Hoodies
Description: Originally known as The Boys Next Door, The Birthday Party was an Australian post-punk band, active from 1977 to 1983. Their eponymous debut album was released in 1980, showcasing bleak and noisy soundscapes, which drew irreverently on blues, free jazz, and rockabilly, and provided the setting for vocalist Nick Cave's disturbing tales of violence and perversion. Their 1981 single "Release the Bats" was particularly influential on the emerging gothic scene. Despite limited commercial success, The Birthday Party's influence has been far-reaching, and they have been called one of the darkest and most challenging post-punk groups to emerge in the early '80s.
Description: The Desert Fox Jimmy first came out in 1977, with a second edition in offered in 1979. These stylin' off-roaders came from the factory with a range of options, including: graphic stripe package, buckskin painted wheels, Hickey colored keyed brush guard and chrome tow hooks, dual high-intensity off-road lights, special Desert Fox badge on the front quarter panels, four side-mounted tie downs, Hickey colored keyed roof racks, buckskin color-coordinated top, and a rear tire and fuel carrier. There were additional Desert Fox upgrade options available as well, but this was the core package and how 99% of them were delivered.
Description: Girls Gone Wild was an adult entertainment franchise created in 1997 that was known for its early use of direct-response marketing techniques, including late-night infomercials, to sell their VHS video releases. The videos typically involved camera crews at party locations engaging young college-aged women who expose themselves or otherwise act wild, especially during Spring break. By the late 2000s, Girls Gone Wild began offering their wares primarily through their website as streaming videos, downloads, and as physical DVDs. In February 2013, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, ending Girls Gone Wild as it was known.
Description: When St. Patrick's Day rolls around, everyone thinks of leprechauns, but the real unsung hero of the day is Uncle O'Grimacey, a green grimace that first made his appearance in 1975. He wears a green cob hat, a vest with shamrocks on it, and carries a traditional Irish shillelagh, and for several years, every March, around St. Patrick's Day, he would show up to promote his beloved green milkshakes. Uncle O’Grimacey had a short tenure as a mascot, and to be honest, it wasn’t a very memorable run as far as ad campaigns go, but for those who remember him, those memories are most likely good ones.
Description: When people think of early speed parts manufacturers, they usually think of the Southern California hot rod scene, so Drag Fast Speed Shifters catches them off guard. Based out of Seattle, Washington, Drag Fast handcrafted some of the best shifters around beginning in the late ’50s. Utilizing larger diameter shift rods and the inclusion of adjustable shift stops like a Competition Plus, Drag Fast made top-notch stuff that was built for drag racing.
Description: Pelee Island sits in the western half of Lake Erie in Ontario, Canada. European settlement of the island began in 1788 when the land was leased to Thomas McKee by the Ojibwa and Odawa tribes. William McCormick purchased the island in 1823, and it was incorporated as an independent municipality in 1868. At 16 square miles, Pelee Island is the largest island in Lake Erie and also the southernmost populated point in Canada. According to the 2016 census, the island has a population of 235 permanent residents living in 90 households. Connected to the Canadian and United States mainland by ferry service, the population can swell to over 1,500 during the summer months, with more than three thousand people on long weekends.
Description: Conceived in the late '50s, Legend City was a wild west-themed amusement park that opened its doors in 1963 in Tempe, Arizona. During its twenty-year run, Legend City was an entertainment destination, providing a unique and fun experience for locals and tourists alike. Legend City featured a number of memorable attractions such as the Lost Dutchman Mine ride, Cochise’s Stronghold river ride, Sky Ride, Penny Arcade, Miniature Golf, Log Jammer, and Iron Horse, the train that ran the narrow gauge Legend City Railroad. The park's Golden Palace Saloon featured a multitude of live entertainment, ranging from musical performances and magic acts to ventriloquism and square dancing.
Description: Carlsbad Raceway was a motorsport facility located in Carlsbad, California that featured a ¼ mile drag strip and motocross track, which first opened in 1964. The track was popular with local street racers as it hosted Saturday afternoon grudge races where drivers could square off against their friends (and enemies) in a classic 'run what you brung' event. Motorsports activities were shut down in August 2004 and a business park was erected on the land once occupied by the raceway.
Description: Britny Fox was an American glam metal band from the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area that was active from 1985 to 1992. They are best known for their music video for "Girlschool" and their minor hit "Long Way to Love" (U.S. No. 100). Named after a track of the same name on their self-titled 1988 debut album, Rock Revolution was the name of the band's 1989 tour. Despite achieving moderate popularity on the tail end of glam metal as it was fading out, Britny Fox maintained a successful following that resulted in four studio albums.
Description: Founded in Sunnyvale, California during the early '80s, Cyberdyne Systems' products were primarily computer processors, but also made small components for larger manufacturers in the tech industry. A T-800 Terminator, which was sent from the future and designed to kill humans, was crushed in one of the hydraulic presses in Cyberdyne's factory. From the Terminator's wreckage, the company was able to procure future tech by way of it's CPU chip and nearly complete arm segment. The advanced technology from these elements were reverse engineered, rapidly accelerating Cyberdyne Systems into the future, suddenly making them a major player in cutting-edge tech.
