July 20, 2011
Here we are, in 2011, a.k.a. “The Future.” We’ve made leaps and bounds in science that we couldn’t even imagine 50 years ago. You’d think the science toys of our age would be mind-bending in their ability to awe and inspire young chemists and biologists. Instead, kids today are being protected within an inch of their lives, while adults apparently live in dread of unsupervised children running amuck with the … (continue reading)
July 13, 2011
What would jazz look like if it had a physical presence? According to Sherry Ann Byrd, a celebrated quilt maker who posts on Show & Tell, it might look something like the hand-made “M-provisational” quilts produced by six generations of her family, who descended from a former slave named Edward “Ned” Titus in Freestone County, Texas.
Her family’s creations—like the improvisational quilts of so … (continue reading)
July 8, 2011
On February 26, 1955, a Cleveland deejay named Tommy Edwards became the first music promoter to book a Southern singing sensation named Elvis Presley north of the Mason-Dixon line. The event was the Hillbilly Jamboree at Cleveland’s Circle Theater. That fall, Edwards brought Presley back to the Cleveland area for several more shows, including one on October 20, 1955, at Brooklyn High School. On that … (continue reading)
June 28, 2011
People are always telling us about their collections. Some even send us links to Web pages they’ve built. Naturally we encourage them to post their stuff on Show & Tell, but every once in a while a collection stops us in our tracks.
“Mint-condition cars don’t have the same kind of soul.”
That’s what happened when we heard from Michael Spengler, a German photographer who is … (continue reading)
June 24, 2011
A beer is served in a glass with a pretty woman on the front. As you drink, something catches your eye—inside your glass you can see the bare butt cheeks of the same glamour girl presented fully dressed on the outside. Maybe you’re a little startled; maybe it makes you smile.
“The earliest peek-a-boo glasses feature a cartoonish woman with a freakishly big head and eyes, like … (continue reading)
June 23, 2011
When we started inviting people to post items from their collections on Show & Tell, we knew that sooner or later we’d be faced with a Nazi swastika. At first, we simply followed the lead of eBay and deleted anything with a Nazi swastika on it that was not a coin or a stamp. But then we noticed that the handful of people who were uploading these … (continue reading)
June 17, 2011
Most serious movie-poster collectors search for that perfect copy of “The Bride of Frankenstein” from 1934, “Casablanca” from 1942, “The Day the Earth Stood Still” from 1951, or Alfred Hitchcock’s “Vertigo” from 1958. But for the last half-dozen or so years, a new type of collector has appeared, one whose sights are set on contemporary, limited-edition, signed-and-numbered, screenprinted posters designed not by the marketing departments of … (continue reading)
June 8, 2011
Good news: The hottest look on the beach this summer is vintage. Retro pin-up style swimsuits that cover more flesh and flatter the figure have been seen on everyone from Megan Fox, Ke$ha, and Taylor Swift to Lindsay Lohan, Meg Ryan, and Marisa Tomei.
At last, we can all breath a sigh of relief after sucking in our … (continue reading)
June 3, 2011
If your pop is of a certain age, his rock-star dreams probably got no farther than his parents’ garage. You know why: He regularly stumbles over the lead notes of “Don’t Stop Believin’,” turns the snarling main riff of “Enter Sandman” into a train wreck, and butchers the ringing power chords of “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.” Instead of suffering silently through his atonal cacophony, give the old guy an incentive … (continue reading)
May 31, 2011
The last time we spoke to Justin Pinchot, he took us on a guided tour of his collection of toy robots. Recently, Justin sent us photos and a video (see below) of his latest toy, a 1959 Goggomobil TS 250 Coupe. According to Justin, less than 67,000 of these German microcars (it’s just 10 feet long) were manufactured between 1957 and 1969. Like other Goggomobil … (continue reading)
May 26, 2011
Time was, humans didn’t have to worry much about getting exercise. When we had to kill, gather, grow, or herd our own food, working out happened naturally. Of course, as soon as we figured out how to avoid those laborious chores, we did. Not long after, we had to come up with new ways of staying in shape; hence, exercise.
“Kellogg had some unorthodox ideas about health.”
Exercising is a … (continue reading)
May 20, 2011
These days, “snake oil” is synonymous with quackery, the phoniest of phony medicines. A “snake oil salesman” promises you the world, takes your money, and is long gone by the time you realize the product in your hands is completely worthless.
But get this: The original snake oil actually worked. Save this … (continue reading)
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