20 Fascinating Pics That Capture the Daytona Bike Week in 1980

For a brief period of time before the over-commercialized vendor spectacle its now become, Daytona Bike Week included a wide variety of spectator activities that revolved around racing - any way, anytime, anywhere.

The sand drags were tolerated by the community of Daytona Shores, while at the Cabbage Patch racing for pinks was a cat and mouse game between deputies and racers.

Matches were set up, then a group of bikers would take off in one direction as a decoy. The cops would follow, while the money race slipped off as a small group to a suitable stretch of pavement for the actual face off.

These fascinating photos from John Siebenthaler that show the Daytona Bike Week in March 1980.

See more»

20 Vintage Snapshots of Women Posing With Hilarious Signs

You have nothing better to do than look at these candid snapshots of women posing with funny signs...

See more»

Reliant Robin, a Three-Wheeled Car That Was Voted the Worst British Car of All Time!

The Reliant Robin is a small three-wheeled car produced by the Reliant Motor Company in Tamworth, England. It was offered in several versions (Mk1, Mk2 and Mk3) over a period of 30 years. It is the second-most popular fibreglass car in history, with Reliant being the second-biggest UK-owned car manufacturer for a time.

Its steering wheel came off, its doors cracked in the wind, and it was voted the worst car ever. But the “plastic pig”, as it was called, was a good little product: a design classic, really. And it had a huge following that kept Reliant going for years. Some amazing people bought them, too – and even Princess Anne wanted one.

The Reliant Robin is staple material for comedian Jasper Carrott. However, perhaps two of the best known Reliants in British comedy are actually Reliant Regal Supervans — the dirty yellow van owned by the Trotter brothers in Only Fools and Horses, and the light blue van that always ends up getting tipped over, crashed into, bumped out of its parking space etc. by a British Leyland Mini in Mr. Bean.

See more»

35 Cool Pics Show the Inside of Stores in the Early 20th Century

These amazing photographs from Flickr members that show what the inside of stores looked like over 100 years ago.

A.L. Woodruff and Sons, General Store, Needham, Massachusetts

Bakery in St. Matthews South Carolina

Bike Shop in Rio de Janeiro's Downtown

Children Enjoying White Clover Ice Cream Cones at the Silverton Ice Cream Parlor in Silverton, Oregon

Chinese Store in San Francisco, CA

See more»

Flapper Icon and Sex Symbol: Gorgeous Photos of Louise Brooks in the 1920s

Mary Louise Brooks, known professionally as Louise Brooks, was an American film actress and dancer during the 1920s and 1930s. She began dancing at an early age with the Denishawn Dancers (which was how she left Kansas and went to New York) and then became one of the most fascinating and alluring personalities ever to grace the silver screen.

Brooks is famous for her bob hairstyle that she helped popularize during the prime of her career. Thousands of women were attracted to that style and adopted it as their own.

Brooks of her dark haired look and being the beautiful woman that she was, plus being a modern female, she was not especially popular among Hollywood's clientle. She just did not go along with the norms of the film society.

Brooks really came into her own when she left Hollywood for Europe. There she appeared in a few German productions which were very well made and continued to prove she was an actress with an enduring talent. Until she ended her career in film in 1938, she had made only 25 movies. After that, she spent most of her time reading and painting. She also became an accomplished writer, authoring a number of books, including her autobiography.

Brooks died of a heart attack in Rochester, New York in 1985. She was 78 years old.

Take a look at these gorgeous photos to see the beauty of Louise Brooks in the 1920s.

See more»

A Gallery of 20 Photos of Philco Predicta TV Sets, the Most Iconic of American Television Designs

The Philco Predicta is a television made in several cabinet models in a 17” or 21” screen by the American company Philco (Philadelphia Storage Battery Company) from 1958-1960. It was designed by Severin Jonassen and Richard Whipple and the design director was Herbert V. Gosweiler.

The Predicta was marketed as the world’s first swivel screen television. The picture tube was surrounded in Eastman plastics new product called “tenite” which protected the glass and gave it its greenish tint. The Predicta also had a thinner picture tube than many other televisions at the time, which led it to be marketed as a more futuristic television set. The futuristic aesthetic was influenced by an interest in space age technology, prompted by Russia’s Sputnik launch in 1957. Philco’s advertisements for Predicta touted a “TV Today From the World of Tomorrow!”

Predicta television sets were constructed with a variety of cabinet configurations, some detachable, but all separate from the tube itself and connected by wires. Initially introduced in 1958 for the Holiday Inn hotel chain and rolled out for general consumers shortly thereafter, the Predicta was discontinued in the early 1960s.

See more»

26 Candid Vintage Snaps of Women Talking on the Telephone From the Past

In an age when people are dumping landlines to rely on a single mobile phone or smartphone, it’s easy to forget that being able to talk on the phone from various rooms in the home was once a luxury. In fact, a single phone was considered a luxury until after WWII. During the war many people postponed service, and utilities were not expanded until the post-war boom.

In the 1950s the idea of living well shifted from accepting the standards to having choices. For home telephones, that meant designer colors and features, as well as convenience. Like having a telephone in the kitchen so you could talk while you cooked, and one in the bedroom so you could chat with friends while folding laundry or making the bed. Teenagers might lounge in the living room talking dirt with a friend.

The popular trend of multiple phone extensions in the home was pushed heavily by Bell Telephone System. As manual operation declined, marketing dollars were spent to convince customers to dial numbers themselves. This created a great convenience, and people were making more and more calls as a result. As the call for convenience increased, so did the desire to be able to dial from multiple places.

Extension phones meant big money for telephone companies. It generated more revenue for the equipment rental and the installed extension. And plenty of people were happy to pay for it. In the mid-50s Bell System also recommended buying someone else a phone extension as a holiday gift.

Marketing for phone extensions was long-lived. Bell System designed scores of ads that ran into the 1970s. After the breakup of the Bell System in 1984, many households dropped one or more additional extensions due to increased costs. Even when telephone companies stopped charging additional monthly fees, the installation costs for additional jacks was considered pricey.

Here’s a gallery of 26 candid vintage color photographs that capture women talking on the telephone from between the 1950s and 1980s.

See more»