The Retro Blog

A few weeks ago I had a discussion with my friends in which I set forth plans that when we’re ancient we’re going to get a big one story house with rattan furniture and live exactly like The Golden Girls. We soon began determining our Golden Girl counterparts (I’m the Bea Arthur) and then we [...]

You know how old Warner Brothers cartoons always have really pretty, well designed title cards? Well this site has carefully catalogued a great number of them for us to admire. They’re categorized by year: 1929 to 1964.

“Mars and Beyond” is a 1957 episode of “Disneyland” the tv series in which the folks at Disneyland contemplate life on other planets and man’s quest for understanding of the world around him. I like to think of it as Mickey Mouse’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. The episode is introduced by Walt himself with his personal [...]

Ok, so I’m a bad little retro lover. I haven’t seen Mad Men, the brilliant looking TV show about 60’s advertising execs. It’s next in my Netflix queue, I swear. Anyway, that doesn’t mean I can enjoy these wonderful illustrations by Dyna Moe. [via laughing squid]

Dwight Eisenhower was the first president to embrace the televised political advertisement. Says the Sociological Images Blog, “Eisenhower was skeptical about using television and his opponent, Stevenson, wouldn’
t appear on television because he thought it demeaning to a man ascending to the presidency. Eisenhower won.” Of course, we know that Stevenson learned his lesson, producing [...]

Want to spend double what you would on a new big screen plasma on a small screened bulky set? Then Brionvega televisions are for you! These aren’t so much TV’s as they are museum pieces. I guess they’re really just for arty New York types who want to be able to say “well I wouldn’t [...]

Despite Academy Award nomination rumors and multiple 4 star reviews, I have absolutely no desire to see the new Batman film The Dark Knight. Sorry, modern super heroes just really do nothing for me. I’ll stick with the old school Batman, thank you very much.
There are a few actors for whom it seems the original [...]

Say you’re watching a little HGTV. The couple on screen is walking through a fairly non descript little suburban home. You’re about ready to switch up to the travel channel when you see it: a gorgeous, untouched, pink 1950’s bathroom. The lights brighten, the angels sing, etc. Then the designer says “well, this has to [...]

On July 9, 1957, Dick Clark took over hosting duties on American Bandstand. He swept the job out from under the feet of Bob Horn, who got in a bit of trouble with the show’s producers after a drunk driving arrest. Horn was pretty much ruined, and a tad bitter I imagine. Horn died of [...]

I’ve waxed poetic about my preference for retro tv styles in the past, but here’s one way to get a retro look while staying high tech. The Wilkerson M21 is a flat panel LCD tv built into a vintage style wooden stand. Looks like an excellent idea for getting your HDTV to match your Danish [...]

Want an easy way to write a jingle that’ll get stuck in people’s heads? Just set it to the tune of a well known song people are forced to sing in kindergarten. That seems to be the approach the producers of Roger Ramjet took. Roger Ramjet first aired in 1965. It follows the adventures of [...]

Have you ever hear of Froggy the Gremlin? I know I hadn’t until today. The internet is a wonderful thing in that it proves that even the most obscure pop culture figures actually have strongly devoted fans. This deep voiced little scamp seems to exist to torment others, especially Andy Devine, host of the Andy’s [...]

You know what stinks about those snazzy flat screen televisions everybody seems to be in a rush to buy? There’s no place to put a lamp on them. TV lamps were invented in the 1950’sto reduce “eye strain.” Seems that many people thought watching television in dim rooms was bad for you, so manufacturers rushed [...]

Did you know Salvador Dali was a total sell out? Watch him shill for Alka-Seltzer. I really can’t explain the odd choice of the actor providing Dali’s voice. Spanish=Mexican=Speedy Gonzalez? Check out Laughing Squid for more, including Dali’s quite amusing appearance on What’s My Line in which he insists on answering ‘yes’ to almost [...]

Osamu Tezuka is best known for Astro Boy, but you might not have heard of his other show, “Galaxy Boy Troop.” Apparently Tezuka turned down a gig as art director on Stanley Kubrick’s 2001 to work on this show. “Galaxy Boy Troop” combines marionettes and animation. And you know you love puppets. The show only [...]

Space Patrol is a prime example of what fun can be had with plastic rayguns and miniatures. The series aired nationwide from 1950-1955. The whole thing was performed live, which makes the “special effects” all the more thrilling. The show followed the adventures of Commander Buzz Corry through space in the 30th century. Strangely, a [...]

Ambassador Magma was one of the first “righteous guy that turns into a big spaceship to fight evil” Japanese tv shows. Airing from 1966 through 1967, 52 episodes were made.

I remember as a child finding “Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers” to be an odd show. The stuff with the teenagers in high school always seemed [...]

Are you a fan of H. R. Pufnstuf, but often find yourself thinking “this makes too much sense”? Then “Gimme Gimme Octopus” is for you! This early 1970’s Japanese children’s show seems like a Pufnstuf ripoff, but with more child…erm octopus… abuse!

Want a retro tv fix? Hulu.com just launched and it’s here to help. Sadly, it’s ad supported, so it’s completely legal but you’ll have to sit through the occasional commercial. Thankfully, these commercial breaks are all under thirty seconds.
Hulu has allowed me to repeatedly watch the Bewitched opening animation. As a child, I used to [...]

Cracked.com has a very amusing new article up that counts down the 7 most terrifying corporate mascots of all time. Shudder in horror at these creepy commercials of the past.

The other night I was watching 60 Minutes when this lovely little segment appeared:

Two thoughts came to my mind:
1. When did 60 Minutes become Jackass with a budget?
2. Why isn’t that ray-gun more awesome looking?
I’ll address only issue two here. This thing looks like a giant black tray with a hole in it stuck on [...]

These days, my tv is generally deemed “vintage” just because it’s three dimensional and has a tube in it. Forget plasmas and LCDs, I want something with some panache. My favorite retro television brand is Philco, makers of the Predicta. Its rotating tube and stylish curves make the modern flat black boxes all the less [...]

This brilliant 1953 Tex Avery cartoon parodies industrial films about TV’s of the future. While it mostly has fun with outlandish predictions about where television is headed, eerily, some of its predictions aren’t that far off. [via boing boing gadgets]

tv-signoffs.com has a vast collection of clips from back when TV stations actually stopped airing. Makes me wonder what insomniacs used to do before infomercials. Anyway, the audio clips from the 50’s are especially fun because a lot of them have jingles, and the announcers all seem very proud of the fact that their stations [...]

While most people are abuzz with rumors about the upcoming Batman film, there are some of us who still prefer our dark knight with Adam West and more than a touch of camp. I can’t really picture Christian Bale saying “let’s go, Robin. We’ve set another youth on the road to a brighter tomorrow,” which [...]