(Topic ID: 157159)

Favorite childhood toys and youthful memories

By Mr68

7 years ago


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There are 9,736 posts in this topic. You are on page 134 of 195.
#6651 2 years ago

My Memories from 1969.

Wore this, watched this, wished I was there with the bigger kids in the neighborhood.

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#6652 2 years ago
Quoted from OLDPINGUY:

My Memories from 1969.

1969… I had this 7 inch Man on the Moon record. I just listened to it again on YouTube and remembered the whole thing.

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#6653 2 years ago
Quoted from mooch:

I had this 7 inch Man on the Moon record.

That's odd. My copy of Man on the Moon by R.E.M. looks nothing like that.
man on the moon (resized).jpgman on the moon (resized).jpg

#6654 2 years ago
Quoted from littlecammi:

That's odd. My copy of Man on the Moon by R.E.M. looks nothing like that.

It probably sounds different too.

64E2DAE5-4A9E-490F-8F11-5FCB10009F3B (resized).jpeg64E2DAE5-4A9E-490F-8F11-5FCB10009F3B (resized).jpeg
#6655 2 years ago

What was your childhood Tooth Fairy procedure? Instead of putting my tooth under a pillow, my Mom had me leave it in a glass of water in the kitchen. The next morning, there was a quarter in the glass of water. Seems like an easier switcheroo for her than the pillow scenario.

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#6656 2 years ago
Quoted from mooch:

What was your childhood Tooth Fairy procedure? Instead of putting my tooth under a pillow, my Mom had me leave it in a glass of water in the kitchen. The next morning, there was a quarter in the glass of water. Seems like an easier switcheroo for her than the pillow scenario.
[quoted image]

Smart mom.

#6657 2 years ago
Quoted from OLDPINGUY:

Alexanders was ONE impressive store!
I saw my first Pachinko there, then Fortunoffs, where I spent hours playing and learning to fix.
Later, it was Pachinko Palace out of Georgia and Florida.[quoted image]

I now live in Jersey and this was in the paper last week (yes, I am the only one left reading the paper, actually two, every day).

The Alexander's mural, a longtime attraction in Paramus that was dismantled and removed from the borough years ago, will be making its return home as part of The New Valley Hospital. ... The giant, 200-foot-long mural was saved in 1998 after Alexander's went out of business. IKEA now occupies the former Alexander's site.

The large murals that were in Valley Stream have to be somewhere, and they were really impressive.

///Rich

image (resized).jpegimage (resized).jpegimage (resized).jpegimage (resized).jpeg
#6658 2 years ago
Quoted from RichWolfson:

I now live in Jersey and this was in the paper last week (yes, I am the only one left reading the paper, actually two, every day).
The Alexander's mural, a longtime attraction in Paramus that was dismantled and removed from the borough years ago, will be making its return home as part of The New Valley Hospital. ... The giant, 200-foot-long mural was saved in 1998 after Alexander's went out of business. IKEA now occupies the former Alexander's site.
The large murals that were in Valley Stream have to be somewhere, and they were really impressive.
///Rich
[quoted image][quoted image]

I remember that vividly.
On the right side of the mural, I always saw a duck wearing a straw hat. I would always look for it when driving down Route 17 in the 70s and 80s.

#6659 2 years ago

Yep, I grew up in Teaneck, NJ (and went to high school in Paramus). I remember that Alexander's mural very well.

Can't say I ever saw a duck with a straw hat in it though...

#6660 2 years ago
Quoted from mbeardsley:

Yep, I grew up in Teaneck, NJ (and went to high school in Paramus). I remember that Alexander's mural very well.
Can't say I ever saw a duck with a straw hat in it though...

I guess I was having too much fun back then.

#6661 2 years ago
Quoted from mooch:

What was your childhood Tooth Fairy procedure? Instead of putting my tooth under a pillow, my Mom had me leave it in a glass of water in the kitchen. The next morning, there was a quarter in the glass of water. Seems like an easier switcheroo for her than the pillow scenario.
[quoted image]

exactly how my folks did it.

#6662 2 years ago
Quoted from dirkdiggler:

Some side shots
[quoted image][quoted image][quoted image][quoted image]

donkey kong jr was going for like $300 a few years ago, i had that and marios cement factory. pacmans usually sell for about $75-100

#6663 2 years ago

This may be a dark subject. I'll apologize in advance.

If you are from the early baby boomer crowd, you will remember this stuff. If you grew up with this, you remember.

I got this original parody poster at an estate sale a few years ago.

IMG_8411 (resized).JPGIMG_8411 (resized).JPG

When I was 5 years old, I remember my mom saying something about not being able to eat snow ice cream anymore because of nuclear fallout. I started 1st grade in 1959. And for the next decade, we were always aware of the nuclear threat. But to a 6 YO kid, it just seemed normal for this kind of stuff to be on the news, You felt the fear people had with all the nuke news, but nothing ever changed. People went on with their lives.

