Description: Phantom Lady first appeared in 1941 in Quality's Police Comics #1, an anthology title that established her alter ego as Sandra Knight, daughter of a U.S. Senator. She used a 'black light projector,' a device to make herself invisible, and was sometimes assisted by her fiancé, an agent of the State Department, in fighting crime. Phantom Lady is a notable example of 'good girl art,' a style depicting voluptuous female characters in provocative situations and pin-up poses that contributed to widespread criticism of the medium. Her skimpy costume was eventually explained as a deliberate tactic to distract her usually male foes. This design is based on the surreal cover from the FFS published issue #18 that came out in June 1948.
Description: Zybots were a toy line of transforming robots released by REMCO in 1984 to compete with similar trending toys of the era. Zybots were released in five distinct series, with many of the later toys being recolored versions of earlier figures. Zybots were re-released in the '90s as Bibots, which included ten Zybots models with slight sticker and color variations. The design features RPM 2, which is a robot that transforms to disguise itself as a Japanese street bike.
Description: Dave 'The Cobra' Parker was one of baseball's all-time greats and one of the coolest cats to ever take the field. Wielding the heavy lumber like it was nothing, he intimidated big league pitchers, and his missile launcher of an arm made him a true badass when it came to moving the ball. This design is based on a shirt he had made in 1976, with a play on lyrics from Parliament's 'Mothership Connection' saying, 'if you hear any noise, it's just me and the boys boppin.' Whether you're a baseball fan, looked up to The Cobra, or just like boppin' with the boys, this one is for you!
Description: It might come as a surprise to some that the best-selling jeans in America in the early 1970s came from Winnipeg, the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Manitoba. When H.A.S.H. hit the market in 1972, American teens and young adults went crazy for the jeans with the large star on the pocket. While denim was their mainstay, the stylishly flared overalls and dungarees came in a variety of colors and materials. Since fashion is fleeting, by the early '80s, other labels had made the scene and began to trend, leaving H.A.S.H. to fade away. The label made an attempted early 2000s comeback, but failed to capture the '70s allure that made them famous.
Description: Gremlins is a 1984 American black comedy horror film that came out in 1984. It drew on legends of folkloric mischievous creatures that cause malfunctions- "gremlins" - going back to World War II. The story follows Billy Peltzer, who receives a cute creature as a pet, which then spawns more of his kind that evolve into the titular imp-like monsters that wreak havoc on Billy's hometown during Christmas Eve. Despite being heavily criticized for some of its more violent sequences, the movie's cute characters were a hit with kids and a merchandising gold mine, leading ot everything from toys to breakfast cereal.
Description: The line "it takes strength to be gentle and kind" comes from the track "I Know It's Over" from the English rock band the Smiths. Recorded in 1985, it is the third track on their third studio album, The Queen Is Dead, released in 1986. The song is a ballad for the desperate and lonely, and this simple line has long resonated with people. The track uses basic allusions to the idea of loneliness producing despair, but the attention to the speaker’s ego, and how it leads to his demise, creates an original take on heartbreak.
Description: Throbbing Gristle was formed in London in 1975 out of the ashes of international performance art group COUM Transmissions to create what we now know as industrial music. Subhuman/Something Came Over Me is a 1980 single simultaneously released with Adrenalin/Distant Dreams (Part Two). The cover sleeve is a black and white reproduction of "The Apotheosis of War" by Russian painter Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin. Like most of TG's artwork, the Center labels featured distinct insignia typical of the band, with no "Death Factory" logo like other singles. The Message "White Stains" was scratched into the B-side.
Description: The Kansas City Timing Association was established in 1952 in Kansas City, Missouri, by a bunch of enthusiasts from the Kansas City area. The guys in the club got KCTA incorporated so they could hold drag races and help promote a greater understanding between the general public and hot rodders. The club held its events at an old WWII emergency airfield that they rented from the chamber of commerce in Edna, Kansas, for $35.00 a month. KCTA eventually grew to hold officially sanctioned and insured drag races, with classes of cars and safety inspections sanctioned through the National Hot Rod Association.
