Ball Clocks

The time is 2:43

A novelty fad of the 1970s and early '80s, ball clocks told time with steel balls and rails. A real upgrade from boring hands and digital readouts.

The flipside came at noon or midnight, when all the steel balls would dump in a jarring noise into a plastic cup at noon. And the cycle repeated.

They're still being made and sold in some novelty shops.

Top view.

The Regina Hexaphone (1908-1916)

 

The Regina Hexaphone (no, we're not talking about the popular North Carolina band) was the very first successful fully automatic coin operated jukebox. It played six cylinder records in a rotating selector instead of flat discs.

The Regina Company, established in 1889 originally made music boxes (among them, coin operated jukebox prototypes.) But competition from the phonograph forced them to expand into coin operated cylinder phonograph players

Photo: Mr. Victor

But you may know Regina best for their vacuum cleaners.

Your '80s Bathroom

"Benihana" Marilyn Chambers (1977)

 

Following on the heels of '70s porn star Andrea True, who scored a massive Top 40 hit with "More More More" (as The Andrea True Connection) in 1976. Fellow porn actress Marilyn Chambers tried her hand at disco-pop music, hoping for similar success. 

Oh well. Nice try.

And yes, it's all true, Marilyn Chambers was also the fresh faced young mom on the early '70s boxes of Ivory Snow laundry detergent (above.) Once Proctor & Gamble found out about her porn career, the box was quickly redesigned with a different model (below.)

Harmonic Convergence.....Redneck Style

Courtesy of W. Lane Startin @ Superfluous Bloviations (Photo taken today at Fred Meyer, Twin Falls, ID)

Rain Lamps

Just before New Years, I tossed up this subject to those in my Facebook circle, just to see if anyone noticed. Many did. So whilst preparing my list of beautifully overlooked subjects I need to cover (I'll wait until my nausea is over before I get around to "twerking" and "The Harlem Shake"), I put this on top.

They're called Rain Lamps. Some called them "swag lamps", but swags are these:

...and they weren't "oil lamps" Which look like these:

Rain lamps were popular in the late '60s and early '70s. They were kind of a lava light for your parents.

They almost always had some kind of Venus sculpture in them, surrounded by plastic foliage (although some had a clock or even a cabin in them.) They worked by using a pump that ran rain lamp oil (which was pretty much mineral oil - any other kind of oil will gum up the pump) over several strands of taut 30-40 lb fishing line to create a slow motion effect of rain. The oil also had to be changed and the lamp and pump cleaned every year or the oil gets rancid. For lighting, you used low wattage soft light of any colour.

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

You can find them on eBay. But prepare to fork out a lot of money for one in really nice condition. However restoring one takes time and work, but it isn't rocket science.



  

Wear-Ever Popcorn Pumper

The Wear-Ever Popcorn Pumper was a product from 1978 that used hot air to pop popcorn. It was a surprisingly good machine, albeit noisy as hell.

 Here's how they functioned.

I still have mine and I still use it. It's healthier than nuking microwave popcorn. And a lot cheaper.

1960's Sunbeam Rotisserie Carousel

These babies were fantastic. Basting your roast, chicken or turkey in it's own juices.

RIP The Incandescent Light Bulb

As of today, January 1, 2014, incandescent light bulbs can no longer be manufactured for the USA. (Contrary to popular belief, you can still sell them - there's lots of old stock still floating around out there. They just can no longer be manufactured anymore outside of industrial use. And once the old general consumer stock is gone, they're gone.)

I have two boxes of 40 watt Sylvanias. And they are my nest egg. There will not be just a mere eBay bidding war, but riots in the streets before I sell out.

It's the end of an era that saw us from the 1870s to 2013. Now the only light bulbs made are those weird curly CFL things and LED lights.

THESE fucking things. When they first came out, I thought they were pretty cool because you didn't have to change them as often. Until I had to see them everywhere.

Now I understand the reasons why we're going this way. Incandescent lights put out more heat than light and you do pay more in your electric bill for it. But my kitchen always seemed a little warmer with incandescents. More home-like. I get in the mood for actual cooking easier with incandescents.

And incandescents can last a VERY LONG time. Here's proof:

 I switched to all CFL in my place a year ago and my monthly electric bill went down by $10. But I'm light sensitive and these things are starting to seriously irk me. They glow too white.

It's like an analog to digital conversion. It's good, but too sterile. You can't work your Easy Bake oven with a CFL. And there was such a variety of incandescent lights. All colours and styles. It's going to take CFLs a LONG time to catch up with it all.

The CFL also lacks something else. A warm glow. That's what I miss. And LEDs are almost freakish in their brightness.

And then there's that little mercury problem. Granted it has as much mercury as an average transistor radio. Problem is, some of those radios lasted us for YEARS before they croaked.

My beloved Sears AM/FM transistor radio (1980-1983)....Sigh!

The CFL light bulb is also unpredictable. I put one bulb in a continuously running outdoor light. And it only lasted 5 months The next one burned for over a year. I seem to find that problem a lot with CFLs. 

But change happens.

I accept it. But something deep and subtle is always missing....

Fake Snow

Lysol Laundry Sanitzer TV Commercial (1985)

This commercial used to crack me up....... 

Your '70s Bathroom

 

 

 

 

Airwick Magic Mushroom

'70s Tupperware

In the 1970's, Tupperware came in four basic colours: Orange, Yellow Avocado Green and Brown.

No others.

The reason was because these actually were the basic colours of '70s kitchens.

Indeed it wasn't until 1980 when Tupperware added different colours to their kitchen lines. And initially, only one - Beige. Others were added a few years later.