Where Are My Keys?

This site is in German.. Has a display of numerous keychains. Apparently it's still under construction (it was updated in March 2006).

Virtual Keychain Museum in German
http://www.schluesselanhaenger.de/


I just found a translated version by Google. So if you prefer it in English use the link below. I snipped the url too. Link is way too long. Keep in mind, that the translation is literal.

Virtual Keychain Museum in English
http://snipurl.com/1w6ve


Read this amazing article from KIMT (a tv station from Iowa and Minnesota)about this collector from Honduras, Emerita Soliman, who had at one point had 30,000, before a break in at her museum.

KIMT
http://snipurl.com/1w6sj/


Another article about an amazing collector, Ron Tyler, with pictures of his collection of 42,818 keychains! He is trying set world record, by beating Kurt Meadows, another collector who in 2001 he became the collector with the most keychains. At the time he had 24,810 of them.

There seem to be a conflicts of the dates that Mr. Meadows was registered. I noticed that the KMIT site (it was written in 2004) states that Kurt Meadows was registered with The Guinness Book of World Records in 2003, not 2001 as the Topeka Capital-Journal site states (there is no article date).

Capital Journal
http://www.cjonline.com/attic/commercial.restored/stories/071003/swn_keychains.shtml

So, I went to the 2008 Guinness World Record Book site to see the latest update. Now I see that Brent Dixon was the largest key chain collector with a collection of.. guess what? 41,418 non-duplicate keychains! A bit too many to fit into my pocket! Just kidding. So, I guess Ron Tyler didn't get in, which I find rather interesting. If you look at his figures, you'll see that he has more keychains than Mr. Dixon. Hmm..

Guinness World Records 2008
http://snipurl.com/1w6uo

British TV Nostalgia

Television Heaven is a British site about tv shows that were or are running on British TV. So there is some nostalgia here. They have a lot of reviews. Not all shows are British. There are American shows as well. Don't forget to check their links, there are some British retro and nostalgic links listed. I've only seen some of them, so I can't really give much of a feedback. But I can tell you that I liked the "Teletronic" and the "Reminisce This" sites





http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/

Backward Masking

Backward Masking: is when the record is played backward. It all began in the 60's. Here is a well known controversy that I personally remember regarding the Beatles' albums, where you could hear "Paul Is Dead" during backward messages (which is another way to say 'backward masking'). But that wasn't the only message that they had.

The music band Queen is another well known case.

This site list wide range of examples of records that contain backward masking. You'll many famous artists names on the list, like Celine Dion, Rolling Stones, The Eagles, Eric Clapton and more. You wouldn't believe the Popeye's song! It has the F--- word in it. I was shocked on that one. Whoa!

Reverse Speech
http://www.reversespeech.com/music_reversals.htm

I'd like to note a well done site "Jeff Milners' Backmasking Site"

Jeff Milners' Backmasking Site"
http://jeffmilner.com/backmasking.htm

Flickr - Trainman's 74 TV Guide Covers

Flickr TV Guide Covers
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trainman/sets/72157602751546091/

Actors Who Can & Can't Sing

I knew that William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy have recorded albums a long time ago. What I did not know, that these days there are still actors out there who try to sing too. Some are pretty good (and have real life bands) what I heard, but some, I just don't know what they were thinking.

Note: There is some obscenity.

The Jon Dyer's Blog
http://www.dyers.org/blog/archives/2006/03/03/the-megalist-of-actors-who-tried-to-sing/

What A Lonely World

I know this is pretty much old news already (July). But I recently watched YouTube - the video that came with the original article "Earth Without People". The article is a review about a book called "The World without Us" by Alan Weisman. I felt it would be a good clip to post here still.

I've often wondered what would happen if one day we all disappear. It is a bit eerie to watch this short video.

