02 February 2008

Potty Putty? Er...make that Silly Putty...Much Better!

Silly Putty!!! If you have kids like me, then you probably have tons of this stuff around. Stretchable, bendable, bouncy, almost like a super clay, it is a great toy! With over 4,500 tons sold since its beginnings, one cannot doubt the popularity.

What I tend to find more interesting is that this product joins the long line of other inventions who's origins lie in World War II research. In this instance, the inventors were looking for a practical alternative to rubber, which was very hard to come by during the war years. The more history I study, the more products I find with their origins in either NASA or World War II. Of course there is that saying, "Necessity is the mother of invention."

Here's a quiz for you: Which TV show in the fifties was the first Silly Putty advertisement shown?

Have a good day and check the links below! See you Monday!

Wikipedia entry

  • Check here for the link to the actual patent!

Silly Putty University

MIT Link to Silly Putty

01 February 2008

LOC Color Photos, History, and More!

For some of you readers this may be old hat, but for others, like myself, I've just discovered buried treasure in the form of LOC availability on Flickr.

The end result? LOC (Library of Congress) has in their words:

"...is beginning somewhat modestly, but we hope to learn a lot from it. Out of some 14 million prints, photographs and other visual materials at the Library of Congress, more than 3,000 photos from two of our most popular collections are being made available on our new Flickr page, to include only images for which no copyright restrictions are known to exist...."

Here's a few you might enjoy. Below the pics will be the links to their blog, Flickr page, LOC, and the Wikipedia entry. Have a good Friday!

PICS:

( Civil Air Patrol Base, Bar Harbor, Maine. The hangar of Coastal Patrol #20)


( United Nations Fight for Freedom: Boy Scout in front of Capitol.)




(Coney Island, in Luna Park[between 1910 and 1915])

31 January 2008

Where were you in: 1966?

I've always wanted to do a series of posts on differing years of American history, so I thought I would kick things off with 1966. Here's a snapshot of a few things that happened. Check it out and then follow the links below for more fascinating glimpses. It's really not fair to spend one blog post on the whole year, so we may be back in the future.....

Star Trek appears on the networks! First episode: The Man Trap

The creator of Mickey Mouse, Disney passes on

US Troops continue to build up in Vietnam. The total so far: 190,000. Bob Hope continues his traditions of entertaining the troops:

(Christmas Special -- Bob Hope and his star-studded cast touched down at Pleiku Air Base, Vietnam, December 19, 1966, enroute to Dragon Mountain, home of the 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division for his first Christmas show for servicemen in Vietnam, 12/19/1966. Info and Pic courtesy NARA)

The Palomares Hydrogen Bomb incident: A collision between a B-52 and KC-135 results in the loss of 4 hydrogen bombs and an extensive rescue/search by elements of the US Military.

USS Plymouth Rock participated in the search. Image courtesy Naval Historical Center
(Time link here)(Wikipedia entry here)


Buster Keaton, the famous American comedian passes on

John Lennon's controversial comment on the Beatles being more popular than Jesus is published in the London Press.

Wikipedia Link to 1966

Have a great day!!!!

30 January 2008

It's the Kraft Music Hall....




The history of the Kraft Music Hall goes back to the middle 1930's. While the above video is for a later edition of the show (televised version) the format is similar with popular singers of the day and their musical guests. In this instance we have Perry Como and the "Old-Groaner" Bing Crosby. In fact, he was one of the "longest-running" announcers for the show.

A small sampling of notable guests and stars included:
In fact, it was this show that helped to name the anti-tank weapon used by the U. S. Army during World War II. That is-->The Bazooka!

Hit the links below for some facinating facts and articles. by the way, care for some macaroni and cheese?

Have a good day!

Bing Crosby and Cheese
Wikipedia: Kraft Music Hall

The Boss's Boss has passed...

Another link to our American past has gone. Margaret Truman has died. Given the nickname The Boss's Boss by her father, President Harry Truman, she was well known performer as well as author of a very popular series of detective novels based in Washington DC. Her singing and performing career was not without some controversy. Following her performance at Constitution Hall in 1950, said one reviewer:

"...Yet Miss Truman cannot sing very well. She is flat a good deal of the time -- more so last night than at any time we have heard her in past years..."

