Thursday, August 16, 2007

One year ago today eBay A Day: An Auction Almanac went online. Every day since then, we have marked the days of the year with images from currently available auctions on eBay. There were no days during which something tied into the history of the day could not be found among the offerings at the global garage sale (though to be fair, we did take weekends to look for fun things that were seldom date specific).

With the closing of the year, we also see the closing of the almanac.



To mark the passing of a year, we present a classic Superman Annual, filled with some of the man of steel's greatest adventures.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

The technicolor MGM musical film adaptation of L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz premiered at Grauman's Chinese Theater on this day in 1939.



Among the many classic songs featured in the film, Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen's "Over The Rainbow" has become a firm part of the "American Songbook." This colorful copy of the sheet music features images from the film, as well as original artwork.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

The Oregon Territory was created on this day in 1848. The territory included what is now Oregon, Idaho, Washington and parts of Wyoming and Montana.



The path to the Oregon Territory is well known to anyone who has attended school since the dawn of the personal computer, as The Oregon Trail has taught generations of students about the lives of westward moving pioneers.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Taxicabs first rolled onto the streets of New York City one hundred years ago today.



Here a pair of taxi's patiently wait for the light to change as a pedestrian makes his way across the street.

Sunday, August 12, 2007

This week's Sunday Funnies is all about the Justice League. Not just any Justice League. The bestest Justice League.

Maxwell Lord (recently destroyed by the supervillains who have infiltrated the headquarters of DC Comics) was a sleazy businessman who had a bright idea in the wake of the disbanding of the original (or the last incarnation of the original) Justice League of America: start the league up all over again, but with him pulling the strings and getting a large chunk of the glory (and profits from tie-in merchandise).

Since many of the bigger DC heroes were busy being reinvented from the ground up, some newer characters and second-tier folks were brought in to fill the ranks. This allowed the people responsible, Keith Giffen, J.M. DeMatteis and Kevin Maguire to have more fun than they could have with DC's top icons.



The cover of the first issue was often imitated by other comics, as well as by JLI itself. Issue 24 features the largest group shot of the run, just prior to the launch of the Justice League Europe spin-off.

Bonus image (from the same auction):



One of the more notable things to happen in the series was Batman punching out loudmouth Guy Gardner (with a single punch) in the fifth issue. A few issues later, Guy woke up and promptly hit his head on the underside of a computer. This caused him to adopt an absurdly milquetoast persona for several issues. Another bump on the head many issues later returned Guy to his normal obnoxious personality. This change is marked in two of the covers shown here (the upper left and lower right to be precise).

Saturday, August 11, 2007

On this Cartoon Saturday, we remember M.A.S.K. (short of Mobile Armored Strike Kommand). Like Masters of The Universe, Transformers and G.I. Joe (among many others), M.A.S.K. was toy-inspired. With it's combination of good guy heroics again a villanous organization and vehicles that convert from one thing (a regular motorcycle, for example) into another (i.e. a helicopter), most references to the show suggest it was a deliberate hybrid of the success of G.I. Joe and Transformers. Whether specifically a cash-in attempt by Kenner and DIC (against Hasbro and Sunbow/Marvel) or not, the appeal was certainly right for the era. The M.A.S.K. agents were spy-types, working against the schemes of various henchmen of the V.E.N.O.M. organization. A later change to a racing theme pretty much killed off the show and the toy line.



Hondo MacLean's groovy 57 Chevy was one of our favorites in the M.A.S.K. line.

Friday, August 10, 2007

The United States edged up to the halfway point of its current 50 states on this day in 1821, as Missouri became state number 24.



If you can't visit the Show Me State, you can take a trip through the magic of your view-master.

Thursday, August 9, 2007

The world first learned that only you can prevent forest fires on this day in 1944, as the first poster bearing the likeness of Smokey Bear, the protector of the forest, was issued.



This comic book was issued to reveal the "true story" of the forest fire fighting bear.

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

Richard Nixon announced his resignation from the Presidency of the United States on this day in 1974. The resignation, a preemptive avoidance of impeachment over the Watergate break-in, would take effect the following day.



A portrait of Nixon.

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

Courtesan, exotic dancer and convicted secret (double) agent Margaretha Zelle was born on this day in 1876. Known better by her stage name, Mata Hari, and less by her supposed codename, H-21. Though historians seem unsure of her true allegiances during the first world war, she was executed on the grounds that she had been aiding Germany.



The tale of a sexy, exotic female spy proved irresistible to filmmakers, novelists and others. Here is a movie poster for one version of Mata Hari's story.

Monday, August 6, 2007

After about a thousand years, the Holy Roman Empire came to an end on this day 201 years ago.



Holy Roman Currency, Batman!

Sunday, August 5, 2007

For this week's Sunday Funnies, we found an old issue of Wonder Woman containing the first full-length feature story starring Wonder Girl. Wonder Girl started out as the Wonder Woman version of Superboy: the adventures of Wonder Woman as a girl. Similar stories were told of Wonder Tot (akin to Superbaby). Strangely adult Wonder Woman frequently teamed up with her younger selves. So much so that Wonder Girl was seen as a teen sidekick to Wonder Woman, even though they're the same person. This led to Wonder Girl's membership in the Teen Titans, at which point people decided to make Wonder Girl someone else entirely.



All that introduction and who's the villain in the piece? Talking pancake batter.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

On this cartoon Saturday, we just looked for something interesting, cool or different and we just found a miscolored plastic Quickdraw Mcgraw head. Oh well.



Here it is.

Friday, August 3, 2007

Today is singer Tony Bennett's birthday. Generally considered one of the best of the best throughout his over half-century career.



In addition to his vocal talents, Tony Bennett is also an accomplished painter, as seen here in a lithograph of his portrait of another one of the best of the best, Ella Fitzgerald.

Thursday, August 2, 2007

US Navy Patrol Torpedo ship 109 was hit by a Japanese destroyer and split in two on this day in 1943, killing two crewmen and sinking the vessel. Largely through the combined efforts of the ship's skipper, John F. Kennedy, two Solomon Islanders, Biuku Gasa and Eroni Kumana and Australian coastwatcher Arthur Reginald Evans the rest of the crew was rescued, and many continued to serve in the second World War aboad PT-59.



Now that you know the story, you can build this authentic replica model and relive the PT-109 adventure!

Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Today is the birthday of Francis Scott Key. His 1814 poem, "The Defense of Fort McHenry," written at the Battle of Baltimore during the War of 1812 became the American national anthem in 1916 under its alternate name, "The Star Spangled Banner."



At the time of the Battle of Baltimore, the American flag had 15 stars and 15 stripes, to incorporate the addition of Vermont and Kentucky to the original 13 states. It was the only version of the flag with more than 13 stripes and was used from 1795-1818.