Description: Bradlees Department Store, more commonly known as Bradlees, was a discount department store chain based in Braintree, Massachusetts, which operated primarily in the Northeastern United States. Bradlees sold various retail items in its stores, including clothing, jewelry, health care, beauty products, footwear, furniture, electronics, housewares, and bedding. At its peak in 2000, Bradlees operated over 105 stores in seven states across the Northeast, with close to 10,000 employees. The chain went through Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2000, with all of its stores eventually closed by March 15, 2001.
Description: In 1906, Grover 'Cleve' Harrell started what was to become the Yellow Cab Company with horse-drawn carriages in Oklahoma City. Harrell's older brother, A. J. arrived, soon followed by their younger brother Marvin, and the three went into business together. In 1929, the Harrell brothers established Yellow Transit Freight Lines to serve small manufacturers for whom express rates were prohibitive. Eventually the partnership dissolved, and A. J. took control of the freight lines, which he kept small until 1952 when an ownership group bought the freight company. During this time, Yellow pioneered the concept of consolidating small shipments into trailer loads. In 1968, the company name was changed to Yellow Freight System.
Description: If you’ve ever wondered about the Ranger Danger shirt Randal Graves was wearing in Clerks II, it is apparently one of Kevin Smith’s many unrealized projects. Kevin once described it as “my stab at a comic-book/sci-fi movie. It’s in the vein of Flash Gordon, something I’ve noodled with a couple of years. Now I feel we are mature enough filmmakers to tackle it.” Whether it ever becomes a thing or not is yet to be seen as it’s been several years since he’s mentioned it, but it sounds like it would be a cool one to see come together!
Description: Word on the streets is that sharks do actually have really bad breath, courtesy of a veritable smorgasbord of bacteria. It's these bacteria that causes a multitude of infections in shark bite victims, which doctors have a hard time treating do to the multitude of sources. But enough marine biology... this retro '80s surfer design has a lighter take on the issue of shark breath and what a bummer it can be when your friend gets eaten 🤷♂️
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: The Vega was an American subcompact automobile that was made from 1970 to 1977. Available in two-door hatchback, notchback, wagon, and sedan delivery body styles, all models were powered by an inline four-cylinder engine with a lightweight, aluminum block. While Vegas initially sold well, they were plagued with quality issues throughout the model's seven-year life. On the upside, these cars became plentiful on the secondary market and after hot rodders realized they could easily fit a small block V8 into them, muscle Vegas began terrorizing the streets and strip.
Description: Naples is a city on the Gulf of Mexico in southwest Florida that’s known for high-end shopping and golf courses. The Naples Pier, first erected in 1888, is the city’s symbol, and is a popular fishing and dolphin-spotting destination. It’s flanked by miles of beaches with calm waters and fine white “sugar” sand, including those at Clam Pass Park and Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Park. This thrifted souvenir style design comes from the mid '90s and is a perfect throwback to that Naples spring break trip you took in college.
Description: If you’re old enough to remember BonziBuddy, you may recall that he was one of the web's early virtual assistants (think Clippy, but for browsing the web). BonziBuddy's virtual desktop assistant featured an on-screen avatar of a talking purple gorilla that could interact with its users and run simple utility services like text-to-speech and finding online shopping deals. Released in 1999, the application was actually pretty impressive for the time, and garnered notoriety for its early forays into what we now know as targeted advertising. This early personalizing of ad content was more akin to spyware, adware, and scareware than anything, so it's not surprising that the developer faced several lawsuits and fines from the FTC.
Description: Space Adventure Cobra: The Movie, known in Japan as Space Adventure Cobra is a 1982 Japanese science fiction anime film based on the 1978 manga, simply titled Cobra. The film centers around Cobra, a famous space pirate with a psycho-gun hidden in his left arm, who was thought to be dead for two years, is back in action. He falls for bounty huntress Jane Flower, whom crime lord Necron wants dead, and tries to help her save her world. Space Adventure Cobra was theatrically released on July 23, 1982, in Japan, and then in December 1991 on VHS, and on DVD on June 25, 2001.
Description: The founders believed girls deserved the same kind of outdoor learning experiences that boys had through scouting, and wanted to help guide them on their journey to self-discovery. The fire in the name of the club represented the home, a place of comfort and cheer. Fires also inspire activity and a place to gather together and by 1913, nearly 60,000 girls had gathered around Campfire.
Description: Despite crime being at an all-time high in New York City during the mid '70s, the city's Mayor was said to be planning to discharge a substantial number of firefighters and police officers as a budget balancing measure. The Council for Public Safety was a group made up of firemen and policemen, and they published a visitor, pamphlet called "Welcome to Fear City: A Survival Guide for Visitors to the City of New York." with a scary reaper type figure on the cover. They hoped to make NYC seem so terrifying that the thought of laying off police and firefighters would be unconscionable. At least 1 million copies of the pamphlet were printed, and certainly had people second guessing their safety in the Big Apple.
