Mountain in the Middle of L.A.: Paramount Studios’ Western Street and Its Fake Mountain
Once there was a mountain in the middle of Los Angeles. Most movie studios, in their backlots or in movie ranches in […]
Fantastic Department Store Cutaway, 1950s
Yet another mind-blowing cutaway from master illustrator Frank Soltesz. Few people realize that half of a department store is devoted to areas […]
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 […]
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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
Oh, Those Germans! Insane Method of Transporting Deathly Ill Sailors in 1905
Sure, the idea of going back in the past has its temptations. Hobnobbing with a young Einstein. Enjoying the pleasures of Gay […]
Johnny Cash Has Five Minutes to Live!
He’s a goddamn door-to-door maniac! He’s a milky faced, baby-faced cruel psychopath of a guitar-strumming KILLER. It’s our favorite warbler–Johnny Cash, in […]
Twilight Zone: “We All Know What Became of Bonnie Beecher”
And I chose Bonnie Beecher, and we all know what became of Bonnie Beecher. William Froug, in The Twilight Zone Companion, by […]
BZhRK Barguzin Russian Rail Missile Had Precedent with Peacekeeper Rail System, 1986
Over at Popular Mechanics, Kyle Mizokami reports that Russia is developing a rail-mounted system of mobile ICBMs that will constantly rove the […]