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
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.
Hard to remember a time when there was no air conditioning in hospitals. Then again, I remember my mom was able to smoke in the hallways outside the treatment rooms! I guess this was before journalist became politically correct.
Undercover Angel written and performed by Alan O’Day shot to number one in 1977 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was certified gold. Warner Brothers Records formed a special label in the same year called Pacific Records for composers who also performed. O’Day was the first artist signed under the label. Undercover Angel was released with no fanfare and within months was number one despite not having an album to support it.
Alan O’Day also wrote Rock and Roll Heaven for the Righteous Brothers and Angie Baby for Helen Redding among other songs for various artists. In 1973 he released his first album Caress Me Pretty Music which was not successful and halted his recording career. He went on to collaborate with other artists and self publish.
O’Day later went on to write over 100 songs for the TV series Muppet Babies wrote and performed songs for the National Geographic series Really Wild Animals.
We lost Alan O’Day on May 17, 2013 at the age of 72 after a six month battle with brain cancer.
Alan O’Day was the first artist signed to Pacific Records
Question: If an athlete gets athletes foot, what do astronauts get?
Answer: Missile Toe!
This was one of the many jokes feature on the Dixie Riddle Cups introduced in 1970. From a family of seven there wasn’t a lot of extra money for “luxuries” like disposable cups but it was one our family enjoyed. Growing up in the 70’s a come back line if you told a joke like this was “What? Did you read that on a Dixie Riddle Cup?
The Riddle Cups became popular, the cups were brightly colored and had a series of jokes that sadly repeated in the box of cups, usually containing one hundred cups. Dixie then introduced a full line of Riddle Plates and Riddle Bowls. Paper dishes were too much of a luxury for our family so I don’t recall these nor the Knock Knock Riddle Cups. By 1978 the novelty wore off and Dixie discontinued printing them.
In 1997 Dixie revitalized the cups with a contest for kids to submit their own jokes. If selected they would be printed on the cups with the child’s name, hometown and they would win a $1,000 savings bond. Dixie capitalized on this even more by having America’s favorite “Riddler,” actor Frank Gorshin who played the Riddler in the 1960’s TV show Batman.
When the Bee Gees went from a slow style of music to disco, I had to say that was unexpected disco. Since then, there have been a lot more unexpected disco experiences, more than you can believe!
I wasn’t surprised when Queen got into it. My dad’s favorite performers always got into it, like Al Martino And then Frank Sinatra. But who expected Ethel Merman??
Karen Carpenter released a solo album when her brother was in drug rehab. In order to get his blessings, she was not to do disco! I guess she didn’t listen. I shouldn’t have been surprised when Helen Redding released a disco song in 1976, but I was!
What about the soft rock sound of Seals and Crofts going disco in 1978? You’re The Love made it to number 18 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was their last top 40 hit.
How about Kiss getting in the mix in 1978? Other rock band surprises were The Rolling Stones with Miss You, Emotional Rescue and then Hot Stuff. Many fans were disappointed by the band’s departure from rock and roll. The Kinks released I Wish I Could Fly Like Superman in response to their label Arista for a club-friendly sound. But totally unexpected was the Grateful Dead with Shakedown Street. Again, their label was Arista. Their Deadhead fans called this song Dead Disco.
We shouldn’t be surprised at Paul McCartney by showing his music diversity with Goodnight Tonight. You’d think the Beach Boy’s surfer sound would be safe until they released the LA or Light Album in 1979. In 1980 J.Geils Band hit number 32 on the Billboard Hot 100 with Come Back. One critic called it a Eurodisco experiment. This was one experiment I personally liked!
An unexpected joint venture was with Barbara Streisand with Disco Queen Donna Summer.
You know things went a little too carried away when Donna Summer joined forces with Rosie O’Donnell on her talk show!
Did I surprise you with the number of unexpected disco artists through the years? Did I forget anyone? Let me know in the comments below!
I just posted about dish night at the movie theaters back in the 30’s and 40’s posting pictures of what my mom collected along with dish promotions at supermarkets during the late 70’s. It reminded me of the glassware my mom collected through Duz laundry detergent. We kids had Cracker Jacks with a free prize inside and mom had Duz! During the 50’s Duz gave away towels and during the 60’s moved to glassware. I found pictures of the two styles we had in our home mom collected and share it with my brothers who were excited as I to see them again. They are the two in the top of the picture.
The bottom left picture were the glasses Shell Gas gave away during the 70’s and the bottom right photo was the Welch’s Jelly jars that became your free glassware!
I have four brothers so a family of seven had to make the dollar stretch. So if you had buy laundry detergent make it Duz for a free glass. Fill up the gas tank? Get another free glass. Buy jelly? Again, get a free glass. There were many other glass give-a-ways. How about the McDonald character glassware with a meal purchase? I have those tucked away in the attic! What give-a-way do your remember?
If you were a hippy back in the 60’s you are now in your 70’s. Many could be in nursing homes now! Hard to believe! Well, here is a funny parody that aired on Saturday Night Live back in the 70’s.
Maureen McCormick recently shared this publicity photo on social media of a 1972 Easter publicity photo. The Brady Bunch never did an Easter themed show but they are decked out in their Easter best! I wonder if they are wearing Buster Brown shoes? I guess mom (Carol Brady) took the photo as she is not in the photo!
Richard F. Outcault create the Buster Brown comic strip in 1902 which first appeared in the New York Herald. Buster was named after Buster Keaton who was at the time a child vaudeville actor. In 1904 Outcault went to the St. Louis World Fair, selling licenses for the character and the Brown Shoe Company purchased the and introduced to the Buster Brown Shoe Company to the world at the fair. In the 40’s and 50’s Buster Brown Shoes introduced a comic book as a give-a-way, prompting the stores to rubber stamp their business name and address on the comic book.
Many of you may remember the jingle
“I’m Buster Brown, and I live in a shoe. That’s my dog, Tige, and he lives there, too,” Tige was a pit-bull terrier and his sister’s name was Mary Jane.
In 2015, the company rebranded as Calares which in Latin means passion. You may know them today as Naturalizer, Dr. Scholl’s Shoes, LifeStride, Bzees, and Rykä.
