VINTAGE WIND-UP LEVER ACTION "OLDE TYME CAR" TOY,1960

This old toy has a bit of wear but still operates nicely. When you pull the lever on the passenger side of the car the vehicle's tires spin and the car zooms across the floor. Neato!

Trivia: The first person in history to be killed in a plane crash was none other than Orville Wright, in 1908.

Did You Know?   Ciudad Evita, a city of 70,000 inhabitants located in Greater Buenos Aires in Argentina, was founded in 1947 on the orders of Argentinian president Juan Peron . It was shaped to resemble a profile of his wife, Eva Peron. True love.

OUR FRONT YARD and 1969 PLYMOUTH FURY 1, JUNE 2011

Some pics of our front yard and that silly car of ours sneaked itself into the spotlight. Must have learned that trick from my gorgeous wife.

Trivia: The average U.S. family redeems 81 coupons a year, compared to 33 in Canada.

Did You Know? The land mass of the Canadian territory of Nunavut is a million times larger than the European principality of Monaco, but has a smaller population.

OUR BACKYARD GARDENS, JUNE 2011

Just some pics of our yard. My precious wife sneaked  into a picture too.

Trivia: Crocodiles kill more people in the jungle than any other animal.

Did You Know: Evaporation rates in the desert are often faster than the speed at which rain falls; causing raindrops to disappear before they hit the ground.

VINTAGE SAUNDERS PLASTIC WIND UP CONVERTIBLE TOY, 1950's

This wind up toy still works fabulously. It even still retains the windshield. Many of the windshields were probably the first item to break. The original owner of this toy had a 3 cent Canadian stamp taped on the trunk because his older brother had joined the Canadian Mounties. He must have felt it was important to do this so I have left it on. If it was important to the little boy then it is the same for me.

Trivia: The country that drinks more Coke per capita than any other nation on Earth is....Mexico.

Did you know: An adventure company in Pucon, Chile, allow people to bungee jump from a helicopter over an active volcano. They are flown into the heart of the smoking volcano and plunge around 450 ft (140m) toward the molten lava. Now I know where "Hot Pants" come from.

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1963, THE WOLFMAN, WEIRD-OHS "WOLFMAN'S WAGON" CAR-ICKY-TURE MODEL

Another strange but great creation from the 1960's. As young boys we always did enjoy the scary and bizarre. Enjoy the pics.

Trivia: There really is an insect called the Love Bug. It spends 56 hours- more than half its life-------mating. I want his Viagra.

Did You Know: At the biennial Chinchilla Melon Festival in Queensland, Australia, competitors go skiing with scooped-out water melons on their feet. Wearing the melon footwear, they are dragged down a slippery course on a rope.The winner is the skier who stays upright for the longest distance. Neat eh?

VINTAGE ICE COUPON BOOKS 1920 , THE ICEMAN COMETH

These are authentic antique ice coupon books. These were used in the situations where the people that did not have refrigeration (90 per cent or more) would have ice delivered to their home and put it in their ice box to keep food from spoilling. They would then pay for the ice by tearing out however many coupons were needed and give them to the delivery driver. We've come a long way since the 1920's. Since the hydro bills keep escallating maybe we should go back to that type of operation. NOT!

Trivia: It takes a shark about a week to grow a new set of teeth. That's even faster than getting dentures made nowadays.

Did you know? A new planet, twice the size of jupitor, has been discovered, and unlike any other planet, it travels counterclockwise around its star. The planet, spotted 1,000 light years away in the constellation of Scorpios, has been named WASP-17 because it is the 17th to be recorded outside the Solar System by the Wide Area Search for Planets run by U.K. universities.

1960's CHRISTMAS CRACKER TOYS ,1969 PLYMOUTH FURY

I picked up some Christmas Crackers from the 1960's at an auction. We wanted to see what the prizes were back in those days compared to todays Christmas Cracker prizes. This is what we got. Very simple plastic toys from a simpler time. It was ironic that the blue car is a Plymouth Fury much like my own Plymouth Fury 1.

