Bazooka Joe

Bazooka is an American brand of bubble gum that was introduced in 1947. It is a product of Bazooka Candy Brands (BCB), which was a division of The Topps Co. until the latter’s acquisition by Fanatics, Inc. in 2022. By 2023, Apax Partners acquired BCB and its product portfolio.

Back in 1953, the individually wrapped pieces of Bazooka bubble gum featured a comic strip inside and the character, Bazooka Joe. The kid's black eyepatch gave him a singular appearance. Joe is joined in his various misadventures by a motley crew of six characters. The comics generally consisted of child-friendly jokes, as well as small advertisements for overly eccentric merchandise one could obtain in exchange for comics and a few cents or dollars. Over the decades, Bazooka Joe's illustration style and mode of dress changed to keep up with the times. 

The Bazooka gum was most likely named after the rocket-propelled weapon of the same name developed by the U.S. Army during World War II, which was named after an earlier musical instrument used by radio comedian Bob Burns. He is credited with inventing the crude metal instrument in the 1910s and popularizing it in the 1930s. The instrument had a low-register PVC pipe sound that felt right at home with Spike Jone's City Slickers band.

First In Color. With Help.

Admiral Corporation Inc. is best known worldwide for its home appliances and electronics. The company was originally known as the Transformer Corporation of America, and by 1929, it was the biggest supplier of radio parts in the world. The Great Depression took its toll, and Ross Siragusa, the founder, was forced to declare bankruptcy. Later in 1934, he purchased the “Admiral” trademark, which officially became Admiral Corporation America Inc. in 1936.

Admiral’s global operations started in 1946 with the opening of its factory in Toronto, Canada, with subsequent regional entities in Mexico, Italy, Taiwan and India. In 1952, the U.S. National Television Systems Committee (NTSC) set a goal of creating an “industry color system.” At the end of 1953, Admiral introduced their first electronic color television system, the C1617A (pictured above), using a 15-inch tri-color 15GP22 CRT and other components by RCA. Sales were understandably dismal for $1,175 (over $13,000 today), a limited production run, and no color broadcasting. It would take about a decade for color sets to become profitable. By 1966, the company had a staff of over 14,000 with operations in 110 countries, and overall sales revenue skyrocketed to $414 million.

Acquired by Rockwell International in 1973, its appliance division was sold to Magic Chef, Inc., which was then acquired by the Maytag Corporation in 1986.  Whirlpool Corporation acquired Maytag in 2006. Under Whirlpool, the Admiral brand became exclusive to The Home Depot. During the 1990s, the Admiral brand name was being used on Zenith products, and for Montgomery Ward as well as VCRs made by Sharp. The television business continues with AOC International, originally Admiral Overseas Corporation, an international brand of LCD and HDTV display devices.

Revelling Over Aircraft

In the early 1940s, California entrepreneur, Lou Glaser, founded an injection molding company, Precision Specialties, that performed contract work for other manufacturers. Glaser realized that Revell should be selling children’s toys, specifically plastic model kits. The first Revell-made mold was the 1953 USS Missouri. The first three aircraft kits followed quickly. The F-94C, F7U-1 and F9F-6 were molded without landing gear and with minimal panel lines and rivet details. Decals were included and the stands were simple, small and molded in the color of the aircraft.

Revell quickly released more kits and went to a two-piece cardboard box with a lithographed “slick” artwork on the top. From 1955-59 the “S” logo was used. These kits have a yellow “S” in a red oval on the box ends to advertise the use of “Revell S Cement”.  The first three aircraft molds were modified to show increased rivet detail and were given landing gear. More kits were released as plastic models caught on, including the B-29, B-36, B-47, F-84, DC-7 and more. All aircraft came with the famous “Globe Base” transparent relief world map for desktop display. The “S” kits were perhaps the most extensive line of models available. Airplanes, pleasure boats, cars, trucks, tanks, guns, military ships, ocean liners, animals and more filled the catalogs.