The video shows what could happen to the earth if we no longer existed. How will the earth evolve (or should I say digress)? Watching the video reminded me of The Time Machine movies (which are by the way, nothing like the original book). It also reminded me a bit of a campy movie called The Night of The Comet where people turned into orange dust...Here is the original article from Scientific American and the video:

American Scientific
http://sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=2691D716-E7F2-99DF-38F54EF6075AAB4D

However, it was YouTube where I actually saw the video for the first time. So if you are into a bigger format, then I suggest YouTube..



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5wP6m0d0xc

Jet Trains!

Wow, this is something I never knew existed. You'll find it in this great site, "Dark Roasted Blend". It is from almost a year ago, so maybe some of you have seen this already. If you have not, than you'll probably want to see this, especially because most of these are real trains! Asides from these trains, there are other ton of entertaining stuff to look at.


Jet Powered Futuristic Trains
http://www.darkroastedblend.com/2007/01/jet-powered-other-futuristic-trains.html

One Times Square And The LED Ball

With the new year around the corner, have you ever wondered about the famous Times Square ball's background and its history? Did you know that the new ball is now a LED (light-emitting diode) crystal? Here you might find the answers to your questions. I remember a few years ago, I actually saw the preparation on tv. It was interesting. I think it was a segment during the Dick Clark New Year Even show.

Anyhow, there some interesting stuff to read at both links. The second link is actually about the famous One Time Square Tower. What I like about that site, are the old pictures of this famous fascinating tower. I guess I just love sites with vintage photos, grin. Now, it has got to be one of the most famous buildings in the world, or at least in the USA. Every time I go to Times Square, I am in awe, even though I have been there many times.

I wouldn't though, want to stand there during the new year eve... I'd rather stay cozy.

New Year Eve Ball
http://www.timessquarenyc.org/nye/nye_ball.html

One Time Square
http://www.nyc-architecture.com/MID/MID104.htm

Play The Card

As most of us know, playing cards have been around for centuries all over the world. As you will see here, they are more than handful. Mostly old. This site is fun and entertaining. They also have all kind of stuff about playing cards. Some of the cards are from the 15th century. Those are quite crude.

By the way, if you like Charlie Chaplin, Lloyd, Keaton and Turpin, look for the Spain's playing card collections.

The World of Playing Cards
http://www.wopc.co.uk/


Note: If you wish to convert the currency, I recommend you visit (there are plenty others on the web too) Yahoo Finance Currency Converter:

http://finance.yahoo.com/currency?u

An Invisible Tent Full of Neat Toys

Never bought from them before, but they sure have some wonderful stuff. There are retro and vintage items. They also have space age posters.

Toy Tent
http://www.toytent.com/

Drink A Nesbitt's Orange

This site is maintained by B.R. Murphy's (president of Nesbitt's 1943 to 1959) grandson, Tom Scott.

In 1924 Hugh S. Nesbitt founded a company called Nesbitt Fruit Products Company, that made syrup for soda fountains. It was in 1927 that Nesbitt started producing the Nesbitt's Orange to soda fountains companies. It was in 1938-1939 that they started producing it in bottles. For more detailed history and facts:

Nesbitt's History & Facts Page
http://nesbittsorange.com/facts.htm#History

Orange Memorabilia Page
http://nesbittsorange.com/NesbittsAlbum/index.htm

Visit Tinley Park

This village is called Tinely Park. It is located near Chicago, Illinois. I have not been there,but these benches are just way too cool to skip over. This is the official site for Tinley Park.

The photos were taken by "Rick" (that what it says on this site. No last name is mentioned)

Tinley Park
http://www.tinleypark.org/tourism/art_culture/activities/benches/2007/slideshow.asp

If you are interested in learning more about the history of this town, go here and look for the "History of Tinley Park" on the left column.

History of Tinley Park
http://www.tinleypark.org/votp.asp?ctp=government/mayor/welcomemessage.htm

Retro Galaxy

Hmmm.. I could have sworn that I posted this before, but I can't find this on my blog (or have overlooked it). Pardon me, if I am repeating this. It's after 2AM and I'm kinda out of it at the moment, grin.

