It took more than five decades, but Botany 500 is finally getting the props from me that they so richly deserve. Well, their advertising agency anyway.

I speak of this 1960 ad, which seemed awfully familiar when I spotted it on an eBay auction yesterday.

Faithful readers of mine will remember this as a modified version of a recruitment poster from the Quasi-War (1798-1800), as first seen in my gallery of wartime recruiting posters.

That is some damn fine design and ad copy right there, and I think it deserves to be typed out for your enjoyment.

TO ALL BRAVE, HEALTHY, ABLE BODIED, AND WELL DISPOSED YOUNG MEN who have any inclination to express their individuality, maintain freedom of thought and dress, resist the pressure to conform to mob rule, THE WILES AND BLANDISHMENTS OF FEMALES determined to dictate their choice of apparel, and the connivance of certain parties to unfairly tax their good taste by inflating the price of fashionable attire beyond the limits of REASON AND EQUITABLE PROFIT and despite all precedent and public protest: TAKE NOTICE.

Daroff, tailor, of the City of Philadelphia (The Cradle of Freedom in Menswear) offers to one and all, whigs, tories, and free-thinkers alike, INDEPENDENCE FROM COMPROMISE. Neither styles that make grown men ludicrous, nor workmanship that tries their patience. Rather, a well-tempered balance combining the much-desired AUTHENTIC NATURAL CUT with the lasting benefit of HONEST TAILORING at a fair, sensible, and equitable price calculated to GIVE SATISFACTION. BOOTLEGGERS, CHARLATANS, IMITATORS, AND COUNTERFEITERS TAKE WARNING: all Daroff of Philadelphia garments are clearly marked to prevent fraud and each and every one carries THE ‘BOTANY’ 500 LABEL as a mark of pride and a proof of QUALITY AND SINCERE INTENT. ‘BOTANY’ 500 tailored by Daroff clothes are sold only by apparel stores of HIGH REPUTE and EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN CATERING TO GENTLEMEN OF GOOD TASTE and democratic sympathies. Prices begin at $65.00 and if your local merchant is not one selected to carry ‘Botany’ 500 Clothing, write: H. Daroff  & Sons, Inc., 2300 Walnut Street, Philadelphia 3, Pennsylvania, or 200 Fifth Avenue, New York 10, N.Y. for the name of the store most convenient to you. Prices slightly higher in the West.

Actually, don’t write to that address in Philly, Botany 500 hasn’t been there in years. But still, this is a fantastic advertisement.

I’m sure this must have been an odd sight to Philadelphians back in the day. It’s a posed group photo of famed soldier and showman William F. Cody with the members of his “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West” traveling show. Click for the full-size version.

That’s Buffalo Bill seated roughly in the middle of the picture, behind a group of Native American children. Cody started his first Wild West show in 1883, and he toured the world with it until it went bankrupt in 1913. Many people hold the belief that when Cody died in 1917 at the age of 70, it marked the end of the Wild West in America.

The rather imposing building behind the group is the famed Wanamaker’s, the first department store in Philly and one of the first in the United States. You can see some interested onlookers peering through the window near the top of the photo.

It seems likely that Cody’s show was invited to the city by Lewis Rodman Wanamaker, son of the store’s founder and a vocal proponent of preserving Native American culture. Wanamaker sponsored three high-profile photographic expeditions between 1908 and 1913 that were intended to document the way of life of the “vanishing” American Indians.

I’m currently in the middle of re-watching the excellent Civil War documentary by Ken Burns, so this particular item feels extra significant to me at the moment. It’s The Anti-Slavery Alphabet, published for an Anti-Slavery Fair in 1846 and created by Quakers Hannah and Mary Townsend of Philadelphia. The alphabet consists of sixteen leaves, printed on one side, with the printed pages facing each other and hand-sewn into a paper cover. Each of the letter illustrations is hand-colored.

