Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

One of the most popular songs and holiday television specials associated with childhood is the perineal classic Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. This song about a lovable reindeer, once ostracized for his red nose, worked its way into the hearts of millions.  However, Rudolph did not get his start in a song or a Christmas special; he debuted in a book.

In 1939 creator Robert May was assigned to Chicago based department store Montgomery Ward. The shop, which previously bought and handed out coloring books, decided to create their book in order  to save money.  The story idea of Rudolph, initially rejected by the management due to the significance of a red nose being associated with alcoholism, needed the help of illustrator Denver Gillen to prove its innocence. Gillen, using zoo deer as models to draw the cute characters to the story. The management supported the idea after seeing his illustrations.  In its first year of publication, Montgomery Ward distributed 2.5 million copies of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Since its first publication, Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer produced two sequels, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Shines Again in 1954 and Rudolph's Second Christmas in 1991. It also became a cartoon movie in 1944, a song in 1949 written by May's brother in law Johnny Marks and made famous by Gene Autry.  In 1964, the production company Rankin/Bass produced the well known stop-motion Christmas special. 

Songs of Christmas Past Part 1: White Christmas

One of the most beloved Christmas songs of all time is White Christmas. The tune, written by composer Irving Berlin, tells of a reminiscent tale of the magic of a snowy Christmas day and the beauty it gives the outdoors. Even though the song talks about a wintery cold day, White Christmas was composed when Berlin when he was staying at the  La Quinta Hotel in warm, sunny La Quinta, California in 1940. However, it took someone who was familiar with white Christmases to hurl it into a big hit that it was. Bing Crosby, who grew up in Spokane, Washington, debuted the song on Christmas day in 1941 on the NBC radio show The Kraft Music Hall. On May 29, 1942, Crosby  recorded the White Christmas with the John Scott Trotter Orchestra and the Ken Darby Singers for Decca Records. The song, released on July 30th of that year was a part of an album of songs from the film Holiday Inn. By the end of October of 1942, White Christmas  topped the "Your Hit Parade" chart and maintained its position the following year. During the holiday seasons of 1945 and 1946, it was re-released by Decca and was once again at the top of the charts. In 1954, White Christmas was used in the movie, "White Christmas" starring Crosby. The song became the biggest-selling single worldwide of all time and used  as a secret, pre-arranged signal launching the U.S. evacuation from Saigon on April 30, 1975 at the end of the Vietnam War.

A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol is my favorite Christmas story of all time. I remember watching it every Christmas Eve with all the lights turned off with the exception of the glow of our tree and the C7 lights hanging right outside our window. Not only do I have the book, I also have 4 different versions of the beloved tale by Charles Dickens.  This is one of the best versions. The classic 1951 version that I watched growing up staring Alastair Sim. :)

If you want to own this wonderful movie, click on the ad below.

Hi Everyone, I am Back!! :)

I know it has been awhile since I worked on this blog. I have been out of commission due to medical reasons for some time as well as a few other distractions. It is great to be back and I am looking forward to doing more posts for you! :)

Television in the United States: The 1970's part 3. Mid to Late 70's

By the middle of the decade, audiences yearned for a lighter side to television programming. Television shows such as Happy Days which followed the lives of a group of fifties-era teenagers, and Laverne and Shirley, which followed the lives of two single women living in an apartment in the fifties, gave viewers the feel of nostalgia. Little House On The Prairie was a show that was based on a set of children's books that told the life of their author, Laura Ingals Wilder. The Walton's was also a show about a close knit family; unlike Little House, which was set in the 19th century, the Walton's were about a large family living in Virginia during the Great Depression of the 1930's. The middle and later part of the 1970's also brought about new genres. A genre called Jiggle television centered around sexual gratification and bawdy humor and situations featured shows such as Charlie's Angels and Three's Company. The other was an escapist "fantasy" genre, which started in 1977 with the Love Boat and in 1978 with Fantasy Island. The variety show genre, which were popular in the 1950's and 1960's, had it's last run in the 1970''s with shows such as The Carol Burnett Show, The Flip Wilson Show, Sonny and Cher, Tony Orlando and Dawn and Donny and Marie.

Be sure to check out our selection of television shows from the 1970's here.

