Frozen Foods And Mountain Fever

 

Clarence Frank Birdseye II conducted experiments and received patents for the development of greatly improved methods to freeze fish for commercial production. In 1922, he formed a company, Birdseye Seafood, Inc. In 1924, he developed an entirely new process for commercially viable quick-freezing: packing fish in cartons, then freezing the contents between two refrigerated surfaces under pressure. Birdseye created a new company, General Seafood Corporation, to promote this method. Birdseye sold his company in 1929 and his patents for $22 million to Goldman Sachs and the Postum Company, becoming General Foods Corporation, which founded the Birds Eye Frozen Food Company. Today, Birds Eye is an American international brand of frozen foods owned by Conagra Brands in the United States, by Nomad Foods in Europe, and Simplot Australia in Australia.

Clarence Birdseye (1886-1956) was an American inventor, entrepreneur, and naturalist considered the founder of the modern frozen food industry. One of nine children, Birdseye grew up in Brooklyn before heading to Amherst College and began his scientific career with the U.S. government. By the end of his life, Birdseye had patented more than 300 inventions, many of them food-related but he is also is credited with the discovery of how Rocky Mountain Fever is transmitted.

Ozark Air Lines

Founded in 1943, Ozark Air Lines operated flights between Springfield and St. Louis, Missouri for about two years until the Civil Aeronautics Board ceased their operations. By 1950, Ozark was granted a certificate to operate unactivated routes using Douglas DC-3s from St. Louis to Chicago, Tulsa and Memphis. In 1955 the airline had 13 DC-3s flying to 35 cities between Sioux City, Indianapolis, Wichita, and Nashville. By 1960, turboprop Fairchild F-27s were introduced along with piston-engine Martin 4-0-4s in 1964. By 1967 the 4-0-4s and F-27s were replaced with newer Fairchild Hiller FH-227s. The last DC-3 flight was in 1968, making the regional airline an all-turbine operator. Ozark's first jets, Douglas DC-9-10s, were introduced in 1966.

Ozark Air Line's main hub and headquarters were St. Louis Lambert International Airport from 1950-86. Ozark was then purchased by Trans World Airlines and by 2001, itself merged into American Airlines. 

The Black Widow

 

On this date in 1942, The prototype Northrop XP-61-NO, 41-19509, made its first flight at Northrop Field, Hawthorne, California, with freelance test pilot Vance Breese at the controls. Similar in overall layout to Lockheed's twin-boom P-38 Lightning, the XP-61 was the first American airplane designed specifically as a night fighter. The same size as a medium bomber, it was crewed by a pilot, a gunner, and a radar operator in a center “gondola” pod.

The P-61 got its eventual nickname, Black Widow, from the glossy paint scheme that scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology determined [brilliantly] black to be the best camouflage at night. Over 700 P-61s were built, serving in both the Pacific and European campaigns.

A Maxfield Parrish Sky

 

Maxfield Parrish (1870-1966) was one of the most popular artists during the Golden Age of Illustration. During the 1920s, it has been estimated that a quarter of all American households displayed a Parrish print on their walls. His other-worldly landscapes of ancient gnarled trees, tumbling waterfalls, azure skies, or nursery rhymes were painted with a dreamlike clarity. Parrish's art is characterized by vibrant colors; the color Parrish blue was named after him. He achieved such luminous color through glazing. This process involves applying alternating bright layers of translucent glaze separated by varnish over a base rendering. 

One of his techniques set the stage for future commercial illustrators working with constant deadlines. Some models were clothed in geometric patterns, enabling him to accurately capture the distortion and draping. Though a "grid system" produced similar accuracies before photography, Parrish would take photos of projected objects, cut the prints out and place them onto his canvas, then cover them with clear glaze. The American painter Norman Rockwell considered Parrish his idol.

Baby, You Can't Drive My Car

 

On this day in 1967, John Lennon took delivery of his one-of-a-kind psychedelically-painted 1965 Rolls Royce Phantom V from JP Fallon Coachworks. The inspiration for the design came from Marijke Koger, one of the design collective who was responsible for numerous seminal pieces of the period and was very influential in the psychedelic art movement. Lennon sold the anti-establishment Rolls in July of 1968. In 1985 it sold for a record sum of over 3 million at a Sotheby's auction in New York to Canadian, Jim Pattison. Later, as an act of kindness, he offered the car to the queen of England. Today, it can be found on display at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria.

