by david allan van nostrand | Mar 20, 2023 | Point of view, The Wayback Machine, Wordplay
You Bet Your Life was a 1950s TV quiz show with a studio audience. The real draw was the host, Groucho Marx, who turned interviews with contestants into laughs with his wisecracks. Before the contestants were introduced, Groucho and announcer George Fenneman showed...
by david allan van nostrand | Feb 27, 2023 | Human Behavior, Point of view, Research
Those who have had their homes burglarized had to submit claims to their insurance companies. Only a few had safely put away somewhere the updated lists they tell us all to have, with photos and serial numbers. Only after the claim we filled out by memory has been...
by david allan van nostrand | Jan 23, 2023 | Americana, Human Behavior, Point of view, The 1960s
Famers and physical laborers needed three square meals a day: all full, well-balanced and hearty. They’d eat breakfast before sunup, work until lunch, load up on calories again and work until sundown, when they ate a big dinner and went to bed. One origin story...
by david allan van nostrand | Dec 5, 2022 | Items in the News, Leadership, Organizational Behavior, Point of view
Tiger Woods to Head New PGA-LIV Tour! That’s the headline you’ll be reading soon when the powers that be get the details sorted out. It will not happen until early in 2023 because there are a lot of things that need to be done first. Why Tiger? Tiger Woods is the...
by david allan van nostrand | Aug 29, 2022 | Items in the News, Point of view, The world around us
Over coffee one day in the 1950s, a shop teacher heard a policeman say he wished there was a way to immobilize parking violators’ cars instead of just issuing citations that are often ignored. It could have been called the Frank Marugg boot, but was given the name of...
by david allan van nostrand | Jul 18, 2022 | Americana, Point of view, The Wayback Machine
Amos ’n’ Andy was one of the most controversial and polarizing shows in the history of United States television. History professor, author, and social commentator Joshua K. Wright asks an excellent question: Did this television series become a scapegoat for black...