Happy Holidays Everyone!

With colored lights shining brightly on many homes and trees, to parties with family and friends, the atmosphere of many people shopping and spreading holiday cheer, Christmas time is my favorite time of year.  I have many fond memories growing up and spending the holidays basking in the glow of it's wonder as well as listening and playing it's music. This year is no exception. Even though it has been a rough two years, I am still caught up in the magic that makes this time of year special and I always look forward to the next year with hope. Here are a few commercials and clips from Christmases Past. Have A Very Merry Christmas Everyone!!

What's Wrong With The Doll?

One of my favorite Holiday specials when I was a child is Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, and it still is to this day. For the many years I have watched the show, I have always asked myself the same question. What was wrong with the doll? Everyone on the Island Of Misfit toys had an obvious thing that made them a misfit, but the doll remained a mystery.

There have been several theories about the toy in question and here are a few of them:

*  The doll had no underwear.

*  Her feet were smelly

*  She could not compete to that infamous Talky Tina from Twilight Zone fame.

*  She had no nose.

*  She had a much seedier side to herself that I cannot reveal on this site because I am   trying to keep it G-rated.

After many years of pondering the many possibilities, I discovered a few years ago that her problem was psychological in nature. According to producer Arthur Rankin Jr. of Rankin/Bass, Dolly was abandoned by her mistress and suffered from depression as a result of being unloved.

Poor thing!

The Rubik's Cube

One of the most iconic toys of the 1980's is a little 3 dimensional puzzle called the Rubik's Cube. Even though the popularity of the Rubik's cube peaked in the early 1980s, it was invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Erno Rubik.

This puzzle, originally called the "Magic Cube", was licensed by Rubik himself and sold to the Ideal Toy Corporation in 1980 through a couple of German businessmen; Tibor Laczi and Tom Kremer. It won Germany's Best Game Of The Year as well as Best Puzzle Of The Year. This classic cube shaped toy contains six faces that are covered with 9 colored stickers. Each of these stickers were one of six solid colors; traditionally white, red, blue, orange, green, and yellow. To play with a Rubik's cube, one would mix the colors up by using a pivot mechanism which enables each face to turn independently. To solve the puzzle, each face must be returned to a solid color.

Looking to buy the original Rubik's cube? Click on the link below.

Rubik's Cube - original - $11.99
Retail Price: $21.99
You Save: $10.00
from: Old Time Candy Company

Yesteryear World: It's Slinky! :)

Yesteryear World: It's Slinky! :): For a lot of us, our inspiration for asking Santa Claus for certain toys came from commercials that played on Saturday morning during cart...

It's Slinky! :)

For a lot of us, our inspiration for asking Santa Claus for certain toys came from commercials that played on Saturday morning during cartoons. :)  One of the most popular toys was called the Slinky. Slinky was nothing more than a simple metal spring that provided plenty of entertainment as we tried to make it "walk down the stairs" like the advertisement showed, or other tricks. The toy was developed in the early 1940's by Richard James, a naval engineer and it was demonstrated in Gimbel's Department Store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1945.

Slinkys were also used in a musical composition called "Sounds of Venice" by composer John Cage. This piece of music included an amplified Slinky, a slab of marble, a Venecian broom, a birdcage of canaries and piano.

NASA has used Slinkys in zero-gravity physics experiments in the Space Shuttle. During the War in Vietnam, United States troops used them as mobile radio antennas and high school and college professors have used the toy to simulate the properties of waves. 

Looking for an original metal slinky that you had as a kid? Click on the links below and get one for yourself or for someone as a stocking stuffer this holiday season! :)






Slinky Collector's Edition (metal) - $7.99
Retail Price: $17.99
You Save: $10.00





Slinky Original (metal) - $4.99
Retail Price: $14.99
You Save: $10.00
from: Old Time Candy Company



Slinky Dog Original (metal) - $21.99
Retail Price: $31.99
You Save: $10.00
from: Old Time Candy Company

Chastity (1969)

Directed by Alessia de Paola, Chastity is a film that stars a young Cher at the beginning of her career and it was written and produced by her ex husband Sonny Bono.  

