Labor Day — and the unofficial end of summer — is nearly upon us. It’s important, in this age of cushy office jobs and whatnot, that the day is meant to celebrate, well, labor. That said, I like old photographs of parades and celebrations, so let’s look at some vintage Labor Day celebrations!

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Here’s the second half of the commercial break from the 1982 WABC-TV airing of Von Ryan’s Express that I started in this post.

This classic Quaker Corn Bran spot stars a very young Danny Pintauro, who you know best as Jonathan Bower, Tony Danza’s son from Who’s the Boss?

I really don’t remember seeing these Fussy Customer ads, which appeared to basically be for a group of car dealers in the New Jersey area. But I dig the quaint music and animated birds.

That’s Indiana-born James Manis as Aldo Cella, with his famous “Chill-a-Cella” catchphrase.

Oh yeah, vintage A&P with the green smocks and red jackets! It’s hard to remember now, but for many years A&P was not just the biggest supermarket chain in America, it was one of the biggest retailers period. From a high of about 16,000 locations in the ’30s, the post-bankruptcy A&P now operates just over 300.

Related articles

• Vintage VHS Commercial Bonanza, Part 1 (grayflannelsuit.net)
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• Vintage VHS Commercial Bonanza, Part 3 (Kal Kan, Diners Club, Miller Lite, Ashford & Simpson) (grayflannelsuit.net)

With the 2012 National Football League season nearly upon us, now is as good a time as any to obsess once again on one of my favorite topics — logos. So I’m going to offer up my choices for the best and worst team logos for all 32 current NFL franchises. Primary, alternate, and helmet logos listed on Chris Creamer’s outstanding logo website are all under consideration. Today I look at the four squads of the AFC’s West division.

Previous entries: AFC East, NFC East, AFC North, NFC North, AFC South, NFC South

Denver Broncos

Best

I shared my thoughts on Denver’s classic D logo quite a few years ago, and my opinion remains unchanged. It’s unique, it’s colorful, and it went into one of the great identities in pro sports. And this is coming from someone who places the Broncos in his top 5 most hated franchises.

Worst

You remember how horrifying it was the first time you saw Carrot Top after he got all bulked up? Like it was the same guy sort of, but much creepier-looking and full of odd bulges. That’s what I still think when I see this thing.

Kansas City Chiefs

Best

Man it kills me to heap any praise on other AFC West teams, but KC’s whole image is great — current KC arrowhead logo included.

Worst

Not horrible at all, but kind of lazy. This is basically the same logo the franchise had in Dallas — they simply replaced a cowboy with an Indian. Kind of ballsy for them to just go ahead and claim most of the Midwest as their own too.

Oakland Raiders

Best

Best logo in sports, or best logo in the history of the universe? The answer is yes.

Worst

Seeing anything but the classic silver and black Raiders shield is just weird. This is from the pre-Al Davis era, and you can see that they had the right idea. It just falls short, thanks mostly to the yellow and black color scheme — which was used on their uniforms from these years.

San Diego Chargers

Best

A total win. It’s got AFL heritage, it’s got the powder blue, and it actually has the horse (that’s what a charger really is, for those who don’t know) on it. Bring it back already!

Worst

This comes from easily my least favorite period in Chargers history, uniform-wise anyway. I’ve warmed up to the quasi-throwback look from the last several years, mainly because I dig the white helmets.

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With the 2012 National Football League season nearly upon us, now is as good a time as any to obsess once again on one of my favorite topics — logos. So I’m going to offer up my choices for the best and worst NFL logos for all 32 current NFL franchises. Primary, alternate, and helmet logos listed on Chris Creamer’s outstanding logo website are all under consideration. Today I look at the four squads of the NFC’s South division.

Previous entries: AFC East, NFC East, AFC North, NFC North, AFC South

Atlanta Falcons

Best

I totally understand why Falcons fans supported the team’s image update several years ago. Let’s face it, the franchise didn’t exactly have a lot of glory years with the old look. But I have to be consistent in my love of tradition and pick the team’s original falcon.

That said, the new logo is pretty good.

Worst

Did you ever catch that the bird in the team’s logos is supposed to form the letter F? So slap an A on there and you get the team’s initials. It explains this one, but doesn’t excuse it.

