Description: The West Virginia Ordnance Works (WVOW) was an ordnance manufacturing facility constructed and operated by the US Army during World War II. Located just outside of Point Pleasant, West Virginia in Mason County, the 8,323 acre facility produced trinitrotoluene (TNT) based munitions. The facility had a design capacity of 720,000 pounds of TNT per 24-hour period, and operated 7 days a week, 3 shifts per day. TNT production was suspended at the facility in August 1945, following the end of the war, and the facility was transferred from the War Department to War Assets Admin. in late 1946. Now known as the 'TNT Area,' the land has been repurposed for public use, and is where the first known sighting of the "Mothman" occurred in November 1966.
Description: Physical is the eleventh studio album by British-Australian singer Olivia Newton-John, released on October 13, 1981. Recorded and mixed in Los Angeles, Physical became one of Newton-John's most controversial and sexual records, and her most successful studio album. Musically, the album features considerable use of synthesizers, and it explores lyrical themes such as love and relationships, sex, kinesthetics and environmental protection. Upon its release, the album received positive reviews from music critics, many of them considering it to be Newton-John's best effort. The album charted high in several countries, including the United States, Japan and her native Australia, becoming one of the most successful albums of the early '80s.
Description: Located near Santa Monica and Venice Beach, the infamous Marina del Rey Skatepark couldn’t have been in a better location as skateboarding was hitting its fever pitch and pool skating was all the rage. The initial park consisted of three pools, a 10’ half pipe, two intermediate bowls, a beginner bowl, a 230 yard slalom, and a large freestyle area with gentle banks. Unlike most parks at the time, the common areas between runs were finished, so you could literally skate the entire park, not unlike skating around in the 720°arcade game. During it’s relatively short life between 1978 and 1981, Marina del Rey Skatepark played host to countless locals and visitors alike, as well as big name, big money skate and BMX competitions.
Description: The Spider (a.k.a. Earth vs. the Spider) is an independent 1958 American black-and-white science fiction horror film. The film focuses entirely on a small town being terrorized by a giant spider whose origin is never explained. The Spider was released by American International as a double feature in different film markets with either The Brain Eaters or The Screaming Skull. The story starts with a man not making it home one night, so his daughter and her boyfriend go out searching and encounter a giant spider in a cave near the man's wrecked car. Coming back with the Sheriff, the spider is seemingly killed by DDT, and the body is hauled for storage in the high school gymnasium. However, a loud dose of rock music by a teenage gararage band.
Description: TigerSharks is an animated children's TV series developed by Rankin/Bass in 1987 about a team of heroes that could transform into amalgams of human and marine animals. The series lasted one season with 26 episodes and was part of the show The Comic Strip, which consisted of four animated series: TigerSharks, Street Frogs, The Mini-Monsters, and Karate Kat. The TigerSharks are an underwater salvage team that take on the task of defending world of Water-O. Using a device that allows the team to change to half man, half fish, they are able to thwart the evil plans of T-Ray and Captain Bazarlie. If TigerSharks looks and feels like the more successful ThunderCats or even SilverHawks series, that's because Rankin/Bass developed all three.
Description: Lenderink Transport was founded in 1917 in Zwolle, Holland as a horse and carriage carrier. Over the years, Lenderink grew into an industry-leading trucking company with top-notch drivers and well maintained late model equipment operating throughout Europe. Lenderink's primary customers were in the marine engine industry, though also maintained customers in the automotive and heavy equipment space as well. Despite being one of the strongest trucking firms in Europe, as a result of the global economic crisis in 2008, loads slowed to the point that the company was forced into bankruptcy in July 2009.
Description: Skate Rags was a Southern California based clothing company that operated from the mid-1980s to early 1990s. Their tagline was “To Fit and Survive” and as such, marketed their apparel as being a bit more durable, though not sure if that was just marketing BS, or if there was any truth to it, I just know my SR gear didn’t fare much better than any of my other stuff. Nonetheless, Skate Rags had some cool designs and built up a great following, but as the skateboarding landscape changed in the 90s, they struggled to find their place and folded. Their team riders included Mike McGill, Tom Groholski, Monty Nolder, Sam Cunningham, Ben Schroeder, Mark Partain, and Rob Mertz, to name a few. Rip it up!
