http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2013/01/16/wrangler-launches-moisturising-jeans-modelled-by-lizzie-jagger
They're jeans that moisturize your legs. Wouldn't they feel....I don't know, wet, clammy, weird?........
History's Dumpster = GLORIOUS trash! Kitsch, music, fashion, food, history, ephemera, and other memorable and forgotten, famous and infamous pop culture junk and oddities of yesterday and today. Saved from the landfill of time...
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Moisturizing Jeans
http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2013/01/16/wrangler-launches-moisturising-jeans-modelled-by-lizzie-jagger
They're jeans that moisturize your legs. Wouldn't they feel....I don't know, wet, clammy, weird?........
Forgotten Cigarette Brands
(Update 2/18/14: See also my post on electronic cigarettes.)
(Update 3/30/15: See also Forgotten Cigarette Brands Part II)
Cigarettes today are not what they used to be.
Well, let me rephrase that. Cigarettes have always been gross and deadly. But these days, a cigarette smoker is pretty much considered as low as a crackhead in some circles. Though it's nice the smoking awareness campaigns have brought the graphic evils of tobacco to dinner hour TV screens, I have to admit, they're as pointless as the anti-marijuana PSAs of the '60s to the '90s.
Besides, NOTHING can convince an innocent kid not to take up smoking more effectively than a kiss from a chain smoking aunt.
In the old days, you used to have a dizzying variety of cigarette choices available at your local grocery/convenience store (more than 50!). Today, there's about 10 or even fewer brands in most places. Today, most brands are available exclusively over the internet. Retail stores get their stock from a state regulated middleman. Which is why in many states (namely Washington State), there is so little variety.
But for remaining smokers, fire up a menthol and enjoy this stroll down the tobacco aisle of yesteryear....
Tareyton - My dad used to smoke these. No longer available in many areas, but they are available on the internet through RJ Reynolds.
Kent - My mom used to smoke these.
Virginia Slims - Another disappearing brand of women's cigarette.
More - An icky tasting super long and thin "120" cigarette. I snagged a pack of these from the rack at Fred Meyer when I was a kid. They looked weird, so I though they'd taste cool (with that funky brown paper.) They were flat out GROSS.
Satin - "With a LUXURIOUS satin tip", never mind the tobacco inside was garbage. Satin was an '80s upstart brand. I knew of these by the free pack coupons they used to stuff in every Sunday newspaper.
Yves St. Laurant - A fashion designer's death by design. Another '80s brand.
Merit - Another former brand of choice. Of all the low-tars, I actually LIKED Merits. They were tolerable. But Merit was one of those "old peoples" brands that seemed to disappear rapidly.
Doral - A '70s brand.
Multifilter - Known for having two different filters, but the same result.
Vantage - A filter cigarette with a giant hole in the middle of the filter.
Sterling - An 80's brand
Benson & Hedges - Another disappearing brand and the first marketed for the "upscale" crowd.
Eve - A long thin women's cigarette
Viceroy - Never smoked this brand, but it was big in the '60s.
Lucky Strike - Motto "It's toasted" Just like your lungs after smoking a pack.
Chesterfield - A non-filtered smoke, popular from the '20s - the '60s when even by then, it was an "old people's cigarette" Before Kool and their jazz festivals in the '70s and '80s, it was popular with radio DJs (and immortalized as such in Donald Fagan's song "The Nightfly".) I never thought they were that spectacular
Raleigh - This was the brand your old neighbour probably smoked.
Dave's - A '90s brand still being made, Known for it's folksy magazine ads that made you think it was made by some average person, just like you, who wanted a better smoke than what those big corporations offered. Fact: It was made by Phillip-Morris the whole time.
Scotch Buy - Now here was an unusual brand made by RJ Reynolds for a corporate supermarket chain (Safeway and subsidiaries.) Safeway discontinued Scotch Buy and distanced itself as far as possible from the brand in the '90s when cigarette manufacturers were being sued. Smart move. They tasted like crap anyway.
Bel/Air - One of the better menthols. Now vanished.
Carlton - The lowest tar and nicotine of any cigarette (without the nicotine, there's no point in smoking cigarettes.) Memorable for it's plain magazine ads that read. "If you smoke, please try Carlton" The gist was that it was a "safer" cigarette. But they tasted HORRIBLE and the filters were so tight, you can barely draw off of one.
