Japan Archives - The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Dec282014 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Beautiful 1949 San Francisco Seals Baseball Program

In the fall of 1949, just four years after the end of World War II, the U.S. and Japan were on their way to rebuilding the bridges that had literally and figuratively been burnt since 1941. One of the first steps on that road to friendship was a goodwill tour bringing American baseball to the Land of the Rising Sun. In October, a man named Lefty O’Doul was responsible for organizing a baseball tour featuring the team he managed at the time -- the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League. The tour was a huge hit and contributed at least some small part to Japan's passion for America's pastime. Just one of the many pieces of ephemera from the Seals' Japanese tour is this fantastic game program. Here are a few images from that program, including the gorgeous front and back cover

Jul302013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

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.

Jul242013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Vintage 20th Century World’s Fair Postcards (1958 – 1992)

Ephemera

Back for more, eh? As the follow-up to my set of World's Fair postcards covering the first half of the 20th century, here is the second half. This set picks up with Expo 58 in Brussels, which marked the first World's Fair held after World War II. Expo 58 (Brussels, Belgium) Century 21 Exposition (Seattle, 1962) (via Drive-In Mike) 1964 New York's World Fair (via The Pie Shops) Expo 67 (Montreal) (via The Pie Shops) HemisFair '68 (San Antonio, Texas) (via zawleski) Expo '70 (Osaka, Japan) (via Duncan Brown) Expo '74 (Spokane, Washington) (via The Pie Shops) Expo '75 (Okinawa, Japan) (via World's Fair Photos) 1982 World's Fair (Knoxville, Tennessee) 1984 Louisiana World Exposition (New Orleans) Expo '85 (Tsukuba, Japan) (via World's Fair Photos) Expo...

May222013 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

A Gallery of World War II Superhero Comic Book Covers

Capsules, Ephemera

In modern times, comic book superheroes tend to view armed conflict with a healthy dose of skepticism regardless of which side they're on. But that wasn't the case during World War II, when costumed do-gooders from Superman all the way down to the lowliest nobody of a crime fighter eagerly signed up to wallop the Axis powers on behalf of Uncle Sam. And hey, if they had to deal in period racism to get the job done, who were we to question that? So just in time for Memorial Day, here's a gallery of vintage WWII-era Golden Age comic book covers showing our heroes fighting the Nazis and the Japanese on behalf of Uncle Sam. Many of these images were sourced from the excellent Digital Comic Museum -- check 'em out!

Aug102012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Computers Have Taken Our Jobs, Now They Want Our Games

Funny Stuff, Listcruft

We've grown accustomed to machines taking over routine jobs that humans used to perform (think auto assembly, telephone operators, etc.). But now, the machines are even taking away our fun. Recently, researchers at Japan’s Ishikawa Oku Laboratory unveiled a robotic hand that is unbeatable at the time-honored game of rock-paper-scissors (Roshambo). That’s right, the friggin' machines have taken rock-paper-scissors away from us. And this is simply the latest example of artificial intelligence ruining our cherished games and acting like a giant buzzkill with circuits in the process. “What Is an Ass-Kicking?” In 2011, IBM’s Watson supercomputer appeared on Jeopardy! and wiped the floor with two of the show’s greatest champions, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Even after missing

Jun22012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Saturday Serials: “The Living Corpse” (Batman 1943, Chapter 5)

Movies

With the presentation of this chapter of the 1943 Batman Columbia Pictures serial, we're one-third of the way through the saga. If you've been following the story to this point there's no need for a recap. But in case you haven't, the beginning of "The Living Corpse" should help. This one follows the basic structure of the first four -- action scenes at the beginning and end, bookending a whole lot of talking. This is NOT Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight. I noticed a few curiosities watching this chapter. For one, it shows Bruce Wayne as living in Los Angeles, and for another it explicitly states that Batman and Robin are working at the behest of Uncle Sam. They're assigned to stop Dr. Daka from sabotaging a fancy new airplane motor. And thirdly, Japan went to WAY too much trouble...

May262012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Saturday Serials: “Slaves of the Rising Sun” (Batman 1943, Chapter 4)

Movies

It's time for the fourth chapter in the 1943 Batman serial, "Slaves of the Rising Sun"! Kind of hard to mistake the implication in that title I suppose. But just in case you did, a slew of anti-Japanese epithets should clue you in. So we pick up from the end of chapter 3, where Batman and Robin engage in a spirited round of fisticuffs in order to thwart Dr. Daka's plan to blow up a supply train -- which I guess was a vital cog in American's war effort against Japan? -- and retrieve his lost radium gun. Aside from the opening action sequence, the absolute best part of "Slaves of the Rising Sun" is hearing Lewis Wilson's atrocious Indian accent. If you ever wondered what it would sound like if Boston was in the middle of India, you need to watch this. Related articles Satu...

May52012 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Saturday Serials: “The Electrical Brain” (Batman, 1943)

Movies

Our first foray into the world of cinema serials begins with... The Bat. As we inch ever closer to the release of Christopher Nolan's third and final Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, it's worthwhile to take a look at where it all began. No, not with Tim Burton's movie, and not even with the Adam West camp-fest. We start simply with Batman, the original Columbia Pictures serial. This film, released in 15 chapters, marks the big screen debut of Bob Kane's legendary creation and was released in July 1943 -- just over four years after Batman sprang to life in Detective Comics #27. For those with even a superficial knowledge of Batman, much of the first chapter ("The Electrical Brain") will seem familiar. The dynamic duo of Batman (Lewis Wilson) and Robin (Douglas Croft) display their...

Oct142011 by Chris HolmesNo Comments

Retrotisements: Halloween (1978) U.S. and Foreign Movie Posters

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