The movie, named after the main character, opens with her running toward the camera. Perhaps this was meant to be a symbolic gesture as to what is going on in her life. Having a troubled past, she finds herself on the run while encountering many strangers in hopes of finding someone that will make her happy.  Along the way she encounters a man by the name of Andre in which she does find love; however, she ends up leaving Andre because she felt that things were getting too serious between them. After running from Andre, she finds herself in Mexico where she encounters an owner of a brothel who happened to be a lesbian. Chastity soon saw a mother figure in the "Madam" ; however, the madam felt differently. Being hurt by that discovery, Chastity returned to Andre to start a normal life. However, her issues caught up to her again as she thinks about her troubled past and while she thinks that she will never be loved by anyone, she runs away again.  The final scene shows her having an emotional breakdown as a truck driver pulls to the side of the road and asks her if she needed a ride.  Leaving the plot wide open as to what really happened to her in the end. Did she eventually find love? Did she have a tragic future?  The end leaves the audience wondering what really happened.

Chastity flopped very badly in it's debut in 1969 and it discouraged Cher from acting in films until the 1980's. However, Sonny and Cher's child, Chastity,now Chaz, Bono was conceived during the filming of the movie. 

Eerie Songs: In The Year 2525 (1969)

It's that time of year again. A week before Halloween and many of us turn to scary movies, creepy songs and other things to add to the fun of this holiday. The song "In The Year 2525" is a nightmarish vision of the future. As each 1010 years pass, we see a very disturbing prediction of the human race becoming less human and more overdependent on the technology of the year.

In The Year 2525 was a hit in 1969 by the American Pop Rock Duo Zager & Evans. It was on the Billboard charts for six weeks.

Moving

I know it has been awhile since my last post. We have sold our house and moved to Spokane Valley, Washington (USA) in a section called Veradale. To me it is like coming home again because I grew up here. In fact, the high school I went to is just down the road. :)  Veradale still has that feeling of a small town; the feeling of home where you feel safe and it is relatively quiet even though the street nearby is quite busy.  Even though things have been built up in this area, I still have many fond memories and I feel that it is good for me to once again remind myself of who I am and where I came from. Those are two things that nothing or no one will ever take from me because they mean so much. I hope to return to this blog soon to post more once  we get settled. :)

R.I.P Andy Williams

                                  December 3, 1927- September 25, 2012

Andy Williams was an American singer that recorded 18 gold, three platinum albums and five Grammy nominations as well as having his own variety show from 1962-1971. He also owned a theater in Branson, Missouri that was named after his signature song, Moon River. In the 1960s, he has a middle American, Establishment appeal that was different from the counterculture movement at the time. He was also known for his easy listening style. He remained on the charts thoughout the 1970s and had several television specials during the Holidays. He was also known for his famous Christmas time "The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year" and for singing the theme song for Oscar winning tear jerker, "Love Story".

What's On TV? Stations And Program Schedules Throughout The Years: An Overview.

For many decades in the United States, television was dominated by what was called "the big three" stations; CBS, ABC and NBC. Two of these stations, NBC and CBS, were around since the 1920s (starting as as radio networks), the third one, ABC, was a spin off from NBC in 1943.

In the first season of television, 1946-1947, broadcasts were only shown in prime time and NBC was the only station. From 1948-1954, all three networks started showing broadcasts and the broadcasing schedules expanded to weekdays.


In 1954, we see the advent of late night TV with NBC as they begin with the ever popular Tonight Show with Steve Allen. In 1957, Jack Parr became host of the program and from 1962-1992, Johnny Carson was the ever popular host before Jay Leno.

Starting in 1960, there was another change in the program schedule with the start of Saturday morning programs. Popular with children throughout the decades, Saturday morning programing consisted of shows for kids and created great memories.

In 1970, another television station made it's debut. Public Broadcasting Station, PBS for short, was different from it's counterparts in that it has no central program production arm or news department. It also consists of educational shows, documentaries and other cultural entertainment such as symphony concerts, ballets and operas. A television station with edgier program made it's debut in 1986 that was owned by Fox Entertainment Group. Even though they were never a part of the "big three", they enjoyed much success.

Today, cable TV, with it's round the clock broadcasts and wide variety of programs, surpasses the "big three" in popularity. Among the wide variety of channels include  Educational channels such as the History, Science, Discovery and The Learning Channel. Others include, food and cooking channels, travel, cartoon, home improvement and movie channels.

