Description: A&W Root Beer is an American brand of root beer that was founded in 1919 by Roy W. Allen and primarily available in the United States and Canada. Allen partnered with Frank Wright in 1922, creating the A&W brand and inspiring a chain of A&W Restaurants founded that year. Originally, A&W Root Beer sold for five cents (equivalent to $0.88 in 2023). The rights to the A&W brand (except in Canada) are owned by Keurig Dr Pepper, which in turn licenses the brand to the U.S.-based A&W Restaurant chain. A&W Root Beer products are distributed via various U.S. bottlers.
Description: Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour was an American ice cream parlor and sandwich chain that was founded in Portland, Oregon, in 1963. The chain became defunct following the closure of its last location in Brea, California, in 2019. Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour was started at NW 21st Avenue in Portland, Oregon, by Bob Farrell and Ken McCarthy in 1963. Farrell's became known for their offer of a free ice cream sundae to children on their birthday. The parlors had an early 1900s theme, with employees wearing period dress and straw boater hats, and each location featured a player piano.
Description: ShowBiz Pizza Place, often shortened to ShowBiz Pizza or ShowBiz, was an American family entertainment center and restaurant pizza chain founded in 1980 by Robert L. Brock and Creative Engineering (CEI). It emerged after a separation between Brock and owners of the Chuck E. Cheese franchise, Pizza Time Theatre. ShowBiz Pizza restaurants entertained guests through a large selection of arcade games, coin-operated rides, and animatronic stage shows.
Description: Kodak began as a partnership between George Eastman and Henry A. Strong to develop a film roll camera. After the release of the Kodak camera, Eastman Kodak was incorporated on May 23, 1892. Under Eastman's direction, the company became one of the world's largest film and camera manufacturers, and also developed a model of welfare capitalism and a close relationship with the city of Rochester. During most of the 20th century, Kodak held a dominant position in photographic film, and produced a number of technological innovations through heavy investment in research and development at Kodak Research Laboratories.
Description: Canon Inc. is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, specializing in optical, imaging, and industrial products, such as lenses, cameras, medical equipment, scanners, printers, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The origins of Canon date back to the founding of Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory in Japan in 1933 by Takeshi Mitarai, Goro Yoshida, Saburo Uchida and Takeo Maeda. It became the company Precision Optical Instruments, Co., Ltd. in 1937.
Description: Canon Inc. is a Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, specializing in optical, imaging, and industrial products, such as lenses, cameras, medical equipment, scanners, printers, and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. The origins of Canon date back to the founding of Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory in Japan in 1933 by Takeshi Mitarai, Goro Yoshida, Saburo Uchida and Takeo Maeda. It became the company Precision Optical Instruments, Co., Ltd. in 1937. Canon has a primary listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the TOPIX Core 30 and Nikkei 225 indexes. It used to have a secondary listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
Description: The Asahi Pentax series of cameras, by the Asahi Optical Co., Ltd., was a pivotal development in modern photography. They were the earliest Pentax cameras. In 1957, the Asahi Optical Company (later "Pentax") introduced the Pentax, a 35 mm Single-lens reflex camera (SLR) camera which was so well received that it influenced the design of 35 mm SLRs worldwide for years to come. The Pentax and its later development and likewise classic 1964 Pentax Spotmatic allowed Asahi Optical Company to develop into a photographic multinational company, eventually leading the company to rename itself "Pentax" after its seminal product.
Description: In the year 1977, if you were just too big for a “Big Wheel,” there was only one alternative: Marx’s Green Machine. If you owned one, the other kids on your street would be “green” with envy. Selling for just under twenty dollars, this pedal-operated hot rod featured adjustable bucket seats, “hug the road tip-proof-design,” stick-shift controls and as per-size mag-style wheel with a honeycomb design on it. It was the perfect ride, according to promotional materials, “for guys 8 9, 10 years old who really know how to ride.” Hopefully, the green machine was for gals who knew how to ride too.
Description: Big Wheel is a brand of low-riding tricycle, made mostly of plastic, with a large front wheel and exceptionally low seat. Introduced by Louis Marx and Company in 1969 and manufactured in Girard, Pennsylvania, the Big Wheel was a very popular toy in the 1970s in the United States, partly because of its low cost and partly because consumer groups said it was a safer alternative to the traditional tricycle or bicycle. Its low center of gravity made it a stable tricycle for children to ride, minimizing both tip-overs and severity of any related falls.
Description: Kodak began as a partnership between George Eastman and Henry A. Strong to develop a film roll camera. After the release of the Kodak camera, Eastman Kodak was incorporated on May 23, 1892. Under Eastman's direction, the company became one of the world's largest film and camera manufacturers, and also developed a model of welfare capitalism and a close relationship with the city of Rochester. During most of the 20th century, Kodak held a dominant position in photographic film, and produced a number of technological innovations through heavy investment in research and development at Kodak Research Laboratories.