The objective here is, as you can probably tell, those old nostalgia days. Some of their stuff go back a few good decades. You can read some interesting tidbits here and there, and find information as to where you can buy some retro and vintage items.

Check this out. If you are a "nostalgiaholic", you'll probably enjoy this site. As for myself, there are things from the past that I have yet to learn. So I cannot vouch for the entire site yet, but it is looking real good.

Retro Galaxy
http://www.retrogalaxy.com/

Earth Of The Past, Present & The Future

I came across this site a few years ago. A pretty impressive visualization how the earth gonna be centuries later. I was impressed and still is impressed, with the author's knowledge. Fascinating. Too bad we will never find out how accurate those maps are. On the other hand, it's scary to see so much water. It reminds me of the movie "Waterworld". Yeah, I know that movie sucked.. but it wasn't that bad.

I guess, I'll just have to stick to futuristic sci fi movies. ;-)

Earth 50 million in the future
http://www.scotese.com/future.htm

Earth 150 million in the future
http://www.scotese.com/future1.htm

Earth 250 million in the future
http://www.scotese.com/future2.htm


If you go to the page with the list of the entire "ages", you'll see that there are also illustrations of the earth development in the past. In total, there are 20 maps of the earth. In the first map (which is the one above) shows the breakup of super continent Rodnia 1100 million years ago during the Late Precambrian age. As you continue to review the rest of the maps, you will see how the earth goes through some drastic changes. Amazing, isn't it?

Earth History - Travel in Time
http://www.scotese.com/earth.htm

2007 Best Magazine Covers

ASME - American Society of Magazine Editors has a visual list of their magazine cover choices of the year. Their choices cover 7 categories of best covers: best cover of the year, best celebrity cover, best concept cover, best fashion cover, best news cover, best service cover and best coverline. With the exception of the coverline category, all of these categories also have photos of all the entries.


2007 Best Cover Winners
http://www.magazine.org/editorial/24689.cfm

Have You Got A Clam?

It is a nice small site about the slang of the 1920's. I cannot of course, vouch for its accuracy. The reason I am saying this, is because a while ago, I got a private response to the 1970's slang post. The reader alerted me that it was not a good site.

This could be rather useful if you enjoy watching movies or reading books from the 1920's. I did see some of these words before from watching silents.

Here they do have quite some "fanciful" words here. They have some pretty cool ones, like this one "Bank's closed" and "Big Cheese". It's interesting to see how the slang is connected to what was going on in that era. Some of these is still used today.

Some slang words are the same, but NOT the meaning. An example is "Bimbo". I had no idea that it originally meant "a tough guy".. how did this word make such a huge negative "u-turn"??

Another favorite slang of mine is "Cash or Check?"...

By the way, look like there is a sweet typo in the description for "Dead Soldier". The kind that I make all too often..


Potpourri Slang of the 1920's
http://local.aaca.org/bntc/slang/slang.htm

Is Your Clock Set Up For Jan 1st?

You can view it either with the Applet or a plain text. See how much time left till the new year in your country. This site is good for other type of clock counters as well.

Applet Version
http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/multicountdowna.html


Non-Applet Version
http://www.timeanddate.com/counters/multicountdown.html

I AM BACK..

Howdy!

I am finally back and online once again. It has been a hectic week since I last posted.

So.. here I am!


The Linkster

Moving Away

Hello readers,

I am in a process of moving to a new place this week, so I won't be posting for about a week. Hopefully, I'll have a connection soon after moving.

Have a great week
The Linkster

Blog: For Saturday Mornings

The name of the blog pretty much says it all. There are a lot of YouTube videos in "Saturday Morning Blog", about those saturday morning tv days. There are some cartoons that I've never seen before, like the "Partridge Family 2200 A.D (1973). I would have liked to see that show. Maybe it'll be on the Boomerang channel one day.