Description: Castle of Blood (Danza Macabra in Italy) is an Italian gothic horror film directed by Antonio Margheriti. It was released in Italy in February 1964, with an English version released in America in July that same year. The story focuses on a journalist who takes a bet that he can spend the night in a haunted castle on All Hallows' Eve. During his stay, he bears witness to the castle's gruesome past coming to life before him, and falls in love with a beautiful female ghost. The film received low box office numbers, which led to Margheriti remaking the film in color and releasing it as Web of the Spider in 1971. Margheriti would later say that it was "stupid to remake it" and that "the color cinematography destroyed everything."
Description: The word "spliff" is of West Indian origin, likely Jamaican, and its exact etymology is unknown. In Jamaica, a spliff is a marijuana cigarette without tobacco, while outside Jamaica, it typically refers to a mixture of cannabis and tobacco. As a slang term in other countries, it may refer to the act of "splitting" the difference between tobacco and cannabis, combined with the "whiff" of smoke, but regardless of the term's origin, this early '70s headshop design is a classic that would make any cannabis fan happy.
Description: The Young Ones is demented British comedy that ran from 1982 to 1984 about four impoverished nutcases sharing a squalid student house. Episodes were rambling and unstructured, frequently wandering off to unrelated comedy skits or musical numbers. Surreal and/or incomprehensible jokes were aplenty, frequently making light of the acrimonious political climate of the '80s UK, and violent slapstick abounded. The action would often and suddenly shift into animation, claymation, or some form of puppetry. Bands often appeared on the show to perform, usually completely at random, and numerous episodes ended with everybody dying, but coming back next time as if nothing had happened.
Description: This design takes its theme from the track 'Poison Planet' from Corrosion of Conformity's 1984 release, Eye for an Eye. Available as a limited tour tee, this one features an oversized international radiation symbol with a rotting skull at the center, along with zine-style text blocks, all of which come together to give this an undeniable hardcore punk style that is perfect for the mid-'80s era it hails from.
Description: Shot in CinemaScope, Forbidden Planet is a landmark American film considered to be one of the greatest science fiction movies of the '50s, and an influential precursor of contemporary sci-fi cinema. Forbidden Planet was the first science fiction film to depict humans traveling in a human-made faster-than-light starship and was also the first to be set entirely on a planet orbiting another star, far away from Earth and the Solar System. The characters and isolated setting have been compared to those in Shakespeare's The Tempest, and the plot contains certain happenings analogous to the play, leading many to consider it a loose adaptation.
Description: Marshal Law is a violent, satirical comic book series about a futuristic law official charged with policing super-heroes gone rogue by any means necessary, all while fighting his own self-hatred for being the thing he hates most: a super-hero. Suicida is a recurring antagonist to Marshal Law known for leading the murderous Gangreen street gang. He is a psychopathic, super-powered ex-soldier and gang leader whose powers include superhuman strength, durability, and an inability to feel pain, in addition to his combat skills as a former soldier.
Description: Back before the internet let anyone and everyone set up a blog or social media page about whatever they were into, the way to communicate with like-minded people was to set up a zine. These low-budget newsletters ranged in size, quality, and format, but one thing they all had in common was the passion poured into them. First published in 1980, Rockin' Bones was a fanzine dedicated to the progenitors of the psychobilly subgenre, The Cramps. Produced by their fan club, Legion of the Cramped (LOTC), the publication eventually expanded to include other emerging garage rock and underground acts, extending the zine's run well into 1983.
Description: Logan's Run is a 1976 American science fiction action film. The screenplay by David Zelag Goodman is based on the 1967 novel Logan's Run by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. It depicts a future society, on the surface a utopia, but soon revealed as a dystopia in which the population and the consumption of resources are maintained in equilibrium by killing everyone who reaches the age of 30. The story follows the actions of Logan 5, a "Sandman" who has terminated others who have attempted to escape death and is now faced with termination himself.
Description: Outlaw is a 1978 gunslinger video game in a Western setting, where one or two players can aim at targets or fellow gunfighters to reach 10 points in a set time. Several modes are available, allowing for different obstacles and rules that vary how the players move, how their bullets behave, and how the obstacles block the bullets. Like many early home computer and console games, Outlaw is a variation of an existing arcade game, specifically 1975's Gun Fight.
