October 2011

Happy Birth CLAY to Art Clokey! Thank you for Gumby, Pokey, Davey AND Goliath!

Submitted by Mary on Wed, 10/12/2011 - 11:54am (2242 reads)

I feel grateful that I grew up in a time when I could see stop motion clay animation on TV. I was absolutely mesmerized in my childhood by these wonderful, moving clay figures. Who knew that something as Earthy and simple as clay could come to life? Art Clokey and his wife Ruth, that's who! They were the creators of Gumby in the 1950's.  read more...

Remembering Analog TV - When you could pick up TV stations far, far away - even Idaho Falls TV stations in Illinois!

Submitted by Mary on Sun, 10/23/2011 - 10:22pm (2498 reads)

Our next stop on our Retro Tour of America is Idaho. We're going back in time to Idaho in the 1980's. Do you remember the days when you could flip through the stations late at night and discover that your TV was picking up TV stations in other cities far from where you lived? I almost forgot all about that, until I discovered this YouTube video in which a TV station was picked up over 1,000 miles away. A TV station in Idaho Falls, Idaho was picked up in Monee, Illinois! read more...

Horror Movies of the 70's and 80's : Prom Night - the 1980 version

Submitted by Mary on Mon, 10/24/2011 - 12:48pm (3155 reads)

It's Halloween! Time to pull out the VCR and get out those heavy video tapes of your favorite horror films. When I was a kid and we used to rent videos, I was always either renting something sweet and cute, like "Mary Poppins" or something disgusting and terrifying, like "Prom Night". I have no idea why a little girl who loved Barbie dolls and fluffy stuffed animals would also love to scare the heck out of herself, but I did. I watched "Prom Night" several times over the years, and it scared me every time. read more...

1950's Halloween Costume Parade

Submitted by Mary on Tue, 10/25/2011 - 10:25am (2850 reads)

This 50's home movie was uploaded to YouTube by homemoviedepot who stated that it is Donald E. Boyd's home movies. In the beginning of the video, you'll see kids parading their 50's Halloween costumes (based on the info at YouTube, I believe this is from 1956). I think these home movies were all filmed in Port Huron, Michigan.  read more...