Just off of the bench this November is this old 1960s era Acorn gumball machine. The machine itself was in pretty good shape before restoration, but the paint was really starting to peel and the inside was looking pretty nasty. I wouldn't stick anything in my mouth that came out of that thing! After doing a few Texaco Sky Chief themed machines lately, this time I went with a Fire Chief themed restoration. This is marked as a penny machine, but I set it up that so it will actually take any US coins under a quarter. Like all of my gumball machine restorations I tear down the coin mechanism completely, clean, rebuild, and lube it so it will get years and years of use. I went ahead and put this machine on a tall stand and I think it turned out great!
Check video below for it in action, as well as some before and after shots during the restoration process!
This machine is not available!
And here are some high resolution photos of the machine:
1960s, "60's", 60s, "Fire chief", "Star of the American Road", "Texaco Fire Chief", advertising, antique, arcade, candy, car, "car culture", "car kulture", chief, coin, "coin mech", decore, fire, "game room", gameroom, garage, gas, "gas station", gasoline, glass, globe, gumball, kanauga, kool, machine, "man cave", mancave, nickel, restoration, retro, shop, texaco, vintage, www.rememberthedrivein.com
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This isn't so much a "speaker report" as it's me making myself do a blog post! I have been slacking, but to be fair October is historically one of my family's busiest times of the year. With my wife in education and my son's last year of high school, this was our last "Fall Break" with us being able to take off for a vacation this time of year. Since my son was about to turn 18 (which he did a few days ago) we flew to Disney World to celebrate with him. It was one of the busiest visits I've ever had there, but with the combination of years of "Going to Disney Experience" and Genie+ we were able to ride everything we wanted across three parks and never wait more than 35 minutes. It's quite an amazing feat considering crowd size!
Yesterday, the 30th, we wrapped up our Halloween activities and since it is the end of the month I thought I'd show off three Bluetooth drive-in speaker sets that were finished up this month! I did one SPECO set with the classic Circ-Lite red glow strip in the J-Box, a nice Projected Sound set with baskets, and a 1950's Simplex set with heavy patina! I haven't done a set with speakers baskets in awhile, so it felt like time on the Projected Sounds. I've always liked them because that's what the drive-in I grew up with used. I also went with the classic Red and Silver motif. It seems like that ends up always being the most popular combination no matter what. Is that people looking back with Rose color... well RED colored glasses and think EVERYTHING from the 1950s and 1960s must have been red? It seems like 90% of any retro mid-century diner, kitchen, or themed room really focuses heavy on RED. Finally, at the beginning of the month I finished up a 1950's Simplex "In-A-Car" speakers set that had a red glo-top dome and kept the original vintage patina on the speakers keeping them really old looking.
Of course, all of these sets feature Bluetooth connectivity, an MP3 player, and are loaded with hundreds of vintage drive-in intermission ads, B-movie trailers, car and gasoline commercials, and other soft drink, snacks, and goodies from the 1950s and 1960! Anyhow... take a look at these most recent beauties!
If you'd like to see videos of my speaker sets like these working, please click here to visit my video page!
]]>This is a 1964 New York World’s Fair ceramic plate that belonged to my Uncle that passed away earlier this year. I’m a bit jealous that he got to go to the fair, but since I wasn’t born yet I didn’t have much of a chance! The plate measure 9x8 inches and has a string in the back tied off for hanging.
The plate features the NYC skyline as well as the “Unisphere” at the center, which was presented by US Steel. One of the reasons I’ve been most interested in that particular World’s Fair is the work that Walt Disney’s WED Enterprises (the Imagineers) put in to it. Disney worked with Pepsi, General Electric, Ford, and the state of Illinois to create multiple attractions that were ahead of their time, and eventually became classic attractions at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
With Pepsi ‘It’s a Small World’ was created showcasing the children of the world. It featured the theme song written by The Sherman Brothers that is now probably stuck in your head. You’re welcome.
GE partnered with Disney to create ‘Carousel of Progress’, which shows historical and technological history using audio-animatronics in a carousel-like rotating theater. It also featured another Sherman Brothers song, ‘There’s a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow’. The original ‘Carousel of Progress’ now sits at Disneyland and a replica is at Walt Disney World.
Ford presented ‘Ford’s Magic Skyway’, where people sat in 1964 and 1965 Ford vehicles (including the all new Mustang) that had their powerplants removed, and adhered to a track system that slowly “drove them” through time from the age of the dinosaurs to a futuristic city. If you visit Disneyland now, take a ride on the train and parts of the complete track layout brings you into a building that showcases these original scenes. This track system is what eventually became ‘PeopleMover’, which is found at Disneyland and Walt Disney World.
Finally, the state of Illinois partnered with Disney to create an audio-animatronic Abraham Lincoln with ‘Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln’. This was truly ground breaking technology at the time, and it still looks REALLY good today when you visit him at Disneyland. The equivalent, to a larger degree, is ‘The Hall of Presidents’ at Walt Disney World.
I'm really excited to announce a new page that I've added to my website dedicated to Captain John Lavra, USN, Retired. I've known "Captain John" all of my life as he is married to my Dad's cousin. He is a retired naval aviator that served in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam and has more stories than you can shake a stick at! Earlier this year I took my parents to his house for a visit and I recorded the Captain retelling the story of him being shot down in his Douglas Skyraider over North Korea in 1952. It is a fascinating story and I'm very happy to share this video of him recalling being shot down, the bail out, sustaining horrific injuries, survival, and the rescue! Captain John is one hell of a man!
Please Click The Photo Below To Visit The Captain John Lavra Story and Video!
John Lavra, Captain John Lavra, CPT John Lavra, Lavra, Skyraider, SPAD, Flying Dump Truck, AD1, AD4, Korea, Korean War, North Korea, Shot Down, Bailed Out, Shot Down Behind Enemy Lines, Enemy Lines, Veteran, Hero, Navy, Naval Aviator, Pilot, Douglas A-1 Skyraider, VA-55, USS Essex, Aircraft carrier, Helicopter, Rescue, AD-4 ,AD-3, AD-1, Able Dog, Survival, Corsair, Dam Buster, Dam Busting, October 20 1952, 1952, Ltjg John Lavra, lieutenant junior grade, Attack Plane, Fighter Plane, Story, guts, WWII Vet, Korean War Vet, Vietnam Vet
I just finished these speakers up this week! I noticed it had been a few years since I had done a green set, so here we have a green and silver combo which I think looks great! It's an interesting shade of green because it seems to changed however the light is. Sometimes it looks like Hunter green, then the next time I look it seems much lighter! Anyhow, like always this set features Bluetooth and a built in MP3 player already loaded with hundreds and hundreds of vintage drive-in ads, car commercials, soda pop, candy, gas station, and other goodies from the 1950s and 1960s that start playing at the flick of the switch!
Below is a video of this speaker set in action and a few more photos!
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If you've followed my Bluetooth drive-in speaker restorations for awhile, you'll notice that this is a little bit different than what I typically do. I left the old patina on this Reed speaker set and junction box just as they've sat at the drive-in for decades. I've done this a few times, one being a set mounted on the wall in my basement garage, and another for a friend to match the patina on his hot rod. Of course, inside these speakers is an entirely different story! Like my usual restorations these have the same new electronics, new speaker drivers, new wiring, and are still loaded pre-loaded with hours and hours of vintage advertisements, as well as B-movie trailers, vintage car ads, soft drink commercials, and other goodies from the 1950s and 1960s!
This particular set is mounted on a very short stand, and the actual speaker set itself is just under 12" tall. So this is perfect for a countertop that might have some lower hanging cabinets over top, or for a place this is short on space. These speakers are marked to have come from the Cuba Drive-In Theatre in Cuba, New Mexico. I'm having a hard time finding much out about that particular drive-in, as all I have found in Cuba, NM was the short lived Placita Hills Drive-In. Possibly this speakers is from there? If you happen to know more about the "Cuba Drive-In" that was in Cuba, NM please drop me a line at my Contact page above!
Below is a video of this speaker set in action and a few more photos!
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Hopefully this July finds you well. I've been rather busy this summer with family rather than messing with much in the shop. Plus, my regular job has had my hands full. With a few trips under my belt the past few weeks and a few concerts, I've managed to get this gumball machine restored.
This old Acorn gumball machine has a taller 8 lb globe and a deep vending wheel, so you can get a lot of candy or gum for your money out of it! I was very happy with how the Texaco Sky Chief themed machine turned out that I did last year so I did another one - however, because of the taller globe I went with a different decal on the front to help accentuate that. This is a nickel machine, and like all of my gumball machine restorations I tear down the coin mechanism completely, clean, rebuild, and lube it so it will get years and years of use. I went ahead and put this machine on a tall stand and I think it turned out very nice! Check video below for it in action, as well as some before and after shots during the restoration process!
This machine is not available!
And here are some high resolution photos of the machine:
And here is a "Before" shot!
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SPECO Drive-In Movie Speakers with Red Glo-Top & Speaker Baskets!
This beautiful drive-in in movie speaker set consists of two original SPECO "Drive-In's" speakers that are from the now gone Cascade Drive-In that was in West Chicago, Illinois. The speakers have been restored with new speaker drivers, wiring, red knobs, and red speaker screens. When you lower the lights or night falls the junction box, now outfitted with a red Glo-Top, gives off a nice warm red glow when on... so your car doesn't hit the speaker pole! The speakers safely sit into aluminum speaker baskets coming off the sides, with everything sitting on a handmade stand. The stand itself is made of a heavy 14" diameter 3/8" laser cut steel plate, a 3 foot tall pole, and is 26 lbs before you even add the speakers and J-box! It is HEAVY so you know your speaker set is secure! This speaker set features both Bluetooth to stream your own music playlist from your phone or tablet, and has a built in MP3 player that is pre-loaded with hours and hours of vintage drive-in intermission and pre-show ads, car commercials, soda and snack ads, and other goodies all from the 1950s and 1960s! Click the video below to see it in action!
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June 6, 2023, is National Drive-In Day and a very special birthday as it is the 90th anniversary of the FIRST drive-in movie showing! 90 years ago at the Camden Drive-In in Camden, New Jersey Richard Hollingshead first publicly displayed a talking picture you could watch from the comfort of your own car. Just a few short weeks prior he had received a US patent for the drive-in theater, and after a $30,000 investment he was showing his first outdoor movie – 1932’s “Wives Beware”. Admission was .25 cents for the car and .25 cents per person in the car. Unlike the drive-ins of later using “In-A-Car” speakers mounted to a pole by each car or the more modern FM transmitters to your car radio, Mr. Hollingshead’s theater basically used a PA system to broadcast the sound throughout the field.
Unfortunately for Mr. Hollingshead (but probably pretty good for the rest of us), his patent was overturned 16 years later in 1949 and the drive-in movie industry exploded across the United States with over 5,000 theaters scattered the country by the 1950s-60s!
If you’re on my page reading this you probably have fond memories of the drive-in theater and maybe you still attend one near you. If not, check and see if you have a local theater still and support them so the drive-in can keep having birthdays to celebrate!