Here is to the TV Generation.

s-l1600 (resized).jpgs-l1600 (resized).jpg

***************************************************************

Check out the video !

https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/video/news-footage/2034-12?adppopup=true

*****************************************************

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#6664 2 years ago
Quoted from cottonm4:

This may be a dark subject. I'll apologize in advance.

If you are from the early baby boomer crowd, you will remember this stuff. If you grew up with this, you remember.

Yes, I remember it and it shaped who I am. I've loved science since I was a kid, and I followed everything that was going on with NASA and the space program. But I was very worried that we could all die or end up living in a wasteland.
There was a nuclear-armed Nike missile base about half a mile from my childhood home in Northbrook, Illinois. We could see the missiles from the nearby highway when they would have them upright out of their silos for inspection.
We also lived very close to Glenview Naval Air Station and heard many sonic booms, mostly while sitting in our classrooms at school. The big windows would rattle, and we'd hear these thunderous jets go over. We thought it was pretty cool, although scary.
Our grade school even had a decommissioned fighter jet in the playground for a while. They removed it when I was in 1st or 2nd grade, so I never got to play on it - it was in the 5th and 6th grader's playground area as a physical "recruiting tool".
One of our uncles was employed at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories and worked on high-speed photography of the first microseconds of nuclear explosions. He was present at many nuclear tests in the 50s and 60s. Our family was pretty anti-nuke, and we had a tense relationship with him. He gave us a framed picture of the Trinity nuke test (the first), complete with a little chunk of fused sand from the blast site glued to the glass under the picture, which we displayed in our living room for quite a few years. I don't know what happened to that piece of nuke memorabilia. Mom probably threw it out...
The government pounded us with propaganda throughout that time. It still goes on, but we have a few more options now to help us filter it out or otherwise ignore it.

I'm almost sure I would have been a "family guy" if I had not been worried that my kids might have to live through a nuclear war.
Instead, I decided I would never have children. I was then able to worry a lot less about the future, and do some things that are not possible for those with families in tow. I've lived in a tent in Colorado for a year. I've worked at high-tech companies and lived in a big house, and then walked away from that and now live in an old stone bank building in a tiny West Virginia town. I've hiked solo into some very interesting areas (not any more...survival instincts are stronger as I get older!).
I've put many miles on three different Harley-Davidsons, went to Sturgis 12 times in 13 years, camped in grizzly country in Montana, explored abandoned nuclear missile bases, and countless other things that I probably would not have tried if I was responsible for a family.
It's been an interesting life, and we're all still here, but the danger of a nuclear war is possibly greater than it ever was. But like in the past, we can't really do too much about it except to live our lives as if we're going to have a future.
In retrospect, sometimes I kind of wish I'd had kids, but it's not something I lose sleep over. I hope we can continue to keep our itchy fingers off of the nuclear triggers and spare ourselves a stupid, self-inflicted wound to all of humanity.
A dark topic, indeed, but very relevant since we still have to live with the same threat.

#6665 2 years ago

Changed my mind

#6666 2 years ago
Quoted from DCP:

Yes, I remember it and it shaped who I am. I've loved science since I was a kid, and I followed everything that was going on with NASA and the space program. But I was very worried that we could all die or end up living in a wasteland.
There was a nuclear-armed Nike missile base about half a mile from my childhood home in Northbrook, Illinois. We could see the missiles from the nearby highway when they would have them upright out of their silos for inspection.
We also lived very close to Glenview Naval Air Station and heard many sonic booms, mostly while sitting in our classrooms at school. The big windows would rattle, and we'd hear these thunderous jets go over. We thought it was pretty cool, although scary.
Our grade school even had a decommissioned fighter jet in the playground for a while. They removed it when I was in 1st or 2nd grade, so I never got to play on it - it was in the 5th and 6th grader's playground area as a physical "recruiting tool".
One of our uncles was employed at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories and worked on high-speed photography of the first microseconds of nuclear explosions. He was present at many nuclear tests in the 50s and 60s. Our family was pretty anti-nuke, and we had a tense relationship with him. He gave us a framed picture of the Trinity nuke test (the first), complete with a little chunk of fused sand from the blast site glued to the glass under the picture, which we displayed in our living room for quite a few years. I don't know what happened to that piece of nuke memorabilia. Mom probably threw it out...
The government pounded us with propaganda throughout that time. It still goes on, but we have a few more options now to help us filter it out or otherwise ignore it.
I'm almost sure I would have been a "family guy" if I had not been worried that my kids might have to live through a nuclear war.
Instead, I decided I would never have children. I was then able to worry a lot less about the future, and do some things that are not possible for those with families in tow. I've lived in a tent in Colorado for a year. I've worked at high-tech companies and lived in a big house, and then walked away from that and now live in an old stone bank building in a tiny West Virginia town. I've hiked solo into some very interesting areas (not any more...survival instincts are stronger as I get older!).
I've put many miles on three different Harley-Davidsons, went to Sturgis 12 times in 13 years, camped in grizzly country in Montana, explored abandoned nuclear missile bases, and countless other things that I probably would not have tried if I was responsible for a family.
It's been an interesting life, and we're all still here, but the danger of a nuclear war is possibly greater than it ever was. But like in the past, we can't really do too much about it except to live our lives as if we're going to have a future.
In retrospect, sometimes I kind of wish I'd had kids, but it's not something I lose sleep over. I hope we can continue to keep our itchy fingers off of the nuclear triggers and spare ourselves a stupid, self-inflicted wound to all of humanity.
A dark topic, indeed, but very relevant since we still have to live with the same threat.

