The Year 2000–as it was called before 2000–is looking awfully distant with each passing year. Will it ever happen? And what I mean by this is the chasm between what was promised and what we’ve got: the old “Where’s my jetpack?” meme. Or, “I wanted cars in tubes but all I’ve got is Twitter.” Yes,… Continue reading Cars Will Travel in Tubes by Year 2000
Category: ApexUSA
ApexUSA is a stab into the darkness, an attempt via ad images to locate the exact point in the 20th century when America reached its cultural peak.
Is a LIFE ad for Pullman coaches really indicative of what was going on in America in 1937? Isn’t that a distorted view? Yes. But a serious, tight-lipped historical account would be equally distorted. Pick your distortion.
This is not a yearning for the past. As time goes by, you gain some things, lose others. There are no answers here. Only evidence.
To a Swell Dad
I’d kill to have someone give me a card that says, “To a Swell Dad – Handyman, You Fit the Bill.” This is from an ad for Gibson’s Cards, LIFE Magazine, June 15, 1953.
Long-Forgotten G.I. Coffeehouses: Hotbeds of Anti-War Dissent
In this age of freely flowing words–often too many of them–it’s hard to imagine a day when conversation actually had to be nurtured. During the Vietnam War, anti-war activists had far fewer avenues of discussion available than today: no Twitter, blogs, YouTube, or social media. Self-publication was largely confined to mimeographed newspapers. Vietnam anti-war activism… Continue reading Long-Forgotten G.I. Coffeehouses: Hotbeds of Anti-War Dissent
Bars, Nightclubs, and Casinos from Ocean’s 11 (1960)
How bad can a movie be yet look fantastic? Ocean’s 11 (1960) is a heist film famous for its slick Rat Pack, mid-century modern trappings, but altogether a heaping, floppy mess. It’s a movie you want to like but can’t. It has no real highs, no lows, no drama, little humor. Interminable parts of the… Continue reading Bars, Nightclubs, and Casinos from Ocean’s 11 (1960)
Modern Babylon: Deserted Weyerhaeuser Campus in Federal Way, Washington
Quietly ensconced in 130 acres of woods south of Seattle is the abandoned campus of the Weyerhaeuser Corporation. Much like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, with gardens built into the walls of the palace, the Weyerhaeuser campus’ 5-story building is heavily draped with English ivy; thus the name of the complex: The Greenline. Built in… Continue reading Modern Babylon: Deserted Weyerhaeuser Campus in Federal Way, Washington