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Late 2022 I scrubbed everything off of my personal Facebook page and let it sit for months trying to figure out what to do. I had become disenchanted with it and was ready to leave, but I knew I had to keep it going in order to operate the "Bluetooth Drive-In Speaker" page that I was also maintaining. I was so sick of the negativity that I saw on the platform and didn't want to be a part of it anymore. During the Christmas break I came up with the idea to start my personal page over - but this time try to focus my content on this massive treasure trove of over 7,000 images that I had scanned from prints, negatives, slides, postcards, and scrapbooks that had belonged mostly to both of my late grandmothers and other family members.
So that brings us to today. For five months on Facebook I have been posting individual images anywhere from the 1860s to the 1970s where I had tried to do some minor cleanup and restoration, add some names, contextual information, and interesting facts to the photo. I have decided to migrate those images to a gallery here on my website in order to reach a larger audience to share some of these people and places. It's my hope that having these photos "out in the wild" will help answer some questions that I have about some photos, as in many cases there is no one left to ask alive! It's my greatest hope with this project that other's might discover a photo of a loved one that they didn't know existed! As you will see, many photos are from old cabinet card portraits, postcard camera photos, or just general snapshots of life decades ago. Some photographs are of public places or destinations that I think others might be interested in seeing. Because of where both sides of my family originate a majority of these images are in Southeastern Ohio and the surrounding areas - but not all! I may also slip in some photos of antiques and ephemera that I have collected and historical places that I may have visited as well. This gallery will also be growing as I plan to add more photos as I edit and research them. You will see that I added a new VINTAGE PHOTO section to the top menu of the page now, and if you would like to comment, need to add some information, or found that I made a mistake PLEASE contact me at [email protected]
Thank you for reading. This is "A Look Back"...
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EPRAD Drive-In Speakers and J-Box upgraded to Bluetooth & MP3
These vintage EPRAD drive-in movie theater speakers and junction box have been completely restored and feature a beautiful red and silver color scheme, and are now Bluetooth enabled! They also have a built in MP3 player, and is pre-loaded with hundreds of vintage drive-in movie ads as well as automobile, gas station, soft drink, B-movie trailers and other retro advertisements from the 50's and 60's that automatically start playing at the flip of a switch! These vintage speakers were manufactured by Toledo, Ohio's EPRAD (which stands for Electronics Products Research and Development), which was originally founded as Theatre Equipment Company in 1945 by US Navy Officer and WWII aviator AL Boudouris. EPRAD still exists today, but they have not made drive-in speakers in decades. These restored drive-in speakers and J-box are now mounted on a heavy duty hand made stand featuring a 3/8" thick, 14" diameter laser cut base with plenty of weight and stability to keep the speakers securely upright!
Here is a vintage set of “Peek-A-Boo” glasses from the 1940s. I bought these drinking glasses (amazingly with its case!) in the mid to late 90’s while antiquing in Pennsylvania. Upon arrival back home in Ohio I stopped by my Gram’s house for a meal and a visit. I thought these glasses were really cool looking, but I honestly had no idea what they did until my little grandmother told me, “When you pour in a cold drink their clothes come off!” Well how cool is that… I had no idea! Thanks Gram!
So these glasses were made by a Chicago company founded in 1914 called H. Fishlove who made gag gifts that have been sold for decades all over the world. Wind-up jumping teeth, magnetic Scottie dogs, fake puke - you’ve seen their past work! With products often seen in the backs of old comic books or checking out at the pharmacy, they also were able to make decals with a white material called “Mystic” that seems to turn translucent when condensation forms outside the glass. Some of these glasses with these special decals started popping up in the late 1920s, but during the height of WWII and just after sales of the nudie glasses exploded from returning GIs. Many of these glasses had art from famous pinup artists of the day like Gil Elvgern and Alberto Vargas and were manufactured in major glass factories like Anchor Hocking and Libby! H. Fishlove continued to make gag gifts for decades, and was eventually bought out in the mid 1980s by Fun, Inc, who still operate today. Fun Inc. actually still produces many of the H. Fishlove’s most famous gag gifts!
From what I’ve read people did for a few different reasons – repel insects and fungi, insulation for cold weather, and to reflect the light from the sun on young bark so they are not sun-scalded that can cause the trunks to split. I guess it apparently worked at my great-grandparent’s home as those two trees are still standing and of course significantly larger after 80 or more years of growth!
Below is an image of a long gone family member while visiting a park in Huntington, WV in 1913. As you can see they REALLY went to town white washing the trees - many up to 10 to 12 feet up the trunks!
Just a quick blog post on this April 1st, 2023 to show what came off the bench this week! I realize it's April Fools Day, but these drive-in speakers are no joke! These speakers were pulled from the closed Cascade Drive-In Theater that was in West, Chicago, Illinois. They are DITMCO/SPECO "Drive-In's", which were originally designed by RCA. In my opinion they are some of the best sounding drive-in speakers ever made. They just have a fuller range and seem louder compared to other brands with the exact same speaker drivers in them.
Like my other restorations these now feature Bluetooth and MP3 and are pre-loaded with with hundreds of vintage drive-in movie pre-show trailers, intermission clips, old B-movie trailers, automobile, soft drink, and gas station ads! And of course, you can connect the Bluetooth to your phone or tablet and you can stream your music from your device!
Check out this video here for them in action, as well as some before and after shots!
Here is a look at the speaker set in action and some more photos:
Before Restoration!
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Just off the bench are these fabulous vintage Koropp drive-in speakers that were originally from the long gone Georgia Drive-In Theatre in Marietta, Georgia, which opened in 1956! They have been restored with a silver and blue theme, put on a custom made short counter top sized stand, with Bluetooth and MP3 added as well. It's pre-loaded with hours and hours of vintage drive theater, automotive, soft drink, and gas station ads from the 1950's and 1960's!
Watch them in action below
Here are some close-up photos of these beautiful speakers
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I derived the name "Kanauga Kool” in remembrance of the drive-in theater that I went to as a small kid and later while in college - The Kanauga Drive-In Theatre. I miss that place! Kanauga is a small unincorporated area along side the Ohio River on State Route 7 just north of Gallipolis, Ohio. From 1950 to 2008 the Kanauga Drive-In Theatre was operated there by the Wheeler family. It was built by Harry Wheeler, who owned and operated The Colony Theatre in Gallipolis, and was ran by him until his passing in the late 1980s with ownership and management going over to his son, Tom. Tom Wheeler passed away in 2016. The screen, signs, and concession stand have long since been torn down, but thankfully some of the old speakers and junction boxes have survived and I’ve been fortunate enough to add some to my personal collection, as well as restore some original Kanauga sets for other people that live in that area.
As I am always on the lookout for things that have to do with the Kanauga Drive-In Theatre, I recently became acquainted with a very nice lady through Facebook who not only worked there herself as a teenager, but her father Virgil Halley helped build the theater with Mr. Wheeler as well as being the projectionist there for 36 years! Linda Halley Criner has so graciously allowed me to post these vintage images of the Kanauga on my page and I am ever so grateful for it! She also shares with me what it was like working at the theater as a teen:
“I started working there when I was 15 in 1958. I just popped popcorn because you had to be 16 to work there. I worked full time though 1963 while I was in high school and at Rio Grande College. I moved to Utica and then to Hilliard to teach in 1963 so I just worked part time through 1966. We had a great time. Harry and Hazel Wheeler were great employers. Several summers we would make homemade ice cream (the guys would do the cranking) and the girls would take turns bringing a cake or someone would go down to Bob Evans Steakhouse or drive in and get fresh strawberry or peach pie. After we closed the concession stand, we’d have ice cream and cake or pie! We really had a good time! When the drive-in was closed for the season, I subbed at the Colony Theatre and Gallipolis Theatre in their concessions and sometimes selling tickets. I really did enjoy working there.” – Linda Halley Criner
Please enjoy these vintage photos of The Kanauga Drive-In Theatre!
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If you would have told me that last Friday that, “Jason, Saturday you will be picking up, fixing, and arranging cemetery decorations after a storm for a true rock and roll legend” I’d say your crazy! But here we are.
Richard Wayne Penniman, or Little Richard as most know him, attended Oakwood University in 1957 (then Oakwood College), which is a historically black Seventh Day Adventist college in Huntsville, Alabama. He became born again in 1957 at the height of his fame and decided to study ministry at Oakwood. While he never graduated, and his life and career had many ups and downs since, in the end he returned to Seventh Day Adventism and wished to be buried in the cemetery at the school he loved so much.
Saturday was beautiful after a pretty rough weather day Friday. My family drove up to Huntsville for lunch and a few errands, and since we had the time we decided to visit his grave. It’s something I’ve been meaning to do since he was laid to rest here. I found his grave in the back right of the cemetery peacefully overlooking a pond, but the decorations were strewn about from the storm winds the previous night. I tried my best to set them back up and straighten things out.
I’ve always loved his early rock and roll recordings and l listen to them regularly. He’s a legend and I’m glad I went.
And Why is there a GIANT George Harrison Sign in Benton, Illinois?
Today, February 25th, is George Harrison’s birthday. He was born in 1943 and would have been 80 this year. And here I am with a REALLY big George Harrison sign just off of Interstate 57 in Benton, Illinois. Why is there a giant Beatle in Illinois? Well, in 1963, just before the band broke it big in America, he flew across the pond to America and visited his sister and her husband who were living in Benton. George was the first Beatle in America! ‘Please Please Me’ and ‘She Loves You’ had been released in the UK and they were selling out show after show in the UK. When they got a break in the middle of September of 1963, George visited his older sister Louise, whose husband was in the coal industry and working in southern Illinois.
An interesting fact about my visit to Benton – My Dad and I got off of the interstate and drove to the sign so I could have him take my photo with this amazing sign by artist John Cerney. As we left, we decided to drive through the charming town as it was said to have some fantastic antique stores (and it REALLY does!). Just as we crossed over the bridge going over I-57 into the city limits of Benton, George’s ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ started playing on the satellite radio! My eyes about jumped off my face. I’ll never forget that!
If you want to read a fantastic article about the visit and what all George did and what he thought when he came over for the first time, check this out article from The Smithsonian.
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Sometimes you just walk right into something pretty awesome, and this old clock is one of those situations. My father and I were doing business last year near Pittsburgh, PA with a family that my Dad has known and worked with for nearly fifty years. While standing in one of their shops I couldn’t help but notice this old clock barely hanging on the wall. And it was rough! As you can see in the before photos it was in pretty bad shape externally with bent up hands, decades and decades of black dust, cobwebs, and some rust. The domed glass was long gone, but luckily it seemed like the face was intact and the art looked in pretty good shape!
The clock was made by Dualite and dated 1954, and most likely has been in this shop since them. The artwork on the face was for Hastings Piston Rings, who has a fantastic logo in my opinion. I love cartoons from that era and Mid-Century styled mechanic in his red stripped shirt holding a piston ring really caught my attention, and I knew this would look great in my shop! While my Father made was on the phone with the owner who couldn’t be there that day, I jokingly said, “let him know if he ever wants to part with that old clock!” My dad relayed the message and the owner said, “Take it!” WOW! So I am very thankful!
So while making the 800 mile trek back home, I was imaging in my head what I was going to do and what all I was going to need to bring this old relic back to life. My original thought was I was going to sandblast everything down and re-spray with a silver hammered paint that is very similar to what was on it from the factory. Obviously, I was going to need new glass for the front as well as some new clock hands. And who knew what kind of shape the movement and motor was in!