I found your post interesting. A lot of how we did and do things is based on experiences and emotions like fear and worry from our childhoods and growing up. It also applies to good experiences also like look at what these toys in this thread mean to us still today. As we get older we can either remember “the good old days” which tend to avoid the tough times we had in our lives or remember bad times which can really lock us in on us not changing the way we view and do things because of negative past experiences we had. We tend to do a little of both usually.

You mentioned maybe you should have had kids and current thinking is along the lines that we really don’t personally have control over wars, so all you can do is just live life. I feel this type of thinking is good. To me it’s healthy for folks to reflect that maybe they would have changed or done things differently if one could go back. It’s also good to keep managing our worries for the future. I think these thoughts show you are still growing as a person, which is what a lot of folks tend do less of as they get older when tend to lock in more on the same thoughts and ways of doing things. I try to keep making slight adjustments in my views and how I do things as I get older. It’s not easy, but I feel it’s good.

Thanks for posting

#6667 2 years ago
Quoted from DCP:

Yes, I remember it and it shaped who I am. I've loved science since I was a kid, and I followed everything that was going on with NASA and the space program. But I was very worried that we could all die or end up living in a wasteland.
There was a nuclear-armed Nike missile base about half a mile from my childhood home in Northbrook, Illinois. We could see the missiles from the nearby highway when they would have them upright out of their silos for inspection.
We also lived very close to Glenview Naval Air Station and heard many sonic booms, mostly while sitting in our classrooms at school. The big windows would rattle, and we'd hear these thunderous jets go over. We thought it was pretty cool, although scary.
Our grade school even had a decommissioned fighter jet in the playground for a while. They removed it when I was in 1st or 2nd grade, so I never got to play on it - it was in the 5th and 6th grader's playground area as a physical "recruiting tool".
One of our uncles was employed at Lawrence Livermore Laboratories and worked on high-speed photography of the first microseconds of nuclear explosions. He was present at many nuclear tests in the 50s and 60s. Our family was pretty anti-nuke, and we had a tense relationship with him. He gave us a framed picture of the Trinity nuke test (the first), complete with a little chunk of fused sand from the blast site glued to the glass under the picture, which we displayed in our living room for quite a few years. I don't know what happened to that piece of nuke memorabilia. Mom probably threw it out...
The government pounded us with propaganda throughout that time. It still goes on, but we have a few more options now to help us filter it out or otherwise ignore it.
I'm almost sure I would have been a "family guy" if I had not been worried that my kids might have to live through a nuclear war.
Instead, I decided I would never have children. I was then able to worry a lot less about the future, and do some things that are not possible for those with families in tow. I've lived in a tent in Colorado for a year. I've worked at high-tech companies and lived in a big house, and then walked away from that and now live in an old stone bank building in a tiny West Virginia town. I've hiked solo into some very interesting areas (not any more...survival instincts are stronger as I get older!).
I've put many miles on three different Harley-Davidsons, went to Sturgis 12 times in 13 years, camped in grizzly country in Montana, explored abandoned nuclear missile bases, and countless other things that I probably would not have tried if I was responsible for a family.
It's been an interesting life, and we're all still here, but the danger of a nuclear war is possibly greater than it ever was. But like in the past, we can't really do too much about it except to live our lives as if we're going to have a future.
In retrospect, sometimes I kind of wish I'd had kids, but it's not something I lose sleep over. I hope we can continue to keep our itchy fingers off of the nuclear triggers and spare ourselves a stupid, self-inflicted wound to all of humanity.
A dark topic, indeed, but very relevant since we still have to live with the same threat.

Then you more than likely remember all of the hurly-burly over the population explosion on road signs and magazines. The world population has way exceeded the diatribes regarding population growth. And today, we go on our merry way---making more babies.

No one is going to commit suicide to save the planet.

Maybe the Covid pandemic is going to bring the ultimate solution and declines our numbers
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Population_Bomb

71Gim5TjQHL (resized).jpg71Gim5TjQHL (resized).jpg

And 50 years later there are still starving babies in Africa.

======================================================

And for other child hood memories, I still have my switchblade knife. One of the kids from Sunday School was going on a retreat to Mexico. I asked him to bring me back a switch blade. It is a cheapie. I am easily amused so it is all good.

#6668 2 years ago

Remember this product of the nuclear Armageddon anxiety?

Foxfire Books (resized).jpegFoxfire Books (resized).jpeg

#6669 2 years ago
Quoted from zombywoof:

Remember this product of the nuclear Armageddon anxiety?
[quoted image]

Along with Mother Earth News

Unknown (resized).jpegUnknown (resized).jpeg

And Easyriders.

s-l1600 (resized).jpgs-l1600 (resized).jpg

#6670 2 years ago

One of my greatest terrors as a kid was seeing a “TORNADO WARNING” on the TV. I’d be crying to my parents to hide with me in the basement so we wouldn’t all be killed by that funnel cloud that touched down for a moment in a cornfield 40 miles away.

CD1040E1-6898-41D7-A5DB-37F67E515E88 (resized).pngCD1040E1-6898-41D7-A5DB-37F67E515E88 (resized).png
#6671 2 years ago

Were there any Popular Science readers?

I always liked Wordless Workshop

pasted_image (resized).jpegpasted_image (resized).jpeg

#6672 2 years ago
Quoted from cottonm4:

Then you more than likely remember all of the hurly-burly over the population explosion on road signs and magazines

Yep - I still have this fridge magnet that belonged to my mom..."You may not want to be here"...

I remember as a child learning that there were 3 billion people in the world. Now there are almost 8 billion.

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#6673 2 years ago

I enjoyed seeing these in the early 80’s driving through Alamo Ca. on I-680

https://danvillesanramon.com/news/2008/01/11/growing-mona-lisa

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10
#6674 2 years ago
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#6675 2 years ago

Here is where I first saw Star Wars may 1978, on the one year anniversary rerelease.
This was at the Whittwood mall in Whittier Ca.
Old school single screen with a balcony.

Still the greatest movie going experience ever.

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#6676 2 years ago

My home town theater circa 1990. Saw Star Wars here in 1977, first movie to stand in a long line for and first movie to view more than once in the theater.

Also saw Jaws here in 1975 with my Grandma. The placed was packed and we arrived late and the only seats were 1st row center. Had to look up at the screen. When the body popped out of the sunken boat, nearly crapped my pants.

4170298736_d157005d88_b (resized).jpg4170298736_d157005d88_b (resized).jpgjaws1 (resized).jpgjaws1 (resized).jpg
#6677 2 years ago

Yeah, I saw Star Wars openning weekend in Paramus NJ at the Stanley-Warner theatre. It was one of very few theatres that had a 70mm print from the very beginning. I went back to see it so many times that I lost count (it was over 40 times though). More than a few times me and my friend would go hide in the bathroom when one show ended and then go back in and watch the next showing.

#6678 2 years ago

This was a movie theatre that was in walking distance from my house. The caption incorrectly states that it was in Norfolk, but it was really in Virginia Beach, in the parking lot of Pembroke Mall. It was originally a single, but eventually expanded to a double like the one in Florida. I saw both Empire and Jedi there on opening day. The lines stretched around the whole building. I saw Star Wars on opening day, too, but that really was at a theatre in Norfolk.

Pembroke Movie (resized).jpgPembroke Movie (resized).jpg

#6679 2 years ago

Cotton mentioned his first flight in another thread and that got me thinking that is probably a pretty common and memorable childhood event.

Mine was a little unusual. My father had a friend from work who owned a Cesna 172. I was 8 or 9 when he first took us up. With my parents in the back seats, we took off from the Norfolk Airport, and flew across the Chesapeake Bay to the Eastern Shore. After lunch we flew back across the bay. We detoured along the the Atlantic coast and then over Chicks Beach on the way back to Norfolk.

I was riding shotgun, and there were a second set of controls. He let me hold the yoke for a while, and perform a gradual turn. I already dreamed of being a fighter pilot and astronaut, that first flight cemented the idea in my childish mind. I had to get glasses a couple of years later, and that put that idea to bed for good.

I didn't fly commercially until almost a decade later. It was a 727, nonstop from Norfolk to Newark, and long enough ago that they still allowed smoking on commercial flights.

Cesna 172 (resized).jpgCesna 172 (resized).jpg

#6680 2 years ago
Quoted from zombywoof:

I didn't fly commercially until about a decade later. It was a 727, nonstop from Norfolk to Newark, and long enough ago that they allowed smoking on commercial flights.

They still allow smoking on commercial flights, although now you have to sit outside on the wing before lighting up.

#6681 2 years ago

Anybody read these two sisters when you were growing up? Our evening paper carried Ann Landers. I read her religiously.

Screen Shot 2021-11-21 at 7.03.32 PM (resized).pngScreen Shot 2021-11-21 at 7.03.32 PM (resized).png

Screen Shot 2021-11-21 at 7.06.22 PM (resized).pngScreen Shot 2021-11-21 at 7.06.22 PM (resized).png

#6682 2 years ago
Quoted from cottonm4:

Anybody read these two sisters when you were growing up? Our evening paper carried Ann Landers. I read her religiously.

Ann Landers and Dear Abby.

Great ladies. Good advice. And they grew with the times. And had no problem taking on heads companies or organizations.

LTG : )

#6683 2 years ago
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#6684 2 years ago

So you don’t have to squint:

“DEAR ABBY: I'm a happily married 29 year-old housewife with two beautiful children and a faithful husband. My problem is unusual— in fact, I have never seen it mentioned in your column.
I'm addicted to pinball machines! A day doesn't go by when I don't have the urge to play. I'm now at a point where I'm spending much too much time and household money on the machines. Where can I get help? I feel so stupid.— THE JUNGLE QUEEN

DEAR QUEEN: Admitting that you have a problem you can't handle alone shows that you are very intelligent. Your pinball machine addiction is a form of compulsive gambling. Find Gamblers Anonymous in your telephone directory and acquaint yourself with that wonderful self-help group. (No fee, no membership and no commitment. Just attend, and listen.)
If there's no G.A. in your area, your nearest mental health clinic has counseling available at a price you can afford.”

#6685 2 years ago

The right advice to give in that situation would have been…

Go out and buy your own pinball machine, that way you can play at home whenever you like, and possibly also turn it into a family bonding experience.

#6686 2 years ago
Quoted from mooch:

So you don’t have to squint:
“DEAR ABBY: I'm a happily married 29 year-old housewife with two beautiful children and a faithful husband. My problem is unusual— in fact, I have never seen it mentioned in your column.
I'm addicted to pinball machines! A day doesn't go by when I don't have the urge to play. I'm now at a point where I'm spending much too much time and household money on the machines. Where can I get help? I feel so stupid.— THE JUNGLE QUEEN
DEAR QUEEN: Admitting that you have a problem you can't handle alone shows that you are very intelligent. Your pinball machine addiction is a form of compulsive gambling. Find Gamblers Anonymous in your telephone directory and acquaint yourself with that wonderful self-help group. (No fee, no membership and no commitment. Just attend, and listen.)
If there's no G.A. in your area, your nearest mental health clinic has counseling available at a price you can afford.”

Thanks for sharing your typing skills

#6687 2 years ago
Quoted from mooch:

DEAR ABBY: My problem is I'm addicted to pinball machines! — THE JUNGLE QUEEN
DEAR QUEEN: Find Gamblers Anonymous in your area and acquaint yourself with that wonderful self-help group.

I will expect to see all you Pinsiders at the next Gamblers Anonymous meeting.
To speed up the meeting please wear a badge or tag showing your Pinside name.

#6688 2 years ago

I got a pinball fixation.
051698C6-A9BC-42B4-AA11-C5E28C62DC22 (resized).jpeg051698C6-A9BC-42B4-AA11-C5E28C62DC22 (resized).jpeg

The smile could not be taken off my face at banning.

90643FF9-79C4-49FD-A4D9-D26AFA12C08B (resized).jpeg90643FF9-79C4-49FD-A4D9-D26AFA12C08B (resized).jpeg
#6689 2 years ago
Quoted from zombywoof:

his first flight in another thread and that got me thinking that is probably a pretty common and memorable childhood event.

The first time I ever flew was also on a private plane. I think it was about 1964 and i was not quite 9 yr old. We had moved out to California from South Dakota the year before and were back visiting my Dad's home town visiting family the next summer. My cousin who was 8 had an older cousin (on his moms side if the family), so guess the older cousin was a cousin in law. Anyway he was maybe barely 19yrs old, if that, but he had access to a 4 seater plane, and said he would take us up to fly over town and the surounding farmland. So the 3 of us went up and took about a15-20 minute tour of Hoven , taking off and landing in a cow pasture (not an airport field, since Hoven only had a population of about 500, so it was just a farm community in the middle of nowhere ). It was quite the thrill, we took off and landed safely and were very excited to tell our parents of our adventure, only problem was we had not asked any adult permission if we could go on this aerial adventure with the teenage cousin. Our parents were quite upset and angry and concerned about the whole episode, afraid that we could have perished. At the time i do not even think my mom had been on a plane before. (My dad probably had, having fought in the Korean war).I think we even got spanked, they were so upset. Later found out the teenage cousin had no offical flying license.
I can not remember when i next flew. It was probablymany years later. It was likely commerical of course with the parents in tow. It may have been when I was in high school, that we as a family took a european vacation, ala the Oswald's. Prior to that all family vacation always involved the Family car, 1965 Mercury Park Lane, which was a huge boat of a vehicle.

#6690 2 years ago

My first flight was a trip to Washington DC with students from my school in 1984.

