In the 1970s, cheap sonosheets (phonograph records printed on thin, flexible sheets of vinyl) became quite the rage in Japan. Like all fads, these recordings have largely disappeared – but you can still gawk at the fantastic cover art over at Pink Tentacle:

Widely available from a variety of publishers, the most popular sonosheets featured theme music from TV anime, manga and tokusatsu, and they often came packaged inside booklets featuring colorful artwork. The sonosheet boom was short-lived, though — many companies went under as the market became flooded in the 1970s, and the phenomenon all but disappeared by the 1980s. Here is a small sample of the vast array of sonosheet cover art from that era.

Link

I knew my mom was dead wrong when she said leg warmers would never come back and made me throw them out. That’ll be $20 for the replacements, mom.

Here’s an article at Fashion-Victim blog about 20+ fashion from the 80s that are making a comeback. For instance, take the Slap Bracelets:

I used to have a collection of these self-harming accessories, including my very own New Kids on the Block one. They were popular among pre-teens and teens in the late 80’s but were eventually banned from schools after many students suffered wrist injuries. Now that enough time has elapsed and people have forgotten the potential dangers of arm jewelry that once splayed open a kid’s artery, slap bracelets are back!

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Peachi.

MagazineArt is an extensive collection of magazine cover art from the 19th and 20th centuries, featuring hundreds of different publications. You could spend hours browsing the archives here! Shown is the January 1924 issue of Theatre Magazine. Link -via Metafilter

The University of Washington Libraries has a very interesting collection of over 450 print advertisements in local magazines, city directories, and theater pamphlets of the Pacific Northwest from 1867 – 1918.

I’m particularly intrigued with this one: The Reed School of Nervous and Backward Children (1906). The ad noted:

The "family physician" notes that this school is not for the exploitation of any "fad" in child training, but is open to the acceptance of the latest developments in its line of work which have received scientific approval.

The parent notes the truly "homelike" atmosphere which is present, as indicated by the entire absence of anything "institutional."

The school was in Detroit, Michigan, and was conducted by Mrs. Frank A. Reed. According to The Handbook of Private Schools (1920) by Porter Sargent:

"Instruction is given in manual and physical training, vocal and instrumental music, drawing, painting, and the usual school subjects. The School for Stuttering and Stammering at the same address is entirely separate"

Link – via Information Junk

How did people practice birth control back in the days? Here’s a tongue-in-cheek postcard c. 1907 that illustrates one such method.

More retro-goodness at Jeffrey Errick’s 100 most interesting images at Flickr: Link

Remember the days before Nick Jr, Cartoon Network, video games, and iPods?  What did kids do for fun?  They listened to records! 

Here’s a bunch of interesting photos of kids music record covers.  Some of them have really neat cover art.  If you’re of the right age, they may bring back some memories… If not, just revel in the love of the 70s retro!

From Nancy Dorsner’s blog Dabbled:

Not long ago, my parents were cleaning out their attic, and sent me a bunch of old records (remember those things?) from when I and my brother were kids. I thought they were too cool not to share – some for the memories, some for the interesting album artwork.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Dot.

Please note no effects or sampling was used. What you see is what you hear (does that even make sense?)
Atari 800XL was used for the lead piano/organ sound
Texas Instruments TI-99/4a as lead guitar
8 Inch Floppy Disk as Bass
3.5 inch Harddrive as the gong
HP ScanJet 3C was used for all vocals. Please note I had to record the HP scanner 4 seperate times for each voice. I tried to buy 4 HP scanners but for some reason sellers on E-Bay expect you to pay $80-$100, I got mine for $30.

I wonder if it takes requests? -via Arbroath

Who says being a geek isn’t sexy? Flickr user SA Steve has a large collection
of neat vintage computing ads from old magazines and other photos. Check it out: Link [Flickr Photoset]

This neatolicious: Dan McPharlin creates what is probably the cutest papercraft set of miniature analog electronic devices, from tape recorder to retro synthesizers. Take a looksee: Link [Flickr Photoset] – via The Terminally Juvenile

Back in the days, printers are big. Really big. The News in Print has a nifty post about 6 of the biggest old school printers ever made. This one above  is the Xerox 9700:

The Xerox 9700 is largely recognised as the world’s first laser toner printer, ‘largely’ being the operative word. Looking more like a kitchen work top than a printer, it would perhaps be a little sexist to suggest that’s why the pretty lady seems right at home.

