Mugs
Description: Horlicks University is a fictional Ivy League college was featured in 'The Crate' segment of Creepshow, and then again in 'The Raft' segment of Creepshow 2 where the four students were from Horlicks. The University is also referenced in several Stephen King novels and short stories and has made appearances in non-King works as well, usually as fun little Easter eggs left for horror fans. This design is based on the iconic shirt work by the girls in 'The Raft' in Creepshow.
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: Harold and Virgil Crouch were brothers from rural Irwin, Iowa who began driving trucks, eventually buying their own trucks, working as owner/operators, primarily hauling grain in the Irwin area. Harold and Virgil eventually teamed up to form Crouch Brothers Trucking in 1939 and, together, purchased the grain elevator in Kirkman, Iowa, and moved it to Irwin as a central part of their business. Crouch Brothers Trucking was expanding and increasingly getting into freight transport at Virgil's direction, though Harold really wanted to stick to the grain business. In 1943, the brother's partnership ended, and Virgil, along with their other brother, Cleo, continued to build Crouch Brothers into one of the Midwest's largest carriers.
Description: USS Liberty (AGTR-5) was a Belmont-class technical research ship (i.e. electronic spy ship) for the U.S. Navy. On the afternoon of June 8, 1967, while in international waters off the northern coast of the Sinai Peninsula, Liberty was attacked by the Israeli Air Force and the Israeli Navy; 34 American crewmen were killed and 174 wounded. Though Liberty was severely damaged, with a 39-by-24-foot hole amidship and a twisted keel, her crew kept her afloat, and she was able to leave the area under her own power. As a result of the crew's heroic response to the attack, Liberty is the US Navy's most highly decorated ship for a single action, being awarded the Combat Action Ribbon and the Presidential Unit Citation.
Description: The Salton Sea is the largest lake in California by surface area, and its very existence is a total accident. In 1905, flooding caused the Colorado River to spill over the man-made irrigation canals to pour into what was then known as the Salton Sink – a 40-mile-long dry desert basin. It took two years to stop the flooding, during which the Salton Sink had filled up and formed the Salton Sea. it didn’t take long before people began flocking to this desert oasis as a weekend getaway to picnic and play in the lake. While smaller settlements had popped up over the years, Salton City was established in 1958 and the town’s population quickly grew to 15,000 people, with thousands more arriving on the weekends.
Description: The Pacific Electric Railway (PE), nicknamed the Red Car Line, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses. The PE grew to become the largest interurban system in the world, spanning over 1,100 miles and operating 1,200 cars throughout Southern California in the pre-freeway era. Red Car service provided fast efficient passenger and freight interurban transportation in Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, making commuting within minutes possible. Suburban towns sprang up and developed along the PE rails. The Pacific Electric also ran one of the few electrically-powered Railway Post Office routes in the country.
Description: US-1 Electric Trucking was a series of slot car sets and accessories that were available in the '80s. Similar to HO-scale slot car racing sets, US-1 centered around heavy trucks and transporting cargo from point to point. In addition to the basic operation of driving the trucks around the track, US-1 featured an innovative turnout that the trucks could reverse into, backing them off the main track into various terminals where trucks could be loaded and unloaded. Many of the terminals were fully automated, either jumping into action when the truck clicked into position or requiring the truck to be further reversed into the action area to 'power' the accessory. In addition to the core sets, there was a complete catalog of US-1 accessories.
Description: If you found yourself in Shreveport, Louisiana in the ’70s and ’80s and were looking for traditional tattoo work, locals would have probably directed you to Snake & Dagger. Founded in 1976, this small shop specialized in traditional American style tattooing and had little interest in doing anything else during their 20 or so years in business, and that’s how they liked it.
Description: For those living in Los Angeles in the '70s and '80s, there was only one place to see a rock concert or a sporting event: The Fabulous Forum. In 1967, The Forum rose from a former golf course in Inglewood like a modern-day Roman Coliseum. Its financier, Jack Kent Cooke, was a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman turned multi-millionaire owner of both pro basketball and hockey teams. He dreamed of building sports' answer to the Taj Mahal in Los Angeles, and The Fabulous Forum was his dream come true, as a 75' high Roman-style building adorned by 80 exterior columns. The facility was a shining star of the greater L.A. area for decades, hosting countless events from sports championships and rock concerts, to circuses and home shows.
Description: Arthur Hurand opened Dawn Donuts in Flint, Michigan back in 1958, the name a reference to when bakers had to get to work in order to have fresh donuts ready every morning. Hurand expanded cautiously, steadily growing to 60 locations throughout Michigan and several surrounding states by the mid '80s. Hurand sold Dawn Donuts to a national chain in the early '90s, a move that was heavily real estate driven. While company stores were rebranded, the eight independent franchise locations continued to operate as Dawn Donuts, with many closing up shop as the years wore on.