The target audience for this book, as you might expect, was children who the Townsends hoped would adopt an Abolitionist point of view. History tells us, of course, that it would take more than 20 years and a bloody Civil War for the Abolitionists’ dream to become reality.

All images courtesy the Mississippi Department of Archives & History.

Since it’s the off-season I thought I’d start a fun project involving NFL history. So I’m going to go division by division and post galleries of football cards (when available) featuring all NFL players who have had their jersey numbers retired by their teams. This week it’s the four squads of the AFC South — the Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tennessee Titans.

Previous galleries: AFC East, NFC East, AFC North, NFC North

Houston Texans (0)

The Texans have yet to retire a number in their decade-plus of existence. If I had to bust out my crystal ball, wide receiver Andre Johnson (#80) is a potential future candidate. He holds a number of team records (some by a sizable margin) and is poised in 2013 to become one of the NFL’s top 20 receivers ever for career receiving yards.

Indianapolis Colts (7)

To date, no Colts who played in Indianapolis have had their jersey number retired. In fact the most recent Colt on this list is Johnny Unitas, who was traded away after the 1972 season.

#19 — Johnny Unitas

#22 — Buddy Young

#24 — Lenny Moore

#70 — Art Donovan

#77 — Jim Parker

#82 — Raymond Berry

#89 — Gino Marchetti

Jacksonville Jaguars (0)

Although not officially retired, the number 71 worn by offensive tackle Tony Boselli, the Jaguars’ first-ever draft pick, has not been worn since his retirement in 2002. According to team officials the number has been “taken out of service.”

Tennessee Titans (6)

This list is made up entirely of players who got their start as a member of the Houston Oilers. Bruce Matthews did play in Tennessee, but spent the vast majority of his amazing career in Houston.

#1 — Warren Moon

#34 — Earl Campbell

#43 — Jim Norton

#63 — Mike Munchak

#65 — Elvin Bethea

#74 — Bruce Matthews

Since it’s the off-season I thought I’d start a fun project involving NFL history. So I’m going to go division by division and post football card galleries (when available) featuring all NFL players who have had their jersey numbers retired by their teams. This week it’s the four squads of the NFC North — the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, and Minnesota Vikings.

Previous galleries: AFC East, NFC East, AFC North

Chicago Bears (13)

#3 — Bronko Nagurski

#5 — George McAfee

#7 — George Halas

I couldn’t find a card from Halas’s playing days, but how could I leave off Papa Bear?

#28 — Willie Galimore

Galimore was killed in an automobile accident on July 27, 1964 in Rensselaer, Indiana at the age of 29 with teammate Bo Farrington.

#34 — Walter Payton

#40 — Gale Sayers

#41 — Brian Piccolo

Piccolo died of cancer in 1970 at age 26, and was famously portrayed by James Caan in the made-for-TV movie Brian’s Song.

#42 — Sid Luckman

#51 — Dick Butkus

#56 — Bill Hewitt

#61 — Bill George

#66 — Clyde “Bulldog” Turner

#77 — Red Grange

Detroit Lions (6)

#7 — Dutch Clark

#20 — Barry Sanders

#22 — Bobby Layne

#37 — Doak Walker

#56 — Joe Schmidt

#85 — Chuck Hughes

Hughes, who played in Philadelphia and Detroit, never saw much action at his wide receiver position — he caught a total of 15 passes in his pro career in fact. His number was retired because on October 24, 1971 he collapsed during a game against the Bears and died from a blood clot that completely cut the circulation to his heart. To date, Hughes is the only NFL player to die on the field during a game.

There are no football cards bearing Hughes’ likeness that I’m aware of. There are photos of the scene on the field after he collapsed, but I’m not really interested in sharing them. They’re out there if you want to look.

Green Bay Packers (5)

#3 — Tony Canadeo

#14 — Don Hutson

#15 — Bart Starr

#66 — Ray Nitschke

#92 — Reggie White

Minnesota Vikings (6)

#10 — Fran Tarkenton

#53 — Mick Tingelhoff

#70 — Jim Marshall

#77 — Korey Stringer

Stringer died in August 2001 from complications brought on by heat stroke during the Vikings’ training camp in Mankato, Minnesota. He was 27.

