Village People - 9-10

The year was 1977.  Disco music was the rage, and Americans were hungry to hear it.  Although a French composer created the band named Jacques Morali, the band was comprised of American musicians and dancers, with the original intention to target a gay audience but soon achieving widespread popularity with their catchy tunes and outlandish costumes.

Macho Man, the Village People's 1977 E.P. release, which is on currently on display on the wall of the ATT Music Room, clocks in at only twenty-seven minutes, and included their first breakout hit, "Macho Man," as well as "Key West," and three other tracks.  Their popularity soared after that for a few years with more hits in "Y.M.C.A." and "In the Navy," before the popularity of disco faded in the 1980s in the shadow of New Wave music and other genres.

The Village People dressed up in costumes designed to reflect something of a global village.  In what city was the village that inspired their name based?

a)  New York City

b)  Paris

c)  Los Angeles

d)  London

e)  Des Moines, IA

Answer below

Today in History

The year was 1846.  The day was September 10th.  The man, Elias Howe, is successful in his application for a patent submitted to the United States Patent Office.  The invention:  the sewing machine.

Despite the common misconception, Howe did not come up with the original conception of the sewing machine.  He did, however, develop the first lockstitch design, and incorporated many elements for his machine that made it the most efficient available, including a needle with the eye at the point, a shuttle operating beneath the cloth to form the lock stitch, and an automatic feed.  Five years after he received this patent, he received another one for the "Automatic, continuous clothing closure," eventually known as the zipper.

Births

98 years ago today, Edmond O'Brien entered the world's stage in his debut performance, that of being born.  He would appear in his first film role twenty-three years later, which would begin a career that would extend into the 1970s, and included such classics as The Killers, D.O.A., The Barefoot Contessa, and The Longest Day, as well as dozens of other classics.  He contracted Alzheimer's Disease in his sixties and passed away in Hollywood in 1985.

Thirteen years after Mr. O'Brien's birth, one of the world's most famous golfers was born.  Arnold Palmer turns eighty-four today, having begun life in modest settings only to gain great fame for his skills on the green.

His fame extends to beverages, as the combination of iced tea and lemonade is now named after him.

Quote:

The road to success is always under construction.  -- Arnold Palmer

Answer:  a) - Greenwich Village

Johnny Paycheck - 9-9

The American Treasure Tour blog strives to shock and surprise at every turn, which is why we are deviating from our now-familiar format of focusing on our substantial collection of movie posters for a little while.  Instead, we are going to concentrate on our even-more-substantial collection of ... record albums!  Yes, the old 33-1/3" records that dominated the music scene for decades and that many young folk (dare I call them hoodlums and nogoodniks?  Nah!!!) don't even know exist.

The first record we will highlight is that of Donald Eugene Lytle, more familiarly known as Johnny Paycheck:

Lytle began singing country music very young, and was participating in talent shows by the age of nine.  His first pseudonym was that of Donny Young, but in 1964, he legally changed his name to Johnny Paycheck, and it was as Paycheck that he reached the pinnacle of his success, reaching the top ten in Billboard and country music popularity in the late-60s and the 1970s.  He ran into trouble with the law in 1985, after injuring a man by shooting him in a bar in Ohio, and was sentenced to seven years in jail, of which he served twenty-two months before being pardoned by the governor.  Upon his release, he returned to recording music, but failing health because of complications associated with drug and alcohol abuse, as well as emphysema and asthma, led to his untimely death at the age of 64.

It is said that Donald Lytle adopted the name Johnny Paycheck because he was inspired by two other performers.  One had been a heavyweight boxing champion.  Who was the other?

a)  Billy Unemployment

b)  Johnny Cash

c)  Eddie Money

d)  George Washington

e)  Johnny Unitas

Answer Below

Today in History

Taking advantage of the population surge inspired by the Gold Rush of 1848 and 1849, California was officially granted statehood on September 9th, 1850.  When Mexico ceded California to the United States at the end of the Mexican-American War, they did not realize the massive quantity of gold that existed in the land when they signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which made it possible for the Americans to claim the gold without greater struggle.