Description: ColecoVision is a second-generation home video-game console developed by Coleco that launched in August 1982. Launching with an initial catalog of twelve games on ROM cartridge, the console offered a closer experience to more powerful arcade games than competitors. Approximately 136 games were published between 1982 and 1984. Coleco released a series of hardware add-ons and special controllers to expand the capabilities of the console. "Expansion Module #1" allowed the system to play competitor games, and a later module that converted ColecoVision into the Adam home computer. Ironically, the ColecoVision was discontinued in 1985 after the costly failure of the Adam, resulting in Coleco withdrawing from the video game market altogether.
Description: The M911 C-HET is a heavy equipment transporter that begin production in 1977 as a more capable and lower cost alternative to the M746 HET. Based on the commercial F2365 truck, M911 C-HET was modified in a number of areas, including two winches added behind the cab, and a non-driven drop axle located in front of the two rear axles. The M911 was to be used with the M747 trailer that was developed in the HET-70 program, alongside the M746 tractor truck that the M911 supplants. This combination allowed for loads in excess of 68.95 tons, including the M1 Abrams main battle tank.
Description: The Barcelona Dragons were an American football team that was a part of the World League of American Football and later in the resurrected European league. Their home field in Barcelona was the Estadi Olímpic de Montjuic, and later the Mini Estadi. The Dragons were successful on the field, making it to 4 World Bowls (1991, 1997, 1999, 2001) and winning World Bowl V in 1997.
Description: The Pontiac Fiero is a mid-engine sports car manufactured for model years 1984-1988. It was the first two-seater Pontiac since the coupes of the '30s and '30s, and the first mass-produced mid-engine sports car by an American manufacturer. Utilizing composite body panels over a space frame design, the Fiero was really quite progressive for it's time. Originally offered as a 4-cylinder model known as the Fiero 2M4, 1986 saw a 6-cylinder model called the Fiero GT that delivered almost 50hp over the base model's 93hp.
Description: The Montreal Machine were the sole Canadian team in the World League of American Football (WLAF), a springtime developmental professional league set that played in 1991 and 1992. There were also three European teams and six North America-based teams. Like all WLAF teams, the Machine played American rules football, 11 players per side on a 100-yard field, rather than Canadian rules football of 12 players per side on 110-yard field. The franchise folded in September 1992 when the WLAF league went on an indefinite hiatus.
Description: Siouxsie &Amp; The Banshees 1982 Siouxsie & The Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. The Times called the group "one of the most audacious and uncompromising musical adventurers of the post-punk era." During their career, Siouxsie & The Banshees released 11 studio albums and 30 singles. The band experienced several line-up changes, with Siouxsie and Severin being the only constant members. They disbanded in 1996, with Siouxsie and Budgie continuing to record music as the Creatures, a second band they had formed in the early 1980s. In 2004, Siouxsie began a solo career.
Description: As nuclear power plants began coming online in and around communities in the mid-’70s, there were groups promoting them as well as protesting them. Those promoting this new miracle power source came up with some great slogans, though one that stuck out from the pack was ‘nuclear power is safer than sex’ which was perfect at a time when STD’s were on the rise. Whether nuclear power is safe or safer than sex is a discussion for another time, but this replica tee from 1974 in the East Coast region of America will without a doubt help get that conversion going.
Description: Cranberry Lake is a hamlet in the eastern part of the Town of Clifton, in St. Lawrence County, New York, just off State Route 3. The lake is of the largest remote lakes in the Adirondacks, and it's proximity to 50,000 acres of wilderness, intermingled with 50 miles of well-developed trails, make it the outdoor enthusiast's perfect vacation spot. Whether it's fishing, boating or just laying back and relaxing, Cranberry Lake is the spot for you. The mature forest canopy around the lake provides excellent shade on hot summer days, while the undergrowth provides privacy for campers. The area is almost entirely owned by New York State as such and has remained largely undeveloped with a population of just around 200 residents.
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: The first Festival of the Bluegrass was held in 1974 in Lexington, Kentucky, making it the oldest bluegrass music festival in Kentucky's bluegrass region. Traditionally, the festival took place during the first full weekend of June each year and is credited with helping shape bluegrass festival culture throughout America.
Description: When you begrudgingly take a lunch meeting with a demon, you may as well make it somewhere with good food. That was the case in Episode season 6, episode 8 of Supernatural, ‘All Dogs Go to Heaven,’ which aired November 12, 2010. The boys met Crowley at Fat Mack’s Rib Shack in Raleigh, North Carolina to discuss a job, which was the first appearance of this fictional barbecue joint. Fat Mack’s would show up again in single episodes of both season 7 and season 8.
Description: Desert Dynamics Winch Systems was founded in the late '60s in the arid desert town of Victorville, California. Desert Dynamics focused on extreme duty winch systems using a worm gear type drive that gave them a much slower line speed than planetary gear type winches, but also made them nearly unstoppable as long as the vehicle was capable of delivering the kind of power these powerful pullers required.
