JCD666

On August 6, 1945, a U.S. B-29 dropped the atomic bomb named 'Little Boy' on Hiroshima. Three days later, a second bomb named 'Fat Man' was dropped on the city of Nagasaki. After the world witnessed the raw power of atomic weapons that ended WWII, humanity stood silent. Calls to ban them began to grow during the Cold War era, and by the 1960s, 'ban the bomb' protests were frequently held throughout the world. These morphed into general calls for peace in the early '70s as the Vietnam War waged on, and designs like this one calling for people to 'get it together' and love one another were a common sight.

Zardoz is a 1974 feature film by John Boorman that was set to be a blockbuster, but ended up leaving many movie goers and critics alike confused. The deeper than average sci-fi's poor reception was blamed on people's failure to understand Boorman's analogies and philosophical statements, though many agree that it was just too weird for the masses. The film's singular vision of a dystopic future in 2293 that includes giant, flying stone heads, immortal rich people, and a scene in which a bunch of impotent people show Sean Connery smut and watch in hopes of seeing him get a boner. The film is a genuinely quirky trip into a future that is hard to describe, which is most likely the reason it's become something of a cult classic over the years.

Basketball has long been one of the most popular sports in Lithuania, and the Lithuania men's national basketball team has history reaching back to 1936. Despite Lithuania's small size, and a population of less than 3 million, the country's devotion to basketball has made them a force of the sport in Europe. Following the country's annexation by the Soviet Union during WWII, Lithuanian players formed the core of the Soviet national team. After Lithuania's independence was restored in 1990, the country wanted to stand on its own in basketball again, establishing a new national team ahead of the 1992 games to continue the country's proud history of top level basketball well into the future.

Birmingham's K-99 first hit the air in December 1976 as WVOK. Broadcasting at 99.5 on the FM dial, the station launched with a progressive rock and roll format, claiming to have 100,000 watts of power, and be "Birmingham's finest rock." The station was sold in 1978 and changed the call letters to WRKK, but continued to be a rock station. The station was sold again in 1982 and switched to a country music format under the name "K-99 Country." In 1984 the station was renamed "U.S. 99" and its call letters changed to WQUS. We could go on, but the changes continued to go on, with sales and format changes literally every few years well into the 2010s.

CONELRAD (Control of Electromagnetic Radiation) was a method of emergency broadcasting to the public of the United States in the event of enemy attack during the Cold War. It was intended to allow continuous broadcast of civil defense information to the public using radio stations, while rapidly switching the transmitter stations to make the broadcasts unsuitable for Soviet bombers that might attempt to home in on the signals (as was done during World War II, when German radio stations, based in or near cities, were used as beacons by bomber pilots). President Harry S. Truman established CONELRAD in 1951. CONELRAD was replaced by the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS) in 1963, which was replaced by the Emergency Alert System in 1997.

Byte Magazine started in 1975,shortly after the first personal computers began appearing as kits advertised in the back of electronics magazines. Whereas many magazines were dedicated to specific systems or the home or business user's perspective, Byte covered developments in the entire field of small computers and software, and sometimes other computing fields such as supercomputers and high-reliability computing. Coverage was in-depth with much technical detail, rather than user-oriented. Byte was purchased by in 1979, an event that led to many of the early computer magazines being swooped up by larger publishers. Like many magazines, Byte suffered in the '90s due to declining ad sales, leading to the publication's demise in 1998.

Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity is a 1987 sexploitation film that has become a cult classic over the years. Loosely based on 1924's "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell, the film combines typical women in prison tropes with those of science fiction, all in a Soviet-style gulag setting. The film follows two female prison slaves who escape captivity, and travel through space until they find a planet. What they don’t know is that the sole inhabitant of the planet hunts humans and keeps their heads as trophies. Now they must survive, and help the others like them that landed there looking for sanctuary, before they lose their heads.

Country music station KBBQ 1500 AM in Burbank became KROQ in September 1972, changing its format to Top 40 and hiring established disc jockeys from other stations to shake things up. In 1973, KROQ purchased KPPC 106.7 FM in Los Angeles, which had been broadcasting an influential free form, progressive rock format since 1968. The FM station became KROQ 106.7 FM, and the two stations began simulcasting programming, referring to themselves as "The ROQ of Los Angeles" and later "The ROQs of LA: Mother Rock." The AM/FM simulcast broadcast continued through 1978, when the AM station was sold off, allowing the FM station to grow to be L.A.'s biggest rock station for the next few decades.

