Tuesday, March 31
Shadow

Featured Posts

Dec262016 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
Groovy College Course Catalogs of the 1970s

Groovy College Course Catalogs of the 1970s

Ephemera, Featured Posts
Whether for their graphic design, optimistic photographs, or quaint vintage charm, I always have a blast looking at old college course catalogs. So I'm going to share some of my favorites with you, grouped by decade. Up first are the groovy '70s. Here are one dozen college course catalogs from the Me Decade, covering both undergraduate and graduate schools from small junior/community colleges to well-known and prestigious universities. (All images courtesy the Internet Archive.)
Read More
Oct292014 by Chris Holmes7 Comments
All-Time NBA Franchise Rankings, 2014 Edition

All-Time NBA Franchise Rankings, 2014 Edition

Featured Posts, Sports
The 2014-15 NBA season is officially underway, so I'm just a little bit late with my updated rankings of all 30 franchises. So let's get started. If you want to check out my other pro sports rankings — and I know you do — you can find them on this handy page. The Criteria The categories and point values are as follows: 30 points for a league championship, and 15 points for a Finals loss. 2 points for a playoff berth. 5 points for each playoff round win (does not include a win in the Finals). 4 points for a division title (starting in 1970-71). 1 point for a winning season, -1 point for a losing season. 3 points for a regular-season winning percentage better than .730 (60 wins with the current schedule), -3 points for a regular-season winning percentage worse than .270 (2
Read More
Sep92014 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
All-Time NHL Franchise Rankings, 2014 Edition

All-Time NHL Franchise Rankings, 2014 Edition

Featured Posts, Sports
Last year I took a look at the best and worst franchises in NHL history, split across two posts. This year, on the eve of the 2014-15 season, I'm making it easier for you, dear reader, to quickly learn the truth about all 30 National Hockey League teams in one handy list. (Don’t forget to check out all my other fantastic sports lists as well.) I didn’t see the need to introduce any major changes to my calculation system. However, I did go back and correct some minor data entry errors I discovered from the previous year. None of this had a noticeable impact on the rankings, so fret not. The Criteria The categories and point values are as follows: 25 points for a Stanley Cup championship (or an NHL title prior to 1927), and 15 points for a Stanley Cup Finals loss. 2 points for a p
Read More
Apr242014 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
The New York State Pavilion Gets Its Day in the Sun

The New York State Pavilion Gets Its Day in the Sun

Featured Posts, Mental Debris
I was not born until a decade after the 1964-65 New York World's Fair ended, so I've only ever been able to experience it through home movies, photographs, and postcards. Having never attended a World's Fair in the United States -- the last of which was held in 1984 -- it's always been a little difficult to understand the spell that those events cast over millions of Americans in the 20th century. The most visible remnants of that once-glittering spectacle in Queens are the Unisphere, which sits a stone's throw from Citi Field, and the New York State Pavilion. The Pavilion, actually comprised of three distinct elements -- the Tent of Tomorrow, a trio of concrete observation towers, and the Theaterama -- has been abandoned since the 1970s, its metal portions rusting and its paint fading.
Read More
Sep122013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
20 Vintage Pro Wrestling Magazine Covers

20 Vintage Pro Wrestling Magazine Covers

Featured Posts, Sports
You might not guess it to know me, but I was a huge pro wrestling fan back in the day. And by "the day" I mean the mid to late 1980s, what I consider to be the Golden Age of the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It was fun, it was exciting, it was everything a pre-teen boy could want to watch. Those days are long behind me now, but every once in awhile I pine for the salad days watching strong but pasty guys like Rowdy Roddy Piper, Big John Studd, Andre the Giant, and Paul "Mr. Wonderful" Orndorff compete in the squared circle. Oh yeah, not to mention less pasty guys like Hulk Hogan, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, the Junkyard Dog, and Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat. To help remember those wrestling titans of days gone by -- as well as some before my time -- here's a gallery of 20 vintage pro...
Read More
Sep42013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
Ranking the Greatest Ever NFL Franchises, 1920-2012

Ranking the Greatest Ever NFL Franchises, 1920-2012

Featured Posts, Sports
Note: Newer franchise rankings can be found on my Sports Lists page. For several years I've been giving a lot of thought to how all of the NFL franchises are ranked in terms of the best ever. And one major fault I find with even the best ranking systems is that they invariably omit anything that happened before the advent of the Super Bowl, aka the dawn of the NFL's Modern Era. So while a lot of franchises boast proud histories prior to the late '60s, it's as if all those achievements didn't count in the eyes of most sportswriters or even fans. So instead of complaining about it, I've decided to do something about it. Namely, I've developed my own mathematical formula for determining which teams are the best (and worst) in NFL history. No personal bias, no favoritism, just cold, ...
Read More
Aug202013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
Celebrity Smokes: A Gallery of Star-Powered Cigarette Ads

Celebrity Smokes: A Gallery of Star-Powered Cigarette Ads

Featured Posts, Retrotisements
It seems inconceivable now, but until about the mid-1960s it was quite common to see celebrities hawking cigarettes like it was no big deal. In fact, many radio, TV, and movie stars literally owed their livelihood to sponsorship from tobacco companies. Imagine seeing someone like George Clooney or Angelina Jolie smiling widely in cigarette ads exhorting you to pick up a carton of Marlboro. Weird, isn't it? Anyway, here's a gallery of 20 such ads from the 1930s through the early 1960s featuring movie and TV stars, as well as famous athletes, using their star power to get you to buy cigarettes and cigars. Most of these ads are courtesy the Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising site.
Read More
Aug62013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
Logo Evolution: Top 10 U.S. Airlines

Logo Evolution: Top 10 U.S. Airlines

Advertising, Featured Posts
I had so much fun putting together my logo evolution post on fast food burger chains, I decided to do it again. So for this little logo gallery, I took a look at the U.S. airline industry, and put together a countdown of the top 10 domestic carriers. These rankings are based on 2012 passenger totals, obtained here. Those who have been keeping up with the news already know that at least one of these airlines is going away fairly soon, so perhaps I'll update this in 2014. If anyone spots bad information or can provide me with better logos, use the contact form up top and let me know. #1. Delta Air Lines (est. 1924) (via gtwreck98) Delta has has an unusually high number of logos since their founding as the Delta Air Service in 1928. Making things even more confusing is that in any giv...
Read More
Jul302013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments
20 Beautiful Vintage Airline Travel Posters

20 Beautiful Vintage Airline Travel Posters

Ephemera, Featured Posts
In addition to their primary purpose in drumming up business for their company, airline travel posters of course wanted to get you in the mood to visit places all over the world. And without the benefit of a TV commercial, travel posters had to work overtime to help you paint a picture of exotic locales in your mind. Here are 20 such vintage travel posters that did their job exceptionally well, most dating from the 1950s and '60s. And if I may be allowed a shameless plug -- which I am -- I should tell you that some of these images are available as beautiful custom apparel and other products on my Zazzle shop. Why not go there now? Just click on The Hangar for all airline-related goods.
Read More