After getting home I got on the disassembly right away to make a plan. As I started cleaning parts and looking at what I had, I decided to keep this thing away from the sandblaster. Any rust was merely surface patina – and dang it – it looked pretty cool as it was! The BEST news was after cleaning and lubricating I found out the motor and movement STILL WORKED! So parts were really going to be at a minimum with just a new glass dome, some arms, and some bulbs to light it up.
I placed an order Jim at PetroRelics.com, who I very much recommend, for a glass dome and some hands. He was quick to answer the questions that I had, was friendly, his prices were reasonable, and he shipped things out quick! By the next weekend I had everything cleaned up and ready for reassembly.
After careful cleaning of the Hastings Piston Rings face, I decided to spray a clear coat over the back, similar to what I have done with some pinball back glasses in the past. There was some loose paint and places starting to peel on the back, and I wanted to try to seal and lock that down. Like a pinball back glass it worked. I also opted to straighten the original minute and hour hands out to re-use, but I had to use a second hand from Jim that fit a PAM clock as I couldn’t get the exact Dualite hand that had been broken on mine. I am still keeping my eye out for the correct second hand if I cross paths down the road. I also went with LED bulbs inside, as they light the clock up fine and put our far less heat than incandescent bulbs. This is the same thing I do with my drive-in speaker restorations that have glow-tops or circlite rings.
A video of the clock back to life!
Everything went back together and it has been running above one of my workbenches now for eight months without a glitch! It’s a beautiful clock that is nearing 70 years old and I hope it keeps ticking for decades more!
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As so many of us have different feelings about the importance of Valentines Day, the fact is it comes rolling around every year in February and some of us have to make important decisions as to how our day is going to turn out! I myself, after being married a few decades, the 14th plays out much differently than it did before we were married or even right after. My wife and I just don’t like cards, and while I know it’s the thought that counts (or so they say), plunking down $5-9 on a card that is going in the trash in a few weeks just seems like money that could be better spent on at least CHOCOLATE!
But not everyone throws those cards away – and one of those people was my beloved late Grandmother. After she passed away we found thousands – yes THOUSANDS – of cards going back of through her lifetime celebrating and commemorating Christmases, birthdays, anniversaries, births, deaths, and VALENTINES! I recently took a closer look at these greeting cards and discovered a massive trove of children’s school cards from the late 1950’s going into the early 1960’s. Most of these cards were given to my father, his brother, and sister during that time. I started scanning them and finished at 223 of these little Valentine’s Day cards!
Sorting though these little pink and red cards brought back memories of my own school time Valentines Day activities decades ago. The teachers REALLY must have gotten off on this holiday or maybe they were just bored between Christmas and Spring Break which hadn’t come yet? But I remember decorating the classroom with construction paper hearts, little hearts with doilies, paper streamers, hanging balloons, door decorations, and most importantly our Valentine’s Day Mailboxes! Yes, we would get really crafty and create little mailboxes for the V-Day card swap out of tissue boxes, small shipping boxes, Quaker Oatmeal cartons, or anything that would hold tiny paper cards that could fit through a slot. We would spend days decorating these things, and I remember being envious of the older kids with more artistic skills than me whose mailboxes looked like they came out of some museum to my eyes! (I’m talking about you RON MULLINS!) That day would finally come when we would swap the little cards in class, take them home and finally open all the tiny white envelopes to see who really wanted to be MINE!
After looking through these vintage mid-century cards in this stash of my Grandma’s, a few things occurred to me. One, many of the cards were simply beautiful and you could tell that some of these artist really loved their work when they painted the originals. As expected space and cowboy themes were very well represented, matching current mid –century TV trends. And the second thing was the lack of licensed characters in the cards. Only one card in this huge lot was licensed art, and it was Dino from Hanna-Barbera’s The Flintstones! This was a great find for me as I absolutely LOVE Hanna-Barbera. But it made me think about when I was giving away these cards in my day and how different it was. Being a kid in the late 70s and early 80s, it was the utmost importance to make sure you had the coolest V-Day cards, so it HAD to be Star Wars, The Super Friends, or some of the Marvel Comic’s best heroes! I remember when my son was doing a school V-Day back in the 2000s how excited we were (ok, maybe really just me) to find a vintage set of unopened Universal Monsters V-day cards for sale on Ebay to use that year! What young school girl wouldn’t be exited to find a Creature from the Black Lagoon or Wolf Man staring back at her?
So finally, if you’ve made it this far in my ramblings about tiny cards being swapped, please enjoy a few selections from this massive lot of cards that I particularly found interesting! ~ Jason
Whenever someone told me they were going to Harrisburg or Hershey, Pennsylvania I always piped in “make sure you visit Old Sled Works in Duncannon”! Just a half an hour away from the town known for chocolate and roller coasters, the small town of Duncannon has been the home of Old Sled Works, which was once the Lightning Guider Sled factory – you know, snow sleds? The old ones with wooden slats and steel rails? Really they are works of art that Lightning Guider, made by Standard Novelty Works in Duncannon, began in 1904 and lasted eighty-six years! As sales of snow sleds fell and the rise of imported sleds took over the market in 1990 the factory stopped making sleds and the building was turned into a very large antique market by 1991. It also housed the personal antique collection of owner Jimmy Rosen. Rosen’s family owned the snow sled company since 1968.
But time hasn’t been kind to the factory building, originally built in 1894, and it is in need of significant repairs and many of the employees at the market are ready for retirement. So Mr. Rosen has decided to close the antique market that’s been operating there for over 30 years. Old Sled Works officially closed its doors on December 31st, 2022.
I first visited Old Sled Works in 1997 while I was attending college at Ohio University. Another guy I was in some classes with there, whom I’m still friends with today, let me come back home to stay with his family for a weekend in Pennsylvania. His family lived very close to Old Sled Works and he took me for a visit. On Spring Break a year later we drove through and this time I had my 35mm camera! This place has left a huge lasting impression on me. While I wasn’t as interested in the antique market side (at that time), Mr. Rosen’s personal collection of antiques, penny arcade, electro-mechanical pinball machines, antique cars, vintage signs, and even a soda fountain hit me in the head like a ton of bricks! Being able to save, restore, operate, and just look at and appreciate these old relics of the past has stuck with me ever since. This visit is what started my own obsession with antiques and I walked out of Old Sled Works with my first gumball machine purchased from the market area – and here I am over 25 years later still messing with them, pinball machines, signs, drive-in speakers…
So thank you Jimmy Rosen for what you did with the place and letting regular folks come inside and drop some pennies, nickels, and dimes and being able to play and see amusements that haven’t been seen in decades and even a century! And thank you Jon Halcomb for taking me to see it! Who knew a side trip that spring day in 1997 would have had such a profound effect on me?
Please enjoy some photos that I took at Old Sled Works. Some are from my second visit there in 1998, and others are 19 years later when I took my family there in 2017.
22 Year Old Me during my second visit to Old Sled Works in 1998
Yes... I realized I misspelled "Skee Ball" on my little sign!
This little guy now looks down at me!
"Old Sled Works" in "Duncannon, Pa" in "Perry County" - was the ultimate antique shop and vintage collection display by "Jimmy Rosen". vintage, retro, penny arcade, Pennsylvania, pinball, "peep show", electromechanical, "soda fountain" "game room" gameroom Harrisburg hershey chocolate arcade coins market store "sky Gunner" signs "coke sigs" "coke memorabilia" "coca-cola" fountain "soda jerk" television "antique TV" Bally Gottlieb Williams "skee ball" "skee-ball" "ski ball" "Willow Mill" "Palisades Park" "lightning guider" "snow sled" factory building production "turn of the century" "gumball machine" candy machine" "cigarette machine" stoner Pulver Pepsi "Ford Ranchero" "Duncannon Beverage Co" "Duncannon Beverage Company" Nash "Nash Metro" Jaguar "nash metropolitan" "car collection" "Car Museum" automobile "Kanauga Kool" www.RememberTheDriveIn.com "remember the drive-in" memories farewell goodbye
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Happy New Years 2023!
While I was off for the holiday vacation the past few weeks I finished up this beautiful old Simplex drive-in speaker set. Some of you that might follow me on Facebook or Instagram may have seen me post it just before Christmas. It's a 1950's model Simplex "In-A-Car" speaker set with a beautiful red glow top! Of course, like my other speaker sets this one features a Bluetooth connection, MP3 player, and comes pre-loaded with some fantastic vintage drive-in movie, automobile, soda, snack, gasoline, and other really cool retro ads that brings you right back to the 1950s and 1960s! You can't go wrong with a silver and red combination and this speaker set is going to look killer in someone's game room or shop.
Here is a look at the speaker set in action and some more photos:
simplex drive-in movie speaker set 1950's 1950 50s vintage retro red glow top glo-top silver antique bluetooth "bluetooth drive-in speakers" movie film game room garage car show man cave mancave decor decoration vibe "kanauga kool" www.rememberthedrivein.com "remember the drive-in" yesterday speakers junction box LED new year 2023
It's a BLUE Christmas this year at my house... at least the tree and most of the living room decorations are! I decided to bring my personal drive-in movie speaker set that I keep in my office up for a quick video in front of this year's tree. As I've said in the past, I'm a sucker for blue and I just love the blue glow top on this 1950s Simplex speaker set. Of course, like my other ones it's Bluetooth and has a built in MP3 player loaded with about 18 hours of goodies in it! Here is a video of it in action!
I want to take a moment to thank you guys that have reached out to me this past year regarding speaker sets, gumball machines, and artwork! Some of you bought some things, and I bought some things from some of you guys and it is all very much appreciated! It's amazing that a little hobby and something to do in the spare time can connect so many people from around the world. And speaking of people, it's quite apparent that I have a lot of new people that are coming to visit my website now. It had been a few months since I really took the time to look at my page and visitor stats and WOW has it ever exploded! My blog pages went from a few hundred people looking to thousands, and that simply amazes me. So thank you if you are reading this! I guess I've done something right using the Google Search Console!
This is will probably be my last post for 2022, so Happy Holidays to you all and see you in 2023!
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I've been neglecting my Blog duties... but I have been busy! October is always my family's busiest month because of some birthdays and a fall break from school for my wife (a teacher) and kid. I have gotten some projects done, and one recent project is this beautiful blue and silver Simplex drive-in speaker set sitting on a Motiograph junction box. Like my other drive-in speaker sets it features Bluetooth and MP3, and comes pre-loaded with hundreds of vintage ads from the 1950s and 1960s!
However, (here comes the rant): What the heck has happened to COLORED Hammered paints in a spray can? Honestly, some of it seemed to start before the pandemic, but since then they are just GONE. If you don't know what hammered paint is, look closely at this drive-in speaker set and you see thousands upon thousands of tiny little divots, dings, and deviations in the paint. Almost like it was hit a million times with a tiny hammer! Well, you can find black, bronze, silver, and golds.... but what has happened to COLOR? The dark blue like these speakers, light blues, greens, and reds? Gone! I understand that HAMMERITE brand is no longer sold in the USA, but it is in other countries. But what about Rustoleum or Krylon? Those guys USED to make the paint in colors. Those of us in the drive-in speaker circles, as well as vintage machinery and tractor restoration are REALLY missing the availability of these paints! Someone step up please!
Anyhow, enough ranting! Check out this awesome speaker set that is heading off to live near the beach in Florida tomorrow!
