I Know Why Hank Aaron’s Record Was Broken
I now know why Hank Aaron’s home record was eventually beaten. It is not because Hank Aaron isn’t one of the most amazing athletes of all time, and I might add, he and his wife are genuinely very nice people (I met them!). It is not because of steroids nowadays. It is because there were baseball players like Dick Allen, pictured, and many others, whose ilk prevented hank Aaron from hitting 1,000 more homers because they were polluting his baseball experience with cigarette smoke. Sure, there were more baseball players back then who chewed tobacco or may have smoked in their private time, as not all folks were in tune to the dangers.
However, it seems to me that baseball players, in the arena of their athletic expression, where they needed to rely on the most lung power, were stifled by the presence of the dugout and field NOT being a “No Smoking” area. How insane is that? You may not have been aware of it as you only see highlight reels form then, nowadays, on ESPN classic. Also, usually pitchers didn’t have a smoke on the field because they needed their hands free to throw the ball. So no highlights with smoking in them. Just wait until the camera is off of them or they go to the dugout…the pitcher, catcher, and everyone else are foggy it up like chimneys.
So, dear Hank Aaron, we know if it wasn’t for your rude team mates, you would have hit so many home runs that no one would have beat your record until a special ball hitting superrobot came out of Japan (and only when they also invented the SuperRobot Pitcher to go along with it).
sports, useless information | Comments (2)Opinions Please: Ever a Reason to Throw It Out?
I just read that only 14% of clothing is recycled. ”Recycled” is defined as the clothing being used for another purpose, such as creating another garment, “ragging” them to use them for stuffing for a pillow, or for other uses. This also includes donating them to a cause that redistributes them in tact to wear again. I found that hard to believe! Perhaps I know a lot of people who believe in giving away instead of throwing away, but it got me thinking more and more.
When do you dispose of a piece of clothing? And do people only recycle 14% because the rest is unusable or are they just not educated to do so?
It got me to thinking: When is a piece of clothing truly at the end of its life?
- When it is dangerous: A clothing item may have been damaged in a fire. There could be a chemical spill from an accident or a science class experiment gone awry and it cannot safely be washed, it is eaten away, or is dangerous to handle. Then yes, please dispose of it properly.
- When it is unwearable. No, I think many damaged items can go onto another life. A dress with a ragged skirt, depending on the quality, may be able to live on as a top, or a replacement bodice for another dress. A damaged tie may live on as a fabric piece in a project. Quilting, anyone? Am I really pushing it here?
- Mold. This kind of goes under the dangerous category. Some people have tried to salvage things that have black mold on it. It is dangerous.
- Too worn out. I have seen athletic shoes so “well worn” that they could walk by themselves. They become threadbare and not usable after so many years. However, could they be used in a theatrical production where a local theater group needs a character to be disheveled, a college student who doesn’t shower, or homeless? Do they need a pair of shoes to beat up even more for the character? Ok, maybe it is a stretch here too.
- Bad Memories. Some people throw out cufflinks, or a dress that reminds them of an ex or an ex owned or gave them even if they are perfectly new. Don’t do it! Donate it!
I think i need some therapy after that. Maybe I am a packrat, but I seem to really argue about not throwing things away! Does anyone out there have any suggestions about when it is okay to throw something out, and when, despite naysayers, something can be reused or recycled? Comment with your opinions!
the business of vintage, theater prop closet, trivia, useless information | Comment (0)Polka Dot Tie…Oh Man Oh Man
When I saw this tie from Arrow, that darn song kept running through my head. Make it stop! All of the “vintage” films of this song don’t seem to work, so here is a more recent performance of Dodie Stevens singing the song that can’t get out of my head. Now it is in yours. Ha Ha
If you would like to sing along:
Now I’ve got a guy and his name is Dooley
He’s my guy and I love him truly
He’s not good lookin’, heaven knows
But I’m wild about his crazy clothes
He wears tan shoes with pink shoelaces
A polka dot vest and man, oh, man
Tan shoes with pink shoelaces
And a big Panama with a purple hat band
Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
He takes me deep-sea fishing in a submarine
We got to drive-in movies in a limousine
He’s got a whirly-birdy and a 12-foot yacht
Ah, but thats-a not all he’s got
He’s got tan shoes with pink shoelaces
A polka dot vest and man, oh, man
Tan shoes with pink shoelaces
And a big Panama with a purple hat band
Now Dooley had a feelin’ we were goin’ to war
So he went out and enlisted in a fightin’ corps
But he landed in the brig for raisin’ such a storm
When they tried to put ‘em in a uniform
He wanted tan shoes with pink shoelaces
A polka dot vest and man, oh, man
He wanted tan shoes with pink shoelaces
And a big Panama with a purple hat band
Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
Now one day Dooley started feelin’ sick
And he decided that he better make his will out quick
He said
“Just before the angels come to carry me
I want it down in writin’ how to bury me.”
