million viewers.
Within 2 days of the show’s cancellation workers dismantled and painted over the Chevy Chase Theater sign. It is currently known as the Nickelodeon on Sunset and at the time of the writing, Google says it is permanently closed.
In an interview with A&E Biography interview “an entirely different concept than what was pushed on me. I would never do it again. What I wanted to have a whole different feel to it, much darker and more improv. But we never got there.”
To help promote a drive for Americans to buy war bonds the British tank Britannia was parked near the White House. This was before TV. Most news was on newsreels played at the movie theaters, a luxury for many. So not many people knew what a tank was. On April 19, 1918, President Woodrow Wilson was wounded in action while posing for photo opp. After inspecting inside the tank, the president exited the hatch of the tank and grabbed the hot exhaust, burning his hand. He smiled and exited to the east gate.
The president wore a bandage and then a white glove for many weeks. Wilson, an avid golfer did have to stop golfing for a couple of weeks, and then just with his left-hand weeks afterward. His wife Edith was quoted as saying “Woodrow is becoming the greatest one-armed champion of the world!
Aladdin Industries was founded in 1908 as a kerosene lamp and stove company as Mantle Lamp Company (now you know why it’s called Aladdin as in Aladdin’s Lamp). In 1914 it diverse to manufacture vacuum bottles and thermal jars. In the 1950’s the company began producing lunch boxes. Their first licensed character was Hopalong Cassidy. Sales went from 50,000 units to 600,000. As a result TV branding was their focus and they dominated the lunchbox market. By 1965 the Aladdin acquired Stanley Bottle which helped them dominate the market.
I always envied the kids at school who had the school bus lunch box. Having four other brothers brown paper bagged lunches would have to do. Which one was your favorite?
Today, metal lunch boxes are not permitted in many schools in fear that they could be used as a weapon. How times have changed.
Both videos were recorded on October 29, 2009 at their home in Monroe – Stepney home. I don’t know why she had a WV pillow behind her.
Since 1952 the Warrens have been the directors of the New England Society for Psychic Research and they have investigated over 4,000 hauntings. Here is a detailed early history of how they met. Here is Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DJeUcyS82g
Ed and Lorraine Warren ghost hunters always called Connecticut home. I had the privileged of interviewing Lorraine on October 29, 2009 and posted it right away. I forgot about Part 2 but many have asked for it so here it is. Part 1 can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ow2RgO30lPk
When we left off at the early years interview Ed was in the north Atlantic when the US Navy ship he was onboard collided with another ship and Ed’s strong ability to swim helped save a shipmate who did not know how to swim. Lorraine’s had appendix ruptured and doctors were afraid to operate. In Part 2 we pick up with Ed and Lorraine’s marriage and how they became know as “Artists on the Hill” in Stepney Village in Monroe, Connecticut way before their ghost-busting days.
Is it just me or is it impossible to find American Graffiti on TV anymore? The 1973 coming of age movie was directed and co-written by George Lucas of the Star Wars fame. American Graffiti is one of the most profitable movies of all time, produced for just $777,000 and has an estimated return of $200 million at the box office, not including TV reruns which we don’t see anymore!
Where were you in ‘62? The movie follows the lives of four friends in 1962 in Modesto, California. Many say this movie launched the TV show, Happy Days but its success renewed an interest in a script ABC already had called Love and the Television Set from their already hit show Love American Style.
American Graffiti star studded line up included Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith, Candy Clark, Mackenzie Phillips, Cindy Williams, and Wolfman Jack. There were many cameo appearances like Suzanne Somers as the elusive blonde in the T-bird.
