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Meet the Computer Critters

The Retroist 30 Jul 2010, 5:00 pm CEST

Back in 1985, if you wanted high quality Computer Information, you didn’t need books or the Internet. You had Della, Hacker, Tabby, Stanley, Harold, Harriet and Foxworthy — better known collectively as the Computer Critters. Their purpose is solely to teach you about computers. So watch and most importantly learn.

Computers are not Toys

Input Device

Database Management Systems

Word Processing

Fashion Fridays! Vintage Inspired Swimsuits

LuLu's Vintage Blog 30 Jul 2010, 5:00 pm CEST

Black bikini with white polka dots.

You can purchase this new swimsuit for $68- over at Anthropologie

Black halter neck swimsuit.

You can purchase this new swimsuit for $148- over at Anthropologie

Blue swimsuit with polka dots.

You can purchase this new swimsuit for $118- over at Anthropologie

Two Forgotten Friday Favorites: REM

Go Retro! 30 Jul 2010, 4:32 pm CEST

As if I didn't need another reason to feel ~~old~~ older, I heard on the radio the other day that Michael Stipe has turned 50 years old. That just doesn't sound right - seems like only yesterday my high school and college friends were buying REM CDs. While I'm not a huge fan of the group, the milestone birthday seems like a good enough reason to pick them for today's Two Forgotten Favorites. One of them you actually may not have heard before - it's a remake of a 1971 Tommy James hit (after he left the Shondells) called Dragging the Line. REM's version appears on the soundtrack for Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

My other choice is 1989's Stand - one of my favorite REM songs.

I'm off to the Cape later today and won't be online, so I hope you all have a great weekend. Stay tuned for August's Retro Hottie of the Month, which may be a day or two late being posted!

Are you Man Enough to Wear them?

The Retroist 30 Jul 2010, 4:00 pm CEST

From this early 70′s magazine ad comes what might possible be the worst named product on the planet, the “Hell Bent for Leather N’Lead Bracelets. (They Turn your Arm Power On! Really! OK, Maybe not….). This Product came from the mind of Fitness Guru Joe Weider, Founder of Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition, and publisher of most of the well known fitness magazines out there. He is also famous for his advertising in the early 70s featuring a young Arnold Schwarzenegger, like in this ad. Oh, and he was also investigated for some of the false claims he made about his products….like the claims he made about this product.

So let me get this straight…..I can lose weight…..with no exercise…simply by wearing these LEAD bracelets?!!?!? Where do I sign up?? Or maybe that dramatic weight loss is simply due to the lead poisoning…….

What Stormtroopers Do On Their Day Off

The Retroist 30 Jul 2010, 3:00 pm CEST

Here’s a fun series of images made with Star Wars figures and lots of imagination, in honor of Star Wars’ thirty-three and one-sixth year anniversary. Even Imperial troops need to take a break. And when they do, they’re just like you and me (only much tinier). Hope you get a kick out of it. And there is a follow-up linked on top on that page.

stormtroopers

[more] What Stormtroopers Do On Their Day Off

Early letterhead from the offices of legendary Manchester-based...

Letterheady 30 Jul 2010, 2:15 pm CEST

Early letterhead from the offices of legendary Manchester-based record label, Factory Records.

Factory Records, c.1980 | Submitted by Ian B.

Frank Zappa on Make Me Laugh

The Retroist 30 Jul 2010, 2:00 pm CEST

Here is Franks Zappa appearing on the short-lived syndicated game show “Make Me Laugh” back in 1978.

Curtis Jinkins

Yummy Fresh grain feed! 30 Jul 2010, 11:04 am CEST

grain edit / curtis jinkins

“This is my website. There are many like it. But this one is mine.”

So goes the headline at Curtis Jinkins’s website. Curtis’s website is fairly standard: links to work on the left-hand side, and a lot of white space. What’s unique and nice to see is the repeating logo and background images; they make you look twice at what you’re viewing. It’s a small but subtle touch that adds a bit of dimension to the site.