A’wearin tan shoes with pink shoelaces
A polka dot vest and man, oh, man
Give me tan shoes with pink shoelaces
And a big Panama with a purple hat band
Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
Ooh-ooh, ooh, ooh
And a big Panama with a purple hat band!!
VintageGent's Vintage Picks, trivia, useless information, vintage clothing | Comment (0)Captive Brands for Captive Audiences
I have recently learned a new marketing term: Captive Brand.
A captive brand is similar to the concept of a store brand. While it is exclusively available at the particular store and perhaps its subsidiaries, it does not carry the imprint of the store, and it is produced by a third party. Many times, the company will have its own website and marketing as well, at least to appear at arm’s length. There are times when a captive brand appears amid not just national brands but a store imprint as well.
For example, Towncraft by JCPenney is a store brand. George is a captive brand sold at Wal*Mart and at ASDA, its British counterpart. You can go to the George website and it talks about the company, but on its store locator, there are only the above mentioned. The history section mentions:
George has taken the steps to becoming a global brand with ranges now being sold in six different countries – UK, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Japan and the US.
(Coincidentally, Wal*Mart has opened in all of those markets.)
Searching for Towncraft will yield you Towncraft at JCPenney. As we know, Towncraft has been synonymous with the casual men’s department at Penneys for decades. Conceivably, if a chain folded or left the area, the captive brand could be shopped around, but I have not really seen it happen.
I know there are many examples of a captive brand not only appearing in a store amid national brands. For example, Towncraft would appear in the same department as Levi’s Dockers. However, at the moment, I cannot think of too many captive brands that appear with a national and a store imprint. The best example of seeing all three together is with beauty products. For example, Garnier is a national brand, bioInfusion is a captive brand at Walgreen’s, and there is also a more generic Walgreen’s label brand shampoo that may be the same thing.
Why are they called “captive brands?” Like a store brand, the captive brand requires the shopper to return to the store to purchase it. The brand cannot be purchased at a competitor’s store. Then, why not just leave it at the store brand? The captive brand may seem “value added” to the consumer. Some people have the impression that a store brand is “generic” or “second rate” to a more “prestigious” national brand. That notion may sound a bit vapid, but just ask your average parent during “back to school shopping” days trying to get through the mall in one piece without their head exploding from hearing “I wouldn’t be caught dead in that.”
modern fashion, the business of vintage, useless information | Comment (0)Jacks, Jacks Everywhere!
I briefly take a detour today from talking about vintage clothing, fashion etiquette. and modern doodads to speak of a male cultural phenomenan that has been heavy on my mind. (We’ll blabber away about clothing again later.)
It happened again last night.
I was watching a rerun of Eureka on the SciFi channel, and scriptwriters let me down once again.
Somewhere there is a natural law of writers, for some reason, that if you have a lead character that is male and finds themselves in an unusual or distrubing situation, his name has to be Jack. Or if he finds himself in a normal situation, but doesn’t like to play by the rules…he’s Jack too. And several minutes into this series, the writers again used the same device.
And the phenomena or deep gully of unimaginativeness doesn’t trace its roots to JFK being in the back of the collective mind. The Jack Law was written long before then. The earliest Jack we know of appears in the character of Ensign Jack in the 1912 flick “Saved from the Titanic”, and then Jack is eponymously portrayed by Jack Abbott in the 1927 film, Convoy.
The man who has played the most Jacks – Jack O’Lane, Jack Manning, Jack Martin, Jack McCabe and Jack Marley cannot claim the Tony Danza syndrome** (**see footnote) like Mr. Abbott…his name was Art! Art Acord, a contemporary of Mr Abbott, played the many Jacks throughout the 1920s. He also had a claim to fame as a steer roper in real life. And if you are a steer roper or have portrayed a character like “Two Guns O’Brien” such as Mr. Acord had, you definitely are destined to play a Jack.
Maybe I am being too harsh. Perhaps “Jack” signifies some sort of modern take on a classic archetype. It would just be too heavy handed to give characters such monikers as Beowulf, Cedalian or Antigone. Or maybe I am looking to far into it. “Jack” is an anti-hero. And the writer sits and thinks…hmmm…what is a name for an easy going guy that everybody can relate to? Or maybe they don’t think. It just pops into their head. Because I would imagine that they would socialize with other screenwriters and forget that half of their family, and just random folks on the street, are named Steve or Mike.
Nowadays, Jacks are few and far between outside of the entertainment and literary world. It just doesn’t make the list of most popular baby names or nicknames these days. ***I stand corrected, in the UK Jack is indeed still a popular name for babies again beginning in 1995. Jack didn’t make the chart 1994 and earlier. Could it be all those movies going across the pond? And look at Jack historically in the US. **** I, in fact, only know one Jack in my extended network of “friends of friends” and extended relatives of people who married into my family. In otherwords, if I called him, he would have an idea of who i was. But I will confirm the Steve and Mike thing. I also know a fair amount of Jeffs and a few Brians. But Brian will never creep in to be a name of a male action lead anytime soon. By the time Brian happens, kids of today will be writing and everyone’s name will be Brendan, Mason, Ty, Connor, and Aidan. However, if they studied such classics as Sky High Corral and Romancing the Stone, instead of such fare as Gone with the Wind, their alteregos would be named Jack too.