Description: When the Global War on Terror (GWOT) popped off in 2001, the troops on the ground would find themselves fueled by an unlikely source in the decades that followed. Wild Tiger was a locally produced energy drink that became a hands-down favorite over the stuff available on base as it helped troops on extended shifts stay awake and alert. It was often referred to as 'liquid cocaine,' and there was a rumor that it contained nicotine, but that was proven to be false. The high-octane drink actually contains nicotinic acid, also known as Vitamin B3 or niacin, so the rumor that it contained nicotine was a misconception.
Description: The 1939 Australian Grand Prix was a motor race held on the Lobethal Circuit in South Australia on January 2, 1939. The race was staged over 17 laps of the 14 km circuit, the longest ever used for the Grand Prix, for a race distance of 241 km. The Grand Prix meeting was organized by Lobethal Carnivals Ltd. and the Sporting Car Club of South Australia. The race was the eleventh Australian Grand Prix and the second since the 1938 revival of the event. The Lobethal Circuit comprised three country roads in a roughly triangular formation, passing through the town of Lobethal and the nearby village of Charleston. The advantage of using these country roads was that, for the first time, the Grand Prix was held on a bitumen-sealed surfaces.
Description: HoleShot was a BMX and skateboarding event that took place in London from 1984 to 1987. It was the first time major US pro skaters and BMXers went up against the UK's best in a wild competition on both ramps and flatland, with the judges using the crowd's cheering as part of the judging process. The event was chaotic and fun, and is without question one of the forerunners to modern-day extreme sports events.
Description: American involvement in the Vietnam War spanned from 1959 to 1975, escalating from limited military advisors to a major combatant role. The conflict was driven by the Cold War's containment policy and the domino theory, with the U.S. aiming to prevent the spread of communism in Southeast Asia. On April 30, 1975, North Vietnamese troops took over the city of Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City). This event, commonly known as the Fall of Saigon, marks the official end of the Vietnam War. Today, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial chronologically lists the names of 58,318 Americans who gave all in hopes that we remember and never forget.
Description: Johnson Motors was founded in Terre Haute, Indiana, in 1903 by four brothers - Louis, Harry, Julius, and Clarence Johnson. They started out building inboard 2-cycle engines in a barn behind their house, and within a decade, they relocated to larger facilities - first to South Bend, Indiana, and then to Waukegan, Illinois. In 1922, they introduced a lightweight outboard made of aluminum. The new motors were a hit, and by the mid-'20s, they were dominating outboard sales. 1952 saw the revolutionary new Seahorse line, that were truly modern motors. Available in 3, 5, 10, and 25 horsepower models, these lightweight 2-stroke outboards became known for their ability to troll at very low speeds, making them extremely popular with fishermen.
Description: Invaders from Mars is a 1953 American science fiction film that set the bar for early sci-fi horror style movies. The story follows young David Maclean as he sees a flying saucer land and disappear into the sand dunes just beyond his house in the early hours of the night. David soon realizes that the extraterrestrials intend to use mind control on the local townsfolk. Determined to stop the invaders, who have already co-opted his father, he attempts to warn others. But when local law officers also succumb, David teams up with astronomer Stuart Kelston and Dr. Pat Blake, and the trio must fight together to repel the insidious intruders.
Description: Canadian National Railways (CNR) was officially incorporated on June 6, 1919, becoming a government-owned entity formed by merging several financially struggling railways that had fallen under government control. This amalgamation included the Grand Trunk Railway, Grand Trunk Pacific, Intercolonial Railway, Canadian Northern Railway, and the National Transcontinental Railway. The formation of CNR aimed to consolidate these lines into a single, more efficient system, primarily focused on freight transport, though it also operated passenger services until 1978, when they were spun off into their own organization.
Description: The 1964 presidential campaign of Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater was a significant event in American political history, as he brought conservatism to the main stage. Goldwater campaigned on limited government, lower taxes, and a strong stance against communism. His hard-line conservative views led to a split in the Republican Party as they alienated moderate Republicans. Despite ending in a landslide defeat, Goldwater's campaign is considered a turning point in the rise of modern conservatism that influenced the Republican Party's direction and helped set the stage for future conservative victories, including Ronald Reagan's election in 1980.
Description: Minnesota Dragways was a drag strip located in Coon Rapids, Minnesota, that operated between 1959 and 1976. The track was situated 3 miles east of Anoka on Highway 242, and it was a popular destination for racing enthusiasts in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Today, the area where the track once stood is a subdivision, but the memories of Minnesota Dragways remain strong in the region.
