Way Back Wednesday ~ Vintage Star Trek Toy Commercials

So many times the geek in me comes out but I can't help it!
Not only do I love vintage stuff, but vintage Star Trek stuff is even better!
Enjoy these old commercials!

Disney Sunday #25 ~~ The Submarine Voyage & the Mermaids

I have moved all of my Disney Sunday posts into their own blog accessible from the right sidebar.

I kept this installment here because it's the most popular with over 10,000 views!

The submarines opened in the summer of 1959.

There were 8 of them each named after a submarine in the 1950's nuclear program Seawolf, Skate, Ethan Allen, Patrick Henry, Nautilus, Triton, Skipjack, and the George Washington.

They each held 38 passengers and were 52' long. The ride took 9 minutes and it carried you under the North Pole, past a giant sea serpent and in the early days there were even real mermaids that could be seen for 4 hours a day on the rocks in the middle of the lagoon.

Here are some construction shots:

Here is the entrance which doesn't look much different today:

Here is the inauguration:

And a couple of vintage shots of the subs at the station:

This is a great overhead shot showing how colorful it used to be:

There aren't a lot of older under water shots to be found:

And now a word about the mermaids.
They held auditions for them at the Disneyland Hotel and the requirements were that you had to be between 5' 4" and 5' 7" (this cuts me out) and had to be able to swim.
Looking at the pictures I assume an unspoken requirement was also that you were thin enough to fit the costume. (this would also leave me out).

Here are a few pictures of the auditions:

And here are some of the lucky winners in action:

And finally today I found this great video:

Hope everyone has a really great weekend and is getting ready for summer!

Forgotten Friday ~~ Pong, Nintendo

I didn't have video games when I was a little kid.

My dad got me the Mattel Football hand held game sometime in the late 70's which put me in my early teens. It had tiny red LED lights that moved across the screen to simulate players. I played it a lot and thought it was pretty cool. I might even have it still in one of my memory boxes.

The next step up was Pong. One of my girlfriends got this for Christmas (or more likely Hanukkah) one year and I was so jealous that she could play any time she wanted.

Of course looking back now I can't imagine that this held anyone's attention for too long. I was terrible at it so after the 5th or 6th game I usually gave up.

The very first incarnation of video games that actually made it into my possession was the very first Nintendo game system which a friend of mine gave the kids because they had bought a newer version.
Thats was probably the late 90's.

The kids played Mario endlessly and I also got pretty good at it.

But truly my all time favorite from this era was Zelda. I learned all the tricks and short cuts until I beat the game. I still have fond memories of sitting in front of the TV playing over and over until I got it right.

Then in 1992 for Christopher's  7th birthday he got the Holy Grail of gifts; The Super Nintendo!

There were the usual favorite games:

One of my personal favorites was Mario Cart because I got really good at it!
I always had to be Yoshi and none of the kids could beat me!
I played this not too long ago and was appalled that I could no longer stay on the course on Rainbow Road and Jeffrey beat my pants off on every level.
Oh how the mighty have fallen.

Then there was Mario Paint that came complete with a "Super Nintendo Mouse".
The kids spent hours and hours playing it and I have to admit I was pretty fond of it too.

Here is a home movie Chris took of one of the songs he "wrote".

Then there was Yoshi's Island.
I just adored this game. Loved the patchwork feel to it.
I spent quite a bit of time in my off hours playing and eventually beat the game.

And last but not least for today was the original Gameboy.
This was another hand-me-down and again I can remember Chris being over the moon when he got it.
He kept saying how he could now take video games everywhere and he didn't think it could get any better than that.

So I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend.
3 days to sleep in and relax.
And play some video games!!

Forgotten Friday ~~ Rotary Dial Phones

Remember rotary dial phones?

And how long it would take when you had to redial because you got a busy signal and the number you were calling had a lot of 7, 8 and 9's in it?

Just the other day someone mentioned that there didn't used to be a Q or Z on the dial and I see that they were right.

And of course there was the updated wall phone which usually hung in the kitchen.

I want to get one these and hang it on the side of my kitchen cabinet and have the kids ask me what the heck it is.

And maybe force them to experience having to sit in one place while they were talking because the phone was tethered to the wall.

I was so excited when my dad brought home one of these.

The push button phone in my opinion was one of the greatest inventions of all time!

I wanted to call everybody I knew just so I could experience not having to wait for the dial to reset between numbers.

Remember the little clear slot under the last row of buttons where you could take a piece of paper and write your number on it and slide it in there so everyone would know where they were calling from?

And then there is this relic.

The public pay phone.

Finding one nowadays is next to impossible unless you are in a large public area like an airport or maybe a mall. And even then you have to search.

Not long ago I left the house without my cell phone (unheard of I know for me to forget something) and when I got to where I was going (a large shopping area with Target, Kohls, and a bunch of fast food and smaller shops) I realized I needed to call home.

There was not a public phone in sight and no one I asked had a clue as to where I could look. I finally discovered one near the restrooms in Kohls and it cost me 50¢.

Maybe I shouldn't have been but I was shocked not only at the cost but at the reality that these things that used to be on every street corner are now almost gone for good.

Here is sound I bet most people under 40 have never heard except on old TV shows:

It's times like these that make me wonder in 10, 20 or 30 years, what is going to be archaic and outdated. What will our grandchildren think is weird and wonder how we could ever have used something that primitive.