Curtis’s work also reflects a unique perspective. A lot of people make gig-posters. But it’s nice to see the appreciation to composition, layout, typography, and color choices evident in Curtis’s work. I love when a designer can move freely between between various fields, like poster design, illustration and identity work.

grain edit / curtis jinkins

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National Air Races, 1935 | Source

Letterheady 30 Jul 2010, 10:51 am CEST

National Air Races, 1935 | Source

“A Nation-Wide Democratic Love Feast”. Young...

Letterheady 30 Jul 2010, 10:48 am CEST

“A Nation-Wide Democratic Love Feast”.

Young Democratic Clubs of America, c.1935 | Source

Metronome magazine, 1961 | Submitted anonymously

Letterheady 30 Jul 2010, 10:44 am CEST

Metronome magazine, 1961 | Submitted anonymously

Album Covers: The Harder They Come

Martin Klasch 30 Jul 2010, 2:37 am CEST

Jimmy Cliff - "The Harder They Come"---

Play-Doh Rainbow Rings

The Retroist 29 Jul 2010, 10:00 pm CEST

I am not sure I would call Rainbow Rings and obscure Play-Doh toy, but I played with a lot of Play-Doh when I was a kid and not once have I had the honor of making a Rainbow Ring.

I Could Go for Some Shake ‘n Bake Tonight

The Retroist 29 Jul 2010, 8:00 pm CEST

When I was a kid, Shake ‘n Bake was a real treat for my family. It has been decades since I have had it, but I think I feel chicken tonight….

shake N bake ad

J-E-L-L-Hell to the NO!

Go Retro! 29 Jul 2010, 7:37 pm CEST

You know the old ad slogan "There’s always room for JELLO!"? Well, not in this tummy there isn’t. Truth be told, I can’t stomach the stuff. You wouldn’t think so, considering JELLO is a retro dessert, but I never really ate it as a kid and I don’t eat it, now. I feel a little bit bad putting the smackdown on artificially flavored and colored gelatin, especially after coming across a cool blog yesterday dedicated to all things JELLO called The Joys of JELLO. The blog’s author, Theresa Rohrer, created the blog “in order to educate the public about the awesomeness of Jell-O, to provide a place to commemorate magnificent Jell-O creations, and to furnish tasty recipes for home use, and party décor.” Ah, so when I saw that 1963 Avocado Strawberry Ring recipe, she wasn’t being sarcastic when she said the mold was “extremely tasty”? Hmmmm, OK. Theresa if you ever read this, please know that I really do think your blog is cool! It’s just that I personally don’t like JELLO, and here are the reasons why:

1. It Feels Icky in My Mouth

Admit it – JELLO is slimy. Call me weird, but I just don’t like something wiggly and slippery on my tongue, even though it melts in your mouth.

2. It’s Made From Gross Stuff

It wasn’t until I was a teen, I believe, when I learned the awful truth about gelatin, the main ingredient in JELLO. That truth is that it’s (quoting Wikipedia here) “a protein produced by partial hydrolysis of collagen extracted from the boiled bones, connective tissues, organs and some intestines of animals such as domesticated cattle, pigs, and horses.”

Ewww, EWWW, EWWWWWWW!!! Good gravy, how can anyone eat THAT? I’ve also read that a meat manufacturer’s process of actually making gelatin is one of the nastiest sights and smells known to mankind. More fun facts from Wikipedia, under Pretreatment: “Maximum fat content of the material should not exceed 1% before the main extraction step. If the raw material is hides and skin, size reduction, washing, removing hair from the hides, and degreasing are the most important pretreatments used to make the hides and skins ready for the main extraction step. Raw material preparation for extraction is done by three different methods: acid, alkali, and enzymatic treatments.”

Just reading that makes me feel like John Hurt's character in Alien just before he met his untimely and horrifying death. Weren't his last words "I don't feel so good."?

