thinglets: Polka Dot Door - Polkaroo In Space

via youtube.com

Okay, if you weren't from Canada (and specifically Ontario) you may have never seen the Polka Dot Door while growing up. And, if you never saw the Polka Dot Door, you never saw Polkaroo. Polkaroo was one of the best legal trips one could have as a kid. Always a bit surreal and bit insane, the Polkaroo could express a million thoughts with any number of well-placed instances of the ubiquitous "Polkaroo".

Take the three minute trip of this video clip, or, to translate: "Polkaroo? Polkaroo!"

thinglets: Dear Alex & Annie 1979

via youtube.com

Wow! I remember seeing this show while growing up. Talk about feelgood, up-with-people, saccharin, I-want-to-stab-myself-in-the-eye advice. Sure, I know, it about a time and a place and trying to fill three minutes of Saturday morning kids programming to contrast the cartoons, but I can't help but laugh when a question about a girl not developing is turned into:

"Development is not a race.
We each have got a different pace.
There's nothing wrong, so don't you fret.
Your body's gonna get there yet.
And while you let it take that ride,
Develop who you are inside."

Thankfully the network gods realized I my mind would turn to mush after more than three minutes of this and reverted back to the New Shmoo, Laff-a-Lympics, Superfriends and Scooby Doo in quick course.

Can you survive through three minutes?

thinglets: Going Steady? 1951 Style!

Archive.org is such a cool site for so many reasons. If you haven't explored it, you should check it out for audio, video, books, and any old website you might have thought was lost ten years ago.

I only used the Youtube link above because the embed from Archive.org was too high quality to stream efficiently. Check out the original site with the Prelinger Archives of How To Be A Teen in The 1950s.

The film above is supremely useless in that it raises a ton of questions for teenagers in the 1950s, yet gives little to no practical advice. Instead, the unending curves that are thrown at the morality and practicality of this impending relationships are probably meant to intimidate more than inspire. 58 years later... the language has changed, the settings have changed, yet many aspects of the archetype are timeless.

thinglets: Vintage Tobacco Advertisements

via wellmedicated.com

From the fine folks at wellmedicated.com comes a great set of old tobacco magazine ads from different points in the 20th century. The selection I've chosen above strikes close to home as it is a Canadian brand and the apartment is decked out in an "oh-so-hip" 60's design.

Click on the link under the pic to see the full set. I sometimes wonder what people could get away with advertising using such a stylish shot. So many products would work. Imagine this same shot today with Canadian Club, Viagra, or (what I think would be way cool) and iPod with a dock.

The power of kitsch compels you!
The power of kitsch compels you!