1954 Hello, By the time that movie came out in 1954, we had already been scared to death by “The Thing.” A vegetable monster that could regrow any limb taken off by rifles or knives. When the hand was cut off by the scientists, on the table, it moved if given a drop of human blood. Yikes! Soon, the actors decided a one hand/arm monster was not at an advantage, but they did not know "the Thing" grew his arm back in no time at all. Double yikes! 1951 A nail salon worker’s nightmare… Every kid in the theater was totally scared of the Thing. They all hugged their parents closely and even they hugged each other on the way to the cars in the parking lot. This movie scared us so much that we did not want to go in the backyard to empty the trash in the trash can area. It was dark. Even though the original movie was filmed in Antarctica, which is a zillion miles away, it still had lasting effects on me. The old Craftsman House also had a backyard incinerator, which was taller than me and it looked like a giant guy standing in the dark ready to “get me.” Now, that seems like a silly thought, but at night, beyond our garage and fence is/was a huge empty field that during the day, had so many adventures for our play time. But, at night, it became the most “creepy” location with tall moving grass blades and deep shadows. Now, after the movie, we assumed “The Thing” had moved to the Westside of Long Beach behind our house. Jnaki By the time several years later in 1955, the “Creature From The Black Lagoon” came out and it was supposed to be scary. Well, it scared us, but not as much as the original “Thing” did a couple of years earlier. What the awful looking, Black Lagoon Monster did was to keep us out of the Belmont Shore Colorado Lagoon in the day and as teens, no walking around the perimeter of the enclosed lagoon. In 1962, I was surfing at San Onofre and out in the water was this huge guy with the longest surfboard we had ever seen. We were riding 9 to 10 foot long surfboards. The huge guy was riding a 12 foot long board and he made it look tiny when he stood up. I found out in a nice conversation, while sitting on our boards waiting for the next set of waves. It was none other than James Arness of Gunsmoke Fame and yes, it was “The Thing” live and in person, just a few feet away… yikes again! Our conversation was our surfboards and the technology in design and construction. He liked my balsa wood center stringer and redwood tail block. He also liked the custom redwood nose shaped into the foam. His was a 12 foot giant of a board with thick rails and it actually was a board that kept him above the water when we were sitting and talking. I told him that he could get a thinner board as well as a well shaped on to allow him quicker cutback and turns. (later in 1970, his son was the World Champion pro surfer, with the name spelled correctly. But for movies, his dad shortened it for simplicity) Wow, here I was, talking to the original, “Thing” from 1951. YRMV
That was a beautiful aircraft.One of the three V Bombers, along with the Vulcan and Valiant;nuclear capable developed in the "Cold War"
General Motors exhibit, Golden Gate International Exposition, San Francisco. Models display an Oldsmobile convertible coupe. 1939.
A girl in a goat cart pauses in front of the Rogers Harvey House restaurant in Arkansas, circa 1900.
Legend has it that Bela Lugosi hijacked his own funeral procession to take one last drive past his favorite cigar shop. The actor, who was known for playing Dracula (and buried in one of the character’s costumes), used to drive down Hollywood Boulevard every day to pick up cigars. And that's exactly where the hearse carrying his coffin went when the driver lost control of the vehicle and it began moving seemingly on its own. The driver regained control of the car shortly after they had cruised past the shop.
Looking south on Figueroa St, the Automobile Club of Southern California building on Adams Blvd was just south of downtown LA. The ACSC’s grand Spanish Colonial Revival headquarters was built in 1922 and opened on January 27, 1923. This photo was taken that year.
The Jalopy Journal