Saturday Morning Blog
http://saturdaymorn.blogspot.com/

Spirit Of 1976

Should have waited till July, but heck, why not now? It's a small selection, but I think a few of these trains are actually cool. Note that most of the pictures were taken in 1975 and 1976. Truly vintage.

Spirit of 1976 - Bicentennial Locomotives
http://www.railroad.net/photos/bicentennial/

I Need My Theme Park Map!

Wow. Just my kind of maps. I love these type of brochure maps There are a lot of illustrated ones, and vintage that go all the way back to 1931 (see yellow image above)!

Amusement Parks Maps
http://www.themeparkbrochures.net/

Blog: Children's Illustration

This pleasant blog is basically about children's illustration books and illustrators. The posts are good and informative. There are pictures of the books, as well a few YouTube videos and other stuff that are related to children's illustration. Go take a look!

Children's Illustration Blog
http://picturebookillustration.blogspot.com/

A Weekly Taste Of Kiddie Records

This site rocks! Many cool vintage kiddie records to look at. I couldn't even decide which record photo to post! I liked many of them. It just fun! It is also a magazine that you can describe to. Their collection goes back to 2005.

Kiddie Records Weekly
http://www.kiddierecords.com/

Swapatorium

This blog is described as a "journey through junkland - Flea markets, thrift stores, antique shops,garage and estate sales, found photographs, collecting, odd finds, swaps and more". It is fun looking at all those "junk"

Swapatorium
http://www.kiddierecords.com/http://swapatorium.blogspot.com

Whacked Up Vinyls..

The blog hasn't been updated since 2006. That site didn't run around very long. So it's a fairly small blog. Bummer. However, I still enjoyed cruising through. There are some that seriously whacked up records I've not seen previously, like the Tammy Faye (image above) record. I didn't even recognize her at first! I actually thought she was Lucille Ball. Seriously!

Vinyl Oddities
http://vinyloddities.blogspot.com/

The Little Car That Could

This car is kinda cute. You could practically park it next to your bed!

*Update: March 28 2008 - Video is no longer on YouTube



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYtro7PnBA8

What A Kitschy World

Here is a favorite site of mine. There are some cool, unusual and odd kitschy stuff. Nostalgia... I think a lot of it has to basically do with cultural aspects of entertainment, since there is a celebrity section. I am not sure what that has got to do with Kitsch, but what do I know?

And yes, believe it or not, the toast above is indeed for real.. Don't forget to check out the Royal Toilet.. under the Object section., look for "bathroom". Freaky, eh?

World of Kitsch
http://www.worldofkitsch.com/

Soak In Your Soaky

I've never had one of these, but I know they are a popular collectable. I occasionally see the vintage ones at antique malls. Anyhow, there are a lot of them at Gasoline Alley. I've never bought anything from them, but I like to look at their stuff occasionally. They really have some pretty good stuff. The Bozo Soaky and Wendy are kinda scary, aren't they? It's just that the Bozo reminds me of a creepy B-movie called Killer Klowns From Outer Space. It was so bad, I couldn't stand watching it... Shudder

Gasoline Alley
http://www.gasolinealleyantiques.com/cartoon/soakies.htm

There is a cool Soaky commercial on YouTube with Donald Duck and Porky Pig. Unfortunately, the embedding is disabled, so I only have the link to it.


Soaky Toy Commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HI6r4kNNLJw&feature=related

Drink The Energy

As you probably figured out already, the featured blog has nothing to do with retro or games or anything of sort. But thought it was interesting enough to post on my blog. With a society that is addicted to energy drinks, it seems like a good place to take a look. Seems like I don't really know anyone who does not drink some sort of an energy drink. I cannot speak for the accuracy of the information that is displayed on that site, though. I don't even drink energy drinks (except for Gatorade once in a blue moon). Not to mention there a whole bunch of drinks on that blog that I've never heard of. That include the Deep Throat picture that is displayed here.

