Description: Cannabis has been cultivated in Colombia since the late colonial period, when hemp was grown for its industrial fibers. However, even at that early state, cannabis was recognized for its psychoactive uses, but these remained largely confined to the fringes of Colombian society, and discouraged by law. In the early '70s, American cannabis traffickers made inroads into Colombia, leading to booming production in the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta of a strain appropriately dubbed 'Santa Marta.' Also known as 'Colombian Gold,' the Santa Marta strain is a genetic relative of Acapulco Gold, which is famous in its own right. Colombian Gold was smuggled north in the region's massive shipments of bananas, and quickly became a very desirable strain.
Description: Brim Decaffeinated Coffee hit the market in 1961 as a canned, strictly decaf coffee product made by General Foods. Available in both fresh ground and an instant freeze-dried version, Brim contained less than 3% caffeine and was heavily marketed through a series of TV ads for decades that always ended with the narrator saying "fill your cup to the rim with the richness of Brim." Brim left store shelves in the mid-'90s amid corporate reshuffling, leaving former competitors to fill the void left by the brand's disappearance.
Description: The Olympia Restaurant was a fictional Brooklyn greasy spoon featured in a recurring SNL sketch. The owner was Greek, as were several of his employees. The skit was based on customers discovering only three items on the restaurant's long menu could actually be ordered successfully: a cheeburger, cheeps, and Petsi. Those who ordered french fries got the response, "No fries! Cheeps!" Most famously, if a customer complained about having to order a cheeseburger, Pete would point out all the other customers enjoying said dish, e.g. "Too early for cheeburger? Look! [pointing around restaurant] Cheeburger, cheeburger, cheeburger, cheeburger, cheeburger, cheeburger, cheeburger, cheeburger, cheeburger! Eh?"
Description: Repudilation was a brutal underground death metal band from New York City that formed in 1994 under the name Mangled. They only managed to release a demo, a split with Disfigured, and a compilation album with all of their recordings. They disbanded while recording a second demo that was entitled Encrypted in Blasphemy, that was never completed.
Description: Sachs Motors Corporation of Germany began making motorcycles in 1886, making them one of the world's oldest motorcycle manufacturers. They also designed and engineered their own engines, supplying them to manufacturers around the world. While their previous offerings had primarily been road going cycles and scooters, in 1968 they threw their hat into the popular motocross segment with an all new competition dirt bike. Although their 125 MX model was designed for motocross racing, the bike proved to be readily adaptable and an ideal trail bike for the enthusiastic novice. They quickly followed the success of their 125 MX with a larger 250 model, and between the two, Sachs began winning off-road races, much to the surprise of many.
Description: Dick Contino was an American accordionist and singer that got his big break in 1947 at age 17 when he played "Lady of Spain" and won first place in a talent contest in Fresno that was broadcast on national radio. He went on to take first place in subsequent competitions in major cities across America. Contino was invited to join the Horace Heidt Orchestra and toured nationally with them as the "world's greatest accordion player," making numerous TV appearances along the way. By 1949, Dick Contino was a popular musician whose handsome looks and engaging performances had women swooning over him and the Dick Contino Fan Club was launched, so fans could keep up to date with their favorite accordionist.
Description: Puerto Rico, unofficially known as "Isla del Encanto" (Island of Enchantment), is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the U.S. Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands. Puerto Rico is only 100 miles long by 35 miles wide, making it the smallest island of the Greater Antilles. Puerto Rico (Spanish for "rich port") consists of an archipelago that includes the main island of Puerto Rico and several islands: Vieques, Culebra, Mona and numerous islets. This '80s tourist design is just like the one you still regret not picking up during that family vacation back in '86, so here's to second chances and Isla del Encanto!
Description: Dracula's Dog is a 1977 American horror film starring Michael Pataki and José Ferrer. It revolves around a dog who is turned into a vampire by a member of the Dracula family, who is also a vampire. The film's screenplay by Frank Ray Perilli was the basis for the 1977 paperback, Hounds of Dracula, which was re-titled Dracula's Dog upon the film's release in the U.S. In the U.K., both the novel and film were titled Zoltan... Hound of Dracula. The movie sees the Russian army unearth the vault of Dracula, and accidentally unleash his undead human slave and the Count’s vampire hellhound Zoltan. These friends need a new master and head for Los Angeles to find Dracula’s last living descendant, family man Michael Drake.
