In their ad campaign in the early 1980’s, Mattel used George Plimpton to promote their Intellivision home video game system.
Mattel was founded in 1945, selling picture frames and dollhouse furniture. In 1947, the company had its first hit toy, a ukulele called “Uke-A-Doodle”.
Mattel introduced Hot Wheels cars in 1968.There were sixteen car castings released on May 18, 1968. The very first one was a custom Chevrolet Camaro.
Many of the early Hot Wheels models were created by actual automotive designers, including Harry Bradley (a former GM designer who designed eleven of the original sixteen models), Ira Gilford (a Chrysler designer), and Howard Rees and Larry Wood (both of whom worked at Ford).
Hot Wheels designer Larry Wood once put his real telephone number on the side of a Hot Wheels tow truck. According to thrillist, Things You Didn't Know About Hot Wheels History, Facts and Trivia - Thrillist.
When Garry Trudeau put the main White House telephone number in a panel of his long-running cartoon strip Doonesbury during the Reagan Administration, the switchboard lit up with calls from across the country.
Carol Burnett came to national attention as part of the cast of The Garry Moore Show.
Handwritten drafts of A Christmas Carol show that Charles Dickens considered the names Small Sam, Little Larry and Puny Pete before deciding on Tiny Tim.
The first use of the phrase ‘what the dickens’ appears to be in the Shakespearean play The Merry Wives of Windsor. “I cannot tell what the dickens his name is.”
‘Dickens’ may be a euphemism for the Devil.
There is a legend that Shakespeare wrote The Merry Wives of Windsor in response to a request from Queen Elizabeth that he “show the fat knight in love.”
The Falstaff Brewing Corporation, based in St. Louis, was named for Sir John Falstaff, a character who appears in three of William Shakespeare’s plays (Henry IV, Part 1; Henry IV, Part 2; The Merry Wives of Windsor).
Best known for its signature Falstaff Beer, Falstaff Brewing was the third-largest brewer in the U.S. in the 1960s, but after a disastrous attempt to purchase Narragansett Brewing, Falstaff went into decline. The Falstaff brand eventually became owned by Pabst, which brewed Falstaff until finally discontinuing it in 2005.
Upon becoming King, Prince Hal disowns Falstaff: “I know thee not, old man, fall to thy prayers”.
He gives orders to the Lord Chief Justice that Falstaff be imprisoned in the Fleet.
It is a harsh picture of Hal becoming Henry V, and accepting the responsibilities of kingship.
In the 50’s, Dizzy Dean did baseball telecasts sponsired by Fallstaff, in which would a do live ad , holdiing up a prop bottle. from the booth. By the 8th inning, the bottle had no cap – they had none left with caps.
In my early drinking days, Falstaff was not high on my list of beers that I liked.
In play: Dizzy Dean was one of baseball’s all-time most colorful players. In May of 1937, before a game against the Boston Bees, Dean made a bet that he would strike out Vince DiMaggio four times. He struck him out his first three at-bats, but, in his fourth at-bat, DiMaggio hit a foul pop-up behind the plate. Dean screamed at the catcher to drop the ball. The catcher did so, and Dean proceeded to strike out DiMaggio for the fourth time.
Howard Dean, a physician and lieutenant governor of Vermont in August 1991, was with a patient when he got the call that Gov. Dick Snelling had died unexpectedly and that he had become the state’s chief executive.
Howard University in Washington DC was named for Army General and Union General Oliver Otis Howard (1830-1909). Howard was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in the Battle of Fair Oaks/Seven Pines in June 1862. In that battle Howard lost his right arm. Oliver Otis Howard died in Burlington VT and is buried there.
Montpelier, Vermont, is the smallest state capital, and as recently as a few years ago was the only one that did not have a McDonald’s within city limits.
McDonald’s is the world’s largest toy distributor, giving out over 1.5 billion toys annually around the world.
With over 38,000 locations, McDonald’s has the second-most number of restaurants worldwide. Number one on the list is Subway, with over 42,000 locations. Starbucks is third with over 31,000.
Starbuck (in the original Battlestar Galactica) met his father, the con-man Chameleon but Chameleon withheld the paternity test results from Starbuck allowing him to believe they were unrelated.