Energy Drink Ratings
http://energy-drink-ratings.blogspot.com/

Elliot Avedon Game Museum

A nice well designed site for the Elliott Avedon Museum at the U of Waterloo. It is an actual museum. There are pictures and of the history of the games (not sport) for each game's page. These are all vintage games. Most of them are still made today. Some histories include but not limited to, the Battleship Game, Flinch, Risk, Stratego..

The games themselves fall into different categories. There are too many for me to list here, so lets say that some of them are Table Games, Vikings, TV Games, Hockey Games, Word Games, and Playing Cards.

Elliot Avedon Museum & Archive of Games
http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/VirtualExhibits/index

A Memory Trip To the Lab

Another site about nostalgia. The categories are cartoons, tv shows, movies, lunch boxes, fashion, music, toys and arcade games. There is a synopsis for each item about the history of the subject. They go back the last few decades. This site is also a store. I believe they do sell vintage items. They have a good amount of items, so it's fun to look through. They don't have many images in the cartoon section though, but the synopsis are still there.

Memory Lab
http://memorylab.deanlabs.com/

Smurfs Everywhere

Are you a Smurf fan? This is the site for you then. Everything about Smurfs collectibles. Old and new.

Blue Buddies
http://bluebuddies.com/

The Good Housewife - Unreal?

Well, you may already know all about this... or maybe not.

On September 12, 2007, I published a link for "How To Be A Good Housewife".

But a while ago, I found out that the text might not be true (I don't recall where I originally read that). It isn't clear if it's real or a hoax.

Either way, that text is entertaining.

I went to Snopes to check the facts. As a matter of fact, it is my favorite site for checking out chain letters, hoaxes and scams. I've been using this site for years.

Snopes
http://www.snopes.com/language/document/goodwife.asp

An Owner, A Dog and A Chiropractor

I've heard of animal chiropractors, but have not seen them in action. It was interesting to watch. Not what I expected though. I've experienced the adjustor (the tool the chiropractor is using) myself, and can tell you that it doesn't hurt (except if it's used on your head). But it was strange to see it used on a dog. He seems to like it though. :-)

*Update: March 28 2008 - This video is no longer on YouTube (bummer!)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xO6q2ox3po

Jive Time

As you can tell, this site is about the sixties. I think they pretty much cover most everything that is "sixties", There are articles and images also. They focus quite a bit about the music.





Sixties City
http://www.sixtiescity.com/

Flickr - Todd Ehler's American Ephemera

Check out Todd Ehler's American Ephemera set.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/eklektikos/sets/928130/

Asian Records Nostalgia

This is a collector site of Asian records covers from the 60's and the 70's. The collector, David Greenfield, focuses mainly on Singaporean records. But there are also records from Indonesia, Hong Kong, Japan, and Thailand. There is a link for his MySpace webpage where you can see more of his stuff.

60's & 70's Asian Pop Record Covers
http://www.pbase.com/sid_presley/the_record_collection&page=all

David Greenfield MySpace
http://www.myspace.com/singaporesixties

SNAP! CRACKLE! POP!

A sweet Rice Krispies commercial. These little elves are just too adorable!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr80GS8SKhM

Flickr - Julia's (ticky tacky) Mid-Cntury in Print

A "mid century in print" set from julia (ticky tacky).

Flickr Mid Century In Print
http://flickr.com/photos/jlmiller/sets/72157594223152358/

Randy Glasbergen

Randy Glasbergen always makes me laugh, or just a chuckle and a smile. It doesn't matter if I've seen a particular comic in the before. His style is smooth and clean, and easy on the eyes. He is clearly a talented cartoonist. He also has his own cartoon books for sale. I ought to buy some, it'll make a good gift!

Randy Glasbergen
http://www.glasbergen.com/

Titanic

This small museum is pretty cool. They have vintage newspapers pictures about the , the mourning that include music sheet, postcards, blue and red books. There are details on the interior of the ship, even the carpet, curtains and smoking room's floor tiles! There are items like a pencil kit and a passenger guide. Also, postcards of the Titanic sinking.

