Today, we honor the patron saint of women in refrigerators. Devoid of pop-culture nerd-dom, somehow this event in history never loses its morbid charm. Yes, this day two hundred and fourteen years ago, the extravagant life of Marie Antoinette was ended by the French resistance. Upon hearing that the French peasantry had no bread to…
If you think the pending Writers Guild of America strike could throw Hollywood into a tizzy, just imagine how much worse it’s been in the past. 89 years ago today, the leading film studios announced they would stop releasing films due to the 1918 flu epidemic. It’s good to know that if this happened today,…
On October 14, 1943, Edward J. Noble bought the Blue Network for $8,000,000. So what, you say? A bit of media history to explain first… In the 30’s and 40’s, the National Broadcasting Company was a radio network and its big star was Jack Benny. NBC was made up of two separate units, the Red…
Fifty years ago today, Walter O’Malley announced that the Dodgers were moving from Brooklyn, New York to Los Angeles, California. Not that we know people who are BITTER about that sort of thing, oh no. But just ask any Brooklyn Dodgers fan this question: You’re in a room with Hitler, Stalin and Walter O’Malley and…
Continued from last week… The following text contains the remarks of comic-strip master Roy Crane (1901 – 1977) from a visit with George E. Turner and Yrs. Trly. on May 13, 1969, in the Editorial Art Department of the Daily News & Globe-Times at Amarillo, Texas. George and I had become acquainted with the Texas-bred…
Steven Okazaki’s documentary feature White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will arrive August 6 over the HBO premium-cable network, marking the 62nd anniversary of the arrival of thermonuclear warfare. The film’s harrowing impact has been a matter of record since its in-competition run during last January’s Sundance Film Festival in Utah. Though…
“…To anyone dismayed by the artlessness of television’s ‘limited animation,’ it is difficult to realize that the trend began on the highest note of artistic endeavor.” Leonard Maltin, in Of Mice and Magic Nothing pleases writers and readers trying to understand the arts like a clean break. Styles and periods have a messy way…
On this day in 1912, Carl Laemmle merged his movie studio, the Independent Moving Picture Company (IMP), with eight others, creating Hollywood’s first major studio, the Universal Film Manufacturing Company — later to become Universal Pictures Company. Universal would unintentionally give gigantic starts to other film companies, like not paying Irving Thalberg enough money to…
Funny thing about Fred Wertham. Dr. Fred, in case you don’t know, was the guy who, back in the late 40s and early 50s, was concerned about all the sexual imagery and violence he saw in comics and its harmful impact on our nation’s youth. He, and those many folks of similar mind, waxed poetic…
In her book No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Kniting, Anne Macdonald describes the Puritan roots of our country and how getting together to knit, quilt or sew was one of the few ways colonial women could get together to socialize. The only way they could justify the pleasure they took in each…
Jessa from Bookslut pointed to one of the archives at the Authentic History Center, specifically Treasure Chest’s This Godless Communism produced by the Catholic Guild (and with an introduction by J. Edgar Hoover herself!). This link led to much trepidation about time suckage, as the AHC has some really fascinating stuff. You can peruse WWII…
Great Caesar’s Ghost, my first comic convention actually was 38 and one-half years ago. I thought about that a lot this past weekend. I recall hearing about 300 people attended that show; we were completely astonished by the huge turnout. It was one of the late Phil Seuling’s first Fourth of July shows in New…
We collect personal data via tracking technologies for analytics and marketing. To exercise your right to opt-out of this processing, choose below. Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Cookie Settings
Cookie Settings
We use third-party cookies that help us analyse how you use this website, store your preferences, and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you. However, you can opt out of these cookies by checking 'Do Not Sell My Personal Information' and clicking the 'Save My Preferences' button. Once you opt out, you can opt in again at any time by unchecking 'Do Not Sell My Personal Information' and clicking the 'Save My Preferences' button.
