Description: Synthwave is an art movement designed as a satirical celebration of the unfulfilled sybaritic and decadent capitalist utopia promised by Reaganomics. The visual look of Synthwave is 80s-centric with plenty of retro-futurism styling. Dark scenes, with neon colored grids and sunsets, are quite common. Think of early wire-frame computer graphics with a low-polygon appearance.
Description: LTI Trucking Services was founded in 2005 in Madison, Illinois, just outside of St. Louis. The company specialized in temperature-controlled freight with primary clients being food producers and grocery chains. With a fleet of 300 tractors and 575 trailers, LTI was a regional carrier hauling goods to 30 states throughout the Midwest, South, and Eastern U.S.
Description: Linn Acres Farms was founded by Edward Linn in Bucyrus, Ohio in 1943. By the late '60s, the farm was doing great, but Linn diversified, adding seed, fertilizer, and chemical sales as well as comprehensive soil processing services. With a fleet of 18-wheelers to haul their own livestock and deliver agricultural products, Linn Acres Farms expanded their trucking division to offer common carrier services to other farms and even began running bulk hauls in and out of the south.
Description: Owner of Hatcher Grocery Store in Columbus, Georgia, Claud Hatcher, began bottling his own ginger ale and root beer in 1905. Hatcher continued to develop more sodas over the years, finding a hit with a cherry soda he called 'Chero-Cola,' subsequently dubbing his soda business The Chero-Cola Company. Hatcher created the Nehi line of fruit-flavored sodas in 1924, the name a play on the 'knee-high' tall bottles. The new sodas were instantly successful, and soon outselling Chero-Cola entirely. The following year the company's name was changed to Nehi, and the new line became the company's best sellers.
Description: Released in 1981, Fire of Love is the debut record of the American rock band The Gun Club. The album is considered groundbreaking in being the first of its kind to combine the hard, stripped-down sound of punk rock with American roots music. In turn, this innovation helped to create the punk blues style as well as inspiring countless garage rock musicians, with many more citing Fire of Love as an influence and one of their all-time favorite records.
Description: Silver Fleet Motor Express (SFME) was founded in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1930. The company set up daily freight service from Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois, to half a dozen southern states. The 'Silver Fleet System' proved to be popular and SFME steadily grew its fleet to accommodate customer needs. Within a decade, SFME was operating over 100 power units and twice as many trailers with terminals across multiple states. Their clean rigs could be seen coming from miles away with their custom black and silver liveries and became a common sight in the regions they served.
Description: Dracula A.D. 1972 is a British horror film written by Don Houghton and directed by Alan Gibson. Unlike earlier films in Hammer's Dracula series, Dracula A.D. 1972 had a contemporary setting in an attempt to update the Dracula mythos for modern audiences. Dracula is brought back to life in modern London and preys on a group of young partygoers, including the descendants of his nemesis, Van Helsing. Released on September 28, 1972, the film received mixed reviews, but also found plenty of prominent admirers and supporters. In the decades since its release, Dracula A.D. 1972 has become somewhat of a cult classic, and is even considered by some to be a classic filmmaking blueprint.
Description: Crane Robo was the 24th figure in the Machine Robo Series of Japanese transforming robots. He transforms from robot form into a Unic K-200B crane truck. In robot mode, he stands 14.7m tall and is equipped with a Super Psycho Cannon and a Romtron Radar Scanner. He weights 198 tons and can travel at 100 kph in vehicle mode. In the cartoons, his crane arm has been shown a few different ways, but the most hilarious is when it's extending from below the waist. The figure was later issued as the GoBots figure Crain Brain, with no significant changes beyond omitting the additional sticker sheet. As such, the American version of the figure is lacking the markings on the crane arm. Crain Brain was not released as part of Robo Machine line in Europe.
Description: The Aquarius Home Computer was designed by Radofin Electronics and released in June 1983. Based on the Zilog Z80 processor, the PC was self-contained in an oversized keyboard with 4 KB of RAM, and a subset of BASIC in ROM. It connected to a TV set for AV output, and used a cassette tape recorder for secondary data storage. A limited number of peripherals, such as a 40-column printer, a 4-color plotter, and a 300-baud modem, were released. Although less expensive than the TI-99/4A and VIC-20 computers it competed against, the Aquarius was less attractive due to its weak graphics and limited memory. The Aquarius was discontinued just a few months after it was launched giving it one of the shortest lifespans of any personal computer.