Description: Breezly and Sneezly is a cartoon series first broadcast on September 16, 1964, as part of The Peter Potamus Show. From 1964 to 1966, 23 episodes were produced, 14 of which were aired on Peter Potamus with the remaining nine aired on The Magilla Gorilla Show. Breezly Bruin is a mischievous polar bear, and his friend is Sneezly Seal, a droopy green seal with a perpetual cold whose sneezes pack devastating power. They live in an igloo in the Arctic near the Army's Camp Frostbite base. Many of their episodes deal with Breezly's ambitious yet ultimately doomed plans to break into the base for various reasons while trying to stay one step ahead of the army camp's leader, Colonel Fuzzby.
Description: If you've ever passed through Kamas, Utah along Mirror Lake Highway, you've probably seen a sign for 'Beaver Creek Nudist Ranch' with a slothy looking bear character. No, there isn't actually a nudist camp there, rather, just a long-running prank that has caused more than a few curious travelers to pull over for a pic with the sign while keeping an eye out for any nude revelers. As the story goes, the sign with the sloth-bear on it was pilfered from a business a ways down the highway back in 1983. The pranksters added 'Beaver Creek Nudist Ranch' to the sign, and posted it off the highway, appropriately enough at the intersection with Nudist Road. Decades later, the sign is still there, and people are still stopping by to check things out.
Description: If you lived in the Detroit area in the mid '60s through the mid '90s, and went out to a nice restaurant, you probably found yourself at Machus Red Fox at least once. Opening their doors in 1965 at 6676 Telegraph Road in Bloomfield, Michigan, Machus Red Fox described themselves as "gracious dining without extravagance." The establishment was considered an upscale or 'nice' restaurant at the time, but maintained a welcoming, non-pretentious vibe that saw as many families as it did businessmen. Machus Red Fox also has an interesting place in history in that it was the last place Jimmy Hoffa was seen alive in 1975 after going to Machus Red Fox for a meeting.
Description: The Arkansas River passes through Tulsa, Oklahoma, offering fishing, kayaking, and horseback riding, while its downtown enjoys a world-renowned music and art scene. Tulsa is also within two hours of multiple four wheeling destinations, making epic day trip off-road adventures well within reach. Bubba 'Bub' Biggerson knew this and planted his shop, Bub’s 4WD, right in downtown Tulsa back in 1987. Offering a wide range of tires, wheels, and off-road road accessories, along with complete installation and customization services, Bub's was the go-to spot for off-road enthusiasts for the better part of 30-years.
Description: "Orgasm Addict" is a song by the English punk rock band, Buzzcocks. It was the A-side of the band's debut single, with "Whatever Happened To...?" as the B-side, which was released on 4 November 1977. The track was controversial due to its sexual content and was banned in the UK. This was the band's only single featuring bassist Garth Smith, who joined in early 1977, but shortly after its release, he was expelled from the band. The song later appeared on the album Singles Going Steady and also on CD reissues of Another Music in a Different Kitchen.
Description: The A-Team is an American action-adventure television series created by Stephen J. Cannell and Frank Lupo that ran from January 1983 to March 1987. The show focused on former members of a fictitious Special Forces unit known as The A-Team that were court-martialed for a crime they had not committed. They were convicted and sentenced to military prison, but later escaped and began working as soldiers of fortune, while trying to clear their names and avoid capture by authorities. John "Hannibal" Smith, Arthur Templeton "Faceman" Peck, H.M. "Howling Mad" Murdock, and Bosco Albert "B.A." Baracus. Although not part of the military unit, Allen was an intrepid reporter who worked with the team and is considered an additional member.
Description: Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as 'Rowdy' Roddy Piper, or 'Hot Rod,' was a Canadian professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and actor. Although he was Canadian, because of his Scottish heritage he was billed as coming from Glasgow and was known for his signature kilt and bagpipe entrance music. Piper earned the nicknames 'Rowdy' and 'Hot Rod' by displaying his trademark 'Scottish' short temper, spontaneity, and quick wit. He is considered by many to be the greatest villain wrestler ever. Outside of wrestling, Piper acted in dozens of films and TV shows, most notably the 1988 cult classic They Live.
Description: Avalanche Express is a 1979 Cold War adventure thriller film starring Lee Marvin, Robert Shaw, Maximilian Schell, and Linda Evans and produced and directed by Mark Robson. The story sees Soviet general Marenkov as he attempts to defect to the West, and CIA agent Harry Wargrave leads the team that is to get him out. Wargrave decides that Marenkov should travel across Europe by train, on the fictional "Avalanche Express" to lure the Russians into attacking the train and discover who their agents in Europe are. Consequently, during the train journey they must survive both a terrorist attack and an avalanche, all planned by the KGB. Avalanche Express was the last film for both Shaw and Robson, who both died during production in 1978.
