Back In The Day - How To Use A Dial Telephone

You gotta love it when you can remember having a rotary dial telephone in your home.  Geez, am I really that old?  LOL.  Check out these pages from a 1950's instruction book.

via Retronaut

Back In The Day - Disneyland 1957

Wow, let's go back to 1957 for a moment.  You probably have mothers and fathers who were just being conceived, or maybe even grandmothers who were one or two.   You may even have grandfathers who were teenagers, or parents who were getting married.  Regardless of where you're loved ones were at the time, Disneyland was short of two-years-old when this video was made.  What did it feel like to be in "The Happiest Place On Earth" in 1957?

The Disney History Institute cleaned the film, transferred it with a Spirit DataCine, and edited a few clips to music. But all of the images here are from 1957, before the park was even two years old.

Keeping It Old Skool - Issue No. 11 - Etch A Sketch

Who never had an Etch A Sketch growing up?  If you didn't, I don't know what to tell you. You lost out on a piece of history that you'll probably never get back. LOL.  Don't get me wrong, you can still buy them, but c'mon would you?  Why would you want to buy it when you have the PS3, Xbox, or Wii?

These were the coolest things ever!  You could draw with them, write with them, take notes with them, and then erase it within a matter of seconds.  A simple shake is all it took.  The two white knobs, and the stylus underneath the gray screen did all the work.  All you would do is move the knobs around and line would appear.

Ironically enough, the toy was invented in the late 1950s and not the 80s like you might have imagined.  The toy became popular in the 60s, so I'm sure you're grandmother played with one before you ever got to.  Regardless, it has become one of the most creative toys of the 20th century.  It was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1998. [source] 

Well, I found another place for Ryan and I to visit when we go on our travels. :-)

Make sure to check out my previous "Keeping It Old Skool" issues here.

Flashback to the 1950's

"I need you so, that I could die, I love you so, and that is why, whenever I want you, all I have to do is dream."

If I could write every movie this song was featured in, I would.  If I could write down how many artists have sung different versions of this song, I would.  And...... I'll stop there.  The song was originally sung by the Everly Brothers back in 1958, 5 years after my mother was born and 7 after years after my Father. The likelihood they heard it as teenagers is pretty high.  Hell, I heard it as a teenager, and the original version no less.

 Here's a little something you probably didn't know...

On November 4, 2010, Stephen Colbert and Elvis Costello ended "The Colbert Report" with a duet of "All I Have To Do Is Dream" and the full version of the song appeared on the ColbertNation web site by the following morning.

Andy Gibb and Victoria Principal (Pamela Ewing from the TV series Dallas) released a duet version back in 1981.

Former marines, the Everly brothers are still alive today, and are very proud to say they had a total of 26 Billboard Top 40 singles and 35 Billboard Top 100 singles, they were also among the first 10 artists inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  In 1997, they were awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.  In addition, they were inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2001.

I'd say those are some pretty darn good achievements;  There's plenty more to read at Wikipedia, but for now I present to you the original song in an actual live performance.  The sound is actually quite remarkable.  I have also added an extra bonus after the jump - the duets with Andy Gibb and Victoria Principal, also Elvis Costello and Stephen Colbert.

The duets with Andy Gibb and Victoria Principal, also Elvis Costello and Stephen Colbert.