#80 — Cris Carter

#88 — Alan Page

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"Conan dubbed-scene com", "Conan Barbarin dubbed-scene com"

Since it’s the off-season I thought I’d start a fun project involving NFL history. So I’m going to go division by division and post football card galleries (when available) featuring all NFL players who have had their jersey numbers retired by their teams. This week it’s the four squads of the NFC East — the Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Philadelphia Eagles, and Washington Redskins.

Previous galleries: AFC East

Dallas Cowboys (0)

The Cowboys do not officially retire jersey numbers, opting rather to induct players into the Dallas Cowboys Ring of Honor. The Ring, which began in 1975, is made up of the players listed below (as of the end of the 2012 season, in order of induction). Sorry, no cards for the Cowboys, since they insist on being so different.

#74 — Bob Lilly
#17 — Don Meredith
#43 — Don Perkins
#54 — Chuck Howley
#20 — Mel Renfro
#12 — Roger Staubach
#55 — Lee Roy Jordan
#33 — Tony Dorsett
#54 — Randy White
#22 — Bob Hayes
#43 — Cliff Harris
#70 — Rayfield Wright
#8 — Troy Aikman
#88 — Michael Irvin
#22 — Emmitt Smith
#88 — Drew Pearson
#94 — Charles Haley
#73 — Larry Allen

New York Giants (11)

#1 — Ray Flaherty

Flaherty, whose #1 jersey was the first number retired in NFL history, played before the era of modern football cards.

#4 — Tuffy Leemans

Same goes for RB Alphonse “Tuffy” Leemans.

#7 — Mel Hein

I couldn’t find any Giants cards for Hall of Famer Mel Hein (who retired in 1945), but this 1955 Topps showing him from Washington State is very nice.

#11 — Phil Simms

#14 — Y. A. Tittle

#16 — Frank Gifford

#32 — Al Blozis

Blozis only played for two full seasons for the Giants, 1942 and 1943. After a lengthy attempt to join the U.S. Army, he was finally inducted on December 9, 1943. In January 1945 his platoon was in the Vosges Mountains of France scouting enemy lines. When two of his men failed to return from a patrol, he went in search of them alone. Blozis never returned. He was first listed as missing, but in April 1945 his death was confirmed. His jersey retirement, therefore, was a posthumous honor.

#40 — Joe Morrison

#42 — Charlie Conerly

#50 — Ken Strong

#56 — Lawrence Taylor

Philadelphia Eagles (9)

#5 — Donovan McNabb

#15 — Steve Van Buren

#20 — Brian Dawkins

#40 — Tom Brookshier

#44 — Pete Retzlaff

#60 — Chuck Bednarik

#70 — Al Wistert

#92 — Reggie White

#99 — Jerome Brown

Jerome Brown played five seasons for the Eagles before his death on June 25, 1992, following an automobile accident in Brooksville, Florida. He was 27 years old.

Washington Redskins (1)

#33 — Sammy Baugh

The Redskins have not officially retired any jersey numbers since Hall of Fame quarterback Slingin’ Sammy Baugh retired in 1952.

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)

Waaaay back in 2007 I looked back at five flicks that made a big impact on me during my formative years. The next year I ran through four more. And today I drag out another five. Let’s reminisce!

Better Off Dead (1985) — There is not one part of this movie that isn’t 100% awesome, even more than 25 years later. This Savage Steve Holland masterpiece was perfectly cast and written, which makes its more surreal vignettes feel like integral parts of the movie instead of just absurd asides. It never really sunk in when I was a kid that this was a pretty dark film. Hell, the lead character (John Cusack as Lane Meyer) spends most of the it trying to kill himself. Over a breakup. Fortunately he fails and gets to see an Eddie Van Halen-esque hamburger wailing a Frankenstrat to “Everybody Wants Some!!”? Genius.