Titanic Museum
http://www.onlinetitanicmuseum.com/

Fasten Your Button

I admit, when I first saw this site, I was skeptical. I thought to myself, what could possibly be interesting about buttons? Buttons never piqued my interest before, that is, until now. There are buttons out there, that have character to them, than the ordinary everyday button that you see on your cloth. Well, there are about 80 categories, that include cartoons, commercial icons (such as snap-on tools), cigarettes, gasoline, soccer, world fairs (see cone and ball button above). The airline category as I expected has many of these buttons. Thanks to this museum, I am no longer biased against buttons!

Buttonarium
http://www.buttonarium.com/

Top 8 Thanksgiving Movies From Entertainment Weekley

For those who don't know.. Today is Thanksgiving in the US. Here is a list from EW for 8 Thanksgiving movies:


Entertainment Weekly
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20161530,00.html

Underdog Cheerios Commercial

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_j5Ur8Mu_Q

Vintage Packages

It seems that many of the items that are featured here are part of our needs in life. Some of these are such soap, Kleenex, Curad Bandages, Noxema, Lifebouy Shave Cream among others.There are food packages here also, such as the Jolly Time popcorn, Jello, Chock Full O'Nuts Coffee. I enjoy looking at them, but was a bit disappointed that there were no dates.

By the way, their links section is not up to date.

American Package Museum
http://www.packagemuseum.com/index.htm

Make a Bubble

A Bubble Blower Museum from different decades. Even though, most of them are from the 90's, there are a bunch of vintage ones. I was surprised to see many of these blowers. What was surprised me the most, were the battery based bubble blowers.

Bubble Blowers Museum
http://www.bubbleblowers.com/sitemap.html

Build A Castle With A Garden

There are some amazing toys. The architectural toys collection is part of a permanent collection located at the National Building Museum in Washington D.C.

So far, the oldest game that I've seen here is from 1859 under "WOODEN ARCHITECTURAL BUILDING SETS" section. It seems to me that this section is the only one that has many games from the late 19th century. I don't know why, but I do have a hunch it has to do with the time period.

An excerpt about the collection..."More than eighteen hundred vintage construction sets of all kinds and compositions: wooden, cardboard, stone, metal, rubber, and plastic - architectural, structural, mechanical, engineering, and vehicular. Includes most of the oldest, largest, and rarest sets ever made by the most famous manufacturers"

Click on the images to go to another section with few more pictures.



*Update: March 28 2008 - Link is no longer valid

The National Building Museum's Architectural Toys Collection
http://www.architectoys.com/

Where did the Advertising icons go?

Did you know that some advertising icons (Wendy and the Gerber baby for example) were based on real people and children? Find out what happened to some of these former icons "role models". I like this article, because it's different from those "where are they now child stars" stories. This one is not about former child actors. I was actually surprised to learn that the Dutch Boy, Sailor Jack and Big Bob were based on real children.

Mental Floss
http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/8035

Ice Cream Scream!

Ice cream vans are fun! Especially, if it's a Mr. Softee ice cream van ;-) There are some old British ice cream vans here. The site is great, it pretty much covers everything about classic old cars, both American and British with pictures included. The ice cream van page is just one small section from the Old Classic Car site. So, I recommend to view rest of the site too for other neat stuff.

Classic Old Car - Ice Cream Vans
http://www.oldclassiccar.co.uk/icecreamvans.htm

Good Bye Mr. Whipple

Good Bye Mr. Whipple. Dick Wilson who played as Charmin's Mr. Whipple on tv for 21 years with 500 commercials under his wing(whoa!), has passed away today at age 91 from natural causes.

*Update: March 28 2008 - Link is no longer valid

Yahoo News
http://snipurl.com/1uub7



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bl9uwFiXFY





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbXPjzM5no4