Click here to watch it in action!
www.rememberthedrivein.com hammer hammered paint blue simplex drive-in speaker set bluetooth mp3 vintage krylon rustoleum hammerite kilz silver red blue green dark light restoration kanauga kool
]]>This is the second Texaco themed restoration this month. This time, it's a Sky Chief! Someone way back decided that spray painting this old 60's Acorn brown would be a good idea. Well, I sandblasted all of that off, tore down the coin mech, cleaned and polished all the inside parts and rebuilt it. The body got got a nice bright red and white paint job, and Friday night I made new waterslide Sky Chief decals for the sides and globe. Add some rubber counter top feet on the bottom, and here you have it! Much more fun than... brown.
Click the video below for some Before and After!
Vintage Oak Acorn Gumball Machine with Texaco Sky Chief Gasoline Filling Station Theme Retro Antique Kanauga Kool Remember the drive-in www.RememberTheDriveIn.com 1960s 60's coin flap nickel 5 cent coin mech glass globe vending restoration restored gameroom game room mancave man cave counter office garage shop collector
Just off the bench is this really cool penny Acorn gumball machine that I did a Texaco Fire Chief theme! This 1960's Oak Acorn machine had a pretty ugly lime green and black paint job at some point. All of that was sandblasted away and replaced with red and white! I tore down the penny coin mech, and cleaned, polished, and lubed each internal part for a rebuild. Custom made waterslide decals were made for this machine and applied, then clear coated over. This machine has four rubber feet on the bottom, and has the holes in the base if a stand is ever wanted. I think it turned out great, and it is now sitting among a great vintage Texaco advertising collection!
If you have a vintage Acorn gumball machine and need to know how to refill it or take it apart, please visit THIS PAGE!
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Frankenstein Day is always August 30th and celebrates the birthday of Frankenstein's author Mary Shelley. As I've mentioned before, Frankenstein's Monster has always been one of my favorite monsters since I was a little kid. It's basically a tossup between Creature From the Black Lagoon and Frankenstein's Monster for me! Maybe it's a green thing? To celebrate this year I did a quick time-lapse sketch of a cartoon version of the monster. Click below to see me knock this out in about 20 seconds!
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Kanauga Kool's Summer Review!
Summer 2022 is officially over for me, even if the calendar says otherwise. My wife (a teacher) and son are back in school – always way too early! I remember going back AFTER Labor Day, and really wished that were still the case. But even with the shortened summer break, we tried to make the best of it with some trips and visiting some pretty cool places.
My summer started off with two trips to Pittsburgh for work. I always try to find something interesting while on work trips, be it a roadside attraction or discovering neat place to eat. On one of those Pittsburgh trips I was able to acquire a 1954 Hasting’s Piston Ring clock made by Dualite. It was in pretty rough shape, but the art still looked pretty good for its age. After obtaining a new glass lens and some TLC, this vintage clock is now running above my workbench in my basement. The end of May had us traveling to Knoxville to see Paul McCartney near the end of his American tour. We had nosebleed seats (which you can see by the photo) but we still had a great time!
Then at the beginning of June we flew to Los Angeles for our biggest trip of the summer. I finally got to see the oldest McDonald’s in the world in Downey, CA (built in 1953). Then we spent several hours at The LaBrea Tar Pits, which turned out to be more interesting than I had anticipated. From there we walked over to The Petersen Automotive Museum, then had dinner at Mel’s Drive-In Restaurant in Santa Monica. We swung by Randy’s Donuts in Inglewood on our way back to our next location.
The remainder of the week was three wonderful days at Disneyland and one day spent at Universal. This was our second trip to Disneyland, as Walt Disney World is much closer (580 miles instead of the 2000+ to Anaheim), but honestly I like Disneyland better. I like not having to deal with buses, monorails, boats, & gondolas. Just wake up early, hit rope drop and have a great day! It’s so much simpler. And I like walking where Walt once walked. Universal Studios Hollywood was much nicer than we had anticipated compared to the one in Orlando as well. It made for an easy day that wasn’t all that crowded. And I got to see Frankenstein’s Monsters as well!
As summer progressed we took a trip to Nashville to show some out of town guests southern hospitality and visited The Country Music Hall of Fame, RCA Studio B, The Elliston Place Soda Shop, and the Johnny Cash Museum. The next day we went to Muscle Shoals Sound Studio in Sheffield, AL which I’ve been to several times – both before and after the restoration. It’s a hidden gem in Alabama if you are rock and roll and soul lover! But one of the coolest things to happen this summer was my teenage son finally coming to me and saying he is ready to learn to play guitar!
Several trips to Six Flags of Georgia were taken while making the most of our season pass, and we took my oldest nephew to The World of Coca-Cola in Atlanta. A week later my wife and I continued the “Coke Tour” and drove to the Cedartown Museum of Coca-Cola Memorabilia. That place blew me away and is highly recommended if you are into Coke! And finally, not quite as many drive-in speaker sets were built this summer but I did put together a nice set from the Whitesburg Drive-In that used to operate in Huntsville, Alabama.
So now school is back… and you know what that means? HALLOWEEN!
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Yesterday the wife and I set off for a quick road trip to Cedartown, Georgia to visit the Cedartown Museum of Coca-Cola Memorabilia. For us it was a two hour straight shot to Cedartown, which is a small Georgia town about twenty minutes south of Rome, or a little over one hour northwest of Atlanta. The weather forecast looked to be in our favor - however it was still going to be a scorcher that day as it had been for weeks now. None the less, we packed a small cooler of water and snacks and headed east with Coca-Cola on our minds.
We arrived at the Cedartown Museum of Coca-Cola Memorabilia exactly at opening time and made our way in to the back entrance after parking in their rear parking lot. Immediately upon walking through the doors my eyes started bulging out of my head! This was my kind of place! After speaking with a charming lady at the front desk to pay the very reasonable admission fee, we were on our way with our eyes wide open. So often you go to small hometown museums and they just aren’t up to par! Not the case here. This privately owned Coca-Cola collection on display in the old downtown Cedartown Coca-Cola Bottling Company plant is WORLD CLASS.
Opening in 2016 by the Morris family, the museum displays their collection of thousands of porcelain, steel, and cardboard Coke advertising signs, vending machines, corporate ephemera, toys, hats, more variations of bottle openers than you’ve ever seen, a beautifully ornate Mahogany soda fountain imported from England, Coke bottles, and even a 1926 Ford Model T Coke delivery truck! The great part is there are many placards posted throughout the space giving you insight to what you are looking at and its significance in the story of the Coca-Cola brand and its evolution in marketing throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries. There is also a short looping movie that you can watch regarding Coke, the old bottling plant’s history, this collection, and how some of the items were obtained.
It took us a full two hours to visit everything in this museum and I took hundreds of photos. I’ll only post a few here, because this is one of those places that I can’t recommend enough if you have any interest in Coca-Cola, antiques, vintage advertising, or just want to spend a few nice air conditioned hours inside on a really hot Georgia summer day. The museum is open Thursday-Saturday 10am-3pm EST. You can visit their website at: www.cedartowncokemuseum.org and they can be found on Facebook and Instagram as well.
I also have to take a moment to recommend lunch at Zorba’s Italian & American Cuisine in Cedartown just two minutes from the museum. The nice lady working at the museum recommended it to us and it really hit the spot! We had a great tasting veggie pizza, lasagna, and a salad that was reasonably priced with a very attentive and friendly wait staff. You can’t go wrong! You can find Zorba’s on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/zorbas.restaurant.cedartown
The former Cedartown Coca-Cola Bottling Plant, now home to the museum.
Lunch at Zorba's was fantastic!
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This isn't really much of a blog post, but in an effort to get me back to making more regular posts I figured I'd share a little art from this past weekend. Simply put, I've been in a bit of a funk this year and haven't drawn much. Last Saturday it was a yucky day outside so I forced myself to put pencil to paper. On my phone I keep notes for whenever some sort of drawing idea, lyric, or line pops into my head so that I won't forget it since it seems my short term memory has been shot to hell anymore! Saturday I scrolled through that and this idea came up from about two years ago - Yogi Bear quoting a line from Prince's 'When Doves Cry'. You know our old friend Yogi always has a rumbling stomach from his perpetual hunger!
So there it is. This is what it sounds like when bears cry. NOW... I've got to get back to drawing MORE!
My pencil sketch of our two friends Yogi and Boo Boo Bear.
This is what it sounds like when bears cry. This is what it sounds like when doves cry. Hanna-Barbera classic cartoon Yogi and Boo Boo Bear mashed up with Prince, with the lyrics from When Dove's Cry. Art by Kanauga Kool.
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So I decided to do another Whitesburg Drive-In set! This time I went with a short table top stand and added some color - bright red and hammered silver! This set really pops and would look awesome with someone's retro decor. The Whitesburg Drive-In Theatre was a long gone drive-in that went up in flames in a controlled burn in 1980 in Huntsville, Alabama. You can read about the other set that I did from there by clicking HERE.Just like the other set, this one consists of original vintage Koropp speakers from the Whitesburg sitting on a Soundmaster junction box, which is what they used at that location. The short stand makes it easy to place on a table top, counter, office desk, or workbench. Like all of my other drive-in speaker restorations it also has Bluetooth and a built in MP3 player and is pre-loaded with over 100 pre-loaded vintage drive-in theater ads, gasoline ads, vintage automobile ads, soda ads, and even some classic B-movie trailers with the flip of a switch! It has been went through completely inside and out and has all new wiring, speaker drivers, potentiometers, and electronics!
If you are interested in this speaker set, it is available (as of 6/29/2022). Email me at [email protected] for more information on it, or any other speaker sets that I have available to purchase.
CLICK BELOW TO WATCH THIS SPEAKER SET IN ACTION!
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I've been reading rumors the past few weeks that Universal Studios' Classic Monsters Cafe at Universal Studios Florida would be shutting its doors forever and it would be re-themed in the near future. It looks like this is the case, unfortunately. Apparently the doors have been closed and it is said that it will be turned into a Minion themed restaurant, most likely to coincide with the Minion ride that will replace the old Shrek 3D. While I don't really have anything against The Minions, it's really sad to see what little representation there is of the old Universal Studios' Monsters - you know the monsters that pretty much saved the studio during the depression?
Universal Studios Florida is currently building "Universal's Epic Universe" a few miles down the road from the current park. A Super Nintendo World is being constructed as part of it, and supposedly they are planning a Universal Monsters "World". I sincerely HOPE that the CLASSIC monsters of Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, Boris Karloff, Lon Chaney Jr, Ben Chapman, Riccou Browning, Claude Rains, & Glenn Strange will be properly represented with the recognition they deserve! And how about some HITCHCOCK there as well? I know most kids these days have no idea who these people are, but some people's kids do (like yours truly!). I just hope they do this RIGHT if they are going pillage what's left of the old Universal at the other parks.
So sadly, farewell to the Classic Monsters Cafe! I hope we see these Kreeps again! Thanks for the memories!
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Speaker Set from Huntsville, Alabama
Here is a blast from Huntsville, Alabama's past! These are original Koropp speakers from the long gone Whitesburg Drive-In Movie Theatre in Huntsville, Alabama, which operated from 1949 to 1979 and was brought down in a controlled burn in 1980! These speakers were in very rough shape, but have been completely restored inside and out and now sit on a Soundmaster junction box just like they used to back in the day! If you don't know where the Whitesburg was, it's now exactly where Publix stands on the corner of Whitesburg Drive and Airport Road in Huntsville.
Click this video below to see these speakers in action, and some amazing photos of the Whitesburg Drive-In!
The best part about these vintage speakers is they have now been brought into the 21st century and now feature a Bluetooth connection and an MP3 player! So you can simply connect your phone, tablet, or device via Bluetooth and play your favorite music through these vintage speakers - OR listen to the over 100 pre-loaded vintage drive-in theater ads, gasoline ads, vintage automobile ads, soda ads, and even some classic B-movie trailers with the flip of a switch! This set is sitting on a heavy duty steel stand and the insides have all new wiring, speaker drivers, potentiometers, and electronics!
A big thank you to Huntsville Revisited for having a recording of Dewey Webb's end of day closing announcement! Having that on this speaker set makes it even more special! You can watch their video here: https://youtu.be/XCMSS3dQ_SQ
Many of the black and white Whitesburg photos in the slideshow I am going to assume were taken by photographers with the Huntsville Times, but I can't find any solid information on that. They have been shared multiple times through websites, groups, social media, and other outlets over the decades and I'd be happy to give credit if someone can verify them properly.
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These new art prints are fresh off the presses! I'm excited to have two brand new prints and two reprints that I had sold out of before.
First off, my Paul McCartney art print is a new one and I'm super excited as I had just got tickets one of his upcoming shows right after the print arrived from the printers! Paul was hand drawn my me and colored with Copic and Micron markers, with a digital background. I wanted to capture an animation style visualization of him on The Ed Sullivan Show! So of course, I have him holding his trusty Hofner Violin bass in the spotlight.
Second is my 'King Wiener" art that you may have seen in other forms before. If you know me, it's no secret that I like Hot Dogs and Elvis, and I can just imagine this guy rocking out on your local drive-in movie screen telling you to head to the snack bar!
Next is my 'Deputy Limpet' art. This is a mashup drawing of the late, great Don Knotts as Barney Fife and The Incredible Mr. Limpet - two of his iconic characters! I'll probably write more about this drawing in another blog entry later, but this piece was done by hand with Copic markers.
And finally, the amazing Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha Stevens in the classic 1960's comedy 'Bewitched', but with a Harry Potter twist - wearing her Gryffindor colors! This is a slightly different reprint than from before. A few years back I did this piece without the moon and on textured Torchon paper and much smaller.
All of these prints measure 11"x14" and have been professionally printed on a 0.43mm thick, hot pressed, 100% cotton smooth matte art paper. They will look great matted and framed up! Each print is $25 with free shipping (Continental USA Only) and to order one, just send me a message at [email protected]
And please check out my ART SHOP page to see other original drawings and art prints that I have for sale!
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With Quick Draw McDraw, The Flintstones, The Smurfs, & More!
A look back at some VHS footage from a trip to Kings Dominion Amusement Part in Virginia from July of 1989! This footage was shot with a Panasonic video camcorder back before auto-stabilization and of course on VHS so bear with the quality. While doing some research on its sister theme park Kings Island in Ohio, I found this clip in my VHS archives. This was my only trip to Kings Dominion. I returned in the early 2000's and made it as far as the parking lot and gave up from a massive storm that brewed and was going to last all day. Hopefully I'll get to return soon, but I have to admit I'm still a bit sore with my old Hanna-Barbera friends being gone from Kings Dominion, Kings Island, and Carowinds!
Seen on these clips are: - Hanna-Barbera's Quick Draw McGraw - The Old Dominion Line Train Ride - Fred Flintstone, Barny Rubble, and Dino - Smurf Mountain - The Rebel Yell roller coaster (now Racer 75) - Avalanche (Now Reptilian) - The old Shockwave roller coaster - The original "Singing Mushrooms'! - The Sea Lion Show
Enjoy!
Kanauga Kool
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& Vintage Gulf Service Station in Waco, TX
This is a Gulf themed drive-in speaker set that I just recently finished up. It's not the first Gulf themed set I've done, but ever since my road trip through Texas last year I've been wanting to do another one. In Waco, I visited the historic Gulf service station located 1425 Washington Avenue. What a cool looking place! It was originally built in 1929 and was restored in 2014. Nobody was there when I stopped (it was a weekend), so I snapped a few photos and had my wife take one of me. If you ever make it out to Waco, Texas, make sure you drive out to check this great looking gasoline station out!
The last set of Bluetooth Gulf themed speakers I did had a "That Good Gulf Gasoline" decal on the base, which was painted white. This time I wanted the color to POP more so I opted for a solid orange base and the navy blue ring. The orange circular base just makes since, considering Gulf's orange disc logo and signs. I think it turned out really well! Like my other sets, this in Bluetooth enabled, has an MP3 player, and comes loaded with over 100 vintage adds from the 50's and 60's - including a dozen different Gulf Gasoline commercials!
Click below is a video of the speaker set in action!
Finally, a few more photos from the Historic Gulf Gasoline Station in Waco, Texas!
And finally, one with ME!
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This is a vintage Silver King penny gumball machine that I had in the shop this week. This particular model came out like this in 1946 and were a hammered blue, silver, or red paint (if it had a heater for warm peanuts). I have a hammered blue one that takes nickels in my living room at home, and it happens to be one of my favorite models! Even though the yellow paint isn't original, it has been on there for a very long time and the new owners wanted to keep the original patina on it so it would still look old. Interestingly, the yellow almost favors the color of the slightly older version of the Silver King machine that was porcelain instead of paint!
If you watch my video below, the inside was pretty nasty and I know I wouldn't eat anything that came though that! So I opted for a partial restoration where everything on the inside was redone, but everything external was left alone to keep that vintage vibe! This resulted in a lot of masking off of parts, but it turned out well. There were also some broken and missing pieces that had to be sourced, as well as getting the correct decal for the globe. It turned out to be a fun little job and I really hope I get lucky enough to come across some more Silver Kings to do some more!
Watch the restoration video below!
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A recent visit to the historic Schimpff's Confectionery - a fourth generation family owned confectionery, candy store, soda fountain, & early American candy manufacturing museum located in Jeffersonville, Indiana, just across the Ohio River from Louisville, KY. Situated just across the river from Louisville, Kentucky, this iconic shop in downtown Jeffersonville is home to 131 years of candy making tradition!
A recent visit (1/13/2022) by myself and my father found fourth generation owners Jill & Warren Schimpff making a fresh batch of Cinnamon Red Hots! After a demonstration of the candy making process, Mr. Schimpff guided us throughout his store giving us an in-depth tour of his world class collection of early American candy manufacturing memorabilia! This amazing and beautiful collection consists of thousands upon thousands of vintage signs, tins, glass containers, industry related ephemera, toys, trinkets, candy boxes, decorations, and candy vending machines! Afterwards, we racked up sackfuls of handmade sweets and candies for our ride and confectionery gifts for those waiting back home!
My short video does not do this charming slice of American justice! There is so much to see! If you get anywhere near Louisville, KY, do yourself a favor and drop by for a visit and be prepared to step back in time and enjoy the tasty treats concocted by the Schimpff family! Visit them at online at www.schimpffs.com or see them in person at:
347 Spring Street Jeffersonville, IN 47130
(812) 283-836
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First of all, a Happy New Year! Hopefully 2022 can be brighter than the past two taxing years that the world has seen!
And speaking of taxing...
I've decided to remove most of my art from eBay and start selling the majority of it through my website here. Sure, I don't have a "Buy It Now" button but I am usually pretty quick to respond to any inquiry or comment unless its the middle of the night and I'm asleep! I've been an eBay seller since 1999 and the after past two years I've about had my fill. It's simply too complicated anymore to sell a friggin' drawing. And changing their payment methods (both in and out) were the final straw. And I'm pretty confident they shadow ban listings after you quit paying them to promote your listings! Etsy and Reverb (for music gear) isn't much better, honestly. So anyhow...
I now have a NEW page on here to sell my artwork directly to you. This new gallery shows you exactly what drawings I currently have for sale, and each description tells a little about the piece, how I created it, the price (with free shipping), and you can communicate directly with me! Usually I can get a drawing out to the Post Office the same day or next! (At this time I'm still doing only continental USA shipping, only.)
So please, take a look at my current art offerings for sale HERE and if you see something you'd like for yourself or as a gift email me at [email protected]! And as always, you can email me there for my current in-stock selections of Bluetooth drive-in movie speaker restorations for sale!
Have a safe and Happy New Year!
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Thank you for a great 2021 and for the fantastic turnout I've had for the first full year of this version of my website. I approached building this site last year as sort of an experiment. Because of the lack of car shows that season from Covid, I thought this would be a better (and safer) outlet to show off some of my work and possibly make a few sales on the side. If I had known how well it would have worked for me I would have done it much sooner. So, thank you so much to all of you that have stopped by to look at my art, speaker sets, and read my ramblings on vintage and antique things! And a very special thanks to those of you that took your time to comment, email me, and purchase some of my work! It is much appreciated.
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,
Jason
Please enjoy this vintage Christmas Texaco Jet Fuel Toy Truck commercial from 1968 below.
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Ever since I can remember I've had a fascination with Halloween. I'm sure like most kids Halloween, Christmas, and their birthdays were probably the most important days of the year! Well, I had (HAVE?) this penchant for liking candy, particularly anything chocolate that doesn't have raisins in it! And growing up in the suburbs outside of Columbus, Ohio gave me ample opportunities for memorable Trick-or-Treat trips of filling and refilling my orange plastic pumpkin with the best loot that Woolworth's, Big Bear, Harts, Gold Circle, or Kroger's could offer!
I get it naturally. On both sides of the family Halloween was a big deal. Both of my grandmother's actively participated in dressing up and giving out treats in their homes. I lived with my paternal grandmother while going to college and I'll never forget the first year I was with her coming downstairs and there she was - dressed like a witch with black lipstick and heavy orange eye shadow on! What a great surprise! And my other grandmother just a few miles away was well known for her great tasting popcorn balls that she gave out year after year to the roaming trick-or-treaters. I'm hoping to give making them a shot in a few weeks myself, as my Aunt was nice enough to share the hand written recipe with me.
Luckily, my family was no stranger to taking photos and that is what leads me to this post. Last year while doing some digging I came across these fantastic images of a Halloween party that my mother put on for school kids while she was a teen. This was part of a Home Economics project. I just love these photos on many levels - it's the old home of my maternal grandparents that I have fond memories of, the fantastic costumes (especially the Ben Cooper masks!), and the vintage Biestle and Dennison cardboard Halloween decorations that are adorning the walls in the background. Spooky stuff!
The following photos are from a 1972 Halloween party, some trick or treaters in 1974, and then a few various ads from the local paper from the long gone store G. C. Murphy's in Gallipolis, Ohio, where my family often shopped back then.
Love the Ben Cooper Costumes! I still have the little Jack-O-Lantern witch Gurley Candle on the
left top bookself (and its mate) with my decorations now.
The hanging decoration between the moon and the owl in the back looks kind of like "The Crimson Ghost" to me!
Both Gurley brand Halloween candle are seen here. Fantastic cardboard Halloween decorations! I love the owl on the right!
