Yet another mind-blowing cutaway from master illustrator Frank Soltesz. Few people realize that half of a department store is devoted to areas they never see. Behind the familiar counter and displays are large areas used for stockrooms and other services that supply the selling floors out front. there is a fur vault, complete bake shop,… Continue reading Fantastic Department Store Cutaway, 1950s
Month: March 2017
The Great Foley, Minn. Computer Scam of 1955
It’s time for Robert Kotsmith and Michael Chmielewski to fess up. Time to come clean. Guys, don’t worry. We forgive you. The Statute of Limitations of high school foolishness has passed now, and we just want to know how you did it. We really don’t care anymore. In the July 1955 issue of Popular Mechanics, Jim… Continue reading The Great Foley, Minn. Computer Scam of 1955
Celluloid Prairie Scum and Lithe Championship Diver: Strother Martin’s Two Lives
Strother Martin in Rooster Cogburn, 1975 Strother Martin was a character actor who rose to the very top of the character category. While his credits run from 1950 to 1980, his character star shone the brightest in the 1960s and 1970s, when he was often conscripted to play time-worn, hard-bitten, tobacco-spittin’ codgers in Westerns. Martin… Continue reading Celluloid Prairie Scum and Lithe Championship Diver: Strother Martin’s Two Lives
Monsanto House of the Future: When Our Future Was Made of Plastics
Built in Disneyland in 1957 as a joint project between Disneyland, Monsanto, and MIT, the House of the Future was constructed of 16 identical plastic shells that were fabricated off-site and then shipped to the building site for assembly. The home was meant to display technological marvels, such as the microwave oven and speaker phone,… Continue reading Monsanto House of the Future: When Our Future Was Made of Plastics
Screw You, Food Court! When Department Store Restaurants Reigned
Anybody who is under a certain age will not remember how mall department stores once ruled the retail roost. Before their peak and then eventual decline in the 1980s, these massive shopping cubes, which often went by a single name moniker (Alexander’s, Dalton’s, Gottschalk’s, etc.), were the place to buy everything from clothing to books… Continue reading Screw You, Food Court! When Department Store Restaurants Reigned