Description: The Rusty Pelican first opened their doors in 1972 on Newport Beach's Mariner’s Mile. Named after a pelican spotted on a jetty one afternoon, The Rusty Pelican has always been about fresh caught seafood. In the early days, fresh fish including swordfish was caught from local waters and brought into the restaurant’s back doors. Eventually, the local catch was joined by fish from waters off of the coast of Hawaii, South America, Alaska and the South Seas, all of which was delivered fresh within 24-hours.
Description: A rat race is an endless, self-defeating, or pointless pursuit. The phrase equates humans to rats attempting to earn a reward such as cheese, in vain, so the term is commonly associated with an exhausting, repetitive lifestyle that leaves no time for relaxation or enjoyment. This '80s design celebrates being active participants in the rat race in pursuit of the American Dream.
Description: Q*Bert's Qubes is the 1983 sequel to the 1982 arcade hit, Q*Bert. The game features similar gameplay, but is now in three dimensions. Once again your goal is to change multicolored blocks to a target color, but now you must make sure all three visible sides of the blocks match the target color. You control Q*Bert on the playfield of blocks; Q*Bert changes the colors by jumping to a block, which will cause it to rotate in the direction of his jump. Unlike the original game, you don't need to change the colors of the whole playfield, but rather need to form straight line(s) of the target colors, and when you do, you can move on to the next round. The game achieved mild success, but due to the Gaming Crash of 1983, went relatively unnoticed.
Description: Founded in Grenoble, France in 1929 by the French ski champion André Jamet, the André Jamet Company was a manufacturer of outdoor leisure goods, best known for their high quality camping tents. Early models were simply branded as 'AJC,' and later models as André Jamet. Despite being made in France, Jamet tents followed an American theme in their naming, with models such as the Nevada and Sierra. This design includes their advertising slogan "André Jamet Rend Le Camping Facile!" which translates to "André Jamet makes camping easy!"
Description: Davey and Goliath was a Christian clay-animated children's television series that was produced first by the United Lutheran Church in America in 1961. The show was aimed at a youth audience, and generally dealt with issues such as respect for authority, sharing, and prejudice. Eventually, these themes included serious issues such as racism, death, religious intolerance and vandalism. Each 15-minute episode features the adventures of a boy named Davey Hansen and his 'talking' dog Goliath (although only Davey and the viewer can hear him speak) as they learn the love of God through everyday occurrences. In general, the characters find themselves in situations that have to be overcome by placing their faith in God.
Description: “Peace is always beautiful” is a line from The Sleepers, a poem first published in Walt Whitman's 1855 book, Leaves of Grass. This collection of poems is considered one of the more important collections of American poetry today, but it created an uproar from the moment it was first published, and all through its subsequent nine editions. This classic work of poetry was deemed obscene, too sensual, and shocking because of its frank portrayal of sexuality and its obvious homoerotic overtones. Whatever your take is on Leaves of Grass, there is one thing that we can all agree on – peace really is always beautiful.
Description: Labor unions represent United States workers in many industries recognized under US labor law since the 1935 enactment of the National Labor Relations Act. Their activity today centers on collective bargaining over wages, benefits, and working conditions for their membership, and on representing their members in disputes with management over violations of contract provisions. Larger trade unions also typically engage in lobbying activities and electioneering at the state and federal level. This '70s era design proudly states that "it's all ours!" as workers stand before the extended hand of management passing them the keys.
Description: Welders aren't hard to find, but great welders are hard to come by. So when a career welder opens up shop and begins offering premium welding services at affordable prices, he becomes popular really quick. That's the story of PHX Welding when welder Steve Meyers left his aerospace manufacturing job to go solo back in 1985. From his South Phoenix shop, Meyers provided all kinds of welding and fabrication services for over 25 years. From common metals to the really exotic stuff, PHX Welding could put it together and with exacting tolerance most shops wouldn't even attempt.
