Scene from 'The Birds'

Why are they doing this?

Ads for Chesterfield

In 1948, Chesterfield showed that it was the favorite choice of "professional smokers". "They smell milder!"

Bing Crosby invites Lauren Bacall and then Humphrey Bogart to pitch Chesterfield (I think around 1950). 

In 1953 Chesterfield conclusively proves that smoking is not bad for you. "It comes from a doctor!"

Here Chesterfield gloms on to to the success Marlboro had inventing the cowboy as the ultimate in lung-killing manliness.

The Cyrkle - 'Red Rubber Ball'

I happened to stumble across the Billboard Top 10 Singles for 1966:

1, WILD THING, The Troggs

2, SUMMER IN THE CITY, The Lovin’ Spoonful

3, LIL’ RED RIDING HOOD, Sam The Sham and the Pharaohs

4, HANKY PANKY, Tommy James And The Shondells

5, PAPERBACK WRITER, The Beatles

6, SUNNY, Bobby Hebb

7, STRANGERS IN THE NIGHT, Frank Sinatra

8, RED RUBBER BALL, The Cyrkle

9, SUNSHINE SUPERMAN, Donovan

10, SEE YOU IN SEPTEMBER, The Happenings

Classic song after classic song but....wtf is "Red Rubber Ball"? 

I don't think I've ever heard this song before in my life. I dug it. Not bad, very representative of the poppy 1960s sound. The lyrics are about the moment of getting over the breakup, a necessary part of pop music's laxative effect on our collective psyche vis-a-vis "coupling", but the tone comes off a bit superior and cynical. So...something Wes Anderson would listen to in a bad mood?

Kenneth Robinson -- TED Talk: Do Schools Kill Creativity?

(spoiler) Yes.

The Staple Singers - 'Masters of War'

 

Black Tom Explosion

Have you ever wondered about the Black Tom Explosion? Wonder no more. 

Dr. Howard Levy

The Court-Martial of Dr. Howard Levy

Bongos, Bass & Bob -- 'Thorazine Shuffle'

A classic. "Used to be a slugger...."

Map of California (circa 1650)

 

"They might very well not change their minds--or their maps--if they were around to survey the present-day topographical and cultural scene."

Ezra Goodman (in 1961)

Ad for Anacin (1952)

"The Anacin ads, he later admitted, 'were the most hated commercials in the history of advertising.' But they increased Anacin sales from $18 million to $54 million per year in an 18-month period. 'Not bad,' Reeves once said, 'for something written between cocktails at lunch.'" (David Halberstam, The Fifties, page 226)