Christmas Ephemera

More Christmas Fun: The Scared of Santa Gallery

The link for the whole collection is here.








Here are some Christmas pics. Click on them for wallpaper sized versions. Keep checking back, I'll be adding more Christmas ephemera through New Year's.

You can hear the song by clicking here.

As a kid, I won a copy of "Hooray for Santa Claus" on 45 rpm record. Years later I found a whole story album of the movie, and inside was this comic book!



Was there a whole set of California Raisin Christmas figures? I've found two.

Grinchy Mints. Yum.

And don't forget Pee Wee Herman's Christmas Card.

Hoveround Scares Me

I don't know about you, but my worst nightmare is a bunch of oldsters doing wheelies in my mall, clogging up the streets, and showing up unannounced at my door. I'm almost in this demographic, but it scares me.

Sheraton - Boston Hotel

"Boston's newest, most exciting hotel. 29 soaring stories of inviting convenience. Seven great specialty restaurants and lounges. Huge lanai terraced swimming pool. Right at Prudential Center Exit 22, Massachusetts Turnpike".

Memories of Opryland USA

Opryland USA, or just "Opryland", was a theme park that opened in 1972. It drew people from all over the country to Nashville. Here are some pictures that I took during the height of Opryland's popularity in 1978. These were taken with a 35mm camera, but focus never was my strong point. Click on any pic for a larger version.


The Wabash Cannonball was the third roller coaster to be built at the park. The ground under the loop was always littered with caps and hats that had fallen off. At its peak, Opryland had five roller coasters.


To get these shots, I climbed and stood on the rail of the exit ramp. It took three minutes before security chased me off.


The Tennessee Waltz. Wait one half hour after eating before this ride.

Opryland had many stages with live shows, and music was piped throughout the whole park. You can get the whole experience by listening to Opryland Radio USA on www.live365.com. You'll hear actual recordings of park music and shows. If you keep the sound in the background, it's like you're there! There's also an Opryland Yahoo Group here.


The Flume Zoom was a favorite. Many hats were lost over the drop.


There was a full mechanical arcade. Here's the basketball game. There were also animal games. I wished I'd gotten a pic of the Tic-Tac-Toe playing chickens.


Opryland closed in 1997, but many people didn't realize that. I worked weekly at CMT, and for an entire summer, I would see RVs and vans from all over America pull up to the entrance, just like Walley World. There were full time staffers at the gate just to turn people away. Was the park closed due to insurance concerns, the fact that Dollywood and Branson were luring away customers, or new ownership that just didn't care? The debate continues.

Free At Last

Seen just south of Franklin, TN.

I'm not sure this is what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had in mind.

Where Are The TV Themes?

A great article in the Sydney Morning Herald about the reasons why TV shows don't have catchy theme songs anymore. Can you say M-O-N-E-Y? Read the article here.

Transistorize Your iPod!

I never went anywhere as a kid without my transistor radio. As I grew up, I didn't hear my favorite songs on the radio anymore, so I began to collect them. But hearing "Monday, Monday" on giant stereo speakers didn't pack the emotional wallop of hearing it on the 2 and a quarter inch speaker. When the iPod Shuffle came out, it hit me. Now I could hear what I wanted the way I did in the 60s. Here's how you can, too. Click any pic to enlarge it.




Gather an old transistor radio, and some basic tools. Hey, this IS like the 60s. What we're going to do is wire the output of the iPod to the volume control audio input on the radio.



Open up the old radio and do some disassembly. Stick the tiny screws to a piece of tape for storage. This speaker has a hole in it that causes buzzing when you turn up the volume, but here's an old trick - layer rubber cement on until the hole is covered. No more buzz!




Now, prepare the plug that goes into the iPod. Solder a wire to ground tap, and a small 3.3K resistor to each out channel. This converts the stereo output signal to mono. I put a piece of paper inside the plug to prevent shorting, and screwed on the top of the plug.




Drill a hole in the back of the radio case for the wire. At this point, thread the wires from the plug to the radio. Now solder the ground wire and the hot wire to the two exposed tabs on the radio's volume control. Attach a 9 volt battery to the radio, plug the plug into the iPod, and turn both on. The sound should be coming through the radio speaker. Make sure the volume control on the radio is working properly. If turning it up makes the volume go down, reverse the two wires you soldered on the volume control.