Description: Bluegrass is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass features acoustic stringed instruments and emphasizes the off-beat. Notes are anticipated, in contrast to laid back blues where notes are behind the beat, which creates the higher energy characteristic of bluegrass. In bluegrass, as in some forms of jazz, one or more instruments each takes its turn playing the melody and improvising around it, while the others perform accompaniment; this is especially typified in tunes called breakdowns. This is in contrast to old-time music, in which all instruments play the melody together.
Description: Founded in 1938 by Elmer Buchta, Indiana-based Elmer Buchta Trucking grew from a single truck to over 300 during 85 years of steadfast service. As the Midwest's largest bulk transporter and one of the top carriers servicing the MISO electrical grid, Buchta's primary commodity was coal, providing Indiana with reliable energy through daily route hauls. Additionally, they moved tons of aggregate, gypsum, ash, dirt, and numerous other bulk materials in their 39' end dumps, and also ran traditional dry vans and pneumatic bulk tankers transporting fly ash, cement powder, lime, and other dry bulk materials.
Description: Cabot Cove is a fictional town located in the state of Maine in the long-running TV series, Murder She Wrote. The town was home to murder-mystery novelist Jessica Fletcher, the primary character of the series. Cabot Cove is based on the very real town of Perkins Cove, Maine. Mendocino, in Northern California, was the real location used for episodes based in Cabot Cove, which explains the times you see palm trees in what was supposed to be a corner of New England.
Description: The Point is a cartoon fable first aired February 2, 1971, and was the first animated feature ever to air in prime time on US television. The Point tells the story of a boy named Oblio, the only round-headed person in the Pointed Village, where the law says that everyone and everything must have a point. The film is an allegory showing how society rejects people and ideas that are different from the norm, and makes this point over and over again throughout. Long story short, be yourself!
Description: In 1969, accomplished off-road racer and a self-taught mechanical innovator, Drino Miller, partnered with Stanford Havens to open up a shop to build and tune off-road race cars. Calling their operation Miller-Havens Enterprises, they specialized in creating race winning buggies that proved their stuff at both the Mint 400 and Baja 500 where they bested high dollar race teams with their low budget custom single seat buggies. Miller-Havens didn't just stop at dedicated race cars, but created one of the most accessible ways into off-road racing – the Baja Bug. Based on the readily available Type I platform, these vehicles were perfect for off-roading and something that the average Joe could not only afford, but build himself at home.
Description: Glenn Danzig originally planned Samhain as a side project with Eerie Von, though after the Misfits' contentious 1983 dissolution, Samhain became Danzig's full-time band. Samhain is the least-celebrated of Danzig's major musical outlets and catalogs a transitional period in his musical career, bridging the gap between the punk rock of the Misfits and the dark, heavy metal, and blues-influenced sound of Danzig.
Description: Tidwell Carter, Sr. founded the original Carter's Fried Chicken in Douglas, Georgia in the late '60s. His signature recipes resonated with locals, and Carter expanded, opening multiple locations throughout South Georgia, all offering chicken 'by the bucket or by the barrel.' We're not sure anyone needs a barrel of fried chicken, but that's between Carter and his loyal customers who kept coming back for decades.
Description: Long before streaming was a thing, you had to hunt and peck for hard to find movies on VHS, especially those in the horror genre. If you were lucky, you had a mom and pop video store that shared an interest in obscure cinema and carried stuff that the chain video rental places didn't. For most of us, this meant finding a VHS mail order business. A subsidiary of Los Angeles based adult film distributor, Select-a-Tape, Midnight Video specialized in low-budget exploitation horror films in stylish VHS display packaging. They sold through mail order ads in the back of horror magazines and comic books. Cinephiles would check off the boxes next to the titles they wanted, write a check, and then send off their order.
Description: The Orange County Spring Fling was a century ride loop that started and finished in the 495-acre Irvine Park in Orange, California. Offering both full century (100k) and half century (50k) options, it was a fun ride for road bikers of all skill levels that toured around Orange County and helped to raise funds for various community organizations.
