June, 1960: The world is alive. From Architectural Forum, we hear of a snack bar. The 1,600 employees in the Bell Telephone Company’s brand new Pittsburgh office building can point with pride to their new lounge and snack bar. It’s truly one of the interior “showplaces.” Two Natco products were used extensively to help create… Continue reading Bell Telephone Company Pittsburgh Office Snack Bar, 1960
Month: February 2020
How Waiting in Line Is the Purest Form of Democracy
Nobody likes waiting in line. You’re waiting in line at the DMV, for concert tickets, movie tickets, at the theme park. In non-First World societies or in First World societies that experience temporary collapse, waiting in line takes the form of breadlines, food lines, lines for assistance. Yet the alternative is worse: a mob rush… Continue reading How Waiting in Line Is the Purest Form of Democracy
Hong Kong Bank of China as Giant Protest Sign
As some of us sit around in the burgs and hamlets of the United States, knitting our fingers and wondering about the shape that China’s “invasion” of the U.S. will take, need we look any further than Hong Kong? In 1997, Hong Kong’s sovereignty was transferred to China, and the “one country, two systems” principle… Continue reading Hong Kong Bank of China as Giant Protest Sign
Killed When Cleaning Gun: Alibis That Never Make Sense
In the annals of crime, crime fiction, and crime news stories even to this day is the phrase killed when cleaning the gun. What this refers to is the after-the-fact explanation for how the father, friend, brother, mother, and sometimes the self, got shot. Because when you shoot somebody out of intent but you don’t… Continue reading Killed When Cleaning Gun: Alibis That Never Make Sense
Switchboard Receptionist School: Never Again
File this one in the annals of things that will never again exist: switchboard operator school. This ad from the June 1, 1948 Los Angeles Times hit the zeitgeist of the times perfectly well, though. Picture: it’s 1948, the war has just ended, L.A. is booming, phones are still run through switchboards (though not for… Continue reading Switchboard Receptionist School: Never Again