Magazine Ads From the Past

These ads will bring a lot of memories to the old-timers among us and will let the younger generation know about the days, when you could buy a Coca-Cola for 5 cents and a pack of gum for 5 cents.

A combination radio-smoker which provided smokers with a place for their cigarettes, cigars, pipes and tobacco, while listening to their favorite radio programs on this $49.95 radio.

This is the precursor of the Sony Walkman for only $7.95, before shipping and federal tax.

Not many restaurants today feature a seven course dinner for $1.75.

Cigar smokers today are not likely to find this two cigars for 5 cents special.

 

A one pound bag of Bazooka Bubble Gum will set you back $7.99 today after inflation kicked in.

 

 

You could look up and down every aisle of every grocery store in the United States and not find these prices. Two boxes of Wheaties probably cost at least 25 cents nowadays and two pounds of coffee has probably doubled to 50 cents.

 

Barber shop prices of the 1900′s on the left. No date given for the prices on the right.

 

Barber shop prices over a 100 years later. The shave and a haircut of the 1900′s cost a total of 60 cents. That same shave and haircut today costs $33.00.

 

Stuckey’s: Roadside Landmark in America

Stuckey’s was a place where you could fill up with gasoline, go to restrooms and shop for souvenirs and the famous Stuckey’s pecan candy.

There was their famous pecan log rolls, pecan divinity and of course pecan pralines. I have to debate with myself whether my favorite was the divinity fudge or the pralines.

First Stuckey’s Physical Building Opened in 1937

The first Stuckey’s building was opened in 1937 and expanded into 350 stores. Stuckey’s merged with Pet Milk in 1967 and the 350 stores dwindled into 75, during the Pet Milk operation of the company. Most of the Stuckey’s stores sold Texaco gasoline back then.

William S. Stuckey Sr., got the idea for the company when he had a bumper crop of pecans in 1930. His wife went to work in the kitchen and experimented with different candy recipes, which were the main drawing card for Stuckey’s, when they opened their first physical store in 1937.

Box of Stuckey’s Pecan Pralines on display.

After the fortunes of the company declined during the Pet Milk ownership period, the son of Stuckey, who was U.S. congressman William S. Stuckey restored the Stuckey’s name by purchasing the company and there are now 200 Stuckey’s in the United States at the present time.

Stuckey’s are found as far north today as Connecticut, but surprisingly there are no stores in either New Jersey or New York. Most of the stores are concentrated in the southern states, but there are stores in Illinois, Pennsylvania and Indiana.

Stores are only located in 20 of the 50 states. I was surprised recently to see a Stuckey’s returning on a trip to Houston and the store sold gasoline, souvenirs and had a Popeye’s Fried Chicken place inside the store. There are nine Stuckey’s located in Texas, but the only Stuckey’s in Louisiana according to their website is a store in Opelousas.

It was exciting to see signs for Stuckey’s, since we knew we could get off the road for a while, while we browsed the souvenir shop and found candy to munch on as we continued on down the highway. It is great to know the company still exists 56 years after our 1957 trip from Louisiana to our eventual destination of Maine to visit my uncle and aunt and their family.

Stuckey’s has had its ups and downs since the first store was opened in 1937, but it is good to know, that the company is thriving again, now that the Stuckey family once again own the stores. We want to thank them for restoring our memories of that 1957 trip, when Stuckey’s were a mainstay on the U.S. highway system.

S.H. Kress: Out of Business For 30 Years

This is the original S.H. Kress building built in the 20's or 30's before new building was built many years later on Third Street.

It seems like it was only yesterday that we were shopping at the S.H. Kress store in downtown Alexandria, Louisiana.

The original store was built on Third Street and would later be replaced by a new structure on the same street.

When we were kids, we did most of our Christmas shopping at stores like Kress where you could buy a lot of stuff with very little money.

The Christmas tree would have a lot of presents under it, but most of them would be from stores like Kress, Morgan and Lindsey and Ben Franklin.

One of my fondest memories is that of smelling the popcorn cooking in the popcorn machine in the store.