Description: The historic Pittsburg and Shawmut Railroad, also known as The Shawmut Line, dates to the very early 20th century and operated for just over 100 years as an independent road relying primarily on the movement of coal. It was a profitable railroad its entire existence with good management, high demand from numerous coal mines located along its rail lines, and three interchanges with large Class I systems. Despite the arduous task of moving heavy coal trains, the railroad relied primarily on EMD diesel switchers, but they made it work and got the job done. This version of the Pittsburg & Shawmut Railroad logo is based on the updated mark created after G&W procured the line in 1996.
Description: The Chicago Seven, originally the Chicago Eight and also known as the Conspiracy Eight or Conspiracy Seven, were seven defendants charged by the US Department of Justice, with conspiracy, crossing state lines with intent to incite a riot, and other charges related to anti-Vietnam War and counterculture protests in Chicago, Illinois during the 1968 Democratic National Convention. The Chicago Eight became the Chicago Seven after the case against one codefendant ended in a mistrial. Everyone else was convicted, but the rulings were overturned on appeal. While the arrest and arraignment were meant to send a message to activists, it only resulted in new demonstrations against the police, the city, the feds, and even the DNC.
Description: Clark Stanley was an American herbalist and quack doctor who marketed a "snake oil" as a patent medicine, styling himself as the "Rattlesnake King." Stanley claimed that after eleven years working as a cowboy, he studied for more than two years with a Hopi medicine man learning the "secrets of snake oil." With the help of a Boston druggist, he began marketing his product at Western medicine shows and soon had a runaway success as people bought his claims of being a cure-all. A decade after the passage of the Pure Food and Drug Act in 1906, Stanley's concoction was found to be of no value. It was determined to contain mineral oil, beef fat, capsaicin from chili peppers, and turpentine. He was fined $20 and the term "snake oil" would go on to
Description: DinaSour Eggs were giant sour jawbreakers were first announced in the spring of 1981 and discontinued in the mid-90s after a pretty successful run. The candies had multiple layers of different colors and flavors that revealed themselves as the candy was sucked on. DinaSour Eggs originally came as a single giant jawbreaker that would last between 30-60 minutes. Later, DinaSour Eggs came a box or bag of much smaller jawbreakers before being phased out altogether.
Description: The Territorial Enterprise, founded by William Jernegan and Alfred James in 1858, was a newspaper published in Virginia City, Nevada. Noted authors Mark Twain and Dan DeQuille wrote for the paper during the 1860s, getting masthead status thanks to their national popularity. The paper would change hands several times and eventually stop publishing in the 1930s. In 1951, Lucius Beebe and Charles Clegg bought the Virginia City News which owned the Territorial Enterprise. Beebe had done his homework and knew about the iconic sleeping giant that lay hidden in the dusty archives, and on May 2, 1952, after a 36-year slumber, the Territorial Enterprise and Virginia City News conjoined publication made its debut.
Description: Flat track racing, also known as dirt track racing, is a form of motorcycle racing held on an oval track with a hard-packed dirt surface which can be short-track, half-mile, or one-mile in length. Riders compete at high speeds, often without front brakes, using specialized motorcycles. Flat track racing has roots in the early 20th century, with racers competing on horse-racing tracks that were specially groomed for motorcycles.
Description: Germfree Adolescents is the 1978 debut album of English punk rock band X-Ray Spex, one of the most original groups in British punk. With tuneful, saxophone-driven songs and strident vocals from Poly Styrene, the songs were guitar-driven punk-pop that combined outrage and aggression with a sense of alienation and disenfranchisement. It contained the UK hit singles "The Day the World Turned Dayglo" (No. 23 in April 1978), "Identity" (No. 24 in July 1978), and "Germ Free Adolescents," which reached No. 18 in November 1978. Art-I-Ficial is the first track on the record, and one about rampant commercialism and an increasingly sterile and artificial world, making this store shelf design a perfect reflection of modern consumer society.
Description: The Ladies' Sewing Circle and Terrorist Society began as a group within the Oregon Women's Political Caucus in 1974. Their stated mission was 'to allow crafty, smart women the ability to speak their minds and network with other crafty, smart women." This was a time when women were expected to be sweet and subservient, but were starting to stand up to the rampant inequality and limitations imposed on them. These 'radical' women took to discussing the issues in groups that they already belonged to, such as book clubs and sewing circles. Since it seemed such a radical departure from expected behavior, the name 'Ladies' Sewing Circle and Terrorist Society' was chosen as it was both ironic and humorous.
Description: Crucial Taunt is a fictional hard rock band fronted by Wayne Campbell's totally babealicious, bass-playing, Asian-American girlfriend, Cassandra Wong, in the hit 1992 comedy film, Wayne's World. They are first seen in the Chicago rock club, The Gasworks, where Wayne first sees and falls for Cassandra. While the band plays live frequently, it was their performance on Wayne's cable access program that caught the attention of Frankie Sharp of Sharp Records.