Said her dad in response:

"...I've just read your lousy review of Margaret's concert. It seems to me that you are a frustrated old man who wishes he could have been successful. When you write such poppycock . . . it shows conclusively that you're off the beam. . . . Some day I hope to meet you. When that happens you'll need a new nose, a lot of beefsteak for black eyes, and perhaps a supporter below...."

Source: Washington Post


I did a quick check of NARA and found quite a few digital images concerning her as well as travels with her father and mother. Here is one:


Title:
Photograph of President Truman, with Mrs. Truman and Margaret Truman at Washington National Airport, preparing to leave for a vacation in Florida., 11/28/1949 Source: NARA


More Links:

NY Times Obit

Boss's Boss Nickname

Wikipedia entry: Includes Time cover from 1951

29 January 2008

Pass the Oleo Ma!

I was looking at a copy of Harper's Magazine this morning from December 1943 and ran across an interesting article entitled: " The Oleomargarine Rebellion." In it, the author, Wesley McCune talks a bit about Oleomargarine, it's history as well as the resistance to it from seemingly all sides. During World War II, oleomargarine was very plentiful and fortified with vitamins.

HUH? What's oleomargarine?

Simple, it's margarine...the stuff you put on your toast every morning. Developed by the French, margarine, especially in this country, has long been the center of controversy. Made with vegetable oils, stabilizers and other non-food components, its only recently assumed a market dominance over butter.

Margarine used to be sold with two components: Margarine and a small package or pill of food coloring. Before use, the food coloring was mixed into the margarine, thereby rendering a nice buttery color. During World War II, there was a constant battle between the dairy associations and the companies that made margarine. Check below for some very interesting history.

Have a good day!


Today's Links:

Harper's Article (Dec. 1943)

(looks like it's restricted to subscribers only)

Wikipedia Entry for Margarine

Margarine.org (history)

Web Exhibits on Margarine

28 January 2008

It's...It's...it's a Wham-O Wheelie Bar!!!

From the YouTube archives, we have a toy that probably would not be allowed today, but also gives us an insight on the company that brought us the Hula Hoop, Pluto Platter (what is it called today? Can you guess?), SUPERBALL, and much, much more. Take a look at the:



Follow the links below for more information on the Wham-O company.

Have fun, see you tomorrow!!!!


Wham-O

Background and Company History (wikipedia)

Obit on one of the founders, Richard Knerr

Assassination, Triangulation and the Magic Bullet Theory!

After Friday's post on the Sinatra stamp, I couldn't help but begin to think more about Sinatra, the Rat Pack and JFK. Logically, I drifted to the Fall of 1963. President Kennedy had traveled to Dallas to meet with Democratic party leaders on a variety of issues. Shortly after lunchtime, Nov. 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated as his motorcade drove past the Texas School Book Depository :

"...We interrupt this program to bring you this special bulletin from ABC Radio. Here is a special bulletin from Dallas, Texas. Three shots were fired at President Kennedy's motorcade today in downtown Dallas, Texas. This is ABC Radio...."

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_John_F._Kennedy_assassination

Tragically altering the course of history as well as many American's perception of the nation itself, this single event sparked a decade of change. Officially, Lee Harvey Oswald is listed as the assailant. Unofficially, many people take a different approach. The best way we can find our own answer is to look at the evidence ourself, including photos, reports, and eyewitness accounts.

With this in mind, there are some excellent sources at NARA that I stumbled across in my research. In particular, a color photo of the "magic bullet" which ended up on the stretcher beside Connolly* according to the source on Wikipedia.


*"...found not on Governor Connally’s stretcher, but on the stretcher next to his in the corridor at the Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas..."

As a side note, the archives also has a color photo of the Zapruder camera. The film taken by this camera is probably one of the most famous of this unfortunate tragedy.


In the interest of not being sensationalist, I will not post the film here, but YouTube has quite a listing of the short film. If you are interested, check here.


Have a great Monday! Check back tonight for my second posting of the day.



List of sources:

Magic Bullet Theory: Wikipedia

JFK Presidential Library

BBC Timeline of Nov. 22, 1963

Wikipedia main entry on the assassination

Zapruder Resources (includes manuals, etc.)

Area near the Texas Schoolbook Depository (courtesy Google Maps)


View Larger Map

NARA Resources*

*Remember keyword searching and limiting to digital resources will provide the best results. I used FBI as one search term, while John Fitzgerald Kennedy provided multiple hits as well.