S.H. Kress stores became a center of controversy, when they refused to let blacks sit at their lunch counters and were sued numerous times for that refusal.

Part of growing up in central Louisiana were trips to the Kress store on Third Street in downtown Alexandria.

The first Kress store was opened in Nanticoke, Pennsylvania in 1887. Kress became a chain of 5-10-25 cent stores in 1896. Genesco purchased Kress in 1964 and 17 years later the company would no longer exist in the United States, and ceased operation in 1981. It missed by six years of surviving for 100 years.

Alexandria would see many other stores like Kress closed when their companies went out of business. Other chain stores that were located in Alexandria or Pineville including, W.T. Grant, Woolworth’s, Woolco, Ben Franklin, Morgan and Lindsey and many more that ended their presence in Alexandria or Pineville.

It has been thirty years now since Kress went out of the retail business. It was the same year that President Reagan took office on January 20 and would be shot in an assassination attempt by John Hinckley on March 30 of that year.

Other events that year include:

May 13 -

Pope John Paul II is shot and almost killed by a Turkish gunman inside Vatican City.

August 1 – MTV is launched.

October 6 – President of Egypt Anwar Sadat is assassinated during a parade.

December 28- Elizabeth Jordan Carr becomes the first test tube baby to be born and grew up to be a newspaper journalist.

Predictions Made in 1950

 

The February 1950 edition of Popular Mechanics featured predictions of what products we would be using in the future.

 

Popular Mechanics magazine looked into the future and made some predictions on what life would be like in the year 2000. The writer of the article was Waldemar Kaempffert, science editor of the New York Times.

 

He predicts that the highways would be double-decked with the top deck for fast non-stop traffic, while the lower deck would be for shops alongside the highway.

 

One prediction that never materialized was the rockets that were to have flown from New York to San Francisco in two hours. A eight room house would only cost $5,000. We all know that never materialized either. Houses would not be built with wood, brick or stone in 2000, since the cost would be prohibitive, but instead built with metals and plastic.

 

Razors will be a thing of the past according to the writer, since a chemical solution will remove beards. Gillette, Schick and other razor companies are glad that prediction never came to fruition.

 

There will be no dishwashers in 2000, because dishes will be thrown away after being used. Two dozen plastic plates will cost a dollar, which isn’t too far off from the prices of 2011.

 

Soup and milk will be sold as bricks, but that never happened. Fast cooking electronic stoves will thaw a frozen steak in eight seconds and will be ready to eat in two more minutes.

 

Turning sawdust and wood pulp into foods is another prediction that went wrong. One prediction that did come true is that shopping by television, which is evident by the many products for sale on QVC and the Home Shopping Network.

 

The writer goes on to say that the housewife of 2000, will wash anything in the house with a water hose since the houses and everything inside will be waterproof. A calculator-weather forecaster machine will predict the weather.

 

Hurricanes will be stopped by igniting the water with oil. Wish it was that easy to stop a hurricane. Supersonic airplanes will travel 1,000 miles an hour. I can personally attest that this never happened since it took about two hours to fly from Houston, Texas to Knoxville, Tennessee which is about 200 miles less than 1,000 miles.

 

One prediction that has come true is the prediction that flying will be very expensive because of the high cost of fuel. The writer says a trip from Chicago to Paris would cost $5,000.

 

Families in 2000 will use helicopters, parked on their rooftop to get around fast, while the family car would be used for shorter trips of less than 20 miles.

 

Tuberculosis will have been cured by 2000. As far as I know there is no cure for tuberculosis 60 years after this article was written. Cancer will not have been cured by 2000, which is sadly the case today.

 

The prices shown in the magazine are as interesting as the predictions. The magazine shows a table saw for $15.95. Doubt if you could find one today for anywhere close to that price. Another item for sale in the magazine include a 65 pound boat for $35.