It set the tone for good trips for the rest of my life.

#6691 2 years ago

There was a space war in the arcade, we strung it, and played for a couple hours.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Wars

12
#6692 2 years ago

This talk of movies and recent nostalgic pangs have me thinking about my time as a projectionist for a movie palace, the Byrd Theatre in Richmond, VA. It opened and has been in continuous operation since December 24, 1928. Pretty amazing for a single screen theater!

Here's the interior:
https://images.app.goo.gl/US1MggVRRxqqRcYYA

I started in the box office, but always wanted to work with the machinery in the projection booth. After a couple of years, I got my chance.

We were one of the last theaters still running carbon arc lamphouses to light the film. In the 70s(ish) most theaters converted to Xenon bulbs as they were far safer and much less expensive to run (you'd burn through a negative carbon in three reels, and a positive carbon in six-ish. A Xenon bulb lasted for quite a long time, and started to dim rather than just turning off, so it was easy to tell when a replacement was needed. The Byrd upgraded to Xenon lamp houses once another area theater closed. It was a huge upgrade, as the only carbon manufacturer left was producing carbons with large air pockets. When these were hit, the arc would sometimes stop or sputter, which obviously wasn't ideal... and modern movies were not made to be lit by a (relatively) wimpy arc lamp.

This is a carbon arc lamphouse, which was very similar to the lamphouses we had. You'd pop open the side and swap the carbons out (when the machine was off, of course - very high Amperage DC current ran through these. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 40A per projector (there were two, not counting the Brenograph slide projector for ads). There was a huge rectifier room below the projection booth.
https://flic.kr/p/AVKPkX

(hey, they've got a scope lens in! Our lamphouses were also Simplex, with Strong projector. We did not have reel covers any longer, and had much larger four reel hubs mounted.)

Carbons looked like this:
https://flic.kr/p/6S1eKA

Carbons burning viewed through the welder's glass built into the lamphouse:
https://flic.kr/p/6S6uw4

The Brenograph - this device had two (small) projectors mounted on top of each other, with a lever-controlled iris. When the projectionist wanted to swap between projectors, they pulled this lever which would simultaneously close one and open the other. Clever and allowed for some nice (manual) fade effects. I built the ad slides, local businesses would advertise with us. Show start time was 5 minutes past the advertised. We did not run traditional movie trailers (it was a second run theater).
https://flic.kr/p/6FNwgy

We did however run a special "litter trailer", which was campy and fun. I recall there was a large expense with getting another print made or the copy we had restored. It ran every show for years and years. I also "built up" the movies from shipping reels, and that included splicing this trailer onto the front of reel 1:

Speaking of manual fade effects, check this out:
https://flic.kr/p/ehe3CG

This is a small view of the four color switch board we had for lights. You could turn any one color on or off, and all switches were ganged together for a color, so you could fade one section or all lamps off at once. You could also override the gang for a particular lamp if desired. It was really neat, and I'm probably not explaining it well. Big switches, fun to pull.

Working in projection, there were several different jobs needed, this is a tool I really only wanted to use when building up or tearing down a print:
https://flic.kr/p/cdR9AL

The splicer was a fancy hole puncher with tape and a sharp blade on the side. I couldn't find an image of a cue cutter, but I'll explain that in a minute. If you used it outside of build up or tear down, it meant the reel fell off the projector or some other catastrophe happened. Misthreading or under-spacing a film meant that any mechanical problem and the film would get stuck in front of the lamp. All films when I was operating used 'safety film', which was basically polyester coated. This allowed a hole to burn in the frame that was stuck, but the whole film wouldn't catch fire. Projectioning used to be a very dangerous job, when nitrate film was the standard. The entire supply and uptake would catch fire almost immediately. Scary stuff. I was always proud that when a problem occurred, I was able to fix the film for subsequent showings without removing more than absolutely necessary (usually 1 frame). I also took pride in my splices as they were very very hard to detect even for someone trained and looking for them.

Speaking of training, this is a cue:
https://images.app.goo.gl/gcRSrJzwRc1M4pDH6

Learning about these spoiled every movie in theaters for me afterward (though now everything is digital so these are obsolete. ). Basically there are two sets of cues on every reel. A typical movie is somewhere in the 5-9 reel range depending on length. Each set of cues is actually four frames with a small circle of the coating and print stripped away. The cutter was a spring loaded cylinder that you'd press on the film and turn. There were different lenses used to project. "Flat" lenses projected a circle. Cinemascope lenses projected as an oval. When the bell rang to alert the projectionist of a pending reel change, you'd walk over and turn on the second lamp house. For carbon arc, that meant slapping the rods together and then spacing them approx 1-1.25" apart. When you saw the first cue, you'd turn the second projector on and open the dowser (this would allow the second film to project onto the screen if control was switched.

The second set of cues happens (I think, tough to recall) 8 seconds later. On that cue, you'd swap the sound track and hit a foot pedal to switch the active projector. Really cool to do, and invisible to theater goers.