There are hundreds of banana varieties grown around the world, but in the US, you're likely to only find one kind for sale — the Yellow Cavendish. When the popular Gros Michel variety was wiped out by Panama Disease in the early 1950s, fruit companies were looking for another variety that was easy to handle, pack, and ship. Enter the Yellow Cavendish. Growing in bunches about three meters above the ground with a consistent shape that makes them easy to pack, and a beautiful yellow color to boot, the Cavendish was the one. These new bananas were a hit, though they were more sensitive to cold, so firms like Fruit Dispatch Company created educational materials to tell stores how to properly store and display bananas to minimize waste.

The '70s were a time of great change and experimentation for dirt bikes that resulting in some amazing rides, as well as some amazingly bad ones. While purpose built dirt bikes were available in the decade prior, they were expensive, and not always that great. As the Japanese factories fired up, newer, better designed dirt bikes began to hit the market and much to everyone's surprise — especially stalwart manufacturers — they were considerably more affordable. This mid '70s design celebrates that wondrous era that took motocross from a fringe hobby to a worldwide sport that was accessible to just about everyone. Do it in the dirt, baby!

When you think of strip clubs, Portland, Oregon is probably one of the last places that comes to mind. As such, you'll probably be surprised to learn that Portland has more strip clubs per capita than any other city in the United States. With one strip club for every 11,826 residents, Portland far outranks many larger cities with long-held reputations for adult entertainment, including Miami, New Orleans, and Las Vegas. The Tiger Lounge opened in Portland's Powellhurst neighborhood in the early '80s with a tiger stripe motif that may have been a little much, but managed to stick around for the better part of 15 years, which is a long time in strip club years.

In 1873, after the Civil War, German immigrant August Goebel, Sr. founded A. Goebel & Co., and by the 1880s, Goebel had become Detroit's third-largest brewery. Billed as a 'light lager,' their beer was golden in color, and was noticeably drier than most everyday beers of the era. The beer was a local favorite from the brewery's inception, but grew in popularity by word of mouth beyond Michigan. Seeing opportunity in out of state bars and restaurants placing orders, Goebel rebranded their signature brew as 'Gold Label' in 1940, with a national ad campaign leading to regular availability in many states throughout the '40s and '50s. Goebel was sold to a brewery conglomerate in 1964, which started a decline from top shelf to bottom shelf brew.

Interstellar traveling reptile astronauts are a pretty trippy concept, so it makes sense that variations of this classic headshop design have been going around for decades now. While we have no idea what the concept is, we think it's pretty safe to say that hallucinogenics will help make sense of it all.

Roller Games was a sports entertainment spectacle created in the early 1960s in Los Angeles, California as a rival to the national Roller Derby league. Roller Games provided a mostly televised, increasingly theatrical version of the sport, and its flagship team, the Los Angeles Thunderbirds (T-Birds) endured several boom and bust cycles, including a roller derby attendance record in 1972, a major reorganization in 1975, cable sports coverage in 1986, a TV series called RollerGames in 1989–1990 (and a corresponding video game), and a small number of untelevised exhibition matches from the '80s and into the 2000s. The 'Go T-Birds' fan shirt is from the team's 1978 rebranding that saw them go from red, white, and blue, to green and gold.

The term Lisztomania was coined by Heinrich Heine to describe the public response to Franz Liszt's virtuosic piano performances that made him the world's first pop star. Lisztomania was chosen as the title for the 1975 British surreal biographical musical comedy film written and directed by Ken Russell about Liszt. The screenplay is derived, in part, from the book Nélida by Marie d'Agoult (1848), about her affair with Liszt. The film included synthesizer arrangements of works by Liszt. The film starred a laundry list of '70s rock stars and celebrities. The film tells of Liszt's life through surrealistic episodes, blending fact, fantasy, and anachronistic elements.

Careful where you sit, fairies, toadstools can be dangerous!