Description: If you were a big time rock band touring in the '70s and '80s, odds are that your show's lighting and special effects were handled by Torrance, California-based Obie's Lighting Productions. While this particular design is boring at best and probably only known to those involved with touring shows, it was made famous by a certain Gypsy singer who sported a tank top bearing the company's logo during a rooftop photo shoot. This one is obscure to say the least, but it's yet another small piece of rock 'n roll history.
Description: Darrell Mansfield is an American vocalist, harmonica player, songwriter, recording artist, and performer of various genres including gospel, contemporary Christian music, blues, blues rock, rock, country rock, and soul/R&B. He is considered a pioneer of the Jesus Music movement of the 1970s and has influenced countless contemporary Christian music and mainstream artists. Mansfield's Revelation is a record released in 1985 that is filled with pure rock and roll evangelism with upfront lyrics about being a full-fledged Jesus freak with screaming guitars and solid songwriting.
Description: Forced from their homeland because of famine and political upheaval, the Irish endured vehement discrimination before making their way into the American mainstream. Irish immigration to America, particularly during the 19th century, was a significant event driven by the Great Famine, with an estimated 4.5 million Irish immigrants arriving between 1820 and 1930, many of whom settled in port cities like Boston and New York. This design is based on an American St. Patrick's Day card from 1911 that was in celebration of America welcoming the Irish as friends along with their customs and traditions.
Description: Maximum Overdrive is a 1986 American horror film theatrically released on July 25, 1986, to both critical and commercial failure. The story takes place after a comet-induced radiation storm on Earth causes machines to come to life and turn against their makers on a worldwide killing spree. Holed up in a North Carolina truck stop, a group of survivors must fend for themselves against the mechanized killers. A diner cook, Bill Robinson, emerges as the unlikely leader of the pack, attempting to find an escape plan for himself and the survivors, who include his boss, Bubba Hendershot, and a newlywed couple. Despite being a box office flop, the film went on to become a cult classic and maintains a solid fan base for its mindless destruction.
Description: In 1992, Animal Warrior suffered what was considered to be a career-ending injury, so Hawk Warrior went to Japan to form a new team. He would find Kensuke Sasaki, who became Power Warrior, and The Hellraisers were born. They would dominate the tag team scene in Japan, as they held the IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship from December 1992 to August 1993, and a second time in 1994, holding the titles until November when they would lose it again. After losing the titles, they would continue through 1995 and even had another title shot in September of 1995, but they would lose, bringing an end to the team. This manga style design is based on the cool souvenirs Japanese fans could pick up to show support for their favorite wrestling duo.
Description: M.S. Carriers was founded in Memphis, Tennessee by Michael Starnes in 1978. Starnes started the company out of his own home, with just two trucks and $10,000. By 1986, the company had achieved considerable success, and gone public. Starnes began a strategy of expansion into short-haul markets throughout the '90s. At the time, more than 75 percent of the truckload freight in the nation was carried on routes within a 500-mile radius of their origin, and Starnes focused on owning that market share. The strategy paid off, and in 1993, M.S. Carriers grew 20 percent, allowing the company to add 400 tractors to its pool of assets, now totaling over 1,900.
Description: The Nashville Network (TNN), was an American country music-oriented cable television network launched as a basic cable and satellite TV channel on March 7, 1983. Operating from the now-defunct Opryland USA theme park near Nashville, Tennessee, TNN was the first country music cable television network, beating their nearest competitor by two days. Programming included music videos, taped concerts, movies, game shows, syndicated programs, and numerous talk shows. On September 25, 2000, after an attempt to attract younger viewers failed, TNN's country music format was changed, and the network was renamed The National Network, which only lasted a few years before going off the air for good.
Description: C.J. Gayfer migrated to Mobile, Alabama, from Southwold, England after the Civil War and opened a department store bearing his name in downtown Mobile in 1879. By the time of his death in 1915, Gayfer's employed 150 people, averaged over $500,000 in annual sales, and Gayfer had become well known for his philanthropy and was one of the earliest proponents of employee benefits. Gayfer's expanded into the Western Gulf States in the early '60s, and by the end of the '70s, Gayfer's was becoming one of the largest department store chains in the Southern US. The apostrophe in the company name was eventually dropped, rebranding as Gayfers until the chain's closing in 1998.