Note: Though technically owned by all of The Beatles, the 1956 Bentley S1 paint scheme by student artists was much better executed than the rather tacky side panels of the Rolls.

Richard Kimble's Brief Encounters

 

Brian Keith's character puts the fear in Tucson to begin the series. His volatile nature is threatening to his wife, played by Vera Miles and their son. Keith is first-rate as a wealthy businessman with a disturbing level of jealousy and an ego the size of Arizona. Once again, Keith is always on the verge of exploding. He calls the police about Kimble who quickly buys a bus ticket. Miles and her son plan to escape with him. She should know it is not possible since this is the very first episode, Fear In A Desert City, 1963. This has all the elements needed to establish the series and probably the best episode to launch the series.

Red Ball Express (1952)

 

On this day in 1952, the World War II war film, Red Ball Express, premiered in Los Angeles, California. Directed by Budd Boetticher, it starred Jeff Chandler and Alex Nicol, with early screen appearances by Sidney Poitier Jack Kelly, and Hugh O'Brian. The film, typically not entirely an accurate depiction, is based on the real Red Ball Express convoys that took place after the D-Day landings in Normandy, June 1944. The film picks up in August of that year when Patton's Third Army advanced so far toward Paris that it could not be supplied. Allied Headquarters established an elite military truck route to keep the momentum rolling.

Redwing Cherokee Was A Blast

 

On this day in 1956, an RB-52 Stratofortress assigned to the 4925th Test Group (Atomic), Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico, took off from Eniwetok Island, the main island of Eniwetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands. The aircraft commander was Major David M. Critchlow, United States Air Force. Major Critchlow’s plane was named Barbara Grace in honor of his wife and his mother, respectively. This was the second test of the OPERATION REDWING series, code name REDWING CHEROKEE. Lack of accuracy over the target---missing Namu Island by 4 miles---the test was not a total loss as it generated information on its blast effect. It also demonstrated that the U.S. could air-deliver multimegaton thermonuclear weapons using B-52 jet bombers. The plane was transferred to the National Atomic Museum (now, the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History) at Kirtland in 1971, where it has been restored for display.

An Electrolux Vacuum And Laser Weapon

 

The Electrolux Model 30 canister vacuum, designed by Lurelle Guild, originated in 1937 and was one of the most popular high-end vacuum cleaners in its day, setting an industry standard. It sold for around $70 or about $1,100 today. A considerable amount of money in any decade. The sturdy model was the first American-only Electrolux and produced until 1954. A modified Electrolux was famously used as a laser weapon by the underground creatures in the film, "Superman and The Mole Men" (1951). Those familiar with the hour-long film will not be surprised it was shot in twelve days.

Electrolux Corporation USA was founded in 1924 by Gustaf Sahlin, a Swedish businessman who emigrated to the United States. Aerus LLC, Dallas, Texas, is the successor to Electrolux USA. The Electrolux name is again used in the U.S. by the Electrolux Group of Sweden, which until 2016 also manufactured Eureka vacuum cleaners.

The Whirlybirds Greatest Hits

 

Whirlybirds is a syndicated American drama/adventure television series, produced by Desilu Studios, aired from February 4, 1957, through January 18, 1960. Desilu Studios was intrigued by the Bell 47 and its manufacturer and began discussions with Bell Aircraft about how the entertainment potential of the Bell 47 might be further developed for a television audience. The result of this collaboration became The Whirlybirds, the show's original title. The program features the exploits of Chuck Martin (Kenneth Tobey) and Pete "P. T." Moore (Craig Hill), owners of a fictitious helicopter chartering company, Whirlybirds, Inc. Their secretary was played by Nancy Hale as Helen Carter. The series was filmed originally on California's former Santa Susanna Airport in Simi Valley. The airport was near the Iverson Movie Ranch, used to film countless westerns. The entire area has long since been developed.

Professional pilots actually flew the helicopters with a cut-a-way mockup cockpit to film the stars. The two helicopter types used on the series, both classic Bell models, a 47G and the modified 47J Ranger. The 47 became the first helicopter certified for civilian use in 1946 and delivered to Helicopter Air Transport. More than 5,600 Bell 47s until 1974.