Television in the United States: The 1970's part 2. The Sitcoms

The face of the sitcom also changed with the end of sitcoms such as Ozzie and Harriet and the start of The Brady Bunch; which ran for five seasons. Even though the Brady Bunch was regarded as the quintessential family of the decade, a new kind of programming emerged to portray a less than perfect life of other families. Producer Norman Lear observed how American life was like in the 70s and the problems that people were facing. With his observations, Lear spearheaded a genre that called "social consciousness" programming. With his adaptation of the British television series Till Death Us Do Part, All In The Family  broke down television barriers. Showing a disclaimer when it first aired, the season premiered in 1971 and Americans heard ethnic slurs for the first time on television. All In The Family also had many controversial issues in it's plots such as race, politics, women's rights and homosexuality. Just as Archie Bunker was bigoted, ultra conservative, urban blue collar character, Maude, Archie's wife's (Edith) cousin was the exact opposite. Maude was a "flawed liberal" who was married to her fourth husband living in upstate New York with her divorced daughter. The  tall "tell-it-like-it-is", "take-no-crap-from-the system" character Maude, broke the mold of the small-and-sweet situation comedy mother and therefore brought about more controversy than her rival, Archie.  The show Good Times, was a spin off of Maude that remade the character of Maude's maid Florida Evans. Instead of the show being set in New York, it was set in a very poor Chicago inner city neighborhood. Florida and her husband, James, try raise their three kids in the midst of poverty.  Issues such as poverty, gangs, guns, bullies, busing, black on black crime and prejudice  and even the death of James (in the middle of the shows's run), were addressed in the episodes. It showed how a close, strong African American family, such as the Evans, were able to face those tough issues. The family's interaction with each other often provided the humor in the episodes. Norman Lear also produced a couple more  shows in 1975; One was a spin off of All In The Family called the Jeffersons. The Jeffersons were about Archie's African American neighbors who became a success with their business and moved to a luxury apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. Another show, One Day At A Time, was about a about a divorced mother raising her two teenage daughters in Indianapolis.

Television In The United States:The 1970's (part 1)

At the start of the 1970s, television programming changed dramatically with the first airing of topics that were considered taboo in earlier decades. Mary Tyler Moore, which premiered in 1970, was a breakthrough for leading female characters in television. It's main character was a single woman that was over 30 years old who was not widowed, divorced or even looking for a man to support her. News on television showed the horrors of the war in Vietnam to American homes thus intensifying anti war sentiments. Television news also showed live broadcasts of the Senate Watergate hearings which resulted in the downfall of President Richard Nixon.

Schoolhouse Rock: An American Pop Culture Icon

If you are a child of the 70s like I am, you might remember the catchy little tunes from a set of lessons from Schoolhouse Rock. Schoolhouse Rock taught us multiplication, grammar and other lessons that helped us with our schoolwork. The segments started as an idea by David McCall who's son was struggling in math, but remembered the lyrics to a lot of rock songs. The song "Three Is A Magic Number" by Bob Dorough was the first to be recorded and a record was released after the song was a success. An animator by the name of Tom Yohe Sr. later doodled some pictures that were in relation to the songs and informed McCall about them suggesting that they would make good animation. After making their own animations of the songs and after a print version fell through, they sold them to ABC. The network worked with the producers of the children's shows to make three minutes for the shorts and later sold General Foods on the idea of sponsoring them. Schoolhouse Rock had regular segments that ran on ABC from 1973 to 1986. Other sponsors included Kenner Toys, Mc Donalds, Nabisco and Kellogg's. Even though there were some later segments of Schoolhouse Rock from the 1990s and the 2000s, they were shown infrequently.

Schoolhouse Rock became an American pop culture icon and is viewed with nostalgia by Generation X; a generation of people that were born in the U.S. between 1964 and 1979. It is also noted that the songs in Schoolhouse Rock had only a few songs in rock format. The other segments were in a pop format such as "Interjections!" or "A Noun Is a Person, Place, or Thing," or in a jazz format such as "I'm Just a Bill".

Would you like to have Schoolhouse Rock for your DVD Collection? Click on the link below and purchase it at a great price!!

Mimsie The Cat (1969-1988)

In the 1970's and 80's, a television production company called MTM Enterprises had an adorable little mascot that was shown shortly after the credits of their television programs.  This mascot was an orange tabby kitten by the name of Mimsie and she was used as a spoof of the MGM lion Leo.  Her first appearance was that of her standard logo that was used on the Mary Tyler Moore show. In this version, Mimsie appears in a crouched position, looks up at the camera and meows. While filming this, the camera crew couldn't get her to meow; so they have decided to use a different approach. They used the footage of her yawning, ran the film in reverse and added a meow.

Throughout the years, there were different variations of the logo with Mimsie in different costumes which corresponded to the theme and the style of the programs. A few such memorable ones include the television show The White Shadow which featured a basketball with Mimsie; Remington Steele with her wearing a Sherlock Holmes like hat along with a pipe; Hill Street blues with her wearing a painted police uniform hat on her head; St. Elsewhere had her wear a surgical mask and scrubs; and Newhart, which kept the original unadorned footage but replaced the meow with Bob Newhart's voice over of the meow in his trademark deadpan style.