If that LP record they shot into space with “Sounds From Earth” is ever found by someone – if there are someones to find it – they will probably look back at our ancient culture and come at the conclusion that 70% of Earth Males regardless of creed or ethnicity were called “Jack”.
So to all the folks writing the Hollywood classics of tomorrow, there is still time. You can make a change and go against the tide. Surprise us! (Please.)
Footnotes:
(*** = The Tony Danza Syndrome. Either Mr. Danza can’t get into character if he plays a Joe or a Paul, the writers don’t think an audience will recognize him, or they are playing a joke on him. A minor case of this is known as the Jackie Chan Disease)
useless information | Comment (0)Paintball: The Sport of Gentlemen
I added a new category to the blog called “Repository of Useless Information.” No, that is not my middle name, although some may think it is. I love trivial facts, and there will be some trivia to be gleaned here before the post is over. I’ll be adding more to the category from time to time, so read it and be prepared for your next party.
In my aimless wanderings, I stumbled by an online paintball store. It made me marginally nostalgic for participating in laser tag birthday parties, as at such parties we were imagining or hoping that we were really playing paintball. We weren’t interested in hunting. We didn’t want to harm animals, we only wanted to hit eachother. Although laser tag gave us that feeling that we were actors in the “Tron” movie of our youth, it lacked the requisite supplies and messiness. We would also argue the fact that the sensors fired by accident and would argue and cajole our way back into the game.
There is no “gray area” with paintball. The paint makes several things irrefutable. Firstly, the fact that you are “out”. Secondly, the Tippmann x7 sniper paintball guns and others firmly indicate to your friends that you are in fact an “army guy,” or a special opps person. With laser tag, half the time is spent arguing because they can’t tell that you were obviously supposed to be Luke Skywalker, and there can only be one Luke!
What is the point of all this?
Did you know that paintball wasn’t just a 1980s invention? Paintball actually originates in the 1940s from the forestry industry. Something was needed to mark trees a little more clearly and efficiently. Thus, the paintball gun was born.
I wonder who the first person was who decided to shoot their buddy to find out if it hurt or not. The recipient of the blow would have probably been the one decide that you need some sort of tactical vest or face protector. Well, maybe that person didn’t think of that, as their thinking cap probably wasn’t ready for the adventure of creativity. They probably were just complaining about how much it stung.
Of course, paintball didn’t make its way into bachelor party outings or corporate events until after 1981. Thus, it causes us to associated the activity with modern life, versus something gentleman and ladies in the middle of the century would have thought about doing after their weekly bridge game.
That’s the historical Tippmann for the day. I mean historical tip, man.
Until Next Time,
It started out as a bottle of beer…
Did you know that if you were scuba diving in the Pacific you could take home a WWII souvenir? No, I am not talking about looking for buried vessels. While you are walking along the beach in your flip flops, or whether you are snorkeling, it is possible you could find black sea glass. Normally, you would find translucent whites and ambers and pastels. Why black and what does this have to do with World War II.
You see, the composition of glass bear bottles was different than today. When the glass broke and was smoothed by the natural erosion of the sand and sea over the course of time, the glass remained black. The composition was only used for a short time, due to different materials made scarce by the War. The material decomposed a lot more rapidly.
So, therefore, a World War II private could have made his choice of light versus dark while on his shore time. He could have told a few tales, and tossed it into the sea for good luck. Then, on the way down, it could have broken on the rocks. Then, about 28 years later, a member of the first club devoted to collecting, The Eastern Coast Breweriana Association (ECBA), could have scooped up the treasure in the club’s 1970 charter year. In fact, they were the first such club ever.
Twenty years after that, perhaps one of the members lost their interest and sold part of their collection at a yard sale. During that time, it was the height of the era of filling glass bowls with seed balls, sea glass, and potpourri, and displaying them on your coffee table. Fully 28 years later than that fateful yard sale, you read this blog post. You think nothing of it until Sunday dinner at Grandma’s house. You spy the sea glass in a glass beaker on her coffee table and suddenly remember this blog post. You ask Grandma if you can have a piece. After telling this tale, you all have a toast to the person who threw the bottle into the sea in the first place.
Which reminds me…
There is a contest that I hear about. It is actually a mobile survey on beer. It is limited to 1500 participants, so you have a 1 in 1500 chance in winning. The winner receives a $300 Amazon gift card. To enter and take the survey, just text the word “beer” to 247365. For contest rules CLICK HERE. You only have until midnight, March 14th, to enter.
What will you do with your gift card (Hint: They sell everything discussed in this posting, except a World War II private. You can always buy a book about them, however.)
1940s, trivia, useless information, wwii | Comment (0)
