Category: Retro & Vintage

Happy New Year from Tacky Raccoons!

May 2018 bring you joy and prosperity

AND MORE!

 

One or Two Faces

“This illusion was discovered in an old photograph of two lovers sent to Archimedes’ Laboratory, a consulting group in Italy that specializes in perceptual puzzles. Gianni Sarcone, the leader of the group, saw the image pinned to the wall and, being nearsighted, thought it was a single face. After putting on his eyeglasses, he realized what he was looking at. The team then superimposed the beautiful Venetian mask over the photograph to create the final effect.”

[Image and caption found in here.]

St. Paul Winter Sports Carnival 1937

[Image found here.]

Charles Brace Darrow’s Contribution To The World: Monopoly

Darrow’s “Monopoly” made him a millionaire, but it wasn’t completely original. It was an adaptation of “The Landlord’s Game” patented over three decades earlier by Elizabeth J. Magie:

 

Elizabeth Phllips (nee Magie) renewed her patent in 1924.

[Found here.]

Saturday Matinee – BR5-49, The Moron Brothers & Septura

What a pretty Christmas song.
BR5-49 took their name from Hee-Haw skits featuring Junior Samples as a used car salesman who proffered BR-549 as a five-digit phone number. It was also the number of an International Trucks engine used in tractors and fire trucks and the designation meant Broad-Ring cylinder 549 cu. in. It was a powerful heavy-duty low-rev gas hog that got 3 mpg max.

Sorry, I got distracted chasing down obscure modern-day trivia. Not.

The Moron Brothers are a hoot. They sell coffee, too.

Bach’s Christmas Oratorio Suite (1734) as performed by Septura. They’re a brass septet from London who don’t know how to dress properly, so turn your head away and listen instead. They are very good.

Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukah to all.

O Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum, Wie treu sind deine Blatter!

A geometric tree made from greenery found outdoors was described in a December 1956 “Better Homes and Gardens” spread called “Decorate with Nature’s gifts.” (From Mid-Century Christmas)

 

This image from a 1960 Alcoa Aluminum newsletter shows a family pulling the tubes off the branches of an aluminum tree and then decorating it with ornaments. Via Alcoa Records, Detre Library & Archives, Senator John Heinz History Center. (From Mid-Century Christmas)

 

An ultra-Modern Christmas tree of candle holders and starbursts was shot for the December 1961 issue of “House Beautiful.” (From Mid-Century Christmas, reprinted with permission of Hearst Communications, Inc.)

[Found in here, via here.]

Saturday Matinee – Lindy Hop Showdown, The Wrecking Crew, Tommy Tedesco & The Memphis Group

Pure awesome. Girl in the stripes gets my vote [via].

“The Wrecking Crew” recorded some killer stuff, and you’ve likely never heard of them because they weren’t named  “The Wrecking Crew” until 1990. Their peak years were 1962-73 when they worked with Phil Spector. They weren’t a solid unit as the musicians came and went, but the music WAS solid, no matter who was sitting in at the time.

Tommy Tedesco, one of the greatest session musicians ever, was a member of the post-defacto-named Wrecking Crew. Tedesco was one of those rare people who, if told something was a musical instrument, could play it flawlessly.

Now about “The Memphis Group.” Steve Cropper, Duck Dunn, Al Jackson & Booker Jones provided the backup for some amazing recording artists, but you already knew that.

Have a great weekend, folks and we’ll see what happens tomorrow.

The .Gif Friday Post No. 514 – Tree Trimming by Hand, Tree Trimming Trapeze, Brute-Force Tree Trimming & Hand Trimming by Tree

[Found here, here, here and here.]

Vote for Bobby!

[Found here.]

We Remember- 7 December 1941

Correction. WAR was declared upon U.S. by Japan by the unprovoked attack, and the U.S. responded.

Dad always stamped his letters with this: