50’s
02.15.
Sea-Monkeys
Sea-Monkeys is the brand name for brine shrimp – a group of crustaceans that undergo cryptobiosis – often sold in hatching kits as novelty aquarium pets.
Harold von Braunhut invented the product based on brine shrimp in 1957. Ant farms had been popularized the year before by Milton Levine. Initially called “Instant Life”, von Braunhut changed the name to “Sea-Monkeys” in 1962. This was based on the supposed resemblance of the animals’ tails to those of monkeys, and their living in salt water. The product was intensively marketed in comic books using illustrations of humanoid animals drawn by the comic book illustrator Joe Orlando, which bear no resemblance to the crustaceans. Von Braunhut is quoted as stating: “I think I bought something like 3.2 million pages of comic book advertising a year. It worked beautifully.” Many purchasers were disappointed by the dissimilarity, and by the short lifespan of the animals.
2 Comments01.31.
Richard Scarry Books
Richard McClure Scarry was a popular American children’s author and illustrator who published over 300 books with total sales of over 100 million units worldwide.
Scarry was born in Boston, Massachusetts, where his parents ran a shop. The Scarry family enjoyed a comfortable life even during the time of the Great Depression. Following high school graduation, Scarry enrolled in a business college but soon dropped out, finding it not to his liking. He then studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, where he remained until being drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II.
Following the war, Scarry worked for the art departments of various magazines before making a career breakthrough in 1949 with Little Golden Books.
No Comments01.27.
Junior Safety Patrol
The junior safety patrol is a voluntary group of crossing guards involving older students helping younger students cross streets in elementary and middle schools across the United States. The official School Safety Patrol program was organized in 1920 by the American Automobile Association.
As of 1995, safety patrol members were located in 76 percent of the communities across the United States. AAA clubs across the United States and Canada sponsor the 500,000 member safety patrol program in 50,000 schools. Local AAA clubs supply training materials, badges and other materials, including the orange or neon green Sam Browne belt, needed to organize and operate a school safety patrol program.
Former safety patrol members include U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton; Dr. Gary S. Becker, Nobel Prize-winning economist; U.S. Senator John Warner; former Michigan Governor William Milliken; Joe Garagiola, member of the Baseball Hall of Fame; Lee Iacocca, former Chairman of the Chrysler Corporation, and; Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, along with 21 astronauts.
5 Comments