3. Truly Terrifying Retro Recipes

I know we’ve all seen the proliferation of vintage JELLO recipes on the many retro blogs out there – there’s a reason why people poke fun out of them. Even though JELLO was invented before the beginning of the 20th century, for some reason it enjoyed an advertising and cookbook heyday during the 50s and 60s. You just gotta wonder who came up with some of this stuff – especially JELLO salads, where unappetizing vegetable bits such as radishes and cabbage are suspended in the wiggly goop, like a science experiment gone horribly wrong.

Now it’s bad enough that people combined carrots with orange flavored JELLO, or broccoli with lime. But way back in the day JELLO actually made a “mixed vegetable” flavor that was meant for the purpose of making JELLO salads with veggies. I'm guessing there's a reason why this flavor is no longer available.

Did I mention that I'm not a JELLO fan? My apologies to those who are, but I couldn't hold back any longer. Please note that I actually like JELLO instant pudding, and pudding pops.

Here's a couple of vintage JELLO commercials, including a ridiculous one for JELLO Salad Week. "MMMMMM....bright, crisp vegetables in cool, shimmering JELLO: *there's* a salad for you!" There's a salad for you, alright!

This Chipmunks one is cool, even with the phallic imagery....yes, I said phallic. Just look at what that rascal Alvin did to a hotdog!

SID Theme Search Engine

The Retroist 29 Jul 2010, 6:00 pm CEST

MOS Technologies

If you are a Commodore fan you might remember how great the music could be. A lot of great music was because of the SID (Sound Interface Device), which was the built-in Programmable Sound Generator chip. Now you can find a lot of SID music players and files on the web, but I was really impressed by this very cool SID Theme Search Engine that allows you to enter a melody and have music that has that melody in it.

Drop by the SID Theme Search Engine

Donkey Kong Arcade on 12 Different Platforms

The Retroist 29 Jul 2010, 5:00 pm CEST

The only ports you won’t find in this compilation are direct arcade/NES emulations (Donkey Kong 64, the original Animal Crossing, GBA (Classic NES series, in case you forgot its existence) and Virtual Console) and the MSX version. The Video is in 2 Parts. How many systems have you played Donkey Kong on?

Video 1 of 2

Video 2 of 2

Filmkonst Magazine

Yummy Fresh grain feed! 29 Jul 2010, 4:45 pm CEST

Filmkonst (filmk) March 1998

Simple but beautiful cover for the now defunct Swedish magazine Filmkonst.

(via things to look at)

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Also available for your viewing pleasure: Icographic Journal, Classic Film Stills,

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Bruce Lee Audition Screen Test

The Retroist 29 Jul 2010, 4:00 pm CEST

You want the visual definition of poise and cool? Check out this Green Hornet audition movie of the great and powerful Bruce Lee.

Retro Computer Stuffed Into An Altoids Tin

Retro Thing 1 Jan 1970, 1:00 am CET

The original RCA COSMAC ELF computer appeared on the front cover of Popular Electronics in August, 1976. It was a single board machine based on the RCA 1802 CPU that cost under $100 to build from a bare board. Another $20 would get you a B&W video display. It was an outstanding value that lingered in the classified section of computer magazines like BYTE well into the early 1980s.

Lee Hart's tiny 1802 Membership Card is an incredibly simple computer built around the classic RCA 1802 chip. The dual board design is small enough to cram into an Altoids tin and includes a front panel with 9 blinky LEDs and 11 subminiature toggle switches. A 25-pin parallel port is also built in.

The system is as simple as it looks. The 1802 CPU is driven by an adjustable RC clock oscillator, and a 28-pin IC socket accepts a 2 to 32 Kilobyte RAM or EPROM chip. There's an 8-bit output port, along with an 8-bit input port and an expansion header. The system operates from a 3V-6V power supply and draws less than 1 mA.

Lee Hart's "Membership Card" Kit [via Make]