Description: Al Dean started Dean Van Lines in 1944 with a few dollars in the bank and a used truck, and built the company into one of the nation's largest moving companies. Based in Long Beach, California, Dean was a huge motorsports fan, and began racing midgets in the early '50s. His successful business, coupled with his interest in racing, would see him put together the Dean Van Lines Racing Team to build and campaign a series of cars dubbed the 'Dean Van Lines Special.' Dean's cars were extremely competitive, recording record lap times, and winning the pole position at the 500 numerous times. Sadly, Al Dean passed in 1967, and within a decade, Dean Van Lines was absorbed, but his legacy remains, and his race cars continue to be highly regarded.
Description: Vincebus Eruptum (Latin for 'controlled chaos') is the debut album of American rock band Blue Cheer. Released on January 16, 1968 the album features a heavy, thunderous blues sound, which would later become known as heavy metal. A commercial and critical success, Vincebus Eruptum peaked at number 11 on the charts and spawned the number 14 hit cover of Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues." Being an example of hard rock, it is also lauded as one of the first heavy metal albums, and is consistently named as one of the greatest metal albums of all time.
Description: Ewing Oil Company is a fictional petroleum conglomerate from the television series Dallas, whose corporate offices are were located in Dallas, Texas. Jock Ewing founded Ewing Oil in 1930 and ran it until 1977, when he retired. Several years prior to the debut of Dallas, J.R. Ewing had returned home to Southfork Ranch after serving in Vietnam and became Vice-President of Ewing Oil. When Jock retired, J.R. became president. Bobby Ewing returned to Dallas and joined the executive management team. J.R. resented his presence and wanted him out of the way. Things came to a head at the end of 1978, when Bobby resigned and started up Ewing Construction.
Description: “Say Yes to Michigan” was a tourism campaign launched in January 1982 which saw an onslaught of TV, radio, and print advertisements, as well as T-shirts, buttons, and other promotional items. The slogan appeared on the official state map that same year, and a variation of the phrase came into play that was simply “Yes! Michigan.” A television commercial was created in 1986 to celebrate Michigan’s 150th birthday, that included a cheesy jingle called “Yes! Michigan — The Feeling is Forever.” The slogan reached almost cliché status throughout the '80s as it was used to sell everything from apples to automobiles, but the '90s saw the campaign wind down and fade away, eventually being replaced with “Great Lakes. Great Times.”
Description: Once Bitten is the third studio album by American rock band Great White. It was released on June 17, 1987 and became a commercial success, selling more than one million copies and being certified platinum in April 1988. The anthem "Rock Me" became a hit single, charting in September 1987, and is one of Great White's best known songs. The album is said to have brought Great White a broader audience as they hit their stride with a mix of blues-infused rock and arena rock anthems.
Description: The burger wars of the '80s were a real thing, with all the major players striking out at each other with escalating jabs played out through multimillion dollar TV ad campaigns. Hitting the airwaves on January 10, 1984, one of them was the “Where’s the Beef?” campaign, starring cantankerous Russian octogenarian Clara Peller. Sitting down to eat in a fast food restaurant and opening an oversized bun to reveal a tiny burger patty in the middle, Peller's gruff delivery of “Where’s the Beef?” was an instant sensation.
Description: The Panama Canal is an artificial 51-mile waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit for maritime trade. One of the largest and most difficult engineering projects ever undertaken, the Panama Canal shortcut greatly reduces the time for ships to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, enabling them to avoid the lengthy, hazardous Cape Horn route. France began construction in 1881, but backed out in 1889 due to high worker mortality rate and slow progress. The United States took over the project on May 4, 1904, and opened the canal on August 15, 1914.
Description: The Giant Gila Monster is a 1959 science fiction horror film directed by Ray Kellogg and produced by Ken Curtis. This low-budget B-movie starred Don Sullivan, a veteran of several low budget monster and zombie films, and Lisa Simone, as well as comedic actor Shug Fisher and KLIF disc jockey Ken Knox. The effects included a live Mexican beaded lizard (not an actual Gila monster) filmed on a scaled-down model landscape. The story centers around a giant lizard that terrorizes a rural Texas community, as a heroic teenager attempts to destroy the creature using his prized hot rod.
Description: The Dating Game was an American TV game show that first aired on December 20, 1965, and was created and packaged by Chuck Barris. The network dropped the show on July 6, 1973, but it continued in syndication for another year as The New Dating Game and was revived three more times in '78, '86, and '96. Each episode started with a bachelorette that would question three bachelors, who were hidden from her view; at the end of the questioning period, she would choose one to accompany her on a date, with expenses paid by the show. Occasionally, the roles would be reversed with a man questioning three ladies; other times, celebrities would question three players for dates for themselves, co-workers or relatives.
