Vintage ads

Byter Charlie Z sent me some pics of ads from the past, commenting “To you, who is ever curious ..... we have come a long way in a few generations! Best regards, Charlie Z.” 

Thanks, Charlie. 

Here are Charlie’s pics and he’s right, we have progressed, not just in the advertising but in the attitudes behind the ads. Some have been in Bytes before.

See what you think . . .

I have not ascertained the validity of all of these ads but I do recall reading some years ago that the above ad was started as a joke but then was disseminated and came to be believed to be factual.

Quote for the Day

"Wrong is wrong, even when it helps ya.:

- Popeye, from the film

 by that name starring Robin Williams (I love that fim).

Bytes Bits

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Illegal to eat mince pies on Christmas Day? 

Festive celebrations, including mince pies and Christmas puddings, were reportedly banned in Oliver Cromwell's England as part of efforts to tackle gluttony. The ban did not, however, survive when Charles II became king and it is a furphy that it remains technically illegal to eat mince pies at Christmas. 

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Furphies: 

Furphy is Australian slang for stories that are claimed to be correct, often relayed from someone else, but which are actually the opposite. It is said to have originated from WW1 Australian soldiers gathering around water carts designed and made by J. Furphy & Sons of Shepparton, Victoria. The steel and cast iron tanks were first made in the 1880s and were used on farms but their use was extended to take water to Australian troops during War I in Australia, Europe and the Middle East. When soldiers gathered for a drink at the carts they exchanged gossip, rumours and stories, similar to the office discussions today at the water cooler. The seppos use the term scuttlebutt for the same thing. 

After 1895 the ends carried a list of Furphy products and the verse: 

“Good, better, best 

Never let it rest 

Till your good is better 

And your better best” 

Attributable originally to St Jerome (347 – 420), the verse was also adopted later by Telstra as an advertising jingle. 

In 1920 John's son, William added a Pitman's shorthand inscription which reads "Water is the gift of God, but beer is a concoction of the devil, don't drink beer." In 1942 this was changed to "Water is the gift of God, but beer and whisky are concoctions of the devil, come and have a drink of water.” 

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Scuttlebutt: 

“Scuttlebutt” has a similar derivation. In nautical terminology a butt was a cask for storing water on board ship. It was scuttled by making a hole in it to enable water to be withdrawn. When sailors gathered at the scuttlebutt for a drink they exchanged gossip and rumours, eventually giving rise to the name of scuttlebutt for the rumours and information itself. 

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Donkey Kong:

The game Donkey Kong was originally modelled on Popeye/Olive Oyl/Bluto where the love triangle characters are replaced by a gorilla/carpenter/girlfriend. The creator, Miyamoto, has also named "Beauty and the Beast" and the 1933 film King Kong as influences for the character Donkey Kong. The name Donkey came from his understanding that donkey meant stupid in English, the being intended to convey "stubborn ape" to the American audience. When he suggested this name to Nintendo of America, he was laughed at, but the name stuck. 

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The creator of Popeye, one Elzie Segar, based the character of Popeye on a one-eyed man from his hometown of Chester, Illinois, who, like Popeye, had a fondness for fighting. When the real Popeye, Frank 'Rocky' Fiegal, died in 1947, his gravestone was inscribed with the words "inspiration for Popeye." 

Olive Oyl was based on another of Segar's neighbours – a very tall, slim woman named Dora Paskel, who usually wore her hair in a bun. 

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Betty Boop was also modelled on a real person, not 1920’s actress Clara Bow as commonly thought but on 1920’as actress Helen Kane. Kane’s sexy image, voice and catchphrase "Boop-oop-a-doop” were all copied in depicting Betty Boop, who original began animated life as a French poodle. 

Helen Kane, Betty Boop, Clara Bow

By 1932 the canine parody of Helen Kane had been changed to one of a sexy human female named Betty Boop, a flapper from the 1920’s and the first animated sex symbol. As Betty Boop’s star ascended, that of Helen Kane declined. Work dried up and she increasingly came to be identified as a Betty Boop lookalike, rather than vice versa. Kane sued Flesicher Studios for $250,000 for wrongful appropriation and unfair competition, meaning that it was unfair for her to have to compete with a cartoon version of herself, and that it was hurting her career. Not so, said Flesicher Studios, it also looked like Clara Bow and could have been based on her as well, kinda. Also, other performers had used the phrase Boop-oop-a-doop before Kane, and that Kane had copied her voice style from African American performer Esther Jones. Kane lost and dropped out of show business in 1935. 

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In July 2015 NASA published photographs taken as the New Horizons space probe passed within 7000 miles of Pluto. A photo of Pluto's largest moon, Charon, shows a large dark area near its north pole. The dark area has been unofficially called "Mordor".

Quote for the Day

Quote for the Day

"Screw it, Let’s Do it!” 

- Richard Branson 

"Screw It, Let's Do It" is one of Richard Branson’s favourite sayings. In the book of the same name he reveals the lessons that have helped him through his business and personal life. 

An excerpt from the book: 

When I first discovered that my nickname among some members of staff at Virgin was 'Dr Yes', I was amused. Obviously, it had come about because my automatic response to a question, a request, or a problem is more likely to be positive than negative. I have always tried to find reasons to do something if it seems like a good idea, than not to do it.