Sutter's Mill, located in Coloma, California, is where gold was first discovered on January 24, 1848, by James Marshall of New Jersey.

In 1926, the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) was established on this day by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA), initially as a radio channel, then as what is now the longest-running television station in the United States.

Births

Alf Landon entered the world as a natural-born American citizen in the year 1887 on this date.  Growing up in Indiana, he moved with his family to Kansas as a teenager and stayed there the rest of his career, excepting an interruption during World War I to serve in a detail dealing in chemical warfare.  

Landon amassed his fortune in the Kansas petroleum industry, then turned his sites to politics.  He became Governor of Kansas, then, in 1936, ran as a liberal Republican against the incumbent, Franklin D. Roosevelt.  He was defeated in a landslide, then retired from politics and concentrated on petroleum for the remainder of his career.  He died in his hundredth year.

Colonel Harland David Sanders was born today in 1890, in a shack located outside of Henryville, Indiana.  After misadventures that included the falsification of information to enlist in the army at age fifteen, and later being abandoned by his wife, Sanders moved to Corbin, Kentucky, where in 1930 he opened a service station that offered fried chicken.  His chicken became increasingly popular, and he worked for twenty-two years to brand his product until the first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise opened.  Although ownership of KFC has changed hands many times since then, the image of Colonel Sanders is still familiar to many lovers of fried chicken.

Quote:

There's no reason to be the richest man in the cemetery.  You can't do any business from there.  -- Colonel Sanders

Answer:  b)

A Sainted Devil - 9-6

The first few decades of the twentieth century brought many exciting advances in technology to the world, including the widespread use of electricity, nickelodeons (of course!), and silent movies.  Movies were produced by the hundreds using a nitrate base that was very flammable and not designed to have longevity.  For those and other reasons, many movies from the silent era do not exist today, although evidence of their production do remain.  One of these movies is A Sainted Devil.

Rudolph Valentino was easily one of the most popular actors of the silent era, along with other notables including Douglas Fairbanks and Charlie Chaplin.  An Italian by birth, he moved to New York City at the age of eighteen and then went to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting.  In a movie career that lasted only twelve years total, he performed in well over twenty-five movies before dying quite unexpectedly at the age of 31, from complications associated with appendicitis and gastric ulcers in 1926.  Mass hysteria occurred with news of his passing, and suicides by avid fans were reported.  A Sainted Devil was released in 1924, and no known prints of it remain in existence.  The movie poster adorns the walls of the American Treasure Tour's Music Room (big surprise, I know), but the film itself is either lost or hidden in some long-forgotten vault, waiting to be rediscovered.  We can hope it's the latter scenario.

Question:

Rudolph Valentino was an early superstar during the age of silent film.  Without dialogue or a natural soundtrack included in the movie, theaters used any of a number of different techniques to bring sound to the movies, including accompaniment by live musicians or professional organists.  What mechanical music machine was created specifically for theater owners to bring in to compliment the action in films?

a)  Nickelodeons

b)  Music Boxes

c)  Band Organs

d)  Photoplayers

e)  Player Pianos

Answer below.

Today in History

It was September 6th, 1620, when a group of 102 English Pilgrims departed from Plymouth, England for a journey across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World.  They were headed for the colony of Virginia, which had been settled eleven years earlier, but necessity compelled them to set down on the first land they saw, sixty-five days after their departure.  They remained at Provincetown Harbor on Cape Cod for some time prior to settling in at New Plymouth, on the Massachusetts mainland.

Births

Today we celebrate the 1860 birth of Jane Addams, the humanitarian and progressive social worker responsible for the establishment of Chicago's Hull House.  Hull House proved an invaluable resource to poor and uneducated, often immigrant, families that used it as a resource.

In 1931, Addams became the first American woman to receive a Nobel Peace Prize for her efforts.  She became an inspiration for many American women who strove to emulate her good works in their own communities at the time.