Trivia: There are one trillion atoms in a grain of salt. But how do they count them? Hmm.

Did you know? New York City's narrowest house went on sale for $2.7 million in 2009. The 9 and a half foot by 42 foot (2.9x13 m), three storey home was built in Greenwich Village in 1873, sandwiched between two larger buildings.

FATHER'S DAY

Mother's Day came into being in 1908. Two years later a woman felt that her father should also have a day set aside to celebrate his being a good father. This was contested over the years. In 1972 Father's Day was permanently established as the third Sunday in June by, none other than ,President Richard Nixon.
As we sat on our front deck in the waning hours of the day a good friend of mine, Michael ,sat down for a chat. Michael and his lovely wife Stephanie are almost mirror images of my wife and I. They also have five children that are in their thirties.When asked how his "Father's Day" was, a bit of a frown appeared on his lips. He stated that he and his wife feel like "afterthought parents." He felt that the children that do call (only three did) seem to leave it to the last minute. It bothers him now in his later years as he has always tried to help his children mentally, financially and lovingly. He saw some Fathers being treated to breakfast and given a card and a gift at the restaurant where they always have their Sunday breakfast. He wonders how that would feel. He mentioned that in his lifetime he always drove the two hour long trip to his Mom and Dad's , when they were alive, for those special days because he felt his Mother sure deserved it. He always brought along some flowers and a small gift for them on their special day. He even did it for his Dad even though he didn't like him much. As Michael says, "He wasn't worth a pinch of coon shit but it kept peace in the family for my beloved Mother."
Michael mentioned how his wife Stephanie helped the store where she works part time by aiding them in the flower department over the Mother's Day weekend. She was astounded at the number of people that came in to spend almost their last dime just to get their Mother a bouquet of some sort. Michael stated that she had "a wetness of the eyes" when she recalled that she never receives any. Michael sat there quietly. I let the moments pass. We listened to the cooing of the doves and the shrill cries of the bluebirds. A squirrel came over to grab a peanut out of my hand. Michael said, " I think I'll go home and hold Stephanies hand for awhile." He ambled away and I said a little prayer for them. " May the road you walk on from hereon in be a little bit of a downward grade so that the path you follow will be easier to tread."


Trivia:  The first VCR, made in 1956, was as big as a piano.( Glad we waited another 25 years)

Did You Know?  It takes about 0.3 seconds to blink.

CEREAL PREMIUM SNAP, CRACKLE, POP

Remember the toys we used to get in our cereals. A lot of times we bought the cereal just to get the premium. When Mom wasn't looking we'd dump the cereal ( if we didn't like it)in the garbage or toilet. I didn't mind that it had no sugar because we could put in what we wanted to suit our taste. I still felt lucky because the neighbor boys that lived across the street from us didn't have cereal because their parents couldn't afford it . When I was waiting for them to finish their breakfast so we could walk to school together I noticed that they crushed up bread slices in a bowl and added milk. That was their cereal. My cereal was never dumped in the garbage after that. I sure had nothing to complain about then. It's funny how certain things just stick in your mind. And I'm glad they do.Rice Krispies has always been a favorite of mine. They had good commercials on TV. I got this watch in my travels and put a battery in and it worked.






Trivia: Most effective deterrent to house break-ins: "A noisy dog" thieves say.


Did you know?  Geographically, China falls into five different time zones- but officially the entire country adheres to the same time.

1940's VINTAGE WIND-UP MARX TIN "JUMPIN JEEP" TOY, JUMPIN JEHOSAFAT

This toy jeep was made shortly after World War 2. Kids loved to wind this up with the key attached to the bottom. It pranced and danced across many floors in its time. Even 65 years later the mechanism still works fine as you can see in the video. Thanks for looking.