 

To read the complete article:

 

http://blog.modernmechanix.com/2006/10/05/miracles-youll-see-in-the-next-fifty-years/?Qwd=./PopularMechanics/2-1950/next_fifty_years&Qif=next_fifty_years_00.jpg&Qiv=thumbs&Qis=XL#qdig

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old Time Radio Poll

The last old time radio show aired on September 30,1962. Next year marks the 50th anniversary of Suspense and Yours Truly, Johnny Dollar being the last old time radio shows to be broadcast.

The poll today breaks down by age groups of people who have heard old time radio shows either live from 1920′s till September 30, 1962 or media such as MP3 CD’s and downloads:

$6,000 Toilet With Touch Screen Remote Control

The Kohler company will introduce a new $6,000 toilet later this month. The toilet will include amenities like an MP3 player and a touch screen remote control.

The innovative toilet should sell well, even at $6,000. There are too many rich people, who like to be first to have a new product, for it not to sell well.

A complete toilet and tank can be bought at Home Depot for about $55. A consumer could buy 109 of the $55 toilets for what it cost to buy the $6,000 toilet.

This link shows what the toilet looks like:

http://www.toptechreviews.net/tech-news/new-kohler-toilet-will-appeal-to-tech-saavy/

Extreme Couponer Being Investigated

Jaime Kirlew, who was recently featured on Extreme Couponing is being investigated for fraud while using coupons.

She allegedly used $4 Schick Razor coupons to buy Schick Shaving Gel. You would think the coupons would be rejected.

This is such a complicated matter it may be better to go to this link, which explains in great detail, exactly how she is using the coupons.

http://jillcataldo.com/node/16170

100,000th Visitor To Nostalgia and Now

Nostalgia and Now had the 100,000th visitor yesterday, since the website started, in April of 2009. After a slow start, in which only 529 visits were made to the site, in the first full month, 12,071 visits were made last month.

There was one blip in October of 2010 when there were 14,039 visitors, mostly because of an article about the death of Barbara Billingsley, the mother on Leave it to Beaver.

The average number of visits per day has risen from 14 in April of 2009, to 94 in April,2010 and is 495 so far this April.

Over the last four weeks, the number of visits per week has been 2,437, 2,720, 3,320 and 3,757.

The yearly totals have increased from 8,932 in 2009, to 60,955 in 2010 and to 30,511 in the first three months and eleven days of 2011.

None of this would be possible without the loyal readers of Nostalgia and Now.

Lately, I have had writer’s block on nostalgia, so would appreciate any readers with nostalgic ideas to send them to me at Niteowl049@msn.com

I want to thank every reader who has ever visited this website, and hope they have found something interesting.

To find the more nostalgic postings, look further back in the archives to 2009. This 2009 post about A&W Root Beer stands, is an example of the nostalgic posts:

http://nostalgia049.wordpress.com/2009/04/19/aw-root-beer-stands/

What Year Did McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Etc. Start?

It is interesting to look up when a certain fast food company first started, plus how many years they have been in business. This list will make it easier to find out when each of these companies started:

A&W Root Beer Stands………………………..1921 – 90 years

Arby’s…………………………………………………1964 – 47 years

Blimpie’s…………………………………………….1964 – 47 years

Bojangle’s……………………………………………1977 – 34 years

Burger King………………………………………..1953 – 58 years

Captain D’s………………………………………….1969 – 42 years

Checkers…………………………………………….1986 – 25 years

Chick – Fil – A………………………………………1946 – 65 years

Church’s Chicken……………………………….1952 – 59 years

Dairy Queen………………………………………..1940 – 71 years

Dunkin’ Donuts…………………………………..1950 – 61 years

Hardee’s………………………………………………1960 – 51 years

Kentucky Fried Chicken……………………..1952 – 59 years

Krispy Kreme………………………………………1937 – 74 years

McDonald”s…………………………………………1940 – 71 years

Popeye’s………………………………………………1972 – 39 years

Quizno’s………………………………………………1975 – 36 years

Sonic Drive In……………………………………..1953 – 58 years

Subway………………………………………………..1965 – 46 years

Taco Bell……………………………………………..1962 – 49 years

Wendy’s……………………………………………….1969 – 42 years

Whataburger……………………………………….1950 – 61 years

It is surprising that no company on the list was founded less than 25 years ago. The oldest company on the list is A&W Root Beer which started 90 years ago in 1921.