Description: The Huffy Corporation is a supplier of bicycles with headquarters in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It has its roots in 1887 when George P. Huffman purchased the Davis Sewing Machine Company and in 1890 moved its sewing machine factory from Watertown, New York, to Dayton, Ohio. The Davis Sewing Machine company made their first Dayton bicycle, in Dayton, Ohio, in 1892. In 1924, George's son, Horace M. Huffman Sr., founded the Huffman Manufacturing Company. From then until 1949, Huffman continued to manufacture and sell bicycles under the "Dayton" brand.
Description: The Schwinn Bicycle Company is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets bicycles under the eponymous brand name. The company was originally founded by Ignaz Schwinn (1860–1948) in Chicago in 1895. It became the dominant manufacturer of American bicycles through most of the 20th century. Schwinn first declared bankruptcy in 1992, in 2001 Schwinn went bankrupt again and was purchased by Pacific Cycle, now owned by the Dutch conglomerate, Pon Holdings.
Description: The Schwinn Bicycle Company is an American company that develops, manufactures and markets bicycles under the eponymous brand name. The company was originally founded by Ignaz Schwinn (1860–1948) in Chicago in 1895. It became the dominant manufacturer of American bicycles through most of the 20th century. Schwinn first declared bankruptcy in 1992, in 2001 Schwinn went bankrupt again and was purchased by Pacific Cycle, now owned by the Dutch conglomerate, Pon Holdings.
Description: The Chevrolet Chevy II/Nova is a small automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, and produced in five generations for the 1962 through 1979, and 1985 through 1988 model years. Built on the X-body platform, the Nova was the top selling model in the Chevy II lineup through 1968. The Chevy II nameplate was dropped after 1968, with Nova becoming the nameplate for all of the 1969 through 1979 models. It was replaced by the 1980 Chevrolet Citation introduced in the spring of 1979. The Nova nameplate returned in 1985, produced through 1988 as a S-car based, NUMMI manufactured, subcompact based on the front wheel drive, Japan home-based Toyota Sprinter.
Description: The Chevrolet Chevy II/Nova is a small automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, and produced in five generations for the 1962 through 1979, and 1985 through 1988 model years. Built on the X-body platform, the Nova was the top selling model in the Chevy II lineup through 1968. The Chevy II nameplate was dropped after 1968, with Nova becoming the nameplate for all of the 1969 through 1979 models. It was replaced by the 1980 Chevrolet Citation introduced in the spring of 1979. The Nova nameplate returned in 1985, produced through 1988 as a S-car based, NUMMI manufactured, subcompact based on the front wheel drive, Japan home-based Toyota Sprinter.
Description: Sprite is a clear, lemon-lime flavored soft drink created by the Coca-Cola Company. Sprite comes in multiple flavors, including cranberry, cherry, grape, orange, tropical, ginger, and vanilla. Ice, peach, Berryclear remix, and newer versions of the drinks are artificially sweetened. Sprite was created to compete primarily against 7-Up.
Description: The Game of Life, also known simply as Life, is a board game originally created in 1860 by Milton Bradley as The Checkered Game for Life, the first ever board game for his own company, the Milton Bradley Company. The Game of Life was US's first popular parlour game. The game simulates a person's travels through their life, from early adulthood to retirement, with college if necessary, jobs, marriage, and possible children along the way. Up to six players, depending on the version, can participate in a single game. Variations of the game accommodate up to ten players.
Description: Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. A direct descendant of Standard Oil, Mobil was originally known as the Standard Oil Company of New York (shortened to Socony) after Standard Oil was split into 43 different entities in a 1911 Supreme Court decision.
Description: Piggly Wiggly is an American supermarket chain operating in the American Southern and Midwestern regions run by Piggly Wiggly, LLC, an affiliate of C&S Wholesale Grocers. Its first outlet opened in 1916 in Memphis, Tennessee, and is notable as the first true self-service grocery store, and the originator of various familiar supermarket features such as checkout stands, individual item price marking and shopping carts. The company headquarters is in Keene, New Hampshire. As of 2024, 503 independently owned Piggly Wiggly stores currently operate across 18 states, primarily in smaller cities and towns.
Description: Monchhichi is a line of Japanese stuffed monkey toys from the Sekiguchi Corporation, first released in 1974. They were licensed by Mattel in the United States until 1985, and later distributed worldwide directly by Sekiguchi. Five television series were produced based on the characters: The Japanese anime series Monchhichi Twins in 1980, produced by Tokyo 12 Channel the American cartoon series Monchhichis in 1983.