Description: If you lived in St. Louis during the '70s, you probably remember Marty Mayrose 'The Meat Man' or at least remember his "I'm a meat man, and a meat man knows, the finest meats, ma'am, are Mayrose" jingle. Marty was created in the late '60s by a local adman to help promote the Mayrose meat products. Initially appearing in print ads, and then in animated TV spots before becoming a fixture on product packaging, Marty was somewhat of a local celebrity. Decades later, STL locals can still find Marty hanging out everywhere from old markets to dive bars as countless promotional items from statuettes and thermometers to ashtrays and open/closed signs were produced over the years.
Description: When a series of unexplained murders occur in the normally quiet town of Tarker's Mill, the residents decide to hunt down the killer. However, many of these vigilantes end up dead, and those who don't are no closer to finding the assailant. When a young paraplegic named Marty encounters a werewolf one night, the pieces begin to come together. Along with his sister and Uncle Red, Marty begins a mission to capture the werewolf once and for all. This is the synopsis of the 1985 film Silver Bullet, which is a rather charming entry into the werewolf genre that seamlessly combines the gory horror of R rated flicks with the fable-esque, childlike sensibility.
Description: After taking a bite out of country and doing a little spoken word, ‘War in My Head – I’m Your Enemy’ completes the picture of GG Allin. Applying his hell spawned talents as a scat slinging messiah of misanthropy beyond scummified punk rock and into more experimental places. This album is a 40-minute-long sound collage of Allin’s spoken pieces patched together by the obscure band Shrinkwrap, with some assistance from the man himself. It’s a cool idea certainly, and it had potential to be something great, but sadly the efforts of both GG Allin and Shrinkwrap fall short here.
Description: Return of Martha Splatterhead is the fifth release and first LP released in 1986 by Seattle thrash band, The Accüsed. Named as a sequential follow-up to the Martha Splatterhead EP released a year earlier, the album was well received by thrash fans, with many considering it a masterpiece of hardcore thrash.
Description: D-A Speed Sport Racing Oil hit the market in the early '60s as an alternative to traditional motor oils that just weren't up to the high performance applications of motorsports. From drag racing to grand prix, Speed Sport Racing Oil's specialty formulation stood up to high RPM, high horsepower applications race after race.
Description: After a nuclear bomb is hurled into space by Earth's resident superhero, the resulting nuclear explosion inadvertently shatters the Phantom Zone and releases the three prisoners. Now free, the Outlaws of Krypton travel to Earth, wreaking havoc with the superpowers granted to them by Earth's yellow sun.
Description: Carter Carburetor Company in St. Louis, Missouri, was established in 1909 by William Carter, who started experimenting with carburetors while running a successful bicycle shop. His first cast brass carb could meter and deliver fuel more accurately than many competing units, and easily found a place in the market. Carter became a major OEM supplier to Detroit. In 1971, they introduced the ThermoQuad four barrel. It was available in two sizes, rated according to air flow – 850 and 1000 CFM. The higher flow model was the largest street carburetor in terms of air flow when released, and was a factory part on many of the muscle cars of the era. Gear heads have a love/hate relationship with ThermoQuads, in that they either love or hate them.
Description: If you were a drummer in the '80s and '90s and living in or passing through the Minneapolis area, Rock Steady Drum Shop was probably your go-to place for all things percussion. From an expansive selection of sticks and heads to customized and built to spec kits, Rock Steady did it all and did it well, making them a hidden gem for professionals and hobbyists alike.
Description: Doodlebugger is the common term for seismic field personnel in the petroleum industry, though their talents are certainly utilized far beyond just the oil fields. Doodlebuggers are the guys who seek out oil, natural gas, and other precious commodities by exciting the ground with everything from explosives and drop weights, to pieces of specialized heavy equipment called *cough* vibrators. They work in the most extreme climates, and in some of the most dangerous and untamed land, long before any extraction operations can be put into place. This design comes to us from Houston's Herb J. Hawthorne Company in promotion of their Blue Demon drill bits from 1951.
Description: Used car lots have always had some reputational issues to deal with, even back in the early days of the automobile. While certified used cars are quite common today, the 'OK Used Cars' program was Detroit's attempt at combatting negative opinions about buying a used car by creating the first certification program. 'OK Used Cars' had completed a series of tests before being certified, including a thorough inspection, complete servicing, and several points of reconditioning. The certified vehicles would be added to the lot with a warranty included, something that was previously unheard of with a used car. The program was a success, and would grow and evolve, but by the '50s, the 'OK Used Cars' sign could be found at car lots in everywhere.
Description: Fred Arbogast was a man whose first love was fishing. Seriously, he lived, breathed, and dreamed fishing, turning his interest in the sport as a young boy into the focus of a successful business. Staring his company in 1930, Fred designed countless innovative lures over the years, many of which remain popular today. But he wasn't just a designer of fishing gear, he was also an extremely talented angler that earned himself world's records in bait casting accuracy and distance, making his lures truly the "Bait of Champions."