My motto really is: 'Screw it - just do it!' I know many people say 'no', or 'let me think about it', as an almost Pavlovian response when asked a question, whether it's about something small and insignificant or big and revolutionary. Perhaps they are over-cautious, or suspicious of new ideas, or simply need time to think. But that's not my way of going about things. If something is a good idea, my way is to say 'Yes, I'll consider it' - and then to work out how to make it happen. Of course, I don't say yes to everything. But what is worse: making the occasional mistake or having a closed mind and missing opportunities?

Drone Pics of the Year, Part 1

2018 winners of the Skypixel Drone Photo of the Year and captions, from Bored Panda, plus some reader comments. 

Source: 

Bored Panda

https://www.boredpanda.com/best-drone-photography-contest-winners-2018-skypixel/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Newsletter 

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People's Choice Prize, "Red Train" 

One of the winners of people's choice prize captures a breathtaking shot of a train passing through mountains in Landwasserviadukt in Switzerland. 

Reader Comments: 

Is there somewhere I can get this printed really big for my place?! GOSH I love this!!! 

Is that train going to Hogwarts? 

From all of these drone shots this one is my favorite, 

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Grand Prize Winner, "Mont Saint Michel" 

The winner of this year's Grand Prize is a shot taken by Deryk Baumgärtner and it captures the magical beauty of the famous monastery of Mont Saint Michel during a foggy morning. 

Looks like Minas Tirith ... 

It looks like Hogwarts! 

I wonder how far it is to the nearest town. It seems like it would be peaceful, but a pain when it comes to supplies. 

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Third Prize Winner In Fun Category 

Mesmerizing shot taken with a Phantom 4 Pro drone shows gooses creating flower-like figures in the field. 

The plural of goose is geese, not gooses. 

Gooses? *headsmack* 

Gooseflowers. 

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First Prize Winner In Fun Category, "Flowers On The Water" 

"These women are washing each gun flower, bundling it into a bundle to bring it to market. They put flowers into a circle that looks very beautiful. This is a fun job." 

What is a gun flower? I’ve never heard of it. 

Also called water lily 

It looks like a lotus but with smaller, more pointed petals and also grows in the same condition. 

Looks like a mermaid lagoon. So beautiful. 

I don't think it's a fun job. . .Those women probably aren't well paid and probably not well treated. 

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People's Choice Prize, "Infinity Road: Summer vs. Winter" 

"A perfect mountain road shot twice during Summer and Winter. Same place. Different seasons. It took a lot of effort to shoot this photo. Two photos shot 8 months apart. Perfectly aligned. The battle between the Summer and the Winter." 

Well these are simply two different pictures put together in one, as it says one from the winter and one from the summer 

But it is because its two photos taken from such a precise location that it is so stark. Had it been a helicopter or plane that took the photograph, the images would NEVER line up perfectly. But because an RC GPS guided A/C (drone for short) took the photo, it could be from the exact same location at the exact same angle, lens, and everything, so when the photos were stitched together, they did not look awkward, it looked stark. 

Damn, I thought that was a prostate exam. :-( 

Beautiful, but I wonder why the road does that S curve there while being basically straight on either side of it? 

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Second Prize Winner In Architecture Category, "Bagan" 

Magical shot that captures a sunrise in Bagan, Myanmar 

Looks like a page from a story book. Enchanting. 

And the best part is that its real. Photos like this really do make me wonder if magic is real. 

That looks fictional, it's so beautiful 

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People's Choice Prize, "Kyiv Monuments" 

Photographer Ristenko Segiy managed to capture a magnificent shot of a statue in Kyiv covered in autumnal fog. 

Isn't this a Video Game Cover or loading screen? 

I’m on top of the world. Ma. 

To me it displays some of the best aspects of the human spirit. Rising above it all 

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People's Choice Prize 

Stunning aerial photography of birds and trees in Huanglongtan, China. 

The color pallet is really beautiful. 

Great shot !!! 

Amazing reflections - but the crows. 

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Second Prize Winner In Fun Category, "Burden Salt Harvest" 

"The workers are carrying salt to the warehouse. They start work from 3 am to 7 am and remake from 1 pm to 6 pm every day. Hon Khoi salt field is the largest salt field in Vietnam." 

Looks like the brooms from Fantasia. Fantastic! 

I'll have nightmares now... the resemblance is crazy 

This is stunning like the other but ''Fun category'' ? Those people work hard, not fun at all 

The shadows indicate what the people are doing. Genius! 

Doesn't look like too much fun for THEM. 

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Nominated Entry, "National Library Of Kosovo" 

Photographer Agon Nimani used Mavic 2 drone to capture the beauty of Kosovo's National Library’s architecture 

That's one tough game of Mahjong. But, kidding aside, stunning picture. 

Just glad it is still standing. 

It looks like cacti in someone’s garden. Beautiful. 

Level of awesome : M.C.Escher 

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People's Choice Prize, "Ancient Moonlight" 

Photographer Mauro Pagliai Received a People's Choice prize for his shot "Ancient Moonlight" that captured the Coliseum, Sirio and Rome covered in a magical moonlight 

First thing to jump out at me was the waxing moon and the rarely seen planet Mercury in the sky. And then the Flavian Amphitheater aka the Colosseum shot with a time exposure that causes the autos to blur. A masterpiece IMHO! 

You noticed Mercury before the amphitheater? I'm calling BS on that. 

Well, Mercury and the moon are the first things you see in the image before you scroll down further. 

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Nominated Entry, "Two" 

A romantic shot of newlyweds near the lake was captured with a Mavic Pro drone and became one of the nominated entries of the competition, 

Secret rendezvous !!! 

I'm pretty sure this is a wedding photo. 

Not so secret. They brought a drone, and the whole internet is watching.

More to come.