True - Another weird filtered low-tar cigarette.
Misty - Another '80s women's cigarette. Still being made, but instead of women, it's gay men that buy them now.
Lark - I remembered seeing these on the shelves, but I can't remember anyone who ever smoked this brand.
Cheers! (Cough!...hack!...wheeze!)
(Thanks to Cigarettespedia.com for some of the images here....)
(Update 3/30/15: See also Forgotten Cigarette Brands Part II)
Cigarettes today are not what they used to be.
Well, let me rephrase that. Cigarettes have always been gross and deadly. But these days, a cigarette smoker is pretty much considered as low as a crackhead in some circles. Though it's nice the smoking awareness campaigns have brought the graphic evils of tobacco to dinner hour TV screens, I have to admit, they're as pointless as the anti-marijuana PSAs of the '60s to the '90s.
Besides, NOTHING can convince an innocent kid not to take up smoking more effectively than a kiss from a chain smoking aunt.
In the old days, you used to have a dizzying variety of cigarette choices available at your local grocery/convenience store (more than 50!). Today, there's about 10 or even fewer brands in most places. Today, most brands are available exclusively over the internet. Retail stores get their stock from a state regulated middleman. Which is why in many states (namely Washington State), there is so little variety.
But for remaining smokers, fire up a menthol and enjoy this stroll down the tobacco aisle of yesteryear....
Tareyton - My dad used to smoke these. No longer available in many areas, but they are available on the internet through RJ Reynolds.
Kent - My mom used to smoke these.
Virginia Slims - Another disappearing brand of women's cigarette.
More - An icky tasting super long and thin "120" cigarette. I snagged a pack of these from the rack at Fred Meyer when I was a kid. They looked weird, so I though they'd taste cool (with that funky brown paper.) They were flat out GROSS.
Satin - "With a LUXURIOUS satin tip", never mind the tobacco inside was garbage. Satin was an '80s upstart brand. I knew of these by the free pack coupons they used to stuff in every Sunday newspaper.
Yves St. Laurant - A fashion designer's death by design. Another '80s brand.
Merit - Another former brand of choice. Of all the low-tars, I actually LIKED Merits. They were tolerable. But Merit was one of those "old peoples" brands that seemed to disappear rapidly.
Doral - A '70s brand.
Multifilter - Known for having two different filters, but the same result.
Vantage - A filter cigarette with a giant hole in the middle of the filter.
Sterling - An 80's brand
Benson & Hedges - Another disappearing brand and the first marketed for the "upscale" crowd.
Eve - A long thin women's cigarette
Lucky Strike - Motto "It's toasted" Just like your lungs after smoking a pack.
Chesterfield - A non-filtered smoke, popular from the '20s - the '60s when even by then, it was an "old people's cigarette" Before Kool and their jazz festivals in the '70s and '80s, it was popular with radio DJs (and immortalized as such in Donald Fagan's song "The Nightfly".) I never thought they were that spectacular
Raleigh - This was the brand your old neighbour probably smoked.
Dave's - A '90s brand still being made, Known for it's folksy magazine ads that made you think it was made by some average person, just like you, who wanted a better smoke than what those big corporations offered. Fact: It was made by Phillip-Morris the whole time.
Scotch Buy - Now here was an unusual brand made by RJ Reynolds for a corporate supermarket chain (Safeway and subsidiaries.) Safeway discontinued Scotch Buy and distanced itself as far as possible from the brand in the '90s when cigarette manufacturers were being sued. Smart move. They tasted like crap anyway.
Bel/Air - One of the better menthols. Now vanished.
Carlton - The lowest tar and nicotine of any cigarette (without the nicotine, there's no point in smoking cigarettes.) Memorable for it's plain magazine ads that read. "If you smoke, please try Carlton" The gist was that it was a "safer" cigarette. But they tasted HORRIBLE and the filters were so tight, you can barely draw off of one.
True - Another weird filtered low-tar cigarette.
Misty - Another '80s women's cigarette. Still being made, but instead of women, it's gay men that buy them now.
Lark - I remembered seeing these on the shelves, but I can't remember anyone who ever smoked this brand.