Musical Performances From The Ed Sullivan Show

This is a video of the top 10 musical performances from The Ed Sullivan Show. The Ed Sullivan Show ran from June 20, 1948 to June 6, 1971 and it featured, what was to be known, some historical performances. Among these performances included Elvis Presley, The Beatles, The Supremes, The Beach Boys, The Rolling Stones, The Jackson 5, The Mamas & The Papas, The Doors, Rosa Morena and The Lovin' Spoonful.

Queen For A Day

When you think of game shows, you may think of contestants competing for money and prizes through a series of trivia questions, card games, word puzzles and other game like challenges. However, from 1945-1957, a different breed of game show took place. You could say that it is a pre curser to the modern day "reality TV show".

Queen For A Day, which ran from 1945 as a radio then later as a television game show until 1957, help ushered in  what is called, the "big giveaway" game shows. It was very unique in the fact that it featured four ladies who have had their share of hard luck. Each of the ladies would be interviewed in front of a studio audience by host Jack Baily and they would each tell about their struggles publicly. The winner was determined by how terrible her circumstances were and by the amount of applause she would receive by the audience. After the winner was announced, the tune Pomp And Circumstance would play, she would be draped in a sable trimmed velvet robe, given a crown, placed on a red velvet throne and given a dozen roses. Often the winner would break down in sobs while the list of prizes won were announced. At the end of each episode, Jack Baily would sign off with, "This is Jack Bailey, wishing we could make every woman a queen, for every single day!"

Queen For A Day was so popular, that NBC increased it's run time from 30 minutes to 45 minutes to sell more commercials. Despite it's popularity, it was not always looked upon with fondness by some. Television writer Mark Evanier dubbed it as "one of the most ghastly shows ever produced" because it was tasteless and demeaning to women, demeaning to anyone who watched it, cheap, insulting and utterly degrading to the human spirit."

Other shows of it's kind, which had people tell their of their struggles were "Strike It Rich", "It Could Be You" and "On Your Way"

Remember Those Educational Films In School?

If you were in a classroom somewhere between the 1950s and the 1970s, you may remember your teacher showing various films on subjects such as science, social studies and the language arts. You may also recall seeing films on other topics such as responsibility, anatomy, manners,traffic safety, personal safety and drug use.

 Produced by corporations such as Encyclopædia Britannica, Centron Corporation, Mcgraw hill and Coronet Films, social guidance films are a genre of short films that attempted to help teach children, teens and even adults how to behave in more socially acceptable ways. Despite it's attempts to be helpful and the overall good messages of some, social guidance films as a whole are often perceived as dated and somewhat comical. Being in the public domain now, they are viewed for entertainment purposes and several were even lampooned in the television comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000.

A Date With Your Family (1950)

 
                                                   Duck And Cover (1951)

Unsafe At Any Speed.

Vintage 1966 Chevy Corvair Commercial

Get more classic commercials here:

.....And now a word from our sponsor (1950s)....

                    Here is an old 1950s commercial staring "Edith" (All In The Family). :) Get more classic commercials here:

1950s Movie Reviews: Singin In The Rain (1952)

When it comes to happy, feel good movies that are good for the whole family, the 1950s were certainly a good decade for them. Some well known musicals that were made into film that came out of the 1950s include Oklahoma, South Pacific, Carousel and the delightful Singin In The Rain.


Singin' In The Rain takes place in 1927 around the dawn of "the talkie" (aka. films with sound). Don Lockwood, a silent film star, was a humble actor who's fame did not only come by hard work, but with the help of his friend and former partner Cosmo Brown. His leading lady, Lina Lamont, was a often shallow, squeaky voiced diva who mistakes their on film romances as the real thing even though the feelings were not mutual. Lockwood preferred the company of an aspiring young actress by the name of Kathy Selden whom he met while escaping from fans one evening.

It wasn't long before the technology of the "talkie" made it's way to Monumental Studios and after a particularly disastrous premier of their latest film, they decided to remake it into a musical. Along with their plans for a musical came the idea of dubbing Lina's voice with the aspiring Kathy's. Will Kathy find get the break she worked so hard for? Will Lina, out of jealousy retaliate and sabotage the budding romance between Kathy and Don? Will the new musical be successful?

I must say that this movie is truly a fun classic and the comedy never gets old.

Welcome to Yesteryear World!

One of my passions, other than music is pop culture and history; especially from the 1950s through the 1980s. As someone who grew up in the 1970s and 80s, these decades have special meaning to me because of all the fond memories as well as giving the impression to much simpler times. I am looking forward to sharing a bit of history with you all and a ton of memories. :)