I was very surprised that Sonic Drive In had been in business for 58 years, since I had never heard of Sonic till they moved into central Louisiana.

The newest company on the list is Checkers which was founded in 1986 and celebrating their 25th anniversary this year.

 

 

 

Technology We Don’t Need: Radio-Toaster

 

 

Just when we thought there was no other appliance to combine a radio with, Delonghi has given us a radio-toaster.

There is an ad for it at Amazon.com, but the radio-toaster is presently out of stock. The radio is a Kenwood which usually is a good thing, but not according to this reviewer,who purchased the radio and left this one star review at Amazon.com. :

Barely Adequate Toaster, Dreadful Radio!, April 6, 2006
By
Anchoret (California) – See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What’s this?)
This review is from: Kenwood TT756SL 2-Slice Radio Toaster with FM Radio (Kitchen)
I have to say that this is one of the most dismal products I’ve ever bought. The toaster barely toasts, even when turned all the way up, and helpfully flips over when you press down the handle. It takes two hands to use. The radio, in addition to being the worst-sounding radio I have ever encountered, has to be reset to your channel each time the radio is turned on, and that has to be done by a blind search button. How convenient is that?

I assumed that coming from Kenwood, the radio would at least be a decent unit. Wrong.

This thing is merely a gag product, and the joke’s on the buyer.

Right now there is probably someone thinking of a way to combine a radio, with an electric can opener, if it doesn’t already exist.

Toy Tazers Bad Idea

My Source is selling this Toy Tazer for $3.40.

Do kids really need the Toy Tazer sold by My Source? I can’t believe a company is selling this as a toy when a real taser gun has killed 334 people in the United States between 2001 and August, 2008 according to Amnesty International.

Even if the toy only gives a a much lighter jolt than a real taser gun, it still teaches kids that a taser gun is a toy when in reality it is a gun that kills people.

Some officers almost certainly use taser guns in situations when the use of them could be avoided. The only time using a taser gun while making an arrest is justified is if it is a life or death situation where it is kill or be killed.

The low price of $3.40 makes this gun easily accessible which also troubles me knowing some parents will buy it because it is comparatively cheap compared to most electronic toys.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102×3652997

Do We Need a 87 Tool Knife?

Swiss Army knife with 87 tools and 141 functions.

I can still remember the good old days when knives had one blade and didn’t have a lot of tools included. Those days are gone forever as there is now a Swiss knife with 87 tools and 141 functions.

The knife weighs 2 pounds and 11 ounces and is 8 3/4 inches wide.

It has to be hard to find a particular tool when all the tools are in the closed position. It does have some useful tools yet also has some tools which are not often needed often like:

Golf club face cleaner

Golf shoe spike wrench

Cupped cigar cutter

Chisel point reamer

There are too many tools to list them all. The Wenger company is the manufacturer of this monstrosity and their website lists the retail price of $1,400 but out of the goodness of their hearts are selling it for only $1,099.95.

One reviewer who has bought the knife has this to say about it at the website:

Okay…I have had many different Swiss products in my days and this one just makes me laugh. I got this as a gift because I collect knives and this just kinda blows. Sure it has every top notch tool that any Swiss tool has ever had, but it is just stupid. I can barely pick the thing up to transport it, never-mind use it to carve something or use one of the tools on it. Right now, it is just sitting in my Swiss display case…

After reading about this knife I can see only very affluent people buying it. I am not even sure if these tools couldn’t be purchased cheaper separately rather than buying this gigantic knife.

This is the perfect gift for someone who has everything but after reading the review above am not sure it is even a practical knife in which the tools could actually do the tasks they are designed to accomplish because of the unwieldy size of the knife. The part of the review that is most revealing is when the reviewer listed under cons that the knife included tools.

To see the knife and more info about the tools included the link to the website is at the end of this article. It is safe to assume from my comments that I do not have any financial connection with the Wenger company.

http://www.knifecenter.com/kc_new/store_detail.html?s=WR16999