Description: Beginning in 1974, Power Records produced ‘Book & Record’ sets that included either a 7" 45 rpm record or a 12″ 33 rpm record and a comic book. The record followed along with the comic using sound effects, audio dialogue, and a backing soundtrack. Power Records’ Book & Record sets remain highly desirable collectables, not just due to their pop culture value, but because complete sets with both the record and comic are hard to come by, especially in good condition, as these were loved and well used by children over many years. Power continued to produce these sets until the early '80s.
Description: WAWR 93.5 FM was founded by Robert W. Reider in Port Clinton, Ohio, and first went on the air on Wednesday, June 3, 1964. The station ran an easy listening format during the day and played rock in the evenings. In the '70s, WAWR moved to Toledo and switched its evening program to a mix of contemporary and underground rock, targeting the local college crowd. The station changed its calls to WRQN on July 11, 1983, took on a full-time Contemporary Hits Radio (CHR) format, and began calling itself '93Q' with the 'most music.'
Description: In 1956, American Civil Defense efforts focused on preparing the civilian population for potential nuclear attack during the Cold War, with a mix of public education, drills, and the development of warning systems. A key aspect was the "Operation Alert" exercise, a nationwide drill simulating an attack, and the "Duck and Cover" campaign aimed at educating the public on safety measures. And that same year, a mascot was added, the aptly named Mr. Civil Defense. He was featured on signs, posters, training materials, and comic books to help prepare the population for the worst with his catchphrase, "alert today, alive tomorrow!"
Description: Superior, Wisconsin, is known for its stunning location on Lake Superior, its rich history as a Great Lakes port, and its proximity to outdoor recreation in the surrounding Northwoods. In 1971, Superior got its own Bavarian-themed tavern at 1217 Tower Avenue. Cleverly named Frank ‘n Stein, the tavern became known for an extensive selection of beers on tap and ridiculously large hot dogs and sausages. The interior was remodeled to look like a Bavarian castle with a thoughtful mix of real and faux brick and block work, and they made frequent use of Frankenstein's monster in their advertising and internal promotion.
Description: Pharmacist Albert Heinrich Riise settled on St. Thomas in 1838, where he opened a pharmacy where he not only developed medicines, but also experimented with crafting spirits. One of his most famous concoctions was Old St. Croix Rum, which he produced using ingredients from the neighboring island of St. Croix. Not satisfied with just selling his rum on the islands, Riise began marketing his rum internationally in the late 1800s, and by the early 1900s, Old St. Croix was becoming available abroad. In the mid '40s, the brand began advertising with a laid-back pirate character, playing off the West Indies' exotic reputation as a haven for adventure.
Description: Friday the 13th is widely believed to be an unlucky date, a superstition with roots in both Christian and Norse mythology, as well as historical events. The number 13 is often associated with misfortune, possibly due to the Last Supper, where Judas, the 13th guest, betrayed Jesus. Fridays are also linked to misfortune, as the day of Jesus' crucifixion, the fall of Adam and Eve, and other biblical events. We're not sure what this 1940s era black cat is up to, but he's got a lucky horseshoe, so perhaps that cancels out the bad luck?
Description: Northwest Auto Parts Company (NAPCO) was founded in 1918 as a specialized mechanical shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Like most manufacturers during WWII, NAPCO refocused their operation on producing vehicle drive assemblies for US military contractors, including those that went into the versatile 4WD general-purpose vehicles. Soldiers experienced the advantages of 4x4 trucks and wanted a 4x4 drivetrain in their trucks when they got home. NAPCO began offering an aftermarket 4x4 conversion kit called Powr-Pak in 1947 that could be bolted onto any truck chassis equipped with Hotchkiss drive. The transfer case was a Spicer unit with an optional Dual-Range Hi-Lo, but the rest of the kit consisted of readily available OEM parts from Detroit.
Description: The sudden success of sci-fi movies in the '70s brought about a new generation of science fiction magazines devoted to covering the genre. The leading publication of this type was Starlog, which debuted in 1976 and soon achieved a respectable circulation. Omni, first issued in October 1978, was aimed at a more sophisticated audience and was also enjoying financial and critical success. Launched in 1978, Questar was designed to fall somewhere in between the two, but never quite achieved the economic success of its competitors, and as such, the magazine folded after its 13th issue in 1981.
