Stars Hall of Fame: Brochure #2

Hey folks, we're back at the Stars Hall of Fame in Orlando, FL with with another retro-brochure. "Where Dreams Come True" is the big theme of this brochure along with photographs depicting "wacky" tourists reacting (or lusting) over the attraction's wax figures.


YUL!!! Mr. Brynner is featured so prominently it makes me wonder if this was because of some sort of marketing research. "Gentleman, our exhaustive cross-generational surveys tell us that people are 73.6% more likely to visit your wax museum if the brochure prominently features Yul Brynner dressed as his famous role from the King And I."

Super gigantic fold-out with the Fonz right in the center.

This time they don't list the admission prices, but do mention the parking is free.

Stars Hall of Fame

The Stars Hall of Fame in Orlando, FL was owned and operated by the Six Flags company which also ran the famous Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park, CA.

On the cover of this retro-brochure is a gold Rolls-Royce, and I was informed by a reader that the Movieland in California also had a gold Rolls-Royce. This is interesting because the Movieland Wax Museum in Niagara Falls, Ontario (which a recently blogged about) also featured a gold Rolls-Royce. I guess if you run a wax museum devoted to movie stars you're required to have a gold Rolls on hand.



The Stars Hall of Fame rolled up its red carpet for good in 1984, and Movieland Wax Museum in Buena Park, CA closed in 2005.

The Year in FAIL

This video is pretty hilarious, even if some of the humans in this compilation got severely injured. It's the price you pay for Internet fame.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Movieland Wax Museum

Here's a retro-brochure (I think I just coined that term. Maybe I should trademark it) for the Movieland Wax Museum in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

I said this before , but it always bothers when a brochure doesn't show actual photographs of the attraction. If they only show illustrations it makes me wonder what they are trying to hide.

"See... the majestic, golden Rolls-Royce" is an odd thing to highlight. This is a wax museum after all, not a car museum.

I'm happy to report this attraction is still operating. To see what the Movieland Wax Museum looks like today you can view nearly the entire museum by checking out this walk-thru video by a very thorough YouTuber named niagarafallsvlogger...

Last post of the Decade

I just thought I'd try to get in one last post before the ball drops, and we start a new decade. Oh, and if you're one of those types who believe the new decade doesn't start until 2011, please take your meds and lay down for a while.

Earlier this month I published a post on the December 1982 issue of Electronic Games Magazine. In that post I said I planned to feature more gifts and fun stuff from the magazine in upcoming posts, and so as promised, here's one of them.

The insane ad above from United Microware Industries, Inc. for their AMOK video game has to be one of the most ill conceived ads ever. It's such a bizarre mix of imagery. Fellow blogger, Kurt at Gaming After 40, has a different "mime ad" if you wish to see more of this incomprehensible ad campaign.

I can only assume the ad designer was a friend, or maybe the mime was the daughter of the company owner. If you removed the mime, the remaining fantasy art is pretty good and you'd have a decent and more effective ad for your 1982 video game.

Christmas Hope and/or Disappointment

We're smack-dab in the middle of the holiday season, and for me the holidays are always a mixed bag of emotions. It's possible to start the season with a heart full of hope and joy, but only find the cold slap of sobering reality as that wonderful Christmastime fails to live up to expectations. Most of us have experienced this before I think.

I received an anonymous comment on my Better Homes and Garden December 1963 post that just might be a microcosm of this yuletide scenario, or maybe I'm simply stretching something beyond reason in a lame attempt for comedic effect. Well, whatever the case might be here is the comment...

Hey David,

Great Blog.

I was wondering if there are directions for an Angel made of paper in that issue. I'm looking for those directions and you're the first person that seems to actually own that issue. Thanks for helping out a total stranger, if you can.

Thanks for the compliment about my blog Anonymous. I'm happy to try to help out during this festive time of year. I had hoped to find those paper angel directions for you, but I must tell you up front, I didn't exactly find you're looking for.

I flipped thru the magazine looking for paper angels. On page 40 there is this paper angel hanging on the wall...


And then on page 48 there's these tabletop paper angels...

Each of these these pics have a footnote to a "Buying Guide" page number that can tell you where to buy things like the bedding and the glassware respectively. But disappointingly no directions on how to make them.

However, if you're (or anyone reading this) interested, the Wise Men from the cover have instructions on how to make them...


Also there are these medieval squire and maid figures on page 41...

And unlike those angel pics, if you look closely at the top you'll see they have a "How-to" on page 80...


So here's the instructions and pattern fromn page 80...

Although I didn't find any instructions for a paper angel, it's not time to totally give up hope yet Anonymous. My copy of this December 1963 issue of Better Homes and Gardens is not 100% intact. There are a few pages that were removed from the back that might have had the directions. If you're sure there are directions for a paper angel in this issue my suggestion is that you check Ebay. There were a number of sellers offering this very issue of the magazine at the time of this writing.

Well, at the very least this gives me an opportunity to post two more fun holiday themed retro ads from this issue...

When was the last time you saw a Santa Mister Magoo in a advertisement? I apologize for the text on the right side getting cut off.

How about this swell and very pink ad for 7 Up. I wish 7 Up would return to this style of logo design.

Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog 1989

The cover of the fancy Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog from 1989 features a commissioned sculpture "Peaceable Kingdom" by wildlife artist David Everett. Back in 1989 you could have purchased a snow globe with a miniature version of this animal tower inside for only $30.

The Neiman Marcus Christmas Catalog is known for including some sort of crazy super expensive fantasy gift. It looks like this might be the fantasy gift for 1989 - a Russian lynx fur coat for $150,000.00. Hey fellas, no need to feel left out of the fur coat club, because you can get a mink coat of your own for the comparative bargain of only $7500.00. Even if I was an insanely wealthy billionaire I'd never purchase luxury items like this. Although for a laugh, I might buy the coats for a local PETA couple, secretly record their horrified reaction when they open the gift, and then post it on YouTube.

Here's the wackiest gift, a clear Lexan plastic "dinghy" called the See Boat. I wonder how watertight that thing is? I don't think I'd like to row out into the middle of a lake in it.