Culture

When Jagger and Jimi, Pink Floyd and The Cream, Rocked the Rafters at Ricky-Tick

By Ben Marks — The first time Colin Mansfield saw the Rolling Stones, he was 14 years old. Unlike other 20th-century kids, he didn’t have to wait in line for hours to score a ticket. Nor would he ever know the experience of his 21st-century counterparts, who would learn the hard w…

Read More

More Culture

When Jagger and Jimi, Pink Floyd and The Cream, Rocked the Rafters at Ricky-TickFalling in Love Again with the Haunting Sounds of Interwar Polish TangoWanna-Beats: In 1959, Café Bizarre Gave Straights an Entree Into Beatnik CultureThe Art of Dignity: Making Beauty Amid the Ugliness of WWII Japanese American CampsGreat Glass Coffin Scam: When Hucksters Sold the Fantasy of Death Without DecayDay of the Dolphin: How Vintage Florida Kitsch Masked a Grim RealityGiving Thanks: Jefferson Airplane Guitarist Sheds the Rock-Star Mask to Tell His TruthWas Robin Williams' Art Collection a Window on His Troubled Mind?Demolishing the California Dream: How San Francisco Planned Its Own Housing CrisisUnited States of Protest: A Citizen's Guide to 250 Years of ResistanceFrom Yosemite to Bears Ears, Erasing Native Americans From U.S. National ParksMasher Menace: When American Women First Confronted Their Sexual HarassersFrom Folk to Acid Rock, How Marty Balin Launched the San Francisco Music SceneFrom Boy Geniuses to Mad Scientists: How Americans Got So Weird About ScienceHippies, Guns, and LSD: The San Francisco Rock Band That Was Too Wild For the SixtiesProp Master: How a "Star Wars" Superfan Scoured the Earth for Space DebrisThe Gay Old Days: If You Really Want To See San Francisco's Future, Go Back to 1957When Medieval Monks Couldn't Cure the Plague, They Launched a Luxe Skincare LineSelf-Righteous Devils: What Ozark Vigilantes of the 1880s Reveal About Modern AmericaSubversive Sounds: The Straight Men Who Made America's First Gay RecordBlack Panther Women: The Unsung Activists Who Fed and Fought for Their CommunityBehind the Scenes With Janis Joplin and Big Brother, Rehearsing for the Summer of LoveStrummin' on the Old Banjo: How an African Instrument Got a Racist ReinventionUnusual Suspects: Finding the Humanity in Vintage Mugshots400 Years of Equator Hazings: Surviving the Stinky Wrath of King Neptune's CourtThe Sissies, Hustlers, and Hair Fairies Whose Defiant Lives Paved the Way For StonewallSingapore's Beloved and Creepy Wonderland, Built on the Healing Powers of Tiger BalmSacred Anatomy: Slicing Open Wax Women in the Name of Science and GodThe Polyamorous Christian Socialist Utopia That Made Silverware for Proper AmericansRailway Paradise: How a Fine-Dining Empire Made the Southwest Palatable to OutsidersIf You're Too Young to Remember the Magic of Tower Records, Here's What You MissedGoat Rituals and Tree-Trunk Gravestones: The Peculiar History of Life InsuranceHow a '60s Power Couple Taught Architects and Dancers To Find Their Inner HippieOur Pungent History: Sweat, Perfume, and the Scent of DeathHow America Bought and Sold Racism, and Why It Still MattersDid the CIA's Experiments With Psychedelic Drugs Unwittingly Create the Grateful Dead?At Home With Horror: Metallica's Kirk Hammett Embraces His Inner MonsterSixties Nostalgia Burnout: I'm So Sick of Talkin' 'Bout My G-G-GenerationThe Sharecropper's Daughter Who Made Black Women Proud of Their HairFemale Spies and Gender-Bending Soldiers Changed the Course of the Civil WarAnita Pointer: Civil-Rights Activist, Pop Star, and Serious Collector of Black MemorabiliaLife on Pluto, Circa 1959Healing Spas and Ugly Clubs: How Victorians Taught Us to Treat People With DisabilitiesCassette Revolution: Why 1980s Tape Tech Is Still Making Noise in Our Digital WorldThe Magician Who Astounded the World by Conjuring Spirits and Talking with MummiesAt the First Rock Festival, Pianos Fell From the SkyDon't Call Them Bums: The Unsung History of America's Hard-Working HoboesThe Dead Files: Rock Art, Artifacts, and Psychedelic Office Supplies Up for GrabsFrom Rubble to Riches: The World's Fair That Raised San Francisco From the AshesSex and Suffering: The Tragic Life of the Courtesan in Japan's Floating WorldNew Evidence of Ancient Child-Trafficking Network Unearthed in Maya Sacrifice CaveLike Iggy Pop? Thank Your GrandparentsLove Among the Ruins: Traveling Museum Excavates the Artifacts of Lost RelationshipsLaika and Her Comrades: The Soviet Space Dogs Who Took Giant Leaps for MankindFlipping Out Over Handheld MoviesFraternizing With the Enemy: The Christmas Truce of 1914Slut-Shaming, Eugenics, and Donald Duck: The Scandalous History of Sex-Ed MoviesGhosts in the Machines: The Devices and Daring Mediums That Spoke for the DeadWill John Lennon’s "Paperback Writer" Guitar Be a Million-Dollar Seller?The Struggle in Black and White: Activist Photographers Who Fought for Civil RightsThe Reclusive, Doll-Collecting Copper Queen of Fifth AvenueWhat America Can Learn From Berlin's Struggle to Face Its Violent PastWhy Nerdy White Guys Who Love the Blues Are Obsessed With a Wisconsin Chair FactoryTiki Hangover: Unearthing the False Idols of America's South Seas FantasyBlack Glamour Power: The Stars Who Blazed a Trail for Beyoncé and Lupita Nyong'oJem, the Truly Outrageous, Triple-Platinum '80s Rocker Who Nearly Took Down BarbieStraight Razors and Social Justice: The Empowering Evolution of Black BarbershopsIn Living Color: The Forgotten 19th-Century Photo Technology that Romanticized AmericaGuys and Dolls: Veteran Toy Designer Wrestles With the Industry's Gender DivideMeet the Irreverent Librarian Who's Taking on the Music NerdsLearning to Love Death: New Museum Takes a Walk on the Shadow SideThe Last Laugh: Why Clowns Will Never DieWho Were the First Teenagers?Why Aren't Stories Like '12 Years a Slave' Told at Southern Plantation Museums?L.A.'s Wildest Cafeteria Served Utopian Fantasy With a Side of EnchiladasWhat's the Reno Cure for Valentines Gone Wrong? D-I-V-O-R-C-E.Dreams of the Forbidden City: When Chinatown Nightclubs Beckoned HollywoodStorybook Apocalypse: Beasts, Comets, and Other Signs of the End TimesSelling Shame: 40 Outrageous Vintage Ads Any Woman Would Find OffensiveBeing The Beatles: Untold Stories from the Fab Four's Legendary North American ToursHow We Used to Give Thanks in WartimeA Frenzy of Trumpets: Why Brass Musicians Can't Resist Serbia's Wildest FestivalWomen and Children: The Secret Weapons of World War I Propaganda PostersCan't Buy Me Love: How Romance Wrecked Traditional MarriageTreats or Tricks? Unfortunate Vintage Candy WrappersReturn to 'The Crypt': Jack Davis Resurrects the Crypt-KeeperJeepers Creepers! Why Dark Rides Scare the Pants Off UsThe World's First Hunk: Why We're Obsessed with Muscle MenExtraordinary Collection of Counterculture Literature Up for AuctionThe Real Mermaids of San Marcos, TexasUntangling the Tale of the Seven Sutherland Sisters and Their 37 Feet of HairHow a Gang of Harmonica Geeks Saved