It is hard to find another reason why she appears to be so happy: when it was released in 1977, the 9700 retailed at $500,000 and took up 5 meters x 4 metres of floor space and produced 120 pages every minute. A sparkling investment.

Link – via thrivecore

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by greeneagle.

Motorized bicycles have always been one of the the aspirations of "green" transportation, but let’s face it: most of them are clunky.

Well, no more: Industrial designer Adrian Van Anz has created a stylish, retro moto-bike that looks like a cross between a Ducati and a Schwinn. Behold, the Derringer Cycles:

Derringers can be pedaled as a traditional bicycle, propelled via engine power, or pedaled with the assistance of engine power. While under power, the pedals can also remain stationary, allowing you to operate in the style of a traditional motorcycle. Capable of fuel economy ratings that can exceed 150 mpg, Derringers are the first product to take the compromise out of environmentalism …

Link – via diskursdisko

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by diskursdisko.

Not too long ago a small local newspaper up here in Maine ran an article about a guy who had collected countless rolls of undeveloped film.  It started with one roll of Kodachrome from a discarded camera but soon became the reason he would rummage around thrift stores when driving around the country.  Over the years he collected a huge stash and finally had it all developed.

The result of his obsession is a site called MangoFalls where he’s posted hundreds of images from those rolls of film that he dragged around for so long.  You won’t find any scenic snapshots.  It’s all about the people and their fashions from the 50’s and 60’s.  I suppose it’s possible that you might even see someone you know. 

The metal body was battered and the lens looked like a coke bottle that had been dragged down 5 miles of asphalt. The camera had been dead a long time. I was about to set it down when I noticed that there was a roll of film inside. I slowly rewound the film, popped the door, and was rewarded with a pristine roll of Kodachrome. I asked the guy at the counter how much he wanted for it. “Gimme a quarter” he replied. I paid the man and drove home with the mystery roll.

Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by bert.

Lego PC that SCREAMS 80s LEGO with what I think are the most recognized LEGO sets of the 80s representing Space, Castle, Town, with Touch Screen LCD, RF Remote, Blue NEON light, Spectrum Analyzer display, HDTV Tuner card coming soon. I call it BIG BLUE.

See lots more pictures at Brickshelf. Link -via Gizmodo

Remember Space Sick’s clever movie posters re-designed as old book covers post on Neatorama? (Yes, from the Upcoming Queue for all you haters )

Well, here are some more: Artist M. S. Corley redesigned Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events book covers to look like Penguin Classics: Link – via Super Punch

When I was in high school, I worked at an antique store and developed a strange love for things that most 15-year-old girls do not usually adore (Depression glass, anyone?). That included vintage Valentines. I still have a few old ones that I’ve been saving for a “special occasion” for the past 11 years or so, but maybe now I don’t have to hoard them since Fred Flare is selling repros. Love them!!

Link

“Hey Ann? Whatcha doing Saturday night?”
“Well, I guess I’m busy.”
“Oh, yeah? Any chance of giving him the push-off for me?”
“Well, of all the nerve!!!”

I also enjoy that our hero, Woody, is wearing a sport coat to go the “Hi-Teen Carnival.”

Link

Photo via John Stodder in Exile

Link via Slashfood via lemondrop.

And this is genius – shortly after she posted the pictures of her completed room, she had someone gut an old, not-working Coke machine and put shelves inside. The result? Computer cabinet. Love it.

Link for more pictures, which I highly recommend checking out. It’s even more detailed than what you see here!

Some Disneyland attractions are classics and have been around forever – Dumbo, for instance, has been around almost since the beginning (the park opened on July 17, 1955 and Dumbo followed about a month later). Peter Pan’s Flight has been around since the beginning, and so has the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party (the teacups!) and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride.

Other rides haven’t really stood up to the test of time, unfortunately, and those are the ones we’re going to take a look at.

Holidayland

photo from A History of Disney Theme Parks

You’re probably familiar with the different sections of Disneyland these days – Tomorrowland, Frontierland and Fantasyland, to name a few. But Holidayland? Yep. It opened on June 16, 1957, and was a nine-acre picnic area that was for… well… frolicking, basically. There were playgrounds, horseshoes, a baseball field, volleyball and the “world’s largest candy-striped circus tent” which stood where the Haunted Mansion is today. Pirates of the Caribbean takes up the spot where the baseball field used to be. It only lasted a few years – Holidayland closed in 1961 because it just didn’t fit in with the rest of the park (among other things like lack of shade).