Cheers! (Cough!...hack!...wheeze!)
(Thanks to Cigarettespedia.com for some of the images here....)
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
Classic Telephone Exchanges
Back in the day, before mandatory 10 digit dialing, local phone numbers were easier to remember.
They had something called "exchange names", which the first two digits
of a seven digit local number were corresponded to a word, like those
listed below. This is why phones today still have 3 (now 4 letters for 7 and 9) below each
number.
For example, if your number was (and this was one of my OLD phone numbers) 633-3703, with your exchange would be "Melrose" or some variation for 63 as listed below, then 3-3703 or "MElrose -3-3703". In fact, my business card back then actually listed my number as ME3-3703 (with the conventional 633-3703 in parentheses underneath.) Surprised a lot of the old timers!
This system was used widely from the '40s to the early '70s when it was phased over to 7 digit listings. It was immortalized in the Glenn Miller classic "Pennsylvania 6-5000" (which was the phone number to The Hotel Pennsylvania, which Miller frequented before his death in 1944.) Amazingly - it STILL IS.
I still think it's a pretty classy way (if confusing way for those not in the know) to list a phone number......
(From The Bell System's "Notes on Nationwide Dialing, 1955")
For example, if your number was (and this was one of my OLD phone numbers) 633-3703, with your exchange would be "Melrose" or some variation for 63 as listed below, then 3-3703 or "MElrose -3-3703". In fact, my business card back then actually listed my number as ME3-3703 (with the conventional 633-3703 in parentheses underneath.) Surprised a lot of the old timers!
This system was used widely from the '40s to the early '70s when it was phased over to 7 digit listings. It was immortalized in the Glenn Miller classic "Pennsylvania 6-5000" (which was the phone number to The Hotel Pennsylvania, which Miller frequented before his death in 1944.) Amazingly - it STILL IS.
I still think it's a pretty classy way (if confusing way for those not in the know) to list a phone number......
(From The Bell System's "Notes on Nationwide Dialing, 1955")
| 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
ACademy BAldwin CApital CAstle | ADams BElmont BEverly CEdar CEnter CEntral | CHapel CHerry CHestnut CHurchill CIrcle | ALpine BLackburn CLearbrook CLearwater CLifford CLinton | AMherst ANdrew COlfax COlony COngress | BRidge BRoad(way) BRown(ing) CRestview CRestwood | ATlantic ATlas ATwater ATwood AVenue BUtler | AXminster AXtel CYpress |
32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 |
DAvenport DAvis EAst(gate) FAculty FAirfax FAirview | DEerfield DEwey EDgewater EDgewood EDison FEderal | DIamond DIckens FIeldbrook FIeldstone FIllmore FIrestone | ELgin ELliot ELmwood FLanders FLeetwood | EMerson EMpire ENdicott FOrest FOxcroft | DRake DRexel ESsex FRanklin FRontier | DUdley DUnkirk DUpont EVergreen FUlton | EXbrook EXeter EXport EXpress |
42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 |
GArden GArfield HAmilton HArrison HAzel | GEneral GEneva HEmlock HEmpstead IDlewood | GIbson GIlbert HIckman HIckory HIllcrest HIlltop | GLadstone GLencourt GLendale GLenview GLobe | HObart HOmestead HOpkins HOward INgersoll | GRanite GReenwood GReenfield GReenleaf GRover GRidley | HUbbard HUdson HUnter HUntley HUxley IVanhoe | GYpsy HYacinth HYatt |
52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 |
JAckson LAfayette LAkeside LAkeview LAmbert LAwrence | JEfferson KEllogg KEystone LEhigh LEnox | KImball KIngsdale KIngswood LIberty LIncoln LInden | (In 1955, this was reserved for radio telephone numbers) | JOhn JOrdan LOcust LOgan LOwell | (In 1955, this was reserved for radio telephone numbers) | JUniper JUno JUstice LUdlow LUther | LYceum LYndhurst LYnwood LYric |
62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 |
MAdison MAin MArket MAyfair NAtional | MEdford MElrose MErcury NEptune NEwton NEwtown | MIdway MIlton MIssion MItchell NIagara | OLdfield OLive OLiver OLympia OLympic | MOhawk MOntrose MOrris NOrmandy NOrth(field) | ORange ORchard ORiole ORleans OSborne | MUrdock MUrray MUseum MUtual OVerbrook OVerland | MYrtle OWen OXbow OXford |
72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 |