Twenty-eight years her junior, Joseph Kennedy was born in Boston, Massachusetts.  Kennedy made his fortune in alcohol and politics, becoming the patriarch for a family of politicians, most notably his sons John and Robert, who became President of the United States and Attorney General, respectively.

Quote:

The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our common life.  -- Jane Addams

Answer:  d)

The Pagemaster - 9-5

Today, we resume our exploration of the movie posters that hover ominously above the nickelodeon collection in the American Treasure Tour Music Room with the Macauley Culkin, Christopher Lloyd fantasy film, The Pagemaster:

This film blended live action and animation for its 1994 release.  Computer animation was still a relatively new development in film, and was incorporated along with traditional hand-drawn animation to tell the story of a young boy filled with fear who stumbles into a library to avoid a thunderstorm.  There, he is knocked unconscious and gets thrown into a fantasy world filled with famous characters from books that challenge him to confront his demons.  The film was a financial disappointment and received poor reviews upon release, although its message encouraging the reading of books is a positive one.

Question:

The cast of The Pagemaster includes many well-regarded actors, including Ed Begley, Jr., Patrick Stewart, Christopher Lloyd, and Whoopi Goldberg.  In what popular franchise have all of them been involved during their careers?

a)  James Bond

b)  Star Wars

c)  Fast and the Furious

d)  Star Trek

e)  Back to the Future

Answer Below

Today in History

September 5th, 1774 began what proved to be a pivotal event in the course of events that would lead to the American Revolution.  Men from each of the British colonies convened at Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia to discuss a course of action to deal with their rising dissatisfaction with Parliamentary actions that they felt worked against the liberties of their fellow colonists.  Although the notion of independence would not be bandied about until a year later at the Second Continental Congress, this First Continental Congress set them on a definitive course that would lead to radical moves against the mother country.

The above image is of Carpenter's Hall is set off the main street in downtown Philadelphia, and a classic example of Georgian-style architecture.

On this date in 1836, Sam Houston became the first man elected President of the Republic of Texas.  During its ten years of independence, three different men were chosen for two-year terms, while the capitol of the republic was moved five separate times before settling in Austin.  The Republic was dissolved on December 29, 1845, when James K. Polk officially accepted Texas as the 28th state in the Union.

Births

George Robert "Bob" Newhart entered the world in 1929 and celebrates his 84th birthday today.  An incredibly popular stand-up comedian in the late-50s and 1960s, he became an iconic personality on television with two very popular programs.  The Bob Newhart Show aired between 1972 and 1978, which told the story of Chicago-based psychiatrist Bob Hartley, and the 1982 to 1990 Newhart, which told the story of Dick Loudon, who moved from New York City to rural Vermont, where he ran an inn and surrounded himself with a circle of quirky friends.

Jo Raquel Tejada, more familiarly known today as Raquel Welch, turns 73 years old today.  A sex symbol in the 1960s whose film work tended towards the frivolous and silly, including her breakout role in One Million Years B.C., released in 1966.  

More recently, she has published her own fitness and beauty books, as well as jewelry and skincare lines.

Quote

Laughter gives us distance.  It allows us to step back from an event, deal with it and then move on.  -- Bob Newhart

Answer:  d) 

Elvis! 9-4

We at the American Treasure Tour blog have decided to deviate from our increasingly familiar movie posters today and address one of the most popular entertainers to ever come out of these United States.  Of course, I refer to none other than Elvis Presley.  No quality establishment that sets out to honor Americana would do itself justice if they didn't acknowledge the King, so here we are!  After extensive research, it was determined that September 4th would be an excellent day on which to honor him because it does not reflect any important anniversaries.

