Haverhill’s and Its Whacked-Out Ads

Haverhill’s: a weird stuff-emporium of the 1960s and 1970s, with goofy ads in big magazines like LIFE. Let’s start with the name, stylized as: haverhill’s. Why? Because this is post-apex America and it’s time to be humble. Fonts go Helvetica on us and upper-case bows meekly into lower-case. The ad copy, too, no longer is… Continue reading Haverhill’s and Its Whacked-Out Ads

Death Behind Flagstone: Tom Neal, Palm Springs, and Studio City

1965: Tom Neal House, 2481 N Cardillo Ave, Palm Springs, CA

Tom Neal was a middling movie actor from the late 1930s to the 1950s who was more known for his off-screen escapades than for his acting. Neal’s best role was in the curious film-noir, Detour. It’s non-copyrighted; check it out. As a young man, Neal was an amateur boxer with a good string of wins.… Continue reading Death Behind Flagstone: Tom Neal, Palm Springs, and Studio City

Bell Telephone Company Pittsburgh Office Snack Bar, 1960

June, 1960: The world is alive. From Architectural Forum, we hear of a snack bar. The 1,600 employees in the Bell Telephone Company’s brand new Pittsburgh office building can point with pride to their new lounge and snack bar. It’s truly one of the interior “showplaces.” Two Natco products were used extensively to help create… Continue reading Bell Telephone Company Pittsburgh Office Snack Bar, 1960

Hong Kong Bank of China as Giant Protest Sign

As some of us sit around in the burgs and hamlets of the United States, knitting our fingers and wondering about the shape that China’s “invasion” of the U.S. will take, need we look any further than Hong Kong? In 1997, Hong Kong’s sovereignty was transferred to China, and the “one country, two systems” principle… Continue reading Hong Kong Bank of China as Giant Protest Sign

Nancy Kovack, Forgotten Siren of the Sixties, the One That Got Away

Nancy Kovack

Nancy Kovack is long retired, no need to act anymore, and firmly married to conductor Zubin Mehta. But in her day, she graced both the big screen and the cathode ray screen with her elegantly sleek looks reminiscent of Honor Blackman. Nancy Kovack is also the one who got away. With big-star quality looks and… Continue reading Nancy Kovack, Forgotten Siren of the Sixties, the One That Got Away