The Pride Of St. Louis

 

On this day in 1962, St. Louis Cardinals great and Hall of Famer Stan Musial broke Honus Wagner's National League hit record with 3,431. Musial would finish his career with a .331 batting average with 3,630 hits, 475 home runs, and 1,951 RBIs. One amazing feat the "leftie" accomplished was that he had the same amount of hits at home as he did on the road, 1,815. "Stan the Man" played all 22 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals making baseball card collecting of the era meaningful. He was named an All-Star 24 times, including twice in 1959, 1960, 1961, and 1962 when the All-Star game was played twice, at the beginning of the season and at the traditional time halfway through the season. The St. Louis Cardinals retired Musial’s number 6-jersey in 1963, after his retirement.

The Maxwell House Hotel

 

Maxwell House, an American brand of coffee was introduced in 1892 by wholesale grocer Joel Owsley Cheek and British coffee broker, Roger Nolley Smith. It was named in honor of the Maxwell House Hotel in Nashville, Tennessee. Colonel John Overton Jr. decided to build Nashville's largest hotel in 1859 and would name it for his wife, Harriet (Maxwell) Overton. Because of its stature, seven US Presidents and other prominent guests stayed there over the years. The hotel became the first major customer of the coffee. The hotel was demolished in 1961.

The Maxwell House slogan, "Good to the last drop," originated in 1915 and became one of the most familiar advertising slogans of the Twentieth Century. For nearly 100 years, until the late 1980s, it was the highest-selling coffee brand in the United States.

This Is Jim Rockford

 

Jim, it's Beth---you have the vet's number, the flea collar, and extra litter. One thing I forgot: keep him away from other cats. He's not very discriminating.

Jim's answering machine: Chicken Little Is A Little Chicken, 1975.
Ray Danton guest stars.

This one of the most beautifully written episodes of the series. It is also hilarious. Danton is an NYC "urban horticulturist" eliminating things "what don't grow," namely Angel Martin. He also complains to his associate about why he hates west coast pizza. The opening has Angel interrupting Jim and Rocky's chess game with gangster terms detailing why Jim is going to lose the match. 

Little Sure Shot In Technicolor

On this day in 1950, Annie Get Your Gun had its premiere. The American musical Technicolor comedy film is loosely based on the life of sharpshooter Annie Oakley, named by Sitting Bull as "Little Sure Shot." The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer release, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin and a screenplay by Sidney Sheldon, is based on the 1946 stage musical of the same name. The film was one of the top-grossing pictures of the year. The film received favorable reviews with the dynamic Betty Hutton recognized with a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress. She was supported by a first-rate cast, including Howard Keel with his usual bit of scene-stealing. Infamously, Judy Garland was fired from the lead role after a month of filming because she was impossible to work with, clashing with the director, repeatedly making demands, or showing up late or not at all.

The Unknown Thompson Screwdriver

 

John P. Thompson, a Portland, Oregon auto mechanic, is credited as the inventor of the crosshead screw n 1932 with a screwdriver for it one year later. With no success in attracting manufacturers, Thompson sold his self-centering design patent to the Phillips Screw Company in 1935. The crosshead screw is named after Henry Frank Phillips. Thompson’s invention eventually revolutionized assembly lines. One of the first customers was General Motors who used the innovative design in 1936 for its Cadillac assembly lines. By 1940, 85% of U.S. screw manufacturers had a license for the design.

The Milk Man Is Here

 

Divco was a brand name of delivery trucks built and marketed in the United States. Divco is an acronym that stands for Detroit Industrial Vehicles COmpany. Divco became known for its multi-stop delivery trucks, particularly in use as home delivery vehicles by dairy producers. Established in 1924, Divco produced trucks of various sizes and job descriptions. The first Divco "Model A" were boxy, practical vehicles. The company was bought out by Continental Motors Company during the Great Depression, supplying most of the engines installed in Divco trucks. In 1936  Continental was acquired by Twin Coach, thus becoming Divco-Twin. The classic design pictured was introduced in 1937 featuring a welded all-steel van body and a snub-nosed hood, a model that was manufactured with almost no changes up to the end of the line in 1986. With most Divco trucks, controls allowed driving while standing, including throttle and brake mounted on the steering column.

Caterpillars Masquerading As Earthworms

 

Earthworm Tractors is a 1936 American slapstick romantic comedy film starring Joe E. Brown and June Travis. The film is based on characters created by William Hazlett Upson in a series of stories that appeared in The Saturday Evening Post. The series featured Alexander Botts (Brown), a natural-born [incompetent] salesman with the Earthworm Tractor Company. His girl, Travis, wants him to start selling something that will make a name for himself. Brown does so by making shambles of several buildings and cars due to his lack of know-how in operating the tractor. He also drives Travis' father, the slightly deaf Guy Kibbee, nuts. Brown was approaching a slow descent from his career peak of Elmer, the Great (1933), and Alibi Ike (1935) but there are some hilarious moments to savor in this one.