Description: Established in 1898 in Clermont-Ferrand, France, Favor became known for making premium bicycles that became popular with cycle racing enthusiasts. Like many bicycle manufacturers, Favor looked towards transitioning to motorcycles, and in 1921, their first motorcycle, a 125cc two-stroke, went into production. The company built midrange two-strokes, single cylinder four-stroke SV, and OHV models with engines from JAP and Blackburne. After the Second World War they began using engines from AMC, Aubier-Dunne, Benelli, Alter, Ydral and others. Due to the turmoil experienced throughout the motorcycle industry in the late '50s as a result of the boom in car sales, Favor ceased making motorcycles, but kept making mopeds and motorized bicycles.
Description: From 1980 through 1986, Houston's KSRR operated as '97 Star FM,' as a largely top 40 station. Late 1986 saw the station relaunched as '97 Rock Houston,' and transitioned to an album oriented rock (AOR) format, using the slogan 'Kick Ass Rock 'N' Roll!' 97 Rock brought in national talent to host a new drive time morning show, and the station successfully competed against the AOR format stations in the Houston market to be the dominant FM radio broadcaster.
Description: Magnum, P.I. is the quintessential '80s action show whose magic others have aspired to recreate ever since it's 1980 to 1988 run. The show centered around Thomas Magnum, a Vietnam vet now working as a private investigator in Oahu. He lives in the guest house on a massive estate, where its unseen owner lets Magnum stay in exchange for his services. He is surrounded by an eclectic mix of characters that act as sidekicks who accompany him on his adventures in solving cases around Oahu. The energy of the show was cranked up from the start as the electric guitar riff driven intro took off, interspersed with shots of Magnum and crew in the midst of their adventures, Oahu in the background, waves crashing on the beach.
Description: Henry Schuster emigrated with his family from Germany to Wisconsin at the age of 12 in 1847. In 1862, he and his wife moved to Rochester, Minnesota where, working as a blacksmith, he made enough to buy an interest in the Joest Brewery. By 1866, he was working at Joest, which produced nearly 500 barrels a year, and in 1870, he bought out his partner, renaming it Union Brewery. A year later, the brewery burned down, and Schuster began construction on a new three-story plant, which included a single-story, solid brick structure housing the furnaces. The new brewery opened in 1871 as Schuster Brewing Co. and focused on both brewing traditional German beers and non-alcoholic malt and hop tonics that sold in drugstores as medicinal remedies.
Description: Purrpetual Petz are the flagship product of fictional Seattle-based toy company Funki in the creepy kid slasher flick, M3GAN. Despite resembling demonic Furbys with rather horrifying human teeth that chatter like the fourth cenobite of the Lament Configuration, these wisecracking animatronic critters are hugely popular with kids, and are marketed as good replacements for dead dogs and cats.
Description: The big 5-0 is known as a golden birthday, when gifts of gold are traditionally given. Of course, the price of gold these days coupled with having cheap friends has made that more of an urban legend than anything. Nonetheless, odds are by the time you are 50, you are indeed pretty shifty, so this '70s era 50 & Shifty design is a great fit for you or someone you know who is turning 50 that you're too cheap to buy something gold for.
Description: Innerspace is a 1987 sci-fi comedy about a top-secret test of a sub-miniaturization experiment that goes wildly awry. When industrial spies steal the technology, the daring pilot of the world's first molecular-sized craft is accidentally injected into the bloodstream of a hypochondriac grocery store clerk. Now with only a 24-hour supply of oxygen, the atom-sized test pilot must convince the guy whose body he is in to be a hero. He directs him from within to recover the stolen technology, convince his girlfriend that he loves her, and save both of them from a certain death.
Description: Just south of the Kentucky/Ohio border, in the North River Region of Kentucky, is a Big Bone Lick State Park. The inappropriate sounding name comes from a natural 'lick,' which is a place with salt in the ground where animals converge to literally lick the salt needed for their diets. The area has been being frequented by animals since at least the Pleistocene era, so mastodons and other prehistoric beasts came here to get salt and, instead, met their end. The soil of the lick is not just salty, but swampy, much like the La Brea Tar Pits of Southern California, except with mud instead of tar. European explorers stumbling upon the area in the mid 1700s were stunned by the massive bones they found protruding from the ground.
Description: Marquee Moon is the debut album by American rock band Television that was released on February 8, 1977. In the years leading up to the album, Television had become a prominent act on the NYC music scene, generating interest from a number of labels, eventually signing with a New York based major label, and recording the album at A & R Recording in September 1976. Marquee Moon was met with widespread acclaim and was hailed by critics as an original musical development in rock music. The critical recognition helped the album achieve unexpected commercial success in the United Kingdom, despite poor sales in the United States. Routinely placed among the most acclaimed music releases in history in professionally curated best album lists.