A good look at the art on the Ben Cooper Bullwinkle costume.
Trick-Or-Treat 1974: Batman, Frankenstein's Monster, The Wolfman, and others!
The following are from two of the local newspapers out of Gallipolis, Ohio. The ads are for the long gone G.C. Murphy store.
From 10/19/1950 (Gallipolis Dialy Tribune)
From 10/22/1953 (Gallipolis Daily Tribune)
10/22/1967 (Gallipolis Times Sentinel)
From 10/27/1949 (Gallipolis Daily Tribune)
My "Home Sweet Stone" artwork is now available as a fine art print! Perfect for the person that has been living under a rock, or is a big fan of a particular modern Stone Age family! Or maybe they just like decorating their home with inspirational quotes? Either way, this print will have you covered as this hand drawn and inked artwork (inspired by the home of Fred & Wilma Flintstone) has been professionally made into a smooth matte fine art print measuring 12” x 12” or 8" x 8" on 100% acid free, pH neutral art paper, with archival pigment inks.
12" prints are $25, 8" prints are $20. Paypal payment & continental USA shipping only, please.
Contact me [email protected] about purchasing a print, or visit my eBay page to purchase these prints and others, as well as original art.
The Flintstones are one of my all time favorite animated shows of all time. If you've seen my other artwork, you know I'm often inspired by them! I had the idea of "Home Sweet Stone" in my head for awhile. In fact, the font for the "Stone" is based off of an earlier work I did in 2018 called "Kool House Rock" that featured Rat Fink mixed in with the old 'School House Rock" logo. Earlier this year I finally put the pen to paper, as my original intentions were to display this in my new house. One thing that came up while drawing was HOW to draw the Flintstone's house/cave! There are about 30 different versions of the house over the initial six seasons, and even multiple versions in back to back episodes! Then you've got movie projects, later TV projects, books, comics.... anyhow, there is a LOT of source material. So I just went off of a basic shape that I liked, and embellished it from there. This is probably the closest to the Season 1-3 openers, and also looks like what the Funko company based their recent POP! version from.
Anyhow, I was happy with the finished product and decided to make some prints of it in case anyone wants one for their home as well!
@Kanauga_Kool, Barney, Bedrock, Betty, "Cave Painting", Dino, Flintstone, "Flintstone House", Flintstones, Fred, "Fred Flintstone", Hanna-Barbera, Home, Home, "Home Sweet Stone", "J. Lisle", "Kanauga Kool", Pebbles, "Remember The Drive-In", Rock, Stone, Sweet, TV, "The Flintstones", Wilma, "Wilma Flintstone", animation, art, "art for sale", brushes, "by artist", cartoon, cave, caveman, cavewoman, classic, copic, "fan art", "fine art", frame, framing, home, house, markers, micron, pens, prehistoric, print, purchase, rememberthedrivein.com, retro, tombow, vintage
]]>This past summer my family and I had a fantastic road trip through Texas. One of the highlights for me was checking off a bucket list by visiting The Dr. Pepper Museum in Waco, Texas. You see, I LOVE Dr. Pepper. I often call it "The Nectar of the gods". And since I get all nerdy when it comes to vintage signs, advertising, vehicles... well, you mix in my favorite soft drink and I'm retro-nerd heaven! I took a BUNCH of photos, and went ahead an made a slideshow below. If you've like Dr. Pepper or have an interest in the history of sodas, and are into history and amazing advertisement relics like me, then I HIGHLY recommend you stop at The Dr. Pepper Museum when you are in or near Waco, Texas. Or heck, just make it the purpose of your trip. You won't be disappointed! These photos in my video just scratch the surface of what this place has to show you!
Visit the Museum's website HERE!
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Yep, August 30th is National Frankenstein Day, which is celebrated on Mary Shelley's birthday each year. I haven't drawn much this past summer, but Frankenstein's monster is one of my favorite muses, so I had to do something new for the day! I grabbed some sharpies and tried something that is a bit different from what I usually do This red, yellow, & green piece you see I call "Franken-Go!" is the result! Below is a little bit of the process before I colored it in Photoshop.
Like I said above, Frankenstein has always been a muse for me. Here is some of my other past "Frankenstein" art!
A returning customer recently wanted a restored gumball machine from me, but with a twist - he wanted it to look like the Acorn gumball machine that actor late actor Buddy Ebsen used on The Andy Griffith Show!
I eagerly took up the challenge. Well, really, there wasn't much of a challenge considering it was pretty much just a stock looking late 1950's era Oak Acorn gumball machine! But, it did have a peculiar 1 cent decal placement in the globe. More on that shortly. I did have to do my research on the machine, which consisted of re-watching episode 6 from Season 2 ("Opie's Hobo Friend") of possibly the greatest television show in history! But this time I had a more watchful eye on the scenes with the gumball machine. For those that don't know (or remember), this particular episode from 1961 features guest star Buddy Ebsen just before being cast as Jed Clampett in The Beverly Hillbillies. Buddy portrays a drifter named "Dave Browne" that befriends Ron Howard's "Opie" who becomes enamored with Dave's hobo lifestyle. There is a pivotal scene where Dave shows Opie how he doesn't have to pay for a gumball if he knows the magic word - TUSCARORA!
So here are some facts about the episode, and a few questions left lingering in my mind. The Andy Griffith Show was filmed in Culver City, California. That's also the location of The Oak Manufacturing Company (makers of the Acorn gumball machine) at that time! The machine in question is actually two machines on a double headed stand, and it appears the second machine may have trinkets in it. But the right sided machine with gumballs is the one used in the scenes. So I am wondering if these machines were brought over from OAK for the episode, or just props from the studio prop department? Heck, they could have had dozens to hundreds of them in prop storage for other shows and films. And that leads me to the odd decal placement that I mentioned earlier - why was it so dang high on the glass globe? I've had hundreds of Acorn gumball machines run though my shop, and many appeared to have the original decal on them. I've never seen one places SO HIGH on the globe! Was this a decision by the studio or director to have a clearer shot of the gumballs in the scene? Or was it just a sloppily applied decal from the factory? Note, that the trinket machine on the left side of the stand also has the really high placement as well from other angles in the scene.
Anyhow, I had a great late 1950's era Acorn machine (tear drop chute) that was going to be perfect for this restoration. The paint wasn't bad, but it was two shades of red. The coin mech was fair. But best of all, it had the thick, original embossed Acorn glass globe that is so sought after now. No cracks or chips! Just a great machine that is going to give this guy years and years of great service for he and his family. I did apply the water slide 1 cent decal way high on the globe like the one from the show, and I decided to paint it red. Of course, the original show is black and white, but red seemed like the best educated guess considering almost all of them came out of the factory that color and because of the factory's close location to the studio.
Below are some photos of the finished gumball machine and some photos during the restoration. Also, be sure to check out my past gumball machine restorations by clicking HERE!
Acorn Gumball Machine, Acorn Machine, Andy Griffith, Andy Taylor, Barney Fife, Before, Buddy Ebsen, Deputy, Don Knotts, Hobo, Jed Clampett, Kanauga, Kanauga Kool, Mayberry, Oak Acorn Gumball, Oak vending, Opie, Opie Taylor, Opie's Hobo Friend, Remember the Drive-In, Ron Howard, Ronnie Howard, Sheriff, Staring, The Andy Griffith Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Tuscarora, antique, decal, drifter, drive-in, embossed, episode 6 Season 2, gum, gumball, gumball machine, gumball machine restoration, gumball restoration, machine, magic, old, penny, red, retro Blog, vagrant, vintage, www.rememberthedrivein.com
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I finished this Bluetooth & MP3 drive-in speaker set up this past week and really like how they came out. These are vintage SPECO CBX Mark II speakers that were made in Kansas City. I went with a two-toned blue color of light hammered blue with dark navy blue accents and think they turned out pretty well. Like my other sets, these have built in Bluetooth connectivity, a built in MP3 player pre-loaded with several dozen classic drive-in, gasoline, and automobile ads, and can run either plugged into the wall or off two hidden 9 volt batteries inside it. This set is currently for sale, and I have others as well. If you are interested in this set (or any other) please contact me for pricing and more information!
Click below for a video!
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While roadtripping through Texas, my family stopped at The Roadside America Museum, in Hillsboro, Texas. It's an old Ford dealership that is slap full of vintage advertising, antiques, signs, vintage cars, and of course statues and displays that you would see on the roadside in America from the 1930s through the 1960s! It’s a private collection owned by Carroll Estes, and it is simply amazing! These photos simply do not do it justice. Visit Mr. Estes' site at www.roadsideamericatx.com
Watch the video below!
"212 East Elm Street", America, Big, "Bob's Big Boy", "Carroll Estes", Chevy, Cola, Collection, Dealership, "Elm Street Rod Run", Ford, "Frisch's Big Boy", Goodyear, "Hamm's", Hillsboro, "Kip's Big Boy", Large, McDonald, Museum, RC, Road, Roadside, "Roadside America Museum", Ronald, Side, TX, Texas, Tour, "World Class", antique, automobile, big, boy, car, "car Show", coke, cooler, corvette, drive-in, grapette, jukeboxes, kanauga, kool, old, "remember the drive-in", retro, sings, "soda fountain", statues, vintage, www.RememberTheDriveIn.com, www.rememberthedrivein.com
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These Canadian made drive-in movie speakers were stamped 1957 inside, have been paired to the correct Hammond junction box, and now feature Bluetooth connectivity for your music, an MP3 player, and is pre-loaded with several dozen vintage drive-in, automobile, and gas station advertisements from the 50's and 60's! Hammond is an over century old manufacturing company based in Guelph, Ontario that today focuses on electronic equipment and devices. Heck, I have a few Hammond transformers in some of my guitar amps! You can visit their webpage by clicking HERE.
Check out this video of these speakers in action!
This speaker set has been sold, but often I have others for sale. Contact me at [email protected] for more information. Also, look here to read more about my drive-in speaker restorations!
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This decades old vintage Oak Acorn gumball machine now features a great new Pepsi Cola theme featuring Pepsi & Pete - The Pepsi Cola Cops! Watch the video below for more images of this great looking gumball machine. This machine is headed to a new home in Texas!
Hope you Dads have a great day today! Here is a vintage Father's Day drive-in intermission ad played through a 1954 Simplex drive-in speaker set!
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This old tube radio has not worked in 65 years - until now. This was the first item that my paternal grandparent's bought together when they were married in 1941. It’s a Silvertone model 1771 purchased from Sears & Roebuck. Thanks to the amazing work by "The Amp Guy" in Cullman, Alabama, it’s been brought back to life! The short wave band is particularly fun at night as I’ve listened to Radio Havana, Slovakia, the Middle East, Singapore... and even my Grandparent’s AM band WSAZ preset (now WRVC) in Huntington, West Virginia from 400 miles away! The world at the twist of a knob.
Yes, brought to you by the mysterious people that officially make things like "National Donut Day" and "National Spork Day", June 6th brings us National Drive-In Movie Day! This day celebrates the opening date of the FIRST drive-in movie theater in Camden, New Jersey on 6/6/1933! My family tried to celebrate last night by going to the drive-in, but mother nature had other plans with torrential downpours. So while we were packed, ready, and driving to the drive-in theater we had to make an executive decision on the way there and head to an AMC Movie Theater to see A Quiet Place Part II.