This photograph of a young Elvis may have been taken in the town where he was born on January 8th, 1935 - East Tupelo, Mississippi.  Born into poverty, Elvis' love of music and skills as a musician became his ticket to wealth, fame, and fulfillment of the American Dream.  Elvis' music proved - and remains - extremely popular, while critical opinions of his movies vary widely.  Elvis starred in thirty-one feature films during his career, all but one (Wild in the Country) earning a profit, before his untimely death in 1977 at the age of 42.  His impact on American music and culture can not be accurately measured, and he remains the best-selling deceased artist of all time in the United States. And yes, artwork and images associated with Elvis liberally adorn the walls of the American Treasure Tour.

Question:

Which of the following Halls of Fame have never inducted Elvis Presley as a member?

a)  Martial Arts 

b)  Country Music

c)  Gospel Music

d)  Rhythm and Blues Music

e)  Rockabilly Music

Today in History

In 1781, forty-four Spaniards settled the desert in their California colony and named their new community El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora La Reina de Los Angeles de Porziuncola, translated as The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of Porziuncola, eventually abbreviated as Los Angeles.

Only one hundred and seven years after L.A. was founded, New York entrepreneur George Eastman registered the trademark for the name "Kodak," as well as the patent for his camera that used roll film.

The Kodak Company filed for bankruptcy last year, and declared that they were terminating production of their digital cameras, pocket video cameras, and digital picture frames.  They were concentrating on the corporate digital imaging market.

Births

On this date in 1803, future first lady Sarah Childress  was born the daughter of a prominent land speculator, planter and merchant.  She lived among the patrician society of North Carolina, then Tennessee, and married James K. Polk when she was twenty years old, and eight years his junior. 

As first lady for the 11th president's one term in office, Sarah proved charming and gracious, although she banned liquor and dancing at official receptions.  Polk's death only three months after he left office plunged Sarah into widowhood.  Given an annual stipend by the government to help her maintain her standard of living, Sarah remained unmarried for her final forty-two years.  Hers remains the longest-standing retirement and widowhood of any former first lady.

Edward Dmytryk was born in 1908 on the same day.  Canadian by birth, he emigrated to the United States to become a film director.  His best-regarded early films included the film noir greats Crossfire and Murder, My Sweet, prior to his involvement in the highly controversial Red Scare of the late-1940s and the 1950s, led by Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthyand his House Committee on Un-American Activities.  Dmytryk initially refused to testify and was sent to jail as one of the Hollywood Ten, prior to appearing again for a second hearing, during which he confessed to his own Communist background and named others from the organization.  He was able to resume his directing career and made films into the 1970s.

Quote:

Ambition is a dream with a V-8 engine.  -- Elvis Pressley

Answer:  d)

Casablanca - 9-3

Over the course of the past few weeks, we at the American Treasure Tour have highlighted major cinematic features that have remained extremely popular and critically revered over the years, as we celebrate the movie posters in our collection.  The art from films such as The Gnomemobile, Zombies of the Stratosphere, and McHale's Navy Joins the Air Force are prominently displayed in our Music Room, often on the walls above the nickelodeons.  Today, we are going to discuss a movie poster for a lesser-known and all-but-forgotten treasure called Casablanca.

Some might consider it rare that any but the most passionate film aficionado would have any knowledge of this quiet little "B" movie with its cast of virtually unknown actors; however, it became a sensation upon its theatrical release in 1943, and won many awards including some from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.  In fact, it received three Oscars, for Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture, and is widely hailed as one of the best, most popular films ever made in Hollywood.  Its blend of comedy, romance, suspense and intrigue have compelled audiences worldwide to watch and enjoy this film that takes place in Vichy-occupied Morocco over and over again.

Question:

A pivotal plot point in Casablanca centers on the owner of Rick's Cafe Americain, played by Humphrey Bogart, who is in possession of two highly-coveted German letters of transit.  These are required documents for any fugitives who hope to travel out of Morocco and to the safety of the neutral United States.  Before getting to America, though, the refugees would have to fly into what other country?

a)  Germany

b)  Italy

c)  Spain

d)  Portugal

e)  Algeria

Answer below

Today in History

On September 3rd, 1783, the Treaty of Paris officially declared the independence of the United States from the United Kingdom, the first of her colonies to break away from the empire.  Tensions did not end with the declaration of peace; however, as the British military did not effectively uphold its end of the negotiations and remained in western forts.  War would break out again in 1812 between the two nations.