Carolina Panthers

Best

This is a slight update from Carolina’s original logo. The gray whiskers were changed to blue and the head was made to look more realistic and less overtly geometrical. I like it.

Worst

Looks like something from the sign of a strip club called Pantherz. Not that I’d know anything about such places.

New Orleans Saints

Best

I’m a big fan of the Saints’ original logo set and color scheme, and this alternate one is a gem. I’ve seen it with different colors used for the wordmark and the fleur de lis outline. I snagged this version from an old sticker.

Worst

Decent idea, horrible execution. Louisiana looks like a big blob in this drawing. The newer takes on this design have much cleaner lines and are much more appealing.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Best

Yeah that’s right, I like Buccaneer Bruce. You got a problem with that?

Worst

I think there must have been a way to update the original Tampa Bay look without discarding it completely. This looks like the logo of a souvenir shop from some pirate-themed museum or something.

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Did you know that Zooey Deschanel’s middle name is Claire? I didn’t, because I hate her. Luckily this awesome commercial spoof — “It’s called ‘cotton,’ you’ve probably never heard of it.” — from Regretsy helps ease my white-hot rage against all things adorkable just a little bit.

Go ahead, watch it again. I already have.

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I’m counting down the days until the Fall 2012 television season gets underway the only way I know how — by bringing you network promos for TV seasons long gone. Today’s preview is for NBC’s 1985 Saturday Morning lineup of children’s shows. NBC ran a yearly special previewing their upcoming season of Saturday morning shows from 1973 to 1991. The ’85 special was called Back to Next Saturday — cashing in on the popularity of Back to the Future — and it starred the likes of Keshia Knight Pulliam (The Cosby Show) and Lisa Whelchel (The Facts of Life), as well as the casts of It’s Punky Brewster and Kidd Video.

Unlike the prime time previews, Back to Next Saturday went to the trouble of concocting a storyline. Pulliam enters the Dream Zone, otherwise known as your typical tropical island. She meets the real-life cast members from one of the new Saturday morning series, and they all must find a way to get back to the cartoon. Or something like that. Look, it was the ’80s, it was a confusing time for all of us.

So let’s head to the Dream Zone and travel back… to next Saturday! (* denotes a new series.)

The 1985-86 NBC Saturday Morning Schedule

8am — Snorks (1984 – 1989)
8:30am* — Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears (1985 – 1991)
9am — The Smurfs (1981 – 1989)
10:30am* — It’s Punky Brewster (1985 – 1986)
11am — Alvin and the Chipmunks (1983 – 1990)
11:30am — Kidd Video (1984 – 1985)
12pm — Mr. T (1983 – 1986)
12:30pm — Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1981 – 1986)

---

It’s Punky Brewster

As you can probably guess, this is the cartoon spinoff of the live-action Punky Brewster show. Soleil Moon Frye plays Punky again, and they even went retro and added a small magical creature (a leprechaun gopher named Glomer). It lasted for just two seasons and 26 episodes, while the real deal made it to 1988.

Snorks

Snorks returned for its second season in 1985. If you’ve never seen it, imagine the Smurfs living in the ocean. Yeah, that’s about as exciting as that got. Shockingly, NBC churned out 65 episodes of this thing over four seasons.

The Smurfs

I can admit freely that I was huge into The Smurfs. I had Smurf toys, Smurf bedding, and all kinds of Smurfy shit. But that was before I discovered  Transformers and GI Joe, and those little blue goblins were smashed to bits. Still, the Smurfs were the little kings of NBC Saturday mornings in 1985, and the Peacock aired them in a 90-minute block. They basically owned the rest of the decade as well, airing from 1981 to 1989.

Alvin and the Chipmunks

Since I’m already confessing one love, I’ll add this one too. Man, I loved these little pitch-corrected rodents. Of course I hate them now, and rightly so.

Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi Bears

I was aware that this show existed, and I might have even watched an episode or two. But I remember very little about it, other than the bit about Gummiberry Juice. Maybe I watched more than I think after all.

Kidd Video

This may be the most quintessentially ’80s thing ever. Oh and don’t miss Whiz, played by Robbie Rist (aka Cousin Oliver from The Brady Bunch).

Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends

I find it fascinating that a network devoted time on a preview special to a show that wasn’t even producing new episodes anymore. You see, this edition of Spider-Man aired its last original episode in 1983. But NBC kept it on the Saturday morning schedule for three more years. Fascinating.

Mister T

Hmm, maybe I was a bit premature in declaring Kidd Video the most ’80s thing ever.

Related articles

• Fall TV Preview Madness! (NBC, 1975)
• Fall TV Preview Madness! (CBS, 1966)
• Fall TV Preview Madness! (ABC, 1985)

As the GOP prepares to party in Tampa and nominate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan to take on Barack Obama this November, I thought I’d take a look at Republican National Conventions gone by. Here’s a selection of vintage photographs from GOP pow-wows starting with 1908 and ending with 1976.

1908 — Chicago (William Howard Taft)

1912 — Chicago (William Howard Taft)

1916 – Chicago (Charles Evans Hughes)

1920 — Chicago (Warren G. Harding)

1936 — Cleveland (Alf Landon)

1940 — Philadelphia (Wendell Willkie)

1944 — Chicago (Thomas E. Dewey)

1948 — Philadelphia (Thomas E. Dewey)

1952 — Chicago (Dwight D. Eisenhower)

1956 — San Francisco (Dwight D. Eisenhower)

1960 — Chicago (Richard M. Nixon)

1964 — San Francisco (Barry Goldwater)

1968 — Miami Beach

1972 — Miami Beach

1976 — Kansas City (Gerald Ford)

Print advertisements, brochures, and TV commercials help give us a glimpse into the automotive past. Today’s ad collection shines a spotlight on the 1958 Plymouth domestic American car lineup, which featured three main models — the Plaza, Savoy, Fury, and Belvedere — as well as the Suburban station wagon.

The full-size Belvedere, introduced in 1954, was in its third generation for ’58, and was available as a 2-door hardtop, 4-door sedan, 2-door Club Sedan, and convertible. It was demoted from the top of the Plymouth line in 1956 to make room for the Fury.

The Savoy, also in its fifth year of production, was Plymouth’s mid-line priced vehicle. Three trims were available in 1958 — 2-door and 4-door hardtop, and a 4-door sedan. And then there’s the Plaza, which was the entry-level model for 1958 (its last year of production). Buyers had a 2-door Club sedan or 2-door Business Coupe to choose from, as well as a “Silver Special” edition with a custom silver paint job and silver spear.

Last but not least, there’s the 1958 Plymouth Fury. Immortalized in Stephen King’s Christine, the Fury was limited to around 5,000 units in 1958. Nevertheless, it was clearly the marquee model in the ’58 Plymouth lineup. Around two dozen Furys — along with some converted Belvederes and Savoys — were reportedly destroyed to make Christine. King fans should note that the 1958 Fury was not produced in red, as Buckskin Beige was the only color available that year.

In terms of advertising, Plymouth’s print ads tended to focus on the make in general as opposed to specific models. But when one is clearly shown I’ll point it out.

(To see other car lineup advertisement galleries, click here. Got a request for other years and makes? Let me know in the Comments section.)

This is for the same contest mentioned in the TV spots below. It’s the “Money-Forward” contest, where you can win either a 4-door hardtop Belvedere or a Motorola transistor radio. Neat!

Here are some in-show advertisements for Plymouth, who sponsored the short-lived ABC sitcom Date with the Angels (starring Betty White and Bill Williams). I wonder who won the $500 a month for life, and if they’re still around to collect. I really dig the road test with the tray full of food.

The quality on this TV spot isn’t the greatest, but it’s worth it for the jingle at the end.

What strangeness is this? If you haven’t ever seen this on the road, there’s a good reason. This is the 1958 Plymouth Cabana, a concept car in the form of a station wagon. Pretty swell, if you ask me.

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In Fall TV Preview Madness, I present a network television schedule preview special from the distant past. We see the good, bad, and ugly for a network’s entire upcoming fall slate.

I’m counting down the days until the Fall 2012 television season gets underway the only way I know how — by bringing you network promos for TV seasons long gone. Today’s preview is for CBS’s 1966 Fall TV season. Your host for this preview is Garry Moore, a long-time fixture on The Eye.

