The Retro Blog

Remember These Faces

2009-11-11T13:03:50Z

For Veterans Day, I’m posting Remember These Faces. It’s a 1943 film trying to get you to buy war bonds. The somewhat novel thing about it, though, is that instead of the typical “our boys are fighting for the American way” these things usually take it features men suffering physically and mentally to guilt you into buying bonds.

My favorite line: “Here is a Jap hospital. We took it, we’ll make it our own. But the Jap filth and foulness must be cleared away and buried.”

1954 Constitution test

2009-11-10T12:53:09Z

This article asks Are You Smarter Than A 1954 8th Grader?

It turns out I’m not. Here are some of the questions:

list the cabinet positions and the people who hold these positions at the present time.
tell the provisions of each of the amendments to the Constitution
write the preamble to the Constitution

I remember having to recite the preamble to the Constitution in my own 8th grade class, but I think naming all the cabinet members is a little much. Hit the link for the rest.

A weenie dress

2009-11-09T12:48:45Z

The most popular toys of Christmas past

2009-11-08T13:41:02Z

This graphic brings us The Most Popular Christmas Toys, By Year Since 1960.

Making identical 1950s homes unique

2009-11-07T11:16:21Z

Neighborhoods full of identical little boxes has been around for well over fifty years now, and that’s plenty of time for them to be transformed by their owners. Photographer Julia Baum has a project up on her website where she documents how homeowners have made their 50s homes unique.

Valuable vintage toys

2009-11-05T12:42:34Z

My sisters and I are constantly harassing our mother about various beloved toys she’s sold off at garage sales over the years. I wonder, though, if the best way to keep her from tossing stuff is to show her this article about highly valuable kids toys. This Batman toy is worth $1985.

Remember a time when Batman had light blue tights and a buttery smooth voice and rather than black body armor and laryngitis? This classic 1966 Batman toy brings us back to the good ol’ days of the caped crusader with those goofy painted on eyebrows. Although we have no idea why Batman’s head lights up…. we don’t remember that ever happening on the show with Adam West.

Laika: the space dog

2009-11-03T12:36:05Z

Poor, poor Laika.

On this day, November 3rd, in 1957, Laika, a stray dog specially trained for the job, was launched into space. The Russians put her aboard Sputnik 2 just one month after the launch of the original satellite. It was to be a one way trip.

Laika’s training doesn’t sound especially fun either. She was forced to become accustomed to increasingly small cages and put in centrifuges to see how much pressure she could withstand. Her trainer gave her one nice night though. On the eve of her journey he brought her home to play with his kids. “I wanted to do something nice for her: She had so little time left to live,” he said. He then provided her with an optimistic week’s worth of food, put a diaper and harness on her and sent her on her adventure.

The Russians originally claimed she survived for several days, but revealed a couple of years ago that she really only made it a couple of hours. For her sacrifice she has been immortalized in postage stamp and statue forms. Plus she got to be the first living thing to experience the final frontier, if only for a short while, and that’s much more than 99.9999% of people can say.

Another toy I want: the Trik Trak

2009-11-02T13:48:02Z

Man builds Pan Am jet replica in his garage

2009-11-01T07:35:03Z

This guy is obsessively awesome. He has been collecting Pan Am memorabilia for years. He now has so much that he built a replica jet in his garage and now has parties with other retro airline enthusiasts where they can drink from actual Pan Am glasses and eat off Pan Am food trays. He even has Pan Am headphones for your listening pleasure. The Wall Street Journal has an article with a slideshow.

Zombie Pin-up Calendar

2009-10-28T12:02:19Z

Fans of retro pin up girl photos and zombies, there’s a new calendar for you: My Zombie Pin-up 2010 Calendar. They’ve recreated classic pin up girl pictures excepted the girls have an extreme desire for brains. [via laughing squid]