Élan Vital is the third and final studio album by Pretty Girls Make Graves (PGMG), a post-punk band formed in Seattle in 2001. The band was named after The Smiths' song of the same name (which itself was named after a quote from Jack Kerouac's The Dharma Bums). Élan Vital is the third and final studio album by PGMG, released by Matador on March 4, 2006 in Australia and April 11, 2006 in the US.

Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 531 (VMFA-531) was a Marine fighter squadron consisting of various types of aircraft from its inception, beginning with the PV-1 Ventura, and culminating with the F/A-18 Hornet. Known as the "Grey Ghosts", the squadron was commissioned on November 16, 1942, and saw action during World War II and the Vietnam War. VMFA-531 was decommissioned on March 27, 1992.

World-class logistics company Matheson Trucking was founded by Robert “Brownie” Matheson and his wife Carole in 1962 as a water delivery company called R.B. Matheson Trucking out of Clayton, California. In 1964, the Matheson's acquired a trucking outfit with assets that included two contract routes for the Postal Service. Matheson earned its first new postal contract in 1966, moving mail between Sacramento to Vacaville. The following year, they received two additional California contracts, but that was just the beginning. Over the decades, Matheson continued hauling, handling, and sorting mail and parcels nationwide both for the Postal Service and private shippers. In 1993, Matheson moved its headquarters to Sacramento, and by 2020.

As Ronald Reagan ran on a “Let’s Make America Great Again” platform in 1980, America was embracing conservative values in what was described as a moral rebirth. With this came a renewed love of God and country as the so-called 'Moral Majority' became a force to be reckoned with, and one that would put Ronald Reagan in the White House for two successful terms. During the '80s, God and country designs became popular, and this one that melds patriotism with Christianity is one such example.

Championship Vinyl is the fictional record store from the 2000 film, High Fidelity, based on the 1995 British novel of the same name, though the setting moved from London to Chicago for the screen. Owned by Rob Gordon, and located in Chicago's Wicker Park neighborhood, he and his employees are archetypal music snobs, the kind who'd sneer when someone picks up the latest hit record. Throughout the film, the crew leverage their encyclopedic knowledge of music to belittle customers, compile "Top 5" lists for every conceivable occasion, openly mock people's musical tastes, and occasionally manage to sell few records. How Championship Vinyl managed to stay in business is beyond me, but hey, it's a movie, right?

The Rotters were a punk band from Los Angeles, California that set out to create vile and disgusting music. The band formed in late '77, though they didn't actually play live until '78, which is the same year they released a single called 'Sit On My Face Stevie Nix.' Random punk bands focused on creating vile music rarely get much attention, but the band not only weaseled their way into L.A.'s biggest rock station, but managed to get their single played on the air before being kicked out. The track was a hit, and people were calling in to request it, and asking record stores to stock it, but not everyone was happy. The then boyfriend of the subject of the song got kind of upset, and started threatening record stores and radio stations...

This simple red, white, and blue parody design made waves back in 2002, and now a well-worn version is back for another round!

"I’d like to rest my heavy head tonight on a bed of California stars..."

Exodus' third studio album, Fabulous Disaster, was released on January 30, 1989, and the thrash metal band promptly hit the road to support the new record with a five-month tour. Starting out with a month of European dates in February, the band returned to the states and kept their live performances going through July that same year. Fabulous Disaster and the accompanying tour, but still failed to gain them a well-deserved place alongside other thrash metal giants of the time.

Known as the "Five Flavor Gum," Fruit Stripe was a fruit flavored chewing gum invented by James Parker in 1960. A character known as the Fruit Stripe Gum Man was used to promote the product; he was an anthropomorphic gum pack with limbs and a face. The Stripe Family Animals, which included a zebra, tiger, elephant, and mouse, were also used for advertising and featured in a coloring book and plush toys. However, the zebra, later named Yipes, outlasted the other characters to become Fruit Stripe's sole mascot. The advertising slogan, "Yipes! Stripes!" has often been used with this character, as he freaks out about the striped gum. Wrappers contained temporary tattoos of Yipes engaging in a variety of athletic endeavors.