PAlace PArk(view) PArk(way) RAndolph RAymond SAratoga | PErshing REd(field) REd(wood) REgent REpublic | PIlgrim PIoneer RIver(side) RIver(view) SHadyside SHerwood | PLateau PLaza PLeasant PLymouth SKyline | POplar POrter ROckwell ROger(s) SOuth(field) | PRescott PResident PRospect SPring SPruce | STate STerling STillwell STory SUnset | PYramid SWathmore SWift SWinburne SYcamore |
82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 |
TAlbot TAlmadge TAylor VAlley VAndyke | TEmple TEnnyson TErminal TErrace VErnon | THornwell TIlden VIctor(ia) VIking VInewood | ULrick ULster ULysses | TOwnsend UNderhill UNion UNiversity VOlunteer | TRemont TRiangle TRinity TRojan UPtown | TUcker TUlip TUrner TUxedo | TWilight TWinbrook TWinoaks TWining |
92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 |
WAbash WAlker WAlnut WArwick WAverly | WEbster WElls WEllington WEst(more) YEllowstone | WHitehall WHitney WIlliam(s) WIlson WIndsor | (In 1955, this was reserved for radio telephone numbers) | WOodland WOodlawn WOodward WOrth YOrktown | (In 1955, this was reserved for radio telephone numbers) | YUkon | WYandotte WYndown WYman |
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Micronations
Ever wanted to just declare your independence and form your own banana republic?
Well, actually a LOT of people want to do that....
Much easier to do in the virtual world than in the real one. Not to say some haven't tried. History is filled with failed attempts at nation building:
Try this game out:
http://nationstates.net/
But that hasn't kept people from trying the real thing.
They're called "micronations". A micronation is basically a one-person government, dictatorship and subjects are usually members of one's own family (like in some areas of Utah or the South) or just themselves. A King/Queen in their own minds I guess. And the land mass is no bigger than one's own residence.
It also pays to be absolutely insane (or have balls the size of watermelons.)
Sealand:
The most famous of these is Sealand. Sealand was created out of an abandoned man-made World War II Royal Navy base in the English Channel called Rough's Tower.
When the Royal Navy abandoned it in 1956, a pirate radio operator named Paddy Roy Bates took it over. Since Rough's Tower was abandoned and in international waters, he declared Rough's Tower a sovereign nation and called it Sealand. Bates and his family moved there and the hobby grew, minting their own coins and stamps and issuing passports. All worthless of course, but one can dream, can't they?
http://www.sealandgov.org/
Molossia:
Located in Nevada, this guy is your basic Micronation hobbyist. This video explains everything.
And he's STILL at war with East Germany.....
http://www.molossia.org/countryeng.html
More on micronations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micronation
Well, actually a LOT of people want to do that....
Much easier to do in the virtual world than in the real one. Not to say some haven't tried. History is filled with failed attempts at nation building:
Try this game out:
http://nationstates.net/
But that hasn't kept people from trying the real thing.
They're called "micronations". A micronation is basically a one-person government, dictatorship and subjects are usually members of one's own family (like in some areas of Utah or the South) or just themselves. A King/Queen in their own minds I guess. And the land mass is no bigger than one's own residence.
It also pays to be absolutely insane (or have balls the size of watermelons.)
Sealand:
The most famous of these is Sealand. Sealand was created out of an abandoned man-made World War II Royal Navy base in the English Channel called Rough's Tower.
When the Royal Navy abandoned it in 1956, a pirate radio operator named Paddy Roy Bates took it over. Since Rough's Tower was abandoned and in international waters, he declared Rough's Tower a sovereign nation and called it Sealand. Bates and his family moved there and the hobby grew, minting their own coins and stamps and issuing passports. All worthless of course, but one can dream, can't they?
http://www.sealandgov.org/
Molossia:
Located in Nevada, this guy is your basic Micronation hobbyist. This video explains everything.
And he's STILL at war with East Germany.....
http://www.molossia.org/countryeng.html
More on micronations:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micronation
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