The film was inspired in part by Upson's actual work experience with the Caterpillar Tractor Company. In 1910, Caterpillar opened their plant in East Peoria, Illinois while the "Caterpillar" name was trademarked in 1911. Caterpillar Inc. is an American corporation that designs, develops, engineers, manufactures, markets, and sells machinery, engines, financial products, and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. It is the world's largest construction equipment manufacturer. The Peoria headquarters were moved to Deerfield, Illinois in 2017.

Edd Brynes Coming In At Number Four

 

On this day in 1959 "Kookie, Kookie (Lend Me Your Comb)" hit #4 on the US pop chart on the Warner Bros. label. The song is written by Irving Taylor and performed by Edward Byrnes and Connie Stevens. Stevens starred in another Warner Bros. series, Hawaiian Eye. It was featured on Byrnes' 1959 album, "Kookie, star of the popular show 77 Sunset Strip." The song is mostly spoken in Gerald Lloyd "Kookie" Kookson III''s notable hipster phrasing, common during the beatnik era.

Byrnes initially served as the parking attendant for a detective agency at 77 Sunset Boulevard, colloquially known as Sunset Strip. The American television private detective drama series was created by Roy Huggins and ran from 1958 to 1964. Efrem Zimbalist Jr. starred as detective Stuart Bailey, first used by Huggins in his 1948 film, I Love Trouble. Roger Smith was his partner with an extended cast that changed over the series' run. The Kookie character became a cultural phenomenon and the hit song was nearly as big as Byrnes' ego. Not granted his demand for more money, he left the show for sixteen episodes before returning as a full-fledged detective.

The Actress Who Adopted Superman

 

Phyllis Thaxter (1919-2012) got a strong leading role opposite Van Johnson  for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's "Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo," then the lead character with a dual personality in "Bewitched" followed by a support role in the western, "Blood on The Moon." There were many other notable films for her in the Forties and early Fifties, but the new medium of television provided a new system to portray a variety of characters.

Though never achieving superstar status, the talented stage actress moved to television during its infancy and Thaxter was in high demand, initially in popular anthology series of the day in the likes of, The Ford Television Theatre, Lux Video Theatre, or Kraft Theatre and more. She appeared in six episodes of "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," two of which tapped into her dual personality talents again. The versatile actress appeared on many popular series in the Sixties and Seventies. Westerns were a staple for her but it was in dramatic roles where she is probably best remembered. Her last role, in 1992, was on, "Murder She Wrote."

Except for 1964's, "The World of Henry Orient," her movie projects took a long hiatus after television intervened until she was cast opposite Glenn Ford as Jonathan and Martha Kent in the blockbuster film "Superman." I can imagine teens in the audience wondering "Where'd they find her?" This might have solved their dilemma: the film was produced by her daughter's then-husband Ilya Salkind, son of Alexander Salkind. 

A Blériot Trophy Then Tragedy

 

In 1930, aviation pioneer Louis Charles Joseph Blériot established the Blériot Trophy, to be awarded to an aviator who demonstrated flight at a speed of 1,242.742 mph for 30 minutes. Three decades later, on this day in1961, a USAF Convair B-58A-10-CF Hustler, The Firefly, did just that. Flown by a crew consisting of Aircraft Commander, Major Elmer E. Murphy, Navigator, Major Eugene Moses, and Defensive Systems Officer, First Lieutenant David F. Dickerson, the Mach 2+ Strategic Air Command bomber flew from New York to Paris in 30 minutes, 43 seconds. Their average speed was 1,302.07 mph. The marble trophy was presented to the B-58 crew by Alice Védères Blériot, widow of Louis Blériot, at Paris, France, May 27. It is on permanent display at the McDermott Library of the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Tragically, on 3 June 1961, the Blériot Trophy-winning crew of Murphy, Moses and Dickerson departed Le Bourget Airport for the return trip to America. The B-58 crashed five miles from the airport. All three men were killed and the aircraft totally destroyed.