The Viewliner

This miniature train has the dubious honor of being one of the shortest-lived rides to ever exist at Disneyland. It opened in June of 1957 and promptly closed in September 1958 when construction started on the Matterhorn and Submarine Voyage. There were two trains – one for Fantasyland and one for Tomorrowland – and the track ran a figure-eight through both of those areas. The tiny, sleek (for that time) train was supposed to represent the future of train travel. Eventually the monorail filled the void left by the Viewliner.

Monsanto House of the Future

picture from Apartment Therapy

I love those old ads from the 1950s that show “futuristic” kitchens cooking the meals all by themselves with “space-age” technology. That’s kind of what the Monsanto House of the Future was like. It was in operation from 1957 to 1967 and was a tour of a house in the year 1986. It’s laughable now, but the MIT-built house featured technology such as microwaves, which obviously did end up being invented. Just about everything about the house – including the exterior – was made out of plastic. You can still see the support pillars of Monsanto’s House of the Future in Neptune’s Grotto – they were rated for earthquakes and proved to be so sturdy that they were just about impossible to remove. Monsanto, by the way, is an agricultural biotechnology company (meaning they make herbicides and pesticides and the like).

Captain EO

picture from AlteredDreams

In the more recent past, we have Captain EO, which I vaguely remember from EPCOT. Captain EO was a 3-D movie starring, of course, Michael Jackson. And if you’re looking for more credentials than that (keep in mind MJ was HUGE at this point in time), it was directed by Francis Ford Coppola and executive produced by George Lucas. They also co-wrote the script with Rusty Lemorande.

Here’s the plot: Captain EO and his team are piloting a spaceship to deliver a gift to the evil Supreme Leader (Anjelica Huston). One of his shipmates is named Hooter, which seems like a huge oversight to me. Hooter is an elephant, not an owl as you might suspect. Well, the Supreme Leader isn’t exactly thrilled with the crew and orders them to be tortured. EO charms the Queen by singing her a song, but as soon as the music stops the spell breaks and she orders the crew to be captured again. EO uses his music to transform the evil guards into dancers who line up to dance behind him Thriller-zombie-style. EO eventually uses his powers to turn the Supreme Leader and her entire planet into things of beauty.
The 17-minute film cost somewhere between $17 and $30 million to make. Sounds like a lot, but when you consider than it ran for more than 10 years at Disneyland (1986 to 1997), maybe it’s not so bad. Then MJ went weird and Disney decided to pull the attraction and replace it with “Honey, I Shrunk the Audience”.

America Sings!

picture from Yesterland

Looking for a collection of animatronic swamp critters singing old Dixieland favorites and old folk tunes? Too bad you missed America Sings! Had you been at Disneyland sometime between June of 1974 and April of 1988, you could have witnessed geese singing “Camptown Races”, a dog singing “Home on the Range” a pink singing “Won’t You Come Home Bill Bailey?” and a crane and a rooster singing “Shake, Rattle and Roll”. A decent number of the characters appeared to be either quite intoxicated or at least trying their hardest to get there. It’s one of the few Disney attractions with characters actually drinking alcohol (Pirates of the Caribbean also comes to mind… rum anyone?). The building was used for offices for a while and eventually became home to Innoventions, which I believe is still there today. The swamp creatures, however, befriended Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox and Brer Bear and now reside happily at Splash Mountain.

Flying Saucers

Picture from Yesterland

High school physics students who participated in Hovercraft competitions, this one is for you. Basically, the Flying Saucers ride was Disney’s answer to bumper cars. When the ride starts, air would shoot up under the saucer and lift it up off the floor (just a little… we’re not talking feet here). Riders would have to tilt their bodies the way they wanted the saucer to go and were encouraged to bump into other guests. Alas, the saucers only lasted about five years in the mid 60s.

Those are just a few of the rides that are now defunct – things at all of the Disney parks are always changing. Even the old favorites get little updates every now and then. Do you have a favorite ride that is no longer in operation? I know a lot of people were upset when the Magic Kingdom’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea met its maker.