Description: Punk rock was an intentional rebuttal of the perceived excess and pretension found in mainstream music and mainstream culture as a whole, and early punk artists' fashion was defiantly anti-materialistic. Bands that had been at the forefront of the wave of rebellion had become 'respectable,' having achieved worldwide renown and subsequent wealth. A desire for music to reflect their values of dissatisfaction and alienation began to develop. A desire to look 'low-class' with a touch of the outrageous were preferred over the expensive and colorful clothing of the disco scene. An iconic example of punk fashion is the 1975 bare breasts design, which was a favorite among punks. Today, original examples can be found in museums, which only further c
Description: Goldsmith is a sleepy little town about 20 miles west of Odessa, Texas. Sitting at the intersection of State Highway 158 and Farm Road 856, in northwestern Ector County, the town grew with the Permian Basin oil field. By 1937 Goldsmith had churches, a post office, a grocery store, a restaurant, and a rooming house, but the town would have to wait another four decades before they had a bar. Tony's Tavern set up shop in 1978, and while a town of just 240 residents may not seem like an ideal place for a bar, Tony was counting on oil field workers and support crews coming and going through town, wanting a place to grab a cold one. Apparently it worked, as Tony's was in business for 35 years, and even became a favorite spot for locals.
Description: In the year 1900, a pipeline salesman named W.S. Porter convinced the five largest oil companies in California's Kern River Oil Field to enter into an agreement to turn over their interests to form a new oil company in exchange for stocks and bonds. With those five plus agreements from 34 other companies in the area, the Associated Oil Company was born on October 7, 1901 and began producing petroleum products under the Flying A brand within a few months. By the end of the decade, Flying A was refining their own crude and producing gasoline, motor oil, kerosene, and a variety of lubricants. As cars became commonplace in the '20s, so did gas stations, and Flying A branded service stations began popping up throughout California and beyond.
Description: Gazzarri's Hollywood-A-Go-Go was a nightclub on the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood, California. Gazzarri's opened with performances by The Sinners, who became the house band, The Vendells, and the Gazzarri Dancers, on June 1, 1965. The nightclub's early history is closely associated with the Los Angeles-based television show Hollywood-A-Go-Go, which would feature the Sinners and the Gazzarri Dancers. The venue was a staple of the L.A. music scene from the '60s until the early '90s, playing a role in launching the careers of many bands that would go on to play arenas. Bill Gazzarri died in '91 and the club closed down in '93. A year later, the building suffered irreparable damage from the Northridge Earthquake and it was torn down in '95.
Description: Detroit native Louis Griesinger apprenticed at the Christian Moerlein Brewing Company in Cincinnati and soon found that he not only had a knack for making beer, but genuinely enjoyed it. Wanting to strike out on his own, Griesinger relocated to Windsor, Ontario in 1885 where he founded the British-American Brewing Co., one of the city's earliest breweries. His first completed batch was a pale lager, but as cream ales were becoming popular at the time, he called his lager 'Cincinnati Cream.' His first six barrels were well received, and before long, Cincinnati Cream was a local favorite. Griesinger was soon exporting to America, and expanded his brewery to encompass four city blocks producing 5,000,000 gallons annually by the mid-'50.
Description: The '70s were a golden age for advertising mascots with characters shilling everything from motor oil to breakfast cereal. Milton the Toaster is a prime example of one of these mascots who appeared both as an animated cartoon over live action TV commercials as well as in magazine and newspaper ads.
Description: Ralph Records was an independent record label active between 1972 and 1989, best known for being initially run by avant-garde art collective, The Residents. The name arose from the slang phrase for vomiting, "calling Ralph on the porcelain telephone," and the label proudly produced "music for weirdos." Ralph was founded in 1972, shortly after the Residents had moved to San Francisco, when they realized that the only way to publish their work was to create their own label. Over the years Ralph signed many like-minded artists, eventually releasing records for more than 20 acts.
Description: The ecological awareness movement's roots lie in the late 19th century with figures like John Muir and Henry David Thoreau, who championed nature's inherent value and conservation. The modern environmental movement's emergence in the early 1970s with the advent of Earth Day and awareness campaigns to encourage people to take care of the environment and reduce, reuse, and recycle that continue to present day. This '70s promotional iron-on style design carries a 'keep our lakes clean' message and shows a tiger fishing an old boot out of the lake.
Description: In 1872, the Pacific Railroad was reorganized as the Missouri Pacific Railway (MoPac), creating one of the first major railroads west of the Mississippi. In 1938, MoPac developed their own intermodal operations by launching MoPac Truck Lines, Inc. In addition to creating connecting routes to complement their rail service, MoPac grew to become a major trucking system in its own right, operating more than 3,100 units over 18,000 miles of highway routes in Missouri Pacific’s mid-America territory.