the Soul of the Blues HarpWarning! These 1950s Movie Gimmicks Will Shock YouFrom Little Fanny to Fluffy Ruffles: The Scrappy History of Paper DollsSinging the Lesbian Blues in 1920s HarlemTrailing Angela Davis, from FBI Flyers to 'Radical Chic' ArtA Filthy History: When New Yorkers Lived Knee-Deep in TrashCalifornia Cool: How the Wetsuit Became the Surfer's Second SkinOur Dad, the Water Witch of WyomingThe Unfiltered History of Rolling Papers, Plus Tommy Chong's Big Fat Jamaican VacationPin-Up Queens: Three Female Artists Who Shaped the American Dream GirlSay Ahhh: An Oral Surgeon's Quest to Reimagine the Garage-Band Guitar'The Great Gatsby' Still Gets Flappers WrongLove at First Kite: How Pizza and Pente Led to One Oklahoman's High-Flying ObsessionDigging for the Perfect Beat: Davey D on the Vinyl Roots of Hip-HopDying To Go Retro? This Modern-Day Morticia Gives Death A MakeoverDr. Seuss, the Mad Hatter: A Peek Inside His Secret ClosetBlack Is Beautiful: Why Black Dolls MatterThe Mao Mango Cult of 1968 and the Rise of China's Working ClassHappy Valentine's Day, I Hate YouToys That Were Made to Be BrokenHappy Kids on Christmas MorningYou'd Better Watch Out: Krampus Is Coming to TownHello Sailor! The Nautical Roots of Popular TattoosNostalgia is Magic: Tavi Gevinson Remixes Teen CultureIs Our Retro Obsession Ruining Everything?Read My Rings: The Oldest Living Tree Tells AllAbandoned Suitcases Reveal Private Lives of Insane Asylum PatientsWar on Women, Waged in Postcards: Memes From the Suffragist EraCould Your Stuff Be Haunted? Ghostbusting the Creepiest Antiques20 Halloween Costumes So Unsexy, They're Downright ScarySex! Gore! Scary Monsters! Attack of the Mexican B-Movie AdsDecoding Secret Societies: What Are All Those Old Boys' Clubs Hiding?Girlie Pens, Again? Why Ordinary Things Go PinkCool for Sale, From Beatnik Bongos to Hipster SpecsWhat Were We Thinking? The Top 10 Most Dangerous AdsWhen the Wild Imagination of Dr. Seuss Fueled Big OilGetting It On: The Covert History of the American CondomBaby's First Butcher Shop, Circa 1900Before Camping Got Wimpy: Roughing It With the VictoriansCowboys vs. Spacemen: How the Toy Chest Was WonLove Boats: The Delightfully Sinful History of CanoesMy Little Pony Smackdown: Girls vs. BroniesSea-Monkeys and X-Ray Spex: Collecting the Bizarre Stuff Sold in the Back of Comic BooksMake Me Mod! Top 10 'Mad Men' EssentialsBlueprint for the Occupy Movement? Read the Protest Manifestos of the 1960sRockin' at the Rollarena, Pre-Summer of LoveThe High Price of a Funky ChristmasBefore Sesame Street and Electric Mayhem, a Crude Kermit Lip Synced Pop StandardsIf 'Pan Am' Takes a Nosedive, It Won't Be For a Lack of Authentic, Vintage PropsOccupy Boardwalk: How Games Got GreedyTaxidermy Comes Alive! On the Web, the Silver Screen, and in Your Living RoomDigging Up the Weirdest Old Books and Comics From the Thrift-Store Bargain BinsThe Inside Scoop on Fake BarfWhen Being a Lesbian Was Profitable, For MenCyanide, Uranium, and Ammonium Nitrate: When Kids Really Had Fun With ScienceFound Photos: When Rock Lost Its InnocenceGirlie Glasses: A Peep Show With Your BeerHow Snake Oil Got a Bad Rap (Hint: It Wasn't The Snakes' Fault)How Science Made Your Dino Toys ExtinctThe Woman Behind Bettie PageLady Gaga, Innovator or Copycat? We Dissect “Born This Way”Should Record Store Day Exclude Online Shops?Lost and Found: John Lennon Granny GlassesHellfire and Damnation in Your Back PocketShow and Tellers Reunite Japanese