Description: The third-generation Z28 began production on October 12, 1981, and was released for sale in December 1981. The new 1982 model continued to use the venerable F-body platform, but introduced the new hatchback body style with complex rear glass, and such options as factory fuel injection, and a four-cylinder engine. Three trim levels were available: Sport Coupe, Berlinetta, and Z28. 173,000 cars were sold in the United States in 1982, with 12 percent of them choosing the four-cylinder, 37 percent the V6, 51 percent opting for the V8. The Z28 came standard with the 5.0 L LG4 4-bbl V8 rated at 145 hp and was available with either a four-speed manual or three-speed TH200 lockup automatic transmission.
Description: “I Like Ike” is one of the most memorable campaign slogans in American history. It was based on the nickname of Dwight Eisenhower, who became famous not as a politician but as a five-star general. Eisenhower’s role as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II made him an ideal post-war candidate to both Republicans and Democrats. Both parties tried to convince him to become their presidential nominee in 1952, but it was the Republican's “Draft Eisenhower” movement that gained momentum using the “I Like Ike” slogan months before Eisenhower even agreed to run. And the majority of voters did like him, as Eisenhower easily defeated his Democratic opponent Adlai Stevenson twice, in 1952 and 1956.
Description: Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is a short story in Rudyard Kipling's 1894 collection about the adventures of a valiant young Indian grey mongoose in India. Based on the classic mongoose and snake fable, the story has been anthologized and published multiple times, and been made into animated features. This design is based on the 1975 cartoon version that American audiences are most familiar with. The story focuses on an English family living in India who discovers a mongoose residing on the estate. They decide to keep him as a pet, in the hopes that he will keep them safe from the many cobras that live in the surrounding jungle. Their new pet quickly begins earning his keep, as two cobras make the family their new target.
Description: Famous Monsters of Filmland (FM) was an American horror film genre magazine, launched in 1958. Originally conceived as a one-shot publication in the wake of the success of the Shock Theater package of old horror movies syndicated to TV in 1957, the first issue of FM was so successful that it required a second printing to fulfill demand. FM's future as part of American culture was immediately obvious, as its success prompted spinoff magazines in other film genres, and many competitor publications riding their coattails. In November 1974 and November 1975, New York City was host to the "Famous Monsters Convention," a convention for fans that featured authors, actors, and other industry personalities.
Description: The infamous Bulldog Baths in San Francisco opened in 1978 at 132 Turk Street, and soon claimed the title of the largest gay bathhouse in America. The Bulldog filled five stories and contained a variety of theme rooms including an orgy room, a steam room, a douche room, and one with an actual semi truck. Everything was done incredibly well, but the star of the show was without question the two-story fully functional prison with rows of cellblocks and a full size day room where 'prisoners' could mingle. Amazing as it was, this gay theme park sadly didn't make it through the hysteria of the AIDS crisis and was eventually shuttered in 1984.
Description: 1971's Blood from the Mummy's Tomb focuses on two Egyptologists, Professor Fuchs and Corbeck, who are instrumental in unleashing unmitigated horror by bringing back to England the mummified body of Tara, the Egyptian Queen of Darkness. Fuchs’s daughter becomes involved in a series of macabre and terrifying incidents, powerless against the forces of darkness, directed by Corbeck, that are taking possession of her body and soul to fulfill the ancient prophesy that Queen Tara will be resurrected to continue her reign of unspeakable evil.
Description: Lakeville Motor Express (LME) was founded in Roseville, Minnesota in 1921 by Vincent Wren. The LTL freight carrier served ten states in the Midwest. In 1979, Vincent handed management of the company to his oldest son, John, who later became full owner by buying out his two brothers. John continued to operate the company as a family business until the late 2000s. One key aspect of LME's strategy in the late '90s was a robust interline relationship with other regional carriers. Known as ExpressLink, the partnership cooperated in transferring shipments between each of their areas of focus, effectively extending each company's range. LME ceased operations in November 2016 and filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2017.
Description: "It's one of those nostalgia places, but not done very well." Cafe 80s was a nostalgia restaurant located in Hill Valley on Courthouse Square in 2015 to remind the citizens of Hill Valley in the 1980s. The café was located on the site formerly occupied by Lou's Aerobic Fitness Center in 1985, Lou's Café in 1955, a soup kitchen in 1931, and the Palace Saloon in 1885, and what would become that of the Bistro Twenty/15 in 2035.