Trivia: The reason why golf balls are dimpled is due to the fact that years ago golfers found that their old dented balls travelled farther than their new balls. Eureka!!

Did you know: Ruzica Church, located within Kalemegdan Fortress in Belgrade, Serbia, has chandeliers made from bullets, swords and cannons. Soldiers made them during World War 1. I guess you could call this "trench art".

A TEMPORARY ERECTION PLAQUE (AREN'T THEY ALL?)

The British always have a colorful way of explaining things. I guess whenever they ERECT a scaffold they let the people know that it is just temporary so don't take it down. I have explained this term to my lovely wife many times over the years but she still won't let me nail this on our bedroom door. Nyuck, nyuck.




Trivia: As a person ages, the first sense to go is the sense of smell.


Did you know?  The idea of a pirate burying treasure is a myth. No pirate would have trusted his captain to bury his loot for him. According to pirate expert Robert Ritchie, "The men who turned to piracy did so because they wanted money. As soon as possible after capturing a prize they insisted on dividing the loot, which they could then gamble with or carry home. The idea of burying booty on a tropical island would have struck them as insane." It makes sense to me.

PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE AMMO, RIFLE AMMUNITION

During times of war I bet a lot of G.I.Joes said "praise the Lord for the ammo." These shells are from a .50 caliber machine gun. This is the same bullet size that was used in the 18oo's to bring down buffalo with their .50 caliber Sharpes rifle. Can you even immagine what it would be like to have shells of this size whizzing around you as you tried to shoot back. I can't. So praise the Lord and pass the ammo.

Trivia: A pound of houseflies contains more protein than a pound of beef. Yum. Yum.

Did you know? In Bennettsville ,South Carolina, a deaf man filed for divorce from his wife because"she was always nagging him in sign language."

1950 MINISTER DELUX TIN FRICTION TOY CAR

This neat friction car still has the original box.Mothers probably said a few prayers when their kids played with it because the friction works on these toys were very loud. I don't know why they call it a minister car but maybe it has to do with the fact that it was not very ornate or showy. That was probably a sin in the eyes of the congregation. Ironically it is very similar to the pastors car at the Baptist church we attended when I was young. I remember him driving a bunch of us kids to the arena or something and when he made a turn onto Queen Street the rear door flew open and a few of us kids fell out. We were not hurt but I remember him asking us not to mention the incident to anyone. I guess those churchgoers could be temperamental in those days.(those "down the nose looks" they could give you-my old man was a pro at that)Anyway none of us said a thing because it was no big deal to us. The pastor was a really nice guy and his son was a good friend of mine. I don't know what the difference is between a pastor, minister or priest is, but they all do the same job. Some are just better than others.

Trivia: Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had a weakness for cologne.

Did you know? A Tarittville, Connecticut, man filed for divorce after his wife left him a note on the refrigerator. It read, "I won't be home when you return from work. Have gone to the bridge club.There'll be a recipe for your dinner at 7 o'clock on channel 2." Grounds for divorce?

WEIRD-OHS "DRACULA'S DRAGSTER "CAR-ICKY-TURE MODEL 1960's

Too Cool. Too Cool. Too Cool. This old bloodsucker better not get stopped by the cops. Just look at all his infractions. Drinking and driving. No seat belt. Exhaust emmissions are out of control. Probably doesn't have a drivers licence and his cell phone is probably under the dashboard. I don't think candles qualify as good headlights. Stop this monster before he spills more blood.

Trivia: In 1966 there actually was a movie called "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein's Daughter". I bet that was romantic.

Did you know? When the Skylab space station fell to Earth over Western Australia in 1979, the community of Esperance fined the U.S.A. $400 for littering . The fine was paid 30 years later ,in April 2009, when radio show host Scott Barley of Highway Radio , based in Barstow ,California, raised the funds from his morning show listeners. He sent Esperance a check for the outstanding amount on behalf of NASA.