Births

George Hearst was born on this date in 1820.  He pursued fortune and glory in the California Gold Rush of 1849 and, like many prospective prospectors, found his fortunes dwindling despite his efforts in gold mining.  Unlike many others, he was able to diversify, first by dealing in quartz mining, then by running a general store and a variety of other trades.  His wealth began to form when he exploited the discovery of silver in the Nevada Comstock Lode.  The money he made in and around Virginia City, Nevada compelled him to other mining ventures, as well as investments in many other business, including publishing.  The fame of his son, William Randolph Hearst, began with his possession of the San Francisco Examiner, the newspaper that began the Hearst publishing empire.

Only 145 years after George Hearst's birth, Charlie Sheen came into the world as Carlos Irwin Estevez.  The son of established actor Charlie Sheen, and brother to Emilio Estevez, Charlie was in a number of critically acclaimed films, including Platoon and Wall Street in the 1980s, prior to embracing comedy roles.  His greatest success - and notoriety - occurred after he took on a starring role in the popular situation comedy Two and a Half Men.

Quote:

I know a good deal more about you than you suspect.  I know, for instance, that you're in love with a woman.  It is perhaps a strange circumstance that we both should be in love with the same woman.  The first evening I came into this cafe, I knew there was something between you and Ilsa.  Since no one is to blame, I - I demand no explanation.  I ask only one thing.  You won't give me the letters of transit: all right, but I want my wife to be safe. I ask you as a favor, to use the letters to take her away from Casablanca. -- Paul Henreid (as Victor Laszlo, from Casablanca)

Answer:  d)

9 to 5 at 8-30

In the continuing saga of the American Treasure Tour movie poster on-line exhibit, we are going to discuss the comedy 9 to 5, starring Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, and Jane Fonda as three disillusioned employees of boss Dabney Coleman, who they describe as a, "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical boss."

This 1980 vehicle for Dolly Parton portrays how sexually harassed women in a hostile workplace might react.  This tale of comic retribution satisfied audiences to the tune of almost four million dollars in its opening weekend.  The American Film Institute rates 9 to 5 as the 74th funniest movie out of 100.

Question:

The character Judy Berly, as performed by Jane Fonda, is forced to get a job when her husband loses everything and then runs off with his secretary.  What was her husband's name?

a)  Tom

b)  Dick

c)  Harry

d)  Bob

e)  Eustis

Answer Below

Today in History

Thurgood Marshall was confirmed as the first African American man to the United States Supreme Court on this date in 1967, under president Lyndon B. Johnson.  Marshall established himself as a nationally-renowned lawyer with his involvement in the Brown v Board of Education case, which officially dismantled segregated education three years prior.  As a Justice, he espoused many progressive interpretations of the law.  Upon his retirement from the Court in 1991, President George H.W. Bush filled his chair with Clarence Thomas.

Births

Today celebrates the birth of Huey Long, a highly controversial but important Louisiana politician whose career was cut short when he was gunned down in the state capitol building in Baton Rouge in 1935 at the age of 42.

Long's motto, "Every Man a King," complemented his left-wing intention to assist homeless and struggling Americans suffering the affects of the Great Depression.

Fred MacMurray shared an August birthday with Huey "The Kingfish" Long.  Far from a controversial politician, MacMurray was an accomplished actor who starred in what many critics consider one of the best of the Film Noir movies of the 1940s:  1944's Double Indemnity, as well as many other extremely well-regarded movies, prior to entering American homes as Steve Douglas, the father for twelve seasons of televisions' My Three Sons.

Quote:

I'm for the poor man - all poor men, black and white, they all gotta have a chance.  They gotta have a home, a job, and a decent education for their children.  "Every man a king" - that's my slogan.  -- Huey Long

Answer:  b)