This manual counter could be used to find the appropriate spots for cues.
https://flic.kr/p/anzeNr

Once the film reel was done and pulled from the uptake, you'd take it over to the bench to rewind. I always manually rewound it because it was faster than using a motor (and some of our larger reels were bent, which made motorized operations more risky, at least in my mind).
https://flic.kr/p/Y83zFy

Soundtracks! Endlessly fascinating, each major type had their own (limited) space on the print. Dolby using the space between sprocket holes was always funny. In my time, we only used the analog soundtrack, which used an optical reader/amplifier. After my time, Dolby donated a digital setup and had technicians flown out to install! Really nice.
https://images.app.goo.gl/JWV2k4xxdzCT98E16

The theater was built in a time when lavish organ setups were much more common than you might expect. Wurlitzer was the king of theater organs, and the Byrd has a beautiful organ. It controls a number of instruments and has GIGANTIC multi-story pipes behind the back curtains.
https://images.app.goo.gl/PoiUPyen9JvY12Cm6

It's unfortunate that 35mm, much less carbon arc projecting, is a lost art these days. There are fewer and fewer 35mm prints, and most of those are actually archival. No 35mm prints can be 'built up' into larger reels, having the heads and tails removed. I loved lugging those film canisters up to the booth on the fourth (or fifth?!) floor, building up the prints, and just the day-to-day operation. A lot of memories tied to that theater.

#6693 2 years ago
Quoted from pinwiztom:

The first time I ever flew was also on a private plane.

I don't remember my first flight, I am sure it was from St. Louis to basic training at Fort McClellan, Alabama. I remember my next five flights though, they were all takeoffs, no landings (Fort Benning, GA Jump school)!

jump (resized).jpgjump (resized).jpg
#6694 2 years ago
Quoted from bingopodcast:

