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
Here is the voting machine I remember most. In my school, they were kept by the custodian’s office and we thought we were so clever discovering where they store them. They’d wheel them out the night before election day and set them up in the gymnasium. I also remembered when the bars had to remain closed until the polls closed so the “drink” would have an influence on the person’s vote.
Not all memories are happy ones. I remember as a kid thinking to myself that if McDonald’s was mostly for kids, why did they have smoking in the restaurants? I hated when they were at a table we were at or near! The glass ones were really old school with the tin ones taking over in the 80’s. Smoking was banned in 1994.
Most of the things you use today Nick Holonyak Jr. had a hand in it. We all know Thomas Edison invented the light bulb, but who invented the LED light bulb? Nick Holonyak Jr. is receiving the credit for that energy saving device. Your TV, computer and phone screen are more than likely LED. Although the LED was around for a while, Holonyak made the first visible light from and LED and credited as the father of the LED light.
Holonyak won two Nobel Prizes. The first for co-inventing the transistor and the second one for explaining superconductivity (Google that one). He holds 30 patents. “His work is responsible for the technology used to develop red lasers in CD and DVD players, the ability to transmit information over the Internet, and applications in replacing conventional lighting with LEDs. Holonyak also created the basic electronic element of household light dimmer switches” (see https://www.invent.org/inductees/nick-holonyak-jr).
At the time of this writing (May 2022) he is still with us and enjoying retirement at the age of 93.
To learn more about his of course Google him or see:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Holonyak
https://mntl.illinois.edu/ssdl
https://mntl.illinois.edu/ssdl
Kodak, the memory keeper. Birthdays, weddings, Easter, you name it Kodak preserved our memories. I don’t miss waiting a week to see if I correctly captured the image! This ad was from 1950. Those images taken from the Brownie Camera was due to the large film format. It was the same film size most professional photographers used until digital photography took over.
Carl Dean Switzer also know as Alfalfa in the series Our Gang was one of the earlier actors who were type casted and unable to find work after being a child star when his run with Our Gang ended in 1940 at the ripe old age of twelve. He did turn to television and had some luck with the Roy Rogers and a few other television shows. Switzer also trained hunting dogs and guided hunting expeditions. It was over $50 for the reward for the return of one of his dogs that caused an argument that lead to his death. The shooting was judged to be self defense as Switzer pounded on the shooters door demanding to be let in. 42 years later n 2001 a witness came forward saying it was more like a murder (see Wikipedia for the full story).
I was in a restaurant with my wife celebrating our anniversary and there was a table with kids. All were well mannered but one kid was just so loud I said he reminded me of the cartoon character Vavoom which gave me the inspiration for this post.
Vavoom was an Inuit (Alaskan indigenous person) on the Felix the Cat cartoon who used his voice to get them out of situations, like blasting rocks away in this video.
I grew up watching Felix The Cat on the Saturday morning cartoons. Surprisingly Felix The Cat only ran from 1958 to 1960 for a total of 126 episodes. CBS revived in the 90’s from 1995 to 1997 under the name The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat for just 21 episodes.
Did you ever give someone the nickname Vavoom. Please tell!
Time capsules are fun. They are usually buried which creates challenges for preserving the artifacts. In 1957 the State of Oklahoma celebrated it’s 50th anniversary of statehood by burying a brand new 1957 Plymouth Belvedere along with other artifacts of the time period. This was during the cold war so the car was buried in a cement vault capable of sustaining a nuclear blast. They held a contest for the car, all you had to do is guess the population of the state in the year 2007 to win. See the unveiling in this fun and interesting video:
What was your favorite item or special at Howard Johnson’s? Who didn’t love their clams? My all time favorite was the strawberry ice cream, the only brand that I chose over chocolate ice cream!
Howard Johnson chairman, George Carter was quoted as saying back in 1987 to the Orlando Sentinel “We have the concept, but it desperately needs to be modernized, internally and externally. Howard Johnson was allowed to become tired and stale. We must get rid of that plastic image… Anything can be salvageable if a great deal of time and money and effort is put in it. And Howard Johnson needs all those same things.” So they just let the restaurant chain die. Sadly, only the hotel chain remains.
Back in the depression era, money was extremely tight. Movie theaters lowered prices to as low as a dime, but it wasn’t until they introduced dish night that started bringing in full houses. Many of the dish and china companies were going out of business but many of the survived because of this promotion. The give-a-way was mostly to women and each week it was a different piece. My mom went every week and was able to put together a full collection. The promotion ran through the 40’s and even the 50’s. There were many patterns offered by the various theaters across the county.
Another dish give-a-way was by supermarket chains during the late 70’s. My mom’s story about collecting a full china set for free enticed me when the Finast Supermarkets gave away china each week with a purchase. I was unable to complete the set when I joined the Navy in 1977 but my mom completed it for me while I served our country. Many other food chains across the country gave away china during this timeframe.
With Covid keeping movie goers away for over a year, maybe dish night will make a comeback!
In 1957, spaghetti was not a common food in Britain. It was mainly available in cans pre-made, so at the time not alot of people knew how pasta was made. The BBC made a three minute report on their show Panorama about a Swiss family harvesting their spaghetti from trees.
It was viewed by over 7 million people and the next day the BBC received hundreds of calls asking for the authenticity of the report or how they could grow their own spaghetti trees.
I remember my mom telling this story as a child and was happy to see it years later. CNN said “the biggest hoax that any reputable news establishment ever pulled” I’d say maybe second best right behind War of Worlds radio broadcast.