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This past week I traveled to the campus of Wallace State Community College to visit the Evelyn Burrow Museum that currently hosts the "Country Music Legends Rediscovered Exhibition" - on display from May 4, 2021 to August 31, 2021. This exhibition prominently features stage clothing, costumes, and memorabilia from classic country artists like George Jones, Buck Owens, Roy Acuff, Barbara Mandrell, and many more.
This impressive collection is privately owned by country singer-songwritter Coby Greer and is generously displayed for free of charge. As you walk through the exhibit you'll find placards giving information about the particular artist and their life, the piece on display, and a QR code you can scan with your smart phone and listen to music by the artist. Greer's collection focuses on what many would call "classic country", artists from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and into the 1980s, when the performers were "Flashy, not Trashy." And speaking of "Flash" if you know about famous clothing tailor Nudie Cohen and his flamboyant sequenced and rhinestone-covered suits, you'll be happy to know that there are several of these one of a kind pieces on display! Personally, I was happy to see a displays on Hank Snow, Roy Acuff, and Buck Owens! Visiting this exhibit is a great way to remember these classic country artists, celebrate Americana, and learn something about the history of country music.
This exhibit runs from May 4, 2021 to August 31, 2021 at the Evelyn Burrow Museum on the campus of Wallace State Community College, Hanceville, Alabama. There is free admission, is wheelchair accessible, and easy and convenient drop off and free parking. For more information call (256) 352-8457 or visit www.burrowmuseum.org. Also visit www.cobygreermusic.com to visit and listen to music by singer-songwriter and collection owner Cody Greer.
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Here is a fun old Memorial Day ad that I pre-load on my restored drive-in movie theater speakers. Bur first, if you haven't read my previous post about Memorial Day, please do so by clicking HERE.
This is a Projected Sound drive-in speaker set with it's original Projected Sound junction box and baskets. These speakers and J-box originally came from The Kanauga Drive-In Theatre just outside of Gallipolis, Ohio, along side the Ohio River. It's no longer there, but if you are new to my page that is where I got the 'Kanauga" from in my name! Anyhow, this speaker set has been restored and now features a built in MP3 player loaded with all kinds of vintage audio goodies like what you hear below, and of course with Bluetooth you can listen to anything you want from your cellphone or tablet as well! Enjoy!
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As I'm writing this it is the middle of Memorial Day weekend 2021. I had a great time Saturday with family, and that should continue throughout the rest of Sunday and Monday as well. I had been thinking about what to post for the holiday and I had two things come to mind. One was a quick Memorial Day Drive-In Speaker video that I made Friday morning, but before that something much more important - why we (at least in the U.S.) have Monday off!
Earlier this week I was driving near the town I grew up in and saw a fireworks stand open and selling fireworks. Usually, where I live they are only open July 4th and before New Years. Heck, when I was a kid they didn't even sell them at New Years! But this weekend? Come on. I feel like it's disrespectful and takes away from why we pause to honor those soldiers that gave the greatest sacrifice. Apparently there are some that disagree.
On my mind this weekend are memories from this photo below:
I took these images almost thirty years ago. In fact, it was Monday June 17th, 1991 when I was fortunate enough to visit the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in Normandy, France with a group of fellow high school classmates. I was 15 and it was my first time out of the country. We had a blast gallivanting through France! Around this past Christmastime I realized that my trip's 30 year anniversary would be coming up so I started scanning old photos, looking over trip brochures, notes that I had taken, and started to piece together each day of the trip and memories into digital documentation. Luckily, I have a good friend that lives in France that was there to help my with translations and recognize sites that I hadn't labeled on the back of photos! As I processed the memories of this trip a few events and sites really stood out - How excited I was to see Notre Dame, the amazement and beauty of Le Mont St. Michel, how impressive the Bayeux Tapestry was, and all of those crosses! CROSSES! I still am awestruck at all of those white marble crosses and stars of Davids! Over 9,000 at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial. It was very powerful image to a kid 30 years ago and it even means more to me today.
So here I am at 5am just a few weeks shy of a thirty year mark of seeing this battlefield and cemetery, exactly one week before the 77th anniversary of D-Day, and in the middle of Memorial Day weekend. So this weekend please remember those ALL the brave American soldiers that didn't get to come home to see their Mom's and Dad's and siblings again. Remember those that fell and left widows at home and children without a Daddy. We truly owe so much to them. So while you are swimming, grilling, going to a car show, or the drive-in this long weekend please take the time to remember them and how fortunate we are because of their sacrifice. Thank you.
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I've mentioned in the past how fortunate I was that my Grandparents kept a lot of "stuff". For a guy like me that has always had an interest in history it's pretty much a treasure trove! Last year I was digging though one of my late paternal grandmother's scrapbooks and found a receipt for a 1936 Ford! This original receipt was dated June 22, 1939 and was the first car that my Grandpa bought. He was 20 years old and traded in a '31 Pontiac - but I don't quite know the history in that car. I'm told that this Tudor was the first that he purchased himself. For those of you that are in to automotive ephemera, you might find this receipt from Ford dealer R.V. Ebersbach of Middleport, Ohio interesting.
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I live in a climate where most of our drive-in theaters stay open year round. Normally, that's a great thing but the past year or more it hasn't been with very little releases coming out due to Covid-19. Heck, my family probably went to the regular movie theater 2-3 times a month - plus drive-in showings. Much more during the summer releases. But thankfully Warner Bros. decided to do a theatrical release of Godzilla vs. Kong this past weekend! My family was really looking forward to seeing this at the drive-in. We didn't have high hopes for Oscar caliber acting from the lizard and the monkey, but we wanted something big, dumb, and fun! It delivered.
Hopefully we will get more new first run movies to watch, but I really hope the drive-ins stick with the nostalgic movies that kept them afloat from last year. Seeing movies like Back to the Future, Gremlins, Jaws, American Graffiti, and Grease again was so much fun! I wish my theater would step back into the catalogs even further and show Hitchcock, Universal Monsters, or some film noir of the late '30s into the '50s! But I live in a pretty rural place, so if they ever did that my son and I would probably be the only ones there! My wife probably wouldn't come either. LOL!
Welcome back to the Drive-In Theater!
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Much to the chagrin of my family, when I’m on a road trip I’m going to stop at some pretty kitschy stuff! Yes - I am a sucker for a tourist trap! But sometimes these “traps” are deceiving and you end up getting much more than you expect – like an out of this world breakfast at the Flying Saucer Restaurant in Niagara Falls, Canada!
You can’t miss this place. Look at that sign! Look at the twin flying saucer shaped buildings! Isn’t that amazing? Found on Lundy’s Lane this Flying Saucer themed building as been serving great food in the same location now for over forty years. It started with one flying saucer, but more capacity was needed so a twin ship landed later!
We stopped and had a great breakfast as we were leaving Niagara Falls a few summers back as we headed out to do more road tripping in beautiful Canada. My son and I had the E.T. Special, which is way more food than we should eat – but hey, it’s vacation! I say patronize wonderful places like these rather than visiting the same run of the mill fast food places that you’d do at home! You’re on vacation, so you want to try something new, something different – and a McMuffin isn’t it! The Flying Saucer Restaurant IS something different and it’s an experience you won’t forget! Oh… and don’t forget to visit The Falls while you are there, too!
www.flyingsaucerrestaurant.com
What a Beautiful Sign!
Very cool looking inside!
Nerd alert!
Folks come visit from all over!
I had the E.T. Special.
Niagara Falls is simply stunning!
One of the first things I do when I get an old drive-in movie speaker with a name stamped or embossed on it is Google where it may have possibly come from. It’s amazing how far some of these have strayed from home, especially if it’s one you’ve found “in the wild” and not bought online. This particular speaker I acquired by meeting a man at a gas station not far from where I live. I had a hunch about where it was from, but what I didn’t expect was the rabbit hole that would follow after starting to research it!
Right off the bat, the speaker is an odd ball. It’s not from a manufacturer that I’m familiar with at all. The casting on the rear says “Cryer Speaker Service, Birmingham, Ala”. Searching for that company came to a dead end – nothing. It’s possible that it was cast in Birmingham, Alabama, as the casting process wasn’t uncommon in the Steel City of the South. Then again, if could have been cast anywhere and “Cryer Speaker Service” just had enough made that it was feasible to have their name put in the mold. I know this speaker was from the 50’s, possibly even the late 40’s, so other than a trip to the courthouse for records or possibly The Birmingham Public Library this little mystery will probably be unsolved.
What isn’t a mystery is where it was from – The Ranch Drive-In Theatre in Hartselle, Alabama. This is where I saw the rabbit hole and decided to jump in. Hartselle is a beautiful old town of about 15,000 people that has a fantastic downtown area with some cool antique shops and neat places to eat – one of which will most likely be a place that I write about in the future. It’s also close enough to me that I know a few people from there, and this led me to calling a friend of mine’s father who used to run around there as a young man. When I asked him if he remembered the Ranch Drive-In I could “hear” him perk up over the phone line as he began to tell me about it, and how he and the neighborhood kids would all pile into the bed of a pickup truck for $1 a car movie night! He even started to tell me exactly where it was, and what was there now. And after looking on Google Maps, you can still make out where this theater once stood.
The Ranch Drive-In Theatre, with it’s “Texas Ranch” motif for the sign and decorated concession stand, opened for business Tuesday August 5th 1952 after being built by local businessman Hubert Mitchell. The first movie shown that night was the western “The Lady from Texas” staring Howard Duff, Mona Freeman, and Josephine Hull. The opening night of the theater was a success with a sold out crowd of 450 cars – and thousands of cars reportedly being turned away! The mayor of Hartselle John Burleson and Mr. Mitchell gave a speech and then there was a fireworks presentation.
Like the rest of the country, Alabama had its fair share of drive-in movie theaters built during the boom of the 1950s. I can think of seven that I know of in my head on US-31 within a 50 mile stretch alone. I’m sure there were even more. Of course, none of those exist any longer. While researching The Ranch Drive-In, I also came across some interesting information regarding owner Mr. Hubert Mitchell.
Hubert Mitchell had owned a theatrical staging company in Hartselle making stage rigging, props, draperies, backdrops that was named after himself (eventually becoming United Stage Equipment) since the late 1920s. He also ended up owning some other theaters and a diner as well. Apparently as a boy he had built his own airplane by studying photographs and successfully flew it - having never seen one in person! He claimed to have found a 90 year old Jesse James ‘Alive!’ in a prison, got him out, and took him on a promotional tour. But, even more interestingly was his involvement and eventual purchase of the Bobbi-Kar automobile and how it became known as the Keller Car company after WWII. Mr. Mitchell was the main financial backer of this little known car company that planned to make small family cars for just under $850 each in Huntsville, Alabama by utilizing his furniture factory that had been building seats for airplanes and other transports for the war effort. Keller Cars has its very own fascinating history. Only 18 cars are believed to have ever been produced with only THREE surviving to this day! For more details about Mr. Mitchell and Keller Cars, please refer to my notes below for two fantastic sources that go into much more depth and detail.
