Weybosset is a historic street in Providence, Rhode Island.
Its name is Native American and means “crossing place.”

The oldest indoor shopping mall in the US was built here in 1828.
Locals call it The Arcade and it’s located at 65 Weybosset Street.

Another historic building is at 220 Weybosset.
The Loew’s State Theater (now the Providence Performing Arts Center) was built here in 1928.

Weybosset Street is still a shopping and cultural destination for locals and tourists alike.

RadioShack is one of the oldest retailers in the United States.
The first store/mail-order operation opened for business in 1921, in downtown Boston.

It was founded by Theodore and Milton Deutschmann.
They chose the name RadioShack because they specialized in radio equipment (primarily for ships and ham operators) and the space was small.

This RadioShack catalog is from 1962.
It was a time when the company was struggling financially.
But, a year later the Tandy Corporation bought it.
They helped turn RadioShack into a billion dollar company.

Steeple Chase Park entrance. Coney Island 1905

These were the halcyon days of the Steeplechase Park.

This famed amusement part at Coney Island opened in 1897.
Here one could ride the Ferris Wheel, the Human Roulette Wheel and play inside the Pavilion of Fun.
And of course there was the Steeplechase ride itself.

My mom has fond memories of Steeplechase.
However, by the time I was going there in the 1970s, it was gone.
The amusement park closed in 1964 and was torn down in 1965.

Detail from postcard

Detail of entrance to Steeplechase Park

WHY DO FLAMINGOS STAND ON ONE LEG?
To conserve body heat.
At least that’s what most researchers believe.

Flamingos spend a lot of time wading in water.
If they put both legs in the water, then they’d loose a lot of heat, so they alternate legs.
Also, most flamingos prefer to rest their head to the right.

Now, the flamingos in this postcard are not resting on one leg.
Therefore it’s not really an accurate picture of the birds.
Oh well, it’s still cute.
I have this postcard framed and display it everytime this year.

1940 Samsonite luggage magazine ad

“Samson” luggage was a product line made by the Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company in Denver, Colorado.
It was named after the Biblical character Samson.

The company wanted to convey that their suitcases were durable and “strong enough to stand on.”
This helped differentiate their luggage from companies that stressed price over quality.
In the end, this advertising tactic worked.
Samsonite went on to become one of the most powerful international brands.
The Biblical hero would be proud.

The Dam on Pawcatuck River in Bradford, Rhode Island

This postcard has a postmark date of 1915.

The Pawcatuck River forms part of the boundary between Rhode Island and Connecticut.
Its course is about 30 miles and passes through five towns in Rhode Island.
There are eight dams along the river.

The name is derived from an Algonquian Indian word and means “open divided stream.”

This week, President Barak Obama spoke at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He laid out his plans for NASA, which included an eventual manned mission to Mars.

Obama’s not the first world leader to have grandiose plans for the red planet.
Discussions about space exploration and dreams of visiting other planets have been around for centuries.

Above is an artistic example from 1901.
It’s a great graphic for the tune A Signal From Mars.
The song was written by Raymond Taylor and arranged by E.T. Paull (yes ET, get it?)

And listen to the tune!
John Lacalle's Band: A Signal from Mars (sample)

“…I don’t know if all of you have ever heard about any of my business endeavors or not, but some of ‘em weren’t too good.

Probably the worst thing I ever did was movin’ away from Mr. Youngman. We went and moved to Dallas, Texas, in 1957, but Mr. Youngman built a Holiday Inn in Joplin, Missouri, and called it Mickey Mantle’s Holiday Inn.
And we were doin’ pretty good there, and Mr. Youngman said, ‘You know, you’re half of this thing, so why don’t you do something for it.’ So we had real good chicken there and I made up a slogan…

…I made up the slogan for our chicken and I said, ‘To get a better piece of chicken, you’d have to be a rooster.’
And I don’t know if that’s what closed up our Holiday Inn or not, but we didn’t do too good after that…”

To read the full speech by Mickey Mantle click here

Vintage German Easter postcard

European Easter postcard

German embossed Easter postcard

vintage Easter postcard

Coca-Cola ad from 1959

Throughout the years, the advertisers of Coca-Cola have shown they’re geniuses at marketing their product.
They’ve created more hits than misses.
Afterall, there’s the iconic logo.
Then there are the many memorable advertising slogans.

Pictured here is an ad for the 1959 “Be Really Refreshed” campaign.
This magazine ad belongs to my Coke collector brother-in-law, John.

You can see a complete list of Coca-Cola slogans and collectible items here.