Description: In October 1940, Maj. David Schlatter, of the U.S. Army Air Corps, surveyed several areas in Utah, Arizona and Nevada looking for a site to locate the first flexible aerial gunnery school. He was particularly interested in Nevada since about 90 percent of the area north, northwest and northeast of Las Vegas was desert wasteland. On Jan. 25, 1941, Las Vegas Mayor John L. Russell signed over the property to the U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps for the development of the flexible gunnery school. The mission of the new school, the Las Vegas Army Air Corps Gunnery School (located on the new Las Vegas Army Air Field), was defined as "training of aerial gunners to the degree of proficiency that will qualify them for combat duty."
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: Located in San Francisco Bay, just 1.25 miles from San Francisco, California, Alcatraz is one of the most-visited tourist attractions in the Bay Area. This small island was used as a prison from 1934 to 1963. After the prison closed down, it was occupied by Native Americans in the late '60s, and in 1972, Congress created the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which Alcatraz Island, and opened the former prison to the public in the fall of 1973. By 1976, it was included in the National Register of Historic Places, and would later receive the distinction of National Historic Landmark in 1986. In 1993, developments began to improve the site, as many of the structures had deteriorated.
Description: The Frankfurt Galaxy were a professional American football team that originally played in the World League of American Football and later in the resurrected Europe League. The team was based in Frankfurt, Germany and played in the Waldstadion Arena. The Galaxy was the only team in the league to have remained in operation and in the same city throughout the league's existence. The Frankfurt Galaxy's record eight appearances in the 15 World Bowl games were evenly split in the composite standings with four wins (1995, 1999, 2003 and 2006) and four losses (1996, 1998, 2004, and 2007).
Description: Tales from the Hood is a 1995 horror anthology film that presents four short urban-themed horror stories based on problems that affect the African-American community. Segments include police corruption, domestic abuse, racism, and gang violence, all presented within a frame story of three drug dealers buying some "found" drugs from an eccentric and story-prone funeral director. Critical reception for Tales from the Hood has always been pretty mixed, though the film, and it's two sequels, definitely have built up a small cult following.
Description: Northwest Airlines was founded in 1926 as Northwest Airways, a reference to the historical name of the Northwest Territory. Like other early airlines, Northwest's focus was not on moving passengers, but in flying mail for the Post Office. Northwest began carrying passengers in 1927, and in 1947, Northwest was the first airline to begin direct service between the United States and Japan. By the '60s, Northwest had regular service to Hong Kong, Manila, Okinawa, Osaka, Taipei, Tokyo, Seoul, making them the world's leading transpacific airline serving the Asian region, formerly known as 'The Orient.' Northwest began marketing themselves as Northwest Orient Airlines in 1969, which included a total rebrand and a fleet refresh with 747 jumbo jets
Description: USA Up All Night was a hosted cable movie show that ran on Friday and Saturday nights from 1989 to 1998. Programming tweaks were made here and there over the years, but for the most part, the show consisted of three movies that would air from 11 pm to 5 am. The show had three hosts during its nearly decade-long run; Gilbert Gottfried hosted Saturday nights, and when the show began Caroline Schlitt hosted Friday nights, but in 1991, Rhonda Shear took over as the host of the Friday night edition. The hosted version of USA Up All Night was brought to an end in 1998 as a result of new management wanting more upscale viewership. The network fired the hosts and started airing mainstream movies throughout the night, instead of B-movies.
Description: In the early '90s, irreverent designs like this 'I Blame Society' example could be found in record stores and head shops across the country. This one gained some prominence when it was featured in the 1993 indie flick about a group of gay and lesbian teens living in Los Angeles, Totally F***ed Up. Whether you're a '90s cinephile or just someone with a lot of teen angst, this one is for you!
Description: When you think of Sonoma, California, road racing is probably one of the last things on the list, but that all changed in when two friends conceived the idea of a racetrack while on a hunting trip in the southern Sonoma Mountains in 1967. Located at Sears Point in Sonoma County, California, the original 2.520 mile road racing course was constructed on 720 acres and opened on December 1, 1968, with the hosting SCCA Enduro. Featuring 12 turns on a hilly course with 160 ft. of total elevation change, the track is still considered one of America's greatest road racing tracks. The track was renamed Golden State International Raceway, and saw a couple more name changes decades later, but is still in operation today as the Sonoma Raceway.
Description: MegaForce is a 1982 action film about an elite multinational military unit that does the jobs that individual governments won't. When the peaceful Republic of Sardun in under threat from their more aggressive neighbor, the beautiful Major Zara and General Byrne-White see the help of Ace Hunter and MegaForce. The movie was chock-full of futuristic military vehicles, weaponry, and enough stunts and explosions to keep any 12-year-old engaged, but sadly, that was about the extent of its reach. Intended to be a huge summer blockbuster, the film was poorly received by critics, bombed at the box office and was nominated for three Raspberries, including Worst Picture.
