The Burlesquers
With Tease-O-Rama starting today in San Francisco, I thought I’d post some of my favorite images from the Theatrical Poster Collection at the Library of Congress.
Space Shuttle STS-1 QSL Card
Space Shuttle STS-1 QSL Card - Front
The first Space Shuttle (STS-1) launched on April 12th, 1981, carrying commander Bob Crippen and pilot John Young. This event caused extreme excitement in the 9-year-old me.
The Shuttle program captivated me from the start. I recently found my old scrapbooks filled with every newspaper article I could get my hands on. I even wrote to NASA and just naively asked for “any information about the Space Shuttle”, which later caused me to run around like a loon when the postman gave me a large packet from the Johnson Space Center filled with press kits, promotional photos, brochures, and other random stuff.
My dad is a amateur (ham) radio operator and the day after the launch he said “Let’s go see if we can we can contact them”. He fired up his radio and worked on finding W5RRR, the Johnson Space Center Amateur Radio Club. I remember him spending a lot of time trying to get through and logged, as every other ham radio operator on the planet was also trying to make contact. Eventually he was successful and sent off his QSL card. Continue reading "Space Shuttle STS-1 QSL Card"
This Amazing America
Today’s scan is a 1938 brochure promoting “Strange and Unusual” places you could visit via Greyhound Bus Lines. There are 140 locations overall and as an extra bonus we get a profile shot of the beautiful streamlined Greyhound Super-Coach. I’m a sucker for old buses, and this one’s a beauty.
Discovered Mural
In Alameda, CA an old Mug Root Beer advertising mural was uncovered when siding was removed during a facade update.
When you look at it up close you can see that there are many layers of murals on this wall, and below the plaster on the original sideboards is still another mural, visible because of an old pipe installation that cut through the plaster. The future of this mural is unknown to me.
If you are in the area and want to see it for yourself, the Mural is located at the intersection of Webster and Haight.
Space Shuttle R.I.P.
Today marks the end of NASA’s Space Shuttle program. When I was a kid, I was fascinated by the Shuttle. Somewhere in my garage is my scrapbook with every Shuttle related newspaper clipping I could get my hands on, a QSL card from STS-5 (or maybe 4), and an autographed photo of the STS-3 crew. I used to write NASA all the time just asking for anything related to the Shuttle.
Recently I discovered this promotional package from Cheerios at my mother’s house. This must have been a “mail in 20 box-tops” kind of promotion. I barely remember it, and I’m shocked that it survived (mostly) unmolested. Luckily for you it did, and I’ve scanned/photographed everything that came in the envelope.
The booklet only mentions the crews of STS-1 and STS-2, so this came out between 11/12/81 (STS-2) and 3/22/82 (STS-3).
Now, onto the Space Shuttle Adventure Kit:
This is the envelope and a generic shuttle sticker.
Continue reading "Space Shuttle R.I.P."
Mid-Century Cheese Labels
Culture Magazine has a collection of 96 European cheese labels circa 1957.
“Reproduced here, these graphic labels look just as the originals would have if you could step back in time, back to a day when bright, hand-rendered package art was a novelty and innocence wasn’t, and long before a blitz of color-soaked multimedia outlets emerged all around us.”
The Navy Needs You in RADAR!
This brochure and letter was sent to an Alameda, California high school senior in 1944 or 1945, inviting him to experience “The war’s newest and most dramatic technical development” as a Radar Technician.
“No member of the United States Navy, or any other branch of the armed forces, takes greater pride in his job than the man in blue who wears the ‘RADIO TECHNICIAN’ insignia. And none can boast finerr training for an indispensable, vital job in civilian life when victory and peace are finally ours.”
Under the cut are more scans of the brochure and letter, plus a transcription of the letter too.
“This may be YOUR opportunity… an opportunity to serve both your country and yourself. At least, you owe it to yourself to investigate.”