This talk of movies and recent nostalgic pangs have me thinking about my time as a projectionist for a movie palace, the Byrd Theatre in Richmond, VA. It opened and has been in continuous operation since December 24, 1928. Pretty amazing for a single screen theater!
Here's the interior:
https://images.app.goo.gl/US1MggVRRxqqRcYYA
I started in the box office, but always wanted to work with the machinery in the projection booth. After a couple of years, I got my chance.
We were one of the last theaters still running carbon arc lamphouses to light the film. In the 70s(ish) most theaters converted to Xenon bulbs as they were far safer and much less expensive to run (you'd burn through a negative carbon in three reels, and a positive carbon in six-ish. A Xenon bulb lasted for quite a long time, and started to dim rather than just turning off, so it was easy to tell when a replacement was needed. The Byrd upgraded to Xenon lamp houses once another area theater closed. It was a huge upgrade, as the only carbon manufacturer left was producing carbons with large air pockets. When these were hit, the arc would sometimes stop or sputter, which obviously wasn't ideal... and modern movies were not made to be lit by a (relatively) wimpy arc lamp.
This is a carbon arc lamphouse, which was very similar to the lamphouses we had. You'd pop open the side and swap the carbons out (when the machine was off, of course - very high Amperage DC current ran through these. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 40A per projector (there were two, not counting the Brenograph slide projector for ads). There was a huge rectifier room below the projection booth.
https://flic.kr/p/AVKPkX
(hey, they've got a scope lens in! Our lamphouses were also Simplex, with Strong projector. We did not have reel covers any longer, and had much larger four reel hubs mounted.)
Carbons looked like this:
https://flic.kr/p/6S1eKA
Carbons burning viewed through the welder's glass built into the lamphouse:
https://flic.kr/p/6S6uw4
The Brenograph - this device had two (small) projectors mounted on top of each other, with a lever-controlled iris. When the projectionist wanted to swap between projectors, they pulled this lever which would simultaneously close one and open the other. Clever and allowed for some nice (manual) fade effects. I built the ad slides, local businesses would advertise with us. Show start time was 5 minutes past the advertised. We did not run traditional movie trailers (it was a second run theater).
https://flic.kr/p/6FNwgy
We did however run a special "litter trailer", which was campy and fun. I recall there was a large expense with getting another print made or the copy we had restored. It ran every show for years and years. I also "built up" the movies from shipping reels, and that included splicing this trailer onto the front of reel 1:
Speaking of manual fade effects, check this out:
https://flic.kr/p/ehe3CG
This is a small view of the four color switch board we had for lights. You could turn any one color on or off, and all switches were ganged together for a color, so you could fade one section or all lamps off at once. You could also override the gang for a particular lamp if desired. It was really neat, and I'm probably not explaining it well. Big switches, fun to pull.
Working in projection, there were several different jobs needed, this is a tool I really only wanted to use when building up or tearing down a print:
https://flic.kr/p/cdR9AL
The splicer was a fancy hole puncher with tape and a sharp blade on the side. I couldn't find an image of a cue cutter, but I'll explain that in a minute. If you used it outside of build up or tear down, it meant the reel fell off the projector or some other catastrophe happened. Misthreading or under-spacing a film meant that any mechanical problem and the film would get stuck in front of the lamp. All films when I was operating used 'safety film', which was basically polyester coated. This allowed a hole to burn in the frame that was stuck, but the whole film wouldn't catch fire. Projectioning used to be a very dangerous job, when nitrate film was the standard. The entire supply and uptake would catch fire almost immediately. Scary stuff. I was always proud that when a problem occurred, I was able to fix the film for subsequent showings without removing more than absolutely necessary (usually 1 frame). I also took pride in my splices as they were very very hard to detect even for someone trained and looking for them.
Speaking of training, this is a cue:
https://images.app.goo.gl/gcRSrJzwRc1M4pDH6
Learning about these spoiled every movie in theaters for me afterward (though now everything is digital so these are obsolete. ). Basically there are two sets of cues on every reel. A typical movie is somewhere in the 5-9 reel range depending on length. Each set of cues is actually four frames with a small circle of the coating and print stripped away. The cutter was a spring loaded cylinder that you'd press on the film and turn. There were different lenses used to project. "Flat" lenses projected a circle. Cinemascope lenses projected as an oval. When the bell rang to alert the projectionist of a pending reel change, you'd walk over and turn on the second lamp house. For carbon arc, that meant slapping the rods together and then spacing them approx 1-1.25" apart. When you saw the first cue, you'd turn the second projector on and open the dowser (this would allow the second film to project onto the screen if control was switched.
The second set of cues happens (I think, tough to recall) 8 seconds later. On that cue, you'd swap the sound track and hit a foot pedal to switch the active projector. Really cool to do, and invisible to theater goers.
This manual counter could be used to find the appropriate spots for cues.
https://flic.kr/p/anzeNr
Once the film reel was done and pulled from the uptake, you'd take it over to the bench to rewind. I always manually rewound it because it was faster than using a motor (and some of our larger reels were bent, which made motorized operations more risky, at least in my mind).
https://flic.kr/p/Y83zFy
Soundtracks! Endlessly fascinating, each major type had their own (limited) space on the print. Dolby using the space between sprocket holes was always funny. In my time, we only used the analog soundtrack, which used an optical reader/amplifier. After my time, Dolby donated a digital setup and had technicians flown out to install! Really nice.
https://images.app.goo.gl/JWV2k4xxdzCT98E16
The theater was built in a time when lavish organ setups were much more common than you might expect. Wurlitzer was the king of theater organs, and the Byrd has a beautiful organ. It controls a number of instruments and has GIGANTIC multi-story pipes behind the back curtains.
https://images.app.goo.gl/PoiUPyen9JvY12Cm6
It's unfortunate that 35mm, much less carbon arc projecting, is a lost art these days. There are fewer and fewer 35mm prints, and most of those are actually archival. No 35mm prints can be 'built up' into larger reels, having the heads and tails removed. I loved lugging those film canisters up to the booth on the fourth (or fifth?!) floor, building up the prints, and just the day-to-day operation. A lot of memories tied to that theater.

It is a really cool place. My father grew up going to shows there. For me growing up in the west end in the 70s and 80s I did not go there very often since things were growing up around us where we lived, but we did go see a movie I am guessing about 15 years ago mainly to see the old theater.

#6695 2 years ago

Just saw this on twitter:

Screen Shot 2021-11-24 at 10.52.33 AM (resized).pngScreen Shot 2021-11-24 at 10.52.33 AM (resized).pngpasted_image (resized).pngpasted_image (resized).png

#6696 2 years ago
2170CCC7-3181-4FE6-ABFA-2B26497508D8 (resized).jpeg2170CCC7-3181-4FE6-ABFA-2B26497508D8 (resized).jpeg7DD67C8C-70F8-4F3B-86D1-B98284024FBA (resized).jpeg7DD67C8C-70F8-4F3B-86D1-B98284024FBA (resized).jpeg
#6697 2 years ago

The wall clock we had in our dining room was kind of a cross between these two

pasted_image (resized).pngpasted_image (resized).pngpasted_image (resized).pngpasted_image (resized).png
#6698 2 years ago
FEC4C4A8-802D-403C-B381-3997923E52FF (resized).jpegFEC4C4A8-802D-403C-B381-3997923E52FF (resized).jpeg
#6699 2 years ago
Quoted from onemoresean:

[quoted image][quoted image]

Quoted from pinwiztom:

The wall clock we had in our dining room was kind of a cross between these two [quoted image][quoted image]

Ooooh, bring on the 50s.

#6700 2 years ago
52842033-B7D9-4D52-A061-3290E8FB17CB (resized).jpeg52842033-B7D9-4D52-A061-3290E8FB17CB (resized).jpeg
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