The Peacock's Celebrity Chimp

 

J. Fred Muggs (1952-) is a chimpanzee born in modern-day Cameroon. Muggs rose to stardom as the mascot on NBC's Today show from 1953-57. A New York pet store offered a "name that chimp" contest which led to his being named Mr. Muggs. Two former NBC pages bought him when he was 10 months old and the Today show simply added "J. Fred" to his name. Despite his off-set tantrums or violent behavior, he was a rating boost in the early years of the show. Muggs was a sensation with children, and later their parents. Muggs received countless letters from fans and, for a time, was more popular than the show's host, Dave Garroway (above). For saving the floundering Today show, he was given a monthly salary of $2000. Stuffed dolls were created of Muggs and those still in excellent condition, have become collector items. But by the end of the 1950s, the chimpanzee fad fell out of favor with television audiences and executives.

Note: Muggs worked in several television shows, toured the world and worked at Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida. He officially retired at age 23. Shown above in the left photo with Muggs is his "girlfriend" Phoebe B. Beebe. As of March 2018, Muggs was still living in Citrus Park, Florida.

Not Enough Exposure

 

Yashica was a Japanese manufacturer of cameras from 1949 until 2005 when its then-owner, Kyocera, ceased production. Original the Yashima Seiki Company, its initial eight employees manufactured components for electric clocks in Nagano, Japan. By 1953 they introduced their first complete camera and in 1956 the world's first commercially successful electronically controlled 35 mm camera, the Electro 35 (above). Its various model subvariants eventually selling 8 million units. The Yashica brand was a viable alternative through the 1970s. In 1983, Yashica Company Ltd. was acquired by ceramics giant Kyocera. Increasing market competition from other manufacturers, particularly Minolta, introduced competitively priced and advanced autofocus 35 mm SLR cameras. Yashica eventually introduced its own version but was overpriced and poorly marketed. In response, Kyocera gradually repositioned the brand as a budget-priced point-and-shoot camera line.

Airport Shuttle Service

 

On this day in 1953, America’s first helicopter airline, New York Airways, began scheduled passenger service between the three area airports—La Guardia, Idlewild and Newark. There were sixteen flights per day at ninety-minute intervals. The first aircraft used was the Sikorsky S-55 (above), a commercial variant of the military H-19 Chickasaw. It carried 8 passengers and a cargo of U.S. Mail. The mail contract provided 75% of NYA’s revenue. As its popularity increased, New York Airways shifted to larger helicopters when they became available. In 1977, the landing gear failed while on the heliport of the Pan Am building in Manhattan. It rolled over and spinning rotor blades killed four waiting passengers. Broken blades then fell to the street killing a pedestrian and injuring several others. Its reputation severely damaged and fuel prices escalating, New York Airways filed for bankruptcy in 1979.

Taking Mom Out Of The Kitchen

Swedish immigrant, Carl A. Swanson (1879–1949) was working in a grocery store in Omaha when he came into contact with John O. Jerpe, owner of a small commission company. Their partnership helped local farmers sell their products to distributors and offer a commission to the farmers. Swanson would eventually buy the company from Jerpe and rename it, C. A. Swanson and Sons. After Swanson's death, the sons took control of the business, and by 1950, the brothers began manufacturing frozen oven-ready chicken and turkey pot pies in aluminum trays that could be heated in a conventional oven. Swanson executive Gerry Thomas visited a company that specialized in food for airlines. His suggestion was to create an aluminum tray with three compartments: one for frozen turkey slices and the other two for side dishes. In the early days, the peas could get slightly burned and shriveled. The beef was more in the jerky category. All with a dash of metal flavor. With increasing numbers of televisions sold, Swanson decided to call their meals "TV Dinners," first sold in 1953. Others followed the trend, most notably Banquet and Morton. One year later Swanson sold over 10,000,000 frozen dinners, which in turn led to a boom in the manufacture of folding "TV Trays," eliminating the annoying thigh burns.