Cusack reportedly told Holland that Better Off Dead was, “the worst thing I have ever seen. I will never trust you as a director ever again, so don’t speak to me.” I wonder what he said to the guy who directed Martian Child?

Stand By Me (1986) — Hey, more John Cusack! Well, with or without him, is this not one of the greatest movies ever? And fellas, how many of you said to yourself as you watched this, “man, my friends suck compared to these kids”?

Rob Reiner could do no wrong in the ’80s, and it certainly helped that he had great source material to work with here (Stephen King’s short story “The Body”). All I know is that between him and the cast, I was absolutely transported to Castle Rock, Oregon in the summer of 1959. I felt like I was in that clubhouse playing cards and looking at nudie magazines. And I was there when Gordie, Chris, Teddy, and Vern busted their asses to find that dead kid’s body.

I really wish I had skipped out on that last part. Still, great movie and another one I cherish to this day.

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"MOVIES FROM MY YOUTH"

Like most people my age, my main exposure to opera has been through Bugs Bunny cartoons like “What’s Opera, Doc?” and “Rabbit of Seville”.  The genius of those shorts was that they took high art and made it into something even attention span-challenged American kids could enjoy.  But I imagine they spurred a greater interest in opera for only a very few.

So it was for me.  I always thought of opera as something other, unattainable and likely too difficult to enjoy.  I can hang with a foreign film once in a while, but the thought of watching people singing in Italian or German while wearing tights was too much to take.  I guess I always just regarded it as Broadway with more elaborate costumes and different languages.

Classical music was a different story – while I still haven’t grasped its many forms and intricacies, at its heart its just music.  And I love music.  But opera?  Sorry man, I just don’t have the time.

But I decided to make time last week, and so I headed to Philly to catch the closing night of the Opera Company of Philadelphia‘s production of Otello.  I had no idea what to expect, and even less idea if I’d enjoy myself.  Lo and behold, it wasn’t bad at all.  In fact it was pretty damn good.    What changed my mind?

First off, let’s address the language barrier.  Otello is sung in Italian, which makes sense since it was written by the great Giuseppe Verdi.  Now you might have an idea of the story if you’ve read Shakespeare’s Othello, on which the opera is based.  But that doesn’t mean you can follow everything.  That problem was solved by a long, rectangular screen above the stage that flashed the English translation of the words.

I had mixed feelings about this at first.  At first I was a little sad that modern opera audiences seemingly need to have their hands held in such a manner.  But then again, understanding what the performers were singing most definitely allowed me to become more engaged in the story.  And ultimately that’s what any art form is supposed to do – draw you in and allow you to become invested.  So rather than just focusing on the sets or the singing, I could connect with the story.

Speaking of the singing, that was the second thing to win me over.  Now I wasn’t surprised in the least that an opera staged by a reputable production company had good singing, but I was thoroughly impressed by the performances I heard.  In a world overrun by soulless, auto-tuned melisma, hearing real professionals practice their craft is refreshing.

In particular, Mark Delavan’s Iago and Clifton Forbis’ Otello were the kind of commanding, powerful vocal performances you just can’t get from most forms of music.  Norah Amsellem’s (Desdemona) soaring soprano took a little while to hit its stride, but really shone in the final act.

I came away from Otello wondering why it took me so long to finally dive into opera.  Really, once you get past any cultural bias you may have against it, it really is just another form of entertainment – not all that different from live music of movies.  In fact it’s a pretty compelling blend of the two.

Lastly, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the venue.  I saw Otello at the Kimmel Center’s Academy of Music, which opened its doors in 1857.  It’s a beautiful structure, and contributes greatly to the atmosphere of a performance.  If you have the chance to visit Philly, try to see the structure.  And if you can catch a performance there, even better.  One word of caution – if you buy cheap seats like I did, make sure to take the elevator.