Family With Their World War II LetterMarilyn Monroe's Naked Attempt to Outshine Elizabeth TaylorThe Day Johnny Cash Flipped Off Jim MarshallMickey Is a Punk Rocker NowA Beatle Slept With This: Pieces of the ManiaWhere Did All These Fembots Come From?Great Guitars: A Uke to Pay for DentistryDaniel H. Wilson on Robot Uprisings and Hollywood Sci-Fi BlockbustersElvis Presley, Sun Records, and Push MarksA Mad Day Out with the Beatles, 1968The Mysterious Origins of Ouija BoardsRetrofuturism: The Year 2000 and Beyond!Letter from Jack Kerouac to Marlon BrandoSteiff I Love: Vintage Panda BearsDreaming of a Posh Christmas, in PostcardsVintage 1970s Lunch Boxes Revisited: When Pop Culture Ruled the PlaygroundBefore Steampunk: Star Wars’ 1800s RootsGreat Guitars: The Martin Concert UkuleleJack White foils eBay flippers, angers fansGreat Guitars: The Origins of the Concert UkeThe Bromance, Found in Vintage PhotographyVintage Toy Robots: How To Spot The Real Lilliputs From the ReprosAttack of the Vintage Toy Robots! Justin Pinchot on Japan’s Coolest Postwar ExportSteiff I Love: Record Peter, aka JockoAnti-War Movement Before Hippies Awesome 1963 Fender Jaguar Electric Guitar!A Life of Cards, From Bridge to MagicThe New Robot Is Your Old Teddy BearKatsina or Kachina? Barry Walsh on the Spiritual Roots of Native American DollsSecrets of the Blue Note Vault: Rediscovering Monk, Blakey, and HancockYour Turntable Is Not Dead: Inside Jack White’s Vinyl Record EmpireFightin’ Femmes: Unmasking Comic Book SuperheroinesStephen M. H. Braitman on the British Invasion, from the Beatles to the Sex PistolsHarvey Pekar: The Splendor of Ordinary LifeVinyl Is Smashing AgainLegendary Luthier Rick Turner on Howe-Orme GuitarsUkulele Collector Andy Roth: An Interview with Collectors WeeklyEyes on the BlythesWho's That Kodak Girl? Early Camera Ads Depict Women as Adventurous ShutterbugsAntique Mahjong Sets: An Antidote to Our Antisocial Internet SocietyMod Began Here: The Spot Where '60s Teens Danced All Night to Northern Soul MusicGolden Age Comics: When Captain America Punched the Lights Out of HitlerMartins vs. Gibsons: The Evolution of American Acoustic GuitarsYoungbloods Guitarist Banana Talks Vintage Banjos and the Late Earl ScruggsTo Catch A Thief: A Rare Book Expert on His Literary ObsessionsAuthentic Vintage Props, the Silent Stars of 'Titanic' and Martin Scorsese's 'The Aviator''Mad Men' Prop Master Scott Buckwald Explains How He Re-Creates the '60sHunting Down the Most Collectible Movie Posters, from 1930s Horror to 1960s Sci-FiCollecting James Bond, Doctor Who, and The BeatlesWhy People Flip Over Vintage Pinball MachinesRay Bradbury, ace doodlerThe Art of the Movie PosterPsych Out: The Trippy Side of Vintage VinylWhen Superheroes Took Over Comic BooksSpinning at 78 RPM with Record Collector Gary HerzenstielRita Smith on the Story of Children’s BooksThe Disappearing Art of Porcelain SignsThe Birth and Evolution of Victor Victrola Antique PhonographsThe Force of Collecting Star Wars CardsLes Pauls, Strats, and Other Cult GuitarsThe Zen of Ken, or Life as Barbie's BoyfriendWhen Postcards Were the Social NetworkArchtops, Hollowbodies, and Jimi's LegacyStuck on Comic Character PinbacksSigns, Tins, and Other Advertising AntiquesPiecing Together the History of Jigsaw PuzzlesBeatles 45s To Make You Twist and ShoutGetting Close to Marilyn MonroeSelling Soap and Smokes With Victorian Trade CardsMalcolm Warrington Invites You to Learn about Victorian Greeting Cards