Retro Planet » Retro Ramblings

Retro Ramblings: Cole Land Transportation Museum

Keith — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:59:22 +0000

Cole Land Transportation Museum

If you ever find yourself in Bangor, Maine check out the Cole Land Transportation Museum. I stopped in on a recent trip to Acadia National Park and have to say that it is great little museum. Displays include a locomotive and caboose, the first snowmobile sold in the state of Maine, fire trucks, motorcycles, a potato wagon (of course), and hundreds of other interesting land transportation items. There is also a section that salutes our Military. On the grounds you can see a Vietnam era M-60 Tank and a Huey UH-1D Helicopter.

Check it out—you won’t be disappointed.

Cole Land Transportation Museum
405 Perry Road
Bangor, ME 04401
Telephone: (207) 990-3600
Fax: (207) 990-2653

The Cole Land Transportation Museum is open from May 1 to November 11 each year. Their hours are 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, everyday.

Retro Ramblings: Vendo Cup Vending Soda Machines

Keith — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:41:19 +0000

Soda in a Cup from a Machine

Here are a couple of photos of a Pepsi and a Coca-Cola cup vending soda machine. At one time, machines that could vend soda into a cup were a huge trend. It’s hard to imagine now, but the use of cup vendors was very widespread. When I was a kid we used to go to Sandy’s Bowling Alley in Windham, NH. They had a Coca-Cola cup vending machine and I used to love that thing. You would put in your money, a cup would drop down (most of the time), crushed ice would fill the cup and then soda water and syrup would shoot out, mixing the soft drink along the way. It was fun to use and the soda tasted great.

Cup vendors have pretty much disappeared now. They were messy and required a lot of service and maintenance. But with modern technology and the desire to eliminate plastic bottles, I think that you will see some sort of cup vendors making a comeback.

Retro Ramblings: The Beat at The Hampton Casino Hampton Beach, NH

Keith — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 14:23:22 +0000

The English Beat Celebrates 30 Years

Last year marked the 30-year anniversary of The English Beat, a ska band from Birmingham, England headed by Dave Wakeling. Originally, they were The Beat, but another band in the states had that name, so they added the “English”. Remind anyone of Spinal Tap?

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and became very popular with British Mods of the early 60’s. This time period was considered Ska’s first wave.

The second wave, or the two-tone era, started in the late seventies in England with bands like The Specials, The Beat, The Selector, Madness and others.

Today we have Reel Big Fish, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones and many more who make up ska’s third wave.

Well, on July 8th in Hampton, NH the second and third wave met when The Beat backed up Reel Big Fish at The Hampton Beach Casino. What a show! The Beat were on fire and the young crowd really got into it. Sometimes back up bands don’t get much respect, however, this was not the case at this show. Check out the video I shot on my iPhone and I think you will agree the crowd loved them. At one point during “Save It For Later”, I thought the floor might collapse and we would end up downstairs in the arcade. I have seen The Beat a few times lately, and this was their best performance.

Now, I admit I was there to see The Beat, but most of the crowd was there for Reel Big Fish, and they were not disappointed. They put on a great high-energy show, complete with crowd surfing and a mosh pit. A good time was had by all.

Check out The Beat on iTunes. Lots of great songs that have stood the test of time.

Retro Ramblings: First Moon Landing: July 20th 1969

Keith — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 05:06:05 +0000

“That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Today’s date, July 20th marks the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing by the United States. It is estimated that 500 million people worldwide watched the live telecast of the landing. I was ten at the time, and I remember my father setting up his camera on a tripod in front of the TV to capture the exact moment when Neil Armstrong jumped down to the surface. In total, twenty-four American astronauts have traveled to the Moon, with twelve walking on its surface. But at the time, the first walk was a very big deal, and I am not sure what kind of technological event it would take to attract that much attention today.

Do you remember the first moon landing? Blog-in and let us know.

Retro Ramblings: Our Cool Company Break Room

Keith — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:38:53 +0000

Check out this new video of our cool retro break room. It is fun, comfortable and easy to take care of.

For more information click over to our new Decorating Ideas Gallery.

Retroplanet Company Lunchroom Tour

Retro Ramblings: Paul McCartney To Play Fenway Park in Boston

Keith — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 08:24:15 +0000

Sir Paul is coming back to Boston this August. The very first concert I ever went to was “Wings Over America” on May 22, 1976. Paul McCartney had formed a band in 1971 called Wings and, on that day, they were playing at the Boston Garden. I was a senior in high school, graduating in a few weeks and was not sure what I was going to do after that. A few days after the concert, I saw an ad in the back of Rolling Stone magazine for Wings tour t-shirts, and I sent away for one. It was a great shirt and I thought to myself, “How hard could it be to screen print shirts and sell them from Rolling Stone?” I ran the idea by my best friend Kyle, who was in the Navy, and he loved it. Long story short, we started printing shirts when he got out and, I have to say, we did pretty well selling band shirts from the Rolling Stone classifieds…and beyond.

Thanks, Paul for coming to Boston in 1976 and I’ll be seeing you in August.

Retro Ramblings: Vintage Burger King Menu

Keith — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 15:30:31 +0000

Here is an interesting menu that was published in an April 1959 edition of “Diner Drive-In Magazine”. Back then Burger King had about 30 stores in 6 states in the South. They already had the Whopper, but did you know back then they had a larger burger called the “Jaw-Breaker”? The menu claimed, “DON’T ORDER THIS ONE! YOU PROBABLY CAN’T FINISH IT ALL ANYWAY!” With advertising like that, no wonder they discontinued it. Other interesting items on the menu are the BAR-B-Q Beef sandwich for .40 cents. The WHISTLE PIG, a bacon-wrapped hot dog stuffed with cheese then char-broiled for .30 cents. Also a CHILI DOG, “the best hot dog ever” for .25 cents. And a Char-Broiled STEAK SANDWICH for .60 cents.

I would not mind if they brought a few of those items back along with the Yumbo from the 80’s. Anyone remember the Yumbo? Today Burger King has around 11,550 locations worldwide in 71 countries. Not bad growth for a little hamburger joint from Miami that started in 1954.

Retro Ramblimgs: The Stray Cats 50th Birthday Bash

Keith — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:34:50 +0000

The Stray Cats In Minneapolis at The Fine Line Cafe

I was online a couple of months back looking for a guitar case on the Gretsch Guitar website. While I was there I noticed a link to Brian Setzer’s site. I clicked over to check it out and, as luck would have it, I landed there about 10 minutes before tickets were going on sale for his 50th Birthday party concert with The Stray Cats. This was going to be their only US appearance in 2009 and even though it was in Minneapolis, Minnesota—I was going. I have been a fan of The Stray Cats since I first heard “Rock This Town” and “Stray Cat Strut” back in 1982 but have never seen them live. Back then I was already listening to Gene Vincent and Eddie Cochran, so to me, the Stray Cats were just a punked-out, wilder version of already great rock-a-billy music.

Last Friday night they had the place rocking. I have to tell you that they tore the Fine Line Music Cafe apart. It was just amazing to me, the intensity level and sound all from an upright base, a tiny drum kit and that Gretsch guitar. I thought I traveled far, being from New Hampshire, but there were fans from Sweden, Japan, Australia and from all over the country. Very loyal, friendly and colorful fans for sure.

There’ll be no more shows in the US this year but lets hope they hit the road in 2010, and if you get a chance, check them out.