Back to The Ranch Drive-In, for years it was a staple in the community, but it found itself having financial issues in the late 60s and started playing movies that weren’t exactly coming out of the brightest spots of Hollywood. Like other drive-ins at the time, The Ranch would show more risqué adult and sexploitation movies to make a profit. At the same time, Alabama Governor Albert Brewer started to enforce a 1907 Alabama obscenity law and began shutting down drive-in’s showing X-rated movies. July 9th, 1969 The Ranch was raided by State Investigators and the Morgan County Sheriff’s office during a showing of “The Shanty Tramp”. Headlines were made across the state as the theater manager at the time was arrested and eventually convicted of “Failure to abate a nuisance which tends, or threatens the health of its citizens in general or corrupt the public moral” as well as possession of an obscene film, showing an obscene movie, and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Within two years after the raid it was announced that new apartments and townhouses would be built where the Ranch Drive-In was located. So after 20 years, The Ranch Drive-In Theatre was no more. Today, Spanish Trace Apartments is where the drive-in once stood.
Notes and Credits:
Thank you to Mr. Jimmy Blackwood for talking to me over the phone about The Ranch Drive-In and old Hartselle, Alabama.
If you want to read more about Keller Cars and Hubert Mitchell, please visit these two fantastic websites:
https://www.huntsvillerewound.com/HSVkellercar.htm
https://www.makesthatdidntmakeit.com/keller
Lisby, Carroll. “Mitchell’s Dream To Come True With Drive-In Opening.” The Decatur Daily, August 3, 1952.
“Mitchell Pleased With Drive-In Opening.” The Decatur Daily, August 7, 1952.
Turner, Winford. “Ranch Drive-In Closed During Statewide Raid.” The Decatur Daily, July 10, 1969.
Cooper, Dick. “Drive-In Theater Manager Convicted.” The Decatur Daily, January 30, 1970.
“Apartment Units Set In Hartselle.” The Decatur Daily, August 27, 1971.
Cinemas Around the World – Ranch Drive-in Theatre, Hartselle, Al
https://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/10300.html
Farber, Arnold. “Theatre Catalog: 11th Annual All New Edition 1953-54.” Philadelphia, PA: Jay Emanuel Publications, 1953.
Keller Car Image By Mark Holloway from Beatty, Nevada, USA - 1948 Keller Super Chief, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=11693200
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As you can see it’s parade going down Court Street, but I can’t make out if there was something special like a visit or a holiday. I do know this would be between the late 1930s to Wartime. If you look closely you can see some sort of banner is strung across the street from one building to the other side. I’ve tried doing some adjustments to the banner in Photoshop to try to visualize the words, but I just can’t make it happen! Someone more versed in Athens and Ohio University history than I could probably make heads or tails of a more exact time by looking at the store signs and roofline shapes. Some of those places are no longer there, obviously, and some of those places didn’t even make it into the 1950’s from the images I’ve seen.
I’m betting the marching band is the Ohio University marching band. One of the flags being carried you can clearly see the word “Ohio” and “Athens” under it. At this point in time The Ohio University Marching 110 did not exist. I suppose it is possible that is Athens High School, but those uniforms appear to be pretty high end. Would a high school have uniforms that nice in a rural area just after the depression or during WWII?
Beckley’s Men’s Store is clearly visible. That store was located at the corner from the late 20s until it’s closing in 1970. Most people today know that location at the corner of South Court and West Union as College Book Store. The store is in what was originally called The Lawrence Building, being owned by W.B. Lawrence. You can also see The Athena movie theater and Ranch’s Bakery signs quite clearly in the back.
I can’t help but wonder how many miles I put on walking up and down that street during my four years there.
I grew up in Ohio from birth to the fourth grade and a visit to The Columbus Zoo was always a highlight in my life. Living pretty close meant I was able to go frequently either through school field trips, with family, or with friends. I grew up watching Jack Hanna's TV show "Hanna's Ark" on local Columbus television. After moving many states away seeing Jack on late night TV or other programs always brought a smile to my face because I felt like the rest of the world was finding out about how amazing The Columbus Zoo and Jack Hanna was!
Recently, I took up the task to digitize some old family film negatives that were among my late maternal grandmother's belongings. I had a large stack of about 400 film negatives in the 620 format that ranged from WWII to the early 1960s. They were all mixed up and of varying degrees of quality, but I felt it important to get these pictures documented and backed up before they were lost forever. Most of these are family shots from the home, but some are in public places and I wanted to share. A few shots in particular I knew right away were from The Columbus Zoo and I had to post them! My best guess by the age of my aunts and uncles would be around 1955. Enjoy and please comment if you have any great memories of The Columbus Zoo!
Since starting this blog portion of my website I’ve been trying to think of content to write and post about that is relevant to the site’s theme. It dawned on me that maybe I should also write about the OTHER kind of drive-in - the ones that serve food! So I think restaurants that are older (or at least “vintage inspired”) need to be represented here, as well as tourist attractions and other retro points of interest are going to be fair game. I have been fortunate enough to travel often for both work and pleasure so finding these interesting places has always been on the top of my mind while on the road. So for my first installment in this series, let’s talk about Big Chief!
A great drive-in restaurant is just as much of an American institution as the drive-in theater and I can’t think of a better representation of this as the Big Chief Drive-In located in the small town of Glencoe, Alabama just ten minutes outside of Gadsden. Located just off of US-431 in the middle of town, this drive-in has been serving amazing burgers and shakes since 1963. About 15 years ago I discovered this gem while traveling to a client’s location nearby and could not miss seeing their GIANT ARROWS on the side of the road. When I see any sort of MCM sign it has my attention! And just a few yards behind those massive arrows is a tiny red roofed-A frame building that was calling my name.
Usually, when I go to a place like this I try and keep it simple – like a burger or hot dog. At Big Chief I typically go with their signature “Chuck Burger” – lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, sauce, but hold the mayo. And it is a GREAT burger! Add some onion rings and wash that down with a Butterscotch milk shake and you are good to go. And apparently I’m not the only one that is good to go, because every time I’ve been there has been a crowd. It is good food, mom and pop owned, local kids employed, and it just looks so damned cool!
Luckily, I’ve been able to detour on my way too and from Atlanta many times over the years. I’m going to keep stopping and eating and hope they will be around for another 58 years to come!
Visit Big Chief’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/bigchiefdrivein
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I just finished up a beautiful set of late 1950's Simplex De Luxe "In-A-Car" drive-in speakers that will be headed to a new owner in Massachusetts. Like my other drive-in speaker restorations, these have both a built in Bluetooth and an MP3 player, and come pre-loaded over 80 vintage drive-in movie, automobile, and gasoline advertisements from the 1950's and 1960's! And the stunning blue Glo-Top is now lit with a near heatless LED. Here are is a video of this new restoration in action, as well as a "during" restoration photo, an after shot, and an old vintage Simplex advertisement. This was a lot of fun to build, especially since I'm a sucker for BLUE!
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Happy 2021! The end of 2020 was something as everyone in my household got Covid-19 - except for ME for some reason. So I was the designated nurse, maid, cook, etc, for awhile getting the rest of the family back on their feet just in time for Christmas. I'm so thankful that we were all healthy by then so we could all sit together by the tree Christmas morning for a bit of holiday normalcy. So while I was tending to my family, I wasn't able to work and I wasn't able to get to my shop to work on any restorations. Things were on hold, but I was able to work on other projects like scanning more old photos of the family, do some video editing, website work, and work on some different techniques with my guitar playing that has always troubled me (Travis style finger picking for the musician-types reading this). But as soon as I was able to get back in the shop I finished up this old Oak Acorn gumball machine! You may remember it from a few posts ago when I said this machine was looking for a new identity? Well, here it is! I'm really liking this vintage Mountain Dew theme with the hillbilly! It will be sent off shortly to it's new owner for years of enjoyment.
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Over the years many have asked me what is a “Kanauga”. Kanauga is a small unincorporated area along side the Ohio River on State Route 7 just north of Gallipolis, Ohio. From 1950 to 2008 the Kanauga Drive-In Theatre was operated there by the Wheeler family. It was built by Harry Wheeler, who owned and operated The Colony Theatre in Gallipolis, and was ran by him until his passing in the late 1980s with ownership and management going over to his son, Tom. Tom Wheeler passed away in 2016. Incidentally, my Grandad worked at The Colony as an Usher in the early 1940s before the war.
I started using the pseudonym “Kanauga Kool” several years back as a homage to that drive-in that gave me so many great memories as a kid, and later a college student studying at Ohio University. The screen, signs, and concession stand have long since been torn down, but thankfully some of the old speakers and junction boxes have survived and I’ve been fortunate enough to add some to my personal collection.
If you’d like to read more about the Kanauga Drive-In Theatre here are two articles you can check out:
https://www.mydailysentinel.com/news/13800/gone-but-not-forgotten-3
http://gallipolis.uber.matchbin.net/printer_friendly/10843296
Scroll on down for more photos!
This image is of a Projected Sound drive-in speaker from the Kanauga. I took this photo in 2001 while taking my wife to be to her first Drive-In movie.
A pair of speakers and a junction box from the Kanauga that I have restored and converted to Bluetooth speakers. I wanted the logo from the original theater sign on the set, so I made a water slide decal for the base. There are other photos of this set and other Kanauga speakers I have done in my speaker gallery and video page.
This holiday ad is from the December 23, 1966 edition of The Gallipolis Tribune.
This movie schedule is from my personal collection and is from August - September of 1965. I particularly like it because it has the Don Knotts movie The Incredible Mr. Limpet listed! That movie brings back great memories of watching it at my Gram and Grandad's house!
If you have anything that is related to The Kanauga Drive-In Theatre, be it photos, video, advertising like from the one above , or even equipment from the theater, please CONTACT me here!
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My Bluetooth drive-in speaker sets make an amazing and unique gift for that hard to buy for person! They are perfect for fans of the movies, drive-ins, music, nostalgia, Americana, antiques, car guys and gals... these just touch a chord with so many different people. I have several Bluetooth drive-in speaker sets available right now for this Holiday Season in varying brands, styles, colors, and themes. Click the CONTACT button on the upper right of this page to message me for more information on what I have available and prices! I ship to the continental USA via UPS. Hurry before Santa's sleigh is on its way!
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I am looking for this exact Gem Beverages Sign. Gem Beverages is a small bottler out of Wellston, Ohio and they currently distribute SKI and Double Cola. This photograph is of my late Grandfather who had a small country grocery store in the 1950s (closing in 1960) located in Syracuse, Ohio, about an hour drive east from Wellston. I have collected all of the signs in this photograph, but the Gem Beverages. If you know of one for sale, have one, or know where I might find one please contact at the link about on this page.
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I just finished prepping this Oak Acorn gumball machine last night for a restoration. It's funny how there are so many variations of the SAME thing - case in point the chute flap/cover. As you may or may not know, the "tear" dropped shaped flaps are older (as opposed to the squared ones) and were used before they went to larger denomination coins and larger candies and gums to dispense. But even in just the tear drop covers, there are many styles and shape variations. I have about four different ones right now, and whoever originally tired to "restore" this particular machine decided to use automotive BONDO on the machine's body at the bottom of the chute to make the cover they had "work" instead of just using THE RIGHT COVER! Oh well, that's all gone now and I've got a flap that actually fits now.
Anyhow... what to do with this guy? I can restore it to about any theme. I kind of want to make a Sinclair Gasoline gumball machine, but I might do a Texaco again. Or should I do Coke or Pepsi? *** Edit - This gumball machine has SOLD ***
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