Times change and lately its been at an exponential rate. But in truth I am excited to see what happens. As long as it doesn't involve out of control robots bent on destroying their makers.

I've seen that on television and it wasn't pretty.

Way Back Wednesday ~ Chris' Big TV Debut 1990

OK so this isn't nearly as "Way Back" as I normally go, but I am currently in the throes of coping my old VHS movies to DVD and I came across a video of my oldest, Christopher from an Izuzu Truck commercial that he did when he was 4 years old.

The fact that I even have a copy of this is next to amazing because the company told me that they did not provide copies of their commercials because of copyright infringement or some other excuse I can't remember. One day I just happened to get a hold of a sympathetic producer when I called (for the 10th time) explaining to them I never got to see the ad when it was on TV and I was just devastated. So she sent me the video and I have kept it all years these promising myself one day I would get it onto a more permanent and secure medium.

The cool thing is that Chris was not the first choice of the producers. They had chosen another little boy (who I believe was the child of one of the producers) and Chris was called in as a back up. The director told us they would film both boys but unless something went wrong the other kid would be the one they used.

The wardrobe lady fitted both of them into the pajamas which included taking a regular pair of footie pajamas and cutting a flap into them and then sewing on buttons to give them a traditional look. All this while the boys were in them.

The other little boy was taken onto the set first and they gave him instructions such as "When I say BIG BIRD you turn and look at the truck and when I say BALLOONS start swinging your bear." And "Now when I say COTTON CANDY you look over your shoulder then look back at me and make a face like you just ate green beans."

The other kid would not follow directions quickly enough when the words were called out and he could not make a funny face that the director was happy with. So when it was Chris' turn he did everything on cue and then he made the face you see in one take and everyone laughed so hard and the director said "YES..now thats what I was looking for!" The other boys mom looked pretty mad and I had to try not to look too happy.

When it was time to leave they told us that we wouldn't know which kid was chosen for about a month but in less than a week we got our first check from the production company and I knew they had chosen Chris.

And as I mentioned, I never did see it on TV, but everyone else I knew in the free world seemed to catch it because I got at least 3 calls a day from an excited relative or friend informing me that they had just seen Chris on TV.

At least I have a permanent version and I can watch it anytime I want!!

Way Back Wednesday ~~ Banjo & Andy

Because I was looking through my moms old "pet album" last week for dog pictures, I came across some of the other pets my parents had back in 1955.

First up is their pet spider monkey "Banjo".
My dad got him from the studio. Apparently the pet show they used to film there often gave away the animals they brought in and my dad was always keen to adopt any that he could.

This picture is kind of fuzzy but its the only one where my mom is holding him.

Banjo lasted a year or so until one day when my mom was trying to put him back into his cage and he didn't want go and bit her on the arms about 20 times. They found him another home after that.

From the same era was their burro "Andy".
Andy was another acquisition from the studio. My mom loved to tell the story of the day my dad brought him home. They lived close to the studio so my dad walked him home but half a block from the house Andy didn't want to go anymore so he sat down in the middle of the road and refused to move. My dad had to leave him there, run home, get some carrots and run back and entice him the rest of the way.
At the time my parents lived out in North Hollywood and had a house with a huge backyard so there was plenty of room for him. When they bought the Hollywood Hills house Andy moved to a local farm.

Back in the day you could send away for a spider monkey through the mail.
I remember seeing this advertisement when I was a kid and WISHING I had $18.95 (and a checking account).
I don't know what I would have told my mom when it showed up but I wasn't thinking that far ahead.
I guess I figured I would worry about that part of the plan once it arrived.

I did, in the other hand, order the seahorses only to have my envelope returned saying there was something wrong with the address.
I was sorely disappointed but never reordered probably because I knew my mom wouldn't be happy with these either.

There was also the story about the time my dad wanted to buy my mom a baby elephant.
(You used to be able to get all kinds of exotics back then).
I have no idea where he thought he was going to keep it or what he was going to do with it once it grew up but I dont think he was thinking any further into the future than I was.
Fortunately my mom found out and talked him out of it.

Happy halfway through the week day!

Way Back Wednesday ~ Dogs of the Past

Keeping with the theme for the week of dogs, I thought I would do some pictures of my parents dogs that they had over the years.

This was one of their first dogs.
Her name was Cookie and she was a pekingese.

Then they got Tuffy who was a toy poodle.

Tuffy had black ears as a baby and when he grew up they turned pure white.

Cookie and Tuffy got together and had a couple litter of puppies.

They included Candy Jane who went to one of my moms best friends:

And Smidgey who they kept until he was an old man:

There were several other puppies (Ting-a-ling, Whitey, Smudge) who also went to their friends.

They took Tuffy everywhere, including all their vacations:

And shared the morning breakfast donut with him:

 When Tuffy was no longer with them, my mom went in search of another dog and found Lo-sten.
They got her out of the pound and the story goes that someone else wanted her to and back then they put the dog up on auction when their were 2 or more interested parties and the dog went to the highest bidder. Because my mother just HAD to have her, my dad kept bidding until the other people gave up. Lo-sten lived a long and happy life and loved my mom with the devotion only a dog can.

They also had a tiny Yorkie Terrier who they rescued from a very bad situation.
His name was Danci and he was already pretty old when he came to be with us.
He lived many years and by the time he passed away he had no teeth and almost no hair.

After Lo-sten and Danci passed away there was a whole other pack of dogs that I grew up with but I will save those for another time!

Have a great Wednesday everybody!!