Description: The Ecce Homo (Latin: "Behold the Man") in the Sanctuary of Mercy church in Borja, Spain, is a fresco painted circa 1930 by the Spanish painter Elías García Martínez depicting Jesus crowned with thorns. Both the subject and style are typical of traditional Catholic art. While press accounts agree that the original painting was artistically unremarkable, its current fame derives from a good faith attempt to restore the fresco by Cecilia Giménez, an untrained amateur artist, in 2012. The intervention transformed the painting and made it look similar to a monkey, and for this reason it is sometimes referred to as Ecce Mono (roughly Behold the Monkey, "mono" being Spanish for "monkey").
Description: M*A*S*H (an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American war comedy drama television series that aired on CBS from September 17, 1972, to February 28, 1983. It was developed by Larry Gelbart as the first original spin-off series adapted from the 1970 feature film M*A*S*H, which, in turn, was based on Richard Hooker's 1968 novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors. The series, which was produced with 20th Century Fox Television for CBS, follows a team of doctors and support staff stationed at the "4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital" in Uijeongbu, South Korea, during the Korean War (1950–53).
Description: V (or V: The Original Miniseries) is a two-part American science-fiction television miniseries, written and directed by Kenneth Johnson. First shown in 1983, it initiated the science-fiction franchise concerning reptilian aliens known as the "Visitors" trying to gain control of Earth, and of the ways the populace reacts.
Description: Jolt Cola was a carbonated soft drink produced by The Jolt Company, Inc. (later known as Wet Planet Beverages). The cola drink was created in 1985 by C. J. Rapp as a highly caffeinated beverage. It was targeted towards students and young professionals, stressing its use as a stimulant in a similar manner as energy drinks. Its slogan reads "All the sugar and twice the caffeine!"
Description: Surge (sometimes styled as SURGE) is a citrus-flavored soft drink first produced in the 1990s by the Coca-Cola Company to compete with Pepsi's Mountain Dew. Surge was advertised as having a more "hardcore" edge, much like Mountain Dew's advertising at the time, in an attempt to lure customers away from Pepsi. It was originally launched in Norway as Urge in 1996, and was so popular that it was released in the United States as Surge in 1997. Lagging sales caused production to be ended in 2003 for most markets.
Description: Towne Club was founded and operated by Harold Samhat in the mid-1960s. The company first started selling its pop in its own retail outlets in Detroit, known as "pop centers". It was an affordable alternative to bigger brands such as Coca-Cola and Pepsi, and often sold well in Detroit's poorer neighborhoods. The pop centers offered many more flavors of soda pop than were typically seen in grocery stores, and the pop was sold by the 24-glass-bottle wooden case. People would enter the store, grab a wooden crate, and walk around the various stacks of pop around the warehouse-type store. Customers would bring back empty bottles and cases and start all over again.
Description: The Slinky is a helical spring toy invented by Richard T. James in the early 1940s. It can perform a number of tricks, including travelling down a flight of steps end-over-end as it stretches and re-forms itself with the aid of gravity and its own momentum; and appearing to levitate for a period of time after it has been dropped. These interesting characteristics have contributed to its success in its home country of the United States, and it has inspired many popular toys with Slinky-like components, in a wide range of countries.
Description: Simon is an electronic game of short-term memory skill invented by Ralph H. Baer and Howard J. Morrison, working for toy design firm Marvin Glass and Associates,[1] with software programming by Lenny Cope. The device creates a series of tones and lights and requires a user to repeat the sequence. If the user succeeds, the series becomes progressively longer and more complex. Once the user fails or the time limit runs out, the game is over.
Description: Parker Brothers (known by Parker outside of North America) was an American toy and game manufacturer which in 1991 became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. Among its products were Monopoly, Clue (licensed from the British publisher and known as Cluedo outside of North America), Sorry!, Risk, Trivial Pursuit, Ouija, Aggravation, Bop It, Scrabble (under a joint partnership with Milton Bradley in the United States and Canada), and Probe. The trade name became defunct with former products being marketed under the "Hasbro Gaming" label with the logo shown on Monopoly games.
Description: Monopoly is a multiplayer economics-themed board game. In the game, players roll two dice to move around the game board, buying and trading properties and developing them with houses and hotels. Players collect rent from their opponents and aim to drive them into bankruptcy. Money can also be gained or lost through Chance and Community Chest cards and tax squares. Players receive a salary every time they pass "Go" and can end up in jail, from which they cannot move until they have met one of three conditions. House rules, hundreds of different editions, many spin-offs, and related media exist.
Description: Mastermind or Master Mind is a code-breaking game for two players invented in Israel. It resembles an earlier pencil and paper game called Bulls and Cows that may date back a century. Mastermind was invented in 1970 by Mordecai Meirowitz, an Israeli postmaster and telecommunications expert. After presenting the idea to major toy companies and showing it at the Nuremberg International Toy Fair, it was picked up by a plastics company, Invicta Plastics, based near Leicester, UK. Invicta purchased all the rights to the game and the founder, Edward Jones-Fenleigh, refined the game further. It was released in 1971–2.