Vitameatavegamin

One of the most famous episodes of the 1950s show "I Love Lucy" , perhaps one of the most famous TV episodes, is the one where Lucy does a commercial. In the episode, Ricky is given the opportunity to host the television show. He gets a phone call one day saying that he needs to find a girl to do commercial spot for one of the show sponsors. Lucy, being herself and wanting to share the spotlight with Ricky begs him to allow her to do the commercial. Ricky of course, refuses. After a failed attempt to make him reconsider, Lucy plots to get into the commercial anyway with the help of Fred. She goes to the television studio the directors explains their sales pitch regarding the health tonic called "Vitameatavegamin" to Lucy. Unknown to Lucy and the director, this tonic contained 23% alcohol making it an effect of 14 six prove liquor is not meant to be taken more than once a day. Lucy begins her first taken grimaces I she tasted tonic. The director asked Lucy to tdo more takes. After couple more takes Lucy has acquired a taste for the time as well as the alcohol content.

Cinema in the 1960's

                                  Trailer from Alfred Hitchcock's  1960 film
                                                       "Psycho"


The 1960's is often known for being very prominent spy films, historical dramas, sword and sandal also known as biblical films, comedy, spaghetti Westerns and historical dramas. It is also known as a decade of monumental changes cultural events tragedies assassinations deaths and advancements. The cinema reflected the decade of fun, fashion, rock and roll as well as cultural value changes and social changes. Along with that, the 1960s would be the decade almost most socially conscious and stylistically innovative Hollywood history.

When the 1960's began, romantic comedies such as That Touch of Mink, starring Doris Day, The Longest Day, Dr. No, Lawrence of Arabia's and Cleopatra were among the most popular films. While the decade progressed, increasing number of anti-establishment films were made that were laced with social commentary in order to fit the youth market. While the major studios ignored such a large demographic, smaller studios targeted the audience and made films such as cheaply made and campy horror movies, beach movies such as Bikini Beach and Beach Blanket Bingo as well as motorcycle gang pictures such as the 1966 film the Wild Angels.

In 1967 two films came out that made Hollywood aware of the size and influence of the younger audience. Among those films are The Graduate and Bonnie and Clyde. The Graduate is of film about a young college graduate student injecting a hypocritical society and its traditional values that his parents held. Bonnie and Clyde told the story of two bank robbers during the depression and was based on a true story.

In 1969, the first of only X-rated film the got nominated for an Oscar was Midnight Cowboy. Highly controversial film at the time, the touched on topics such as  illiteracy, rape, sexual abuse, prostitution and poverty. It told a story of a young man from Texas that left for New York to become a hustler and a male prostitute. While living out on the streets in New York, He befriends a very sickly third rate con man by the name of Ratso Rizzo.

Suburban Life In The United States: 1950s Culture

The 1950s in the United States was often seen as a time of prosperity and optimism. The end of World War II brought many servicemen home to pick up their lives again, marry their sweethearts they have left behind and to start new families. Industry and population in America boomed and Americans were able to buy goods that were not available during wartime while starting their families. Jobs became plentiful as those needs increased. It was also during this decade that many families moved out of the cities moved into certain neighborhoods called suburbs. Houses in the suburbs of identical and formed a long rows. Suburban neighborhoods were part of the American dream thanks to the federal assistance G.I. Bill which were loans to veterans for education as well as housing. The average American home in 1950 suburbia had a cost of $7990 for $60 a month with no down payment. They were one story and consisted of a 12 x 19 foot living room, a kitchen, a tiled bathroom and two bedrooms. They also Included a small backyard, a front lawn and a garage. One third of the US population lived in the suburbs by 1960.

Popular television shows in the 1950s that  depicted a family living in the suburbs were Leave It To Beaver, 1957 – 1963, The Donna Reed Show, 1958 – 1966, Father Knows Best, 1954 – 1958 and The Ozzie and Harriet show, 1952 – 1966.

Happy 2013 Everyone!!

Well, here we are at the beginning of another year. 2012 brought many challenges to me and my family in so many different ways. Even though there were so many challenges, though some good things that happened too. Not only did we moved out to the Spokane Valley, where I grew up last fall, I also had the wonderful opportunity of returning back to my birthplace; the San Francisco Bay Area California. I looking forward to what 2013 will bring. I have many goals in mind and I'm anticipating many good things.

I hope that 2013 will bring you lots of good things; love, joy, peace and prosperity. Happy new year everybody!! :-)

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.

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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! :)






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Slinky Dog Original (metal) - $21.99
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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.