On September 13 and 14, 1969, a selection of the finest folk singers and musicians in the world convened on the edge of Highway 1 in Big Sur, California for a rather intimate gathering of peace, love, music, and a farewell to summer. Set to a backdrop of some of America’s most glorious scenery, the sixth annual Big Sur Folk Festival continued to be an 'anti-festival festival,' considered by attendees as the antithesis of the more commercial events, though the artists considered it an antidote to them. The non-profit 1969 event maintained the tradition of staying small through minimal advertising. It's estimated that 5,000 paid to enter the festival each day, and another 2,000 or so listened freely by camping along the highway out front.

Founded in 1929 by John and Katherine Cooper in Holland, Michigan, Holland Motor Express operated a north-south line haul covering Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, and Ohio. When Congress passed The Motor Carrier Act of 1935, requiring new trucking firms to obtain an operating certificate through the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), Holland's routes were locked in with little worry about competition. "The Big Dutch Fleet" bought up smaller companies and took on their operating authority to expand their reach over the years, and before too long, were the largest trucking company in Michigan, and at one point, were even the biggest in the Midwest.

Nobody expected much out of the '93 Tigers, but when Fielder, Fryman, Tettleton, and Trammell stood at home plate, folks just knew this season would be different. It was like a bolt of lightning struck the team to charge them up for greatness, and sent these four heavy hitters to unleash a 'Thwack Attack' that the opposing teams never saw coming.

Harold’s Club was a casino established in 1935 by Harold S. Smith Sr. and his brother, Raymond. Soon afterward, their father, Raymond I. (“Pappy”) Smith (1887–1967), was appointed general manager and became the public face of the casino. Pappy Smith developed a marketing campaign that made the casino famous, using more than two thousand billboards across the United States advertising “Harold’s Club or Bust,” often written on a Conestoga wagon. By the 1970s, most of the billboards had been taken down because of the Highway Beautification Act. Harold’s billed itself as being both the world’s largest casino, and the first one in Reno, though we’re yet to see either verified anywhere.

The history of chocolate can be traced to the ancient Maya, and even earlier to the Olmecs. While the word “chocolate” may conjure images of sweet candy bars and decadent cakes, the confections of today bear little resemblance to the chocolate of the past. Made from the fruit of cacao trees, which are native to Central and South America, chocolate eventually made its way around the world, with countries creating their own regional treats. After perfecting his recipe, a businessman named August started a new confectionery in Berlin, Germany with just three employees in 1903. His chocolates were a hit, and considered some of the very best around, with shops throughout Europe stocking the tasty treats.

Head shops have long been great sources for stoner parody designs, and this early '70s Legalize Freedom design is no exception.

This bad mo-fo design tells the world that you’re one bad mo-fo… or, if worn ironically, that you’ve got a great sense of humor. Wear with caution, as a lot of bad mo-fos out there will want you to prove it, and we can’t be held responsible for nunchaku fights that go awry.

The Liquor Hole is a fictional liquor store from Los Santos in the GTA universe. There are two Liquor Hole locations in Los Santos, both of which are open 24-hours and sell liquor, beer, wine, and smokes. In game, they are not accessible to the player and have no role in the storyline. The real life building that houses the Liquor Hole is based on is the now shuttered Spirit Shoppe located on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles, California.

Following the departure of the Minnesota North Stars in 1993, the state of Minnesota was left without a professional hockey team. To fill that void, the Minnesota Moose were founded the following year, using the Saint Paul Civic Center as its home arena. After two years in the Twin Cities, the team was sold to a group of Canadian businessmen in 1996 who relocated the team to Winnipeg, Manitoba, and promptly renamed them.

The Dead Boys' 1977 debut is among the greatest punk albums ever made, so a follow-up was going to be tough. The band's label was convinced they had commercial potential, so to insure success, they brought in Felix Pappalardi to produce their 1978 follow up, We Have Come For Your Children. Pappalardi was best known as the bassist for rock band Mountain, and his job was to reign in the Boys. Unfortunately, he was so successful that he ruined a lot of what was great about the Dead Boys. Recording was problematic, and sessions were halted when the band became convinced that Pappalardi didn't understand their music. The band tried, but were unsuccessful to get another producer; so the album was pushed out, and they broke up a short time later.