You’ll see stars this fall on CBS! (* denotes new series.)

Sunday

7pm — Lassie (1954 – 1971)
7:30pm* — It’s About Time (Starring Frank Aletta, Jack Mullaney, and Imogene Coca; ended after 26 episodes.)
8pm — The Ed Sullivan Show (1948 – 1971)
9pm* — The Garry Moore Show (Ended after 19 episodes.)
10pm — Candid Camera (1960 – 1967)
10:30pm —  What’s My Line? (1950 – 1967)

It’s About Time, which lasted one season, was a Sherwood Schwartz romp in the same vein as Gilligan’s Island. The show even borrowed the same props and music. In some ways it was a predecessor to Land of the Lost, or at least until it was completely retooled about halfway through the season.

The Garry Moore Show, while strictly speaking a new program, was actually the third version of the show. This last edition got clobbered in the ratings by TV’s top show, Bonanza.

Monday

7:30pm — Gilligan’s Island (1964 – 1967)
8pm* — Run, Buddy, Run (Starring Jack Sheldon; ended after 13 episodes.)
8:30pm — The Lucy Show (1962 – 1968)
9pm — The Andy Griffith Show (1960 – 1968)
9:30pm* — Family Affair (1966 – 1971)
10pm* — The Jean Arthur Show (Ended after 12 episodes.)
10:30pm — I’ve Got a Secret (1952 – 1967)

Run, Buddy, Run was a typically broad period comedy about a jazz musician on the run from some gangsters. The Jean Arthur Show was a sitcom about opposing mother-and-son lawyers, with Jean Arthur co-starring with Ron Harper. I barely made it through the preview, Arthur was so shrill.

The big success of the new shows on Monday was Family Affair, which ran for 138 episodes over five seasons. Sebastian Cabot played Giles French, the English valet and the Mr. Belvedere of his day. Family Affair was the #14 rated program for the ’66-’67 season.

Tuesday

7:30pm — Daktari (1966 – 1969)
8:30pm — The Red Skelton Hour (1953 – 1970)
9:30pm — Petticoat Junction (1963 – 1970)
10pm —  CBS News Hour

No new shows for CBS on Tuesdays, which makes sense since Daktari and The Red Skelton Hour were Top 10 programs. Petticoat Junction was in the Top 30.

Wednesday

7:30pm — Lost in Space (1965 – 1968)
8:30pm — The Beverly Hillbillies (1962 – 1971)
9pm — Green Acres (1965 – 1971)
9:30pm — Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (1964 – 1969)
10pm — The Danny Kaye Show (1963 – 1967)

Once again, CBS stuck with familiar favorites rather than roll out any new shows. The Beverly Hillbillies, Green Acres, and Gomer Pyle were all Top 10 shows in ’66.

Thursday

7:30pm* — Jericho (Starring John Leyton, Don Francks, and Marino Masé; ended after 16 episodes.)
8:30pm — My Three Sons (1965 – 1972)
9pm —  The CBS Thursday Night Movies

Before there was a short-lived Jericho on CBS several years ago, there was a short-lived Jericho on CBS in the ’60s. The first one was a World War II drama about a top-secret counterintelligence team (Code Name Jericho) behind enemy lines, giving the Nazis what for.

Friday

7:30pm — The Wild Wild West (1965 – 1969)
8:30pm — Hogan’s Heroes (1965 – 1971)
9pm* —  The CBS Friday Night Movies

Nothing new on Friday in terms of scripted shows, although CBS did add a second night of movies to the schedule.

Saturday

7:30pm — The Jackie Gleason Show (1962 – 1970)
8:30pm* —  Pistols ‘n’ Petticoats (Starring Ann Sheridan, Ruth McDevitt, and Douglas Fowley; ended after 26 episodes.)
9pm* — Mission: Impossible (1966 – 1973)
10pm — Gunsmoke (1955 – 1975)

Pistols ‘n’ Petticoats had nothing to do with Petticoat Junction, just to be clear. Nothing like some good ol’ period racism to get the laffs going. I have no idea why this preview didn’t include any footage from Mission: Impossible, but if I had to hazard a guess I’d say it wasn’t ready in time. Nevertheless, it and Family Affair were the only new CBS shows from ’66 to gain any traction.