Al Parker (1906-85)

 

Al Parker was an innovative, influential modernist illustrator with mass appeal in women’s magazines. He emerged in the mid-1930s with is move to NYC and established a vibrant visual vocabulary for the new suburban life so desired in the aftermath of the Depression. More graphic and less detailed than the paintings of the influential Norman Rockwell, Parker’s stylish compositions were sought after by editors and art directors for their contemporary freshness. Parker is credited with creating a new school of illustration and was much imitated. To distinguish himself from his imitators, he worked in a variety of styles, themes and media, from children's crayons to acrylics. In cooperation with the magazine's art director, he secretly provided every illustration in an issue of Cosmopolitan, using different pseudonyms, styles and mediums for each story.

See additional Al Parker samples. 

Centaur Has Left The Building

 

Rupp Industries' Centaur was a trike produced as a one-seater in 1974 and a two-seater in 1975 in Mansfield Ohio. Priced at $1,700, it was the only true street-legal machine by Rupp. Triggered by the 1973 petroleum shortage, what seemed like a great idea on paper was not a success on the street. It was advertised as half cycle and half economy car and featured a 340cc Kohler 2-cycle oil-injected engine with an advertised 30 mpg and, with a tailwind, a top speed of 55 mph. The fiberglass body was molded in either red, yellow, white or blue. Compounding owner dissatisfaction, in any color the body had a tendency to crack around the rear fenders. 

Founded by Mickey Rupp in 1959, Rupp Industries manufactured go-karts, minibikes, snowmobiles and other off-road vehicles. Rupp ceased operation in bankruptcy, 1978. They have since become extremely collectible. One of the Centaurs owned and driven by Elvis Presley remains on display at Graceland.

Dual Lane Faster Food

 

Rally's was founded in Louisville, Kentucky in 1985. In nearly a decade, Rally's was bought by CKE Restaurants, owners of Carl's Jr. and Hardee's then was sold to Checkers in 1999. With the merger, they emerged with the same menu. Generally, Rally's serves the Midwest and California while Checkers serves the Southeast and Northeast. Both use a unique double drive-thru system, based on their research that about half of all fast-food hamburger service is takeout or drive-thru. Except for five experimental locations, they offer no indoor seating but do provide seating outdoors. They have placed their emphasis on delivering a quality hamburger more inexpensively and quickly than its competitors. Their aggressive advertising campaigns shed light on a "Little place. Big taste." notably by The Big Buford burger. They gained notoriety with a couple of animated mascots, as well. There are about 900 locations as of 2019.

Lindbergh Finishes Flight Tests

 

On this day in 1927, Charles A. Lindbergh completes his last series of flight tests of the Ryan NYP, N-X-211, Spirit of St. Louis before his transatlantic flight on May 20–21. Flying at 50 feet over San Diego Bay, he times the Spirit‘s flight from marker to marker with a stopwatch. After the speed runs, Lindbergh flies back to nearby Camp Kearney for load tests. Take-off distances are measured while increasing the fuel load in 50-gallon increments. Click image for a large view.

A Noted Television Theme

 

Police Woman was an NBC police procedural television series created by Robert L. Collins and starred Angie Dickinson and Earl Holliman from 1974 to 1978. It was the first hour-long television drama starring a woman, although Beverly Garland's one-season 1957 syndicated series, Decoy, was the first American television show to focus on a female police officer.

Though not ground-breaking or unique, the theme by Mort Stevens was not entirely original, either. After writing the theme, he called his good friend and fellow composer, Jerry Goldsmith, and told him he copied his main theme from the Derek Flint secret agent spoofs starring James Coburn. The melody for the two themes is exact but Morton's orchestration turned it "inside out." Goldsmith gave his blessing and both had a good laugh. Morton's signature theme for "Hawaii Five-O" became a huge chart hit, unlike Police Woman.

An American King

Wright King (Thomas Wright Thornburg King 1923-2018) was an American stage, film and television actor with a career spanning nearly thirty years. His lengthy career placed him in stage productions on both sides of the Atlantic as well as a prolific supporting actor on numerous television series. After serving in the Navy in WW2, he continued his studies in New York at the Actors Studio and the American Theatre Wing. He garnered critical acclaim in the original Broadway production of “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1947-49). He was quite visible in his one-season role on “Wanted Dead or Alive” (above) and co-starred in two classic “The Twilight Zone” episodes, "Shadow Play" (1961) and “Of Late I Think of Cliffordville” (1963). He was “unseen” in the original “Planet of the Apes” as the chimpanzee veterinarian, Dr. Galen.