Carefully replace the radio and the new wires into the case, and reassemble the radio.

I hung the iPod on the back of the leather case because I can still take it off to go to the gym, but if you have room, you could build it into the top of the radio case in place of the ferrite antenna. My radio already had a broken antenna wire, so I left it alone.



Now go to www.reelradio.com or www.airchexx.com, and grab some vintage airchecks from your favorite childhood station. I've loaded Bill Berlin WKDA Nashville, Dr. Don Rose from WQXI Atlanta, and various jocks from WKBW Buffalo, WEAM Arlington VA, and WOWO Fort Wayne IN. Make an iPod playlist with airchecks, your fave songs, and some old commercials.



Load it up and enjoy! Even the old school earphone works! Will Apple build these for us oldsters? I hope so, but why wait around?

E-Man Comics

E-Man was a great comic I ran across in the 70s. He was an energy being from another planet who took on human form to fight crime. He also had a skeptical attitude about all things Earthian.

E-Man's creator went on to work on Plastic Man, another superhero with an attitude. Find out more about E-Man and other cartoon characters at the Toonpedia here.

Nashville Municipal Auditorium 1962

Here's a postcard of the Nashville Municipal Auditorium, all shiny and new in 1962. Over the years, I've seen a huge selection of acts there: Three Dog Night, Tom Jones, Beach Boys, George Wallace, Journey, Ronald McDonald Circus, and more. It's been overtaked by the 25,000 seat Sommet Center, but still hosts some shows. See the Municipal today here.
Click for larger pic.

Happy Halloween from Ed Grimley

A fairly decent costume I must say. Dress up your son as Ed Grimley! Triangle not included.


Click for larger pics. And yes, it does say "Flame Retarded".

Atragon Revealed!

In 1965, I saw an ad on TV for what to a 10 year old boy had to be the greatest movie ever made - Atragon. Japanese scientists build a vessel that flies, goes underwater, and bores through the earth! I had to see this movie. (Click any pic for a larger version)



Somehow I never got around to getting to the movie, and over the years I missed it every time during the late night TV airings.



Finally in 2005, Atragon is released on DVD. Oh yeah.




An underground civilization is attacking the surface world, and the Atragon is dispatched to save the planet. That's about it. All of the plot info is here.




After waiting 42 years to see Atragon, was it worth it?




Yes. Buy your copy today.

School Safety Patrol 1960s

Remember the honor, the glory, the admiration heaped upon the selfless guardian of the school trafficways, the Safety Patrol officer? Yeah, me neither.



Joining the Safety Patrol was my first attempt to impress a girl. She didn't really notice, but there's no way she could ignore a Safety Patrol Captain! Off to Officer camp.


Still no luck. Oh well, sorry Julie, I tried.
Move along.

Jay Leno at Zanies

As long as we're on a celebrity kick, here's a concert flyer from the early 80s:



Love the endorsement. As always, click for larger pic.

I Met Captain Kangaroo

Back in 1989, my son was signed up for a brand new day care center in Nashville. I went to the opening ceremony and guess who was on the corporate board? That's right, Lamar and Honey Alexander. But also Bob Keeshan, Captain Kangaroo! I went up and asked for a pic of him with my son Will. Click for souvenir-sized pic:


Seeing the Captain was one thing, but when I heard his voice I thought I was three years old again. He was truly as nice and soft-spoken as everyone says. That was a good day.
All hail the Captain!

Sound Advice for Young Women

Susan Dey and Maureen McCormick give the goods on how to get a man. From Young Love comics, 1973. Click for much larger pic. Susan must have sold a few books in 1972 with this version:

Cap'n Crunch Animation Art

Here's an actual production cel from a Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries TV commercial. The actual art is just the characters, but you can see a background and the cel numbering on the lower right side. Click for wallpaper sized pic.

This makes me smile every time. Here's a link for more Cap'n Crunch memories.

Lest We Forget

Packing a storage box today, this label caught my eye.