And now for the history/ pop culture side of my WordPress. Last week it was on Victorian Mourning Jewelry. This week it is on “It’s a Small World Ride!”

 

This ride was originally called “Children of the World” and it was for the 1964’s World’s Fair. The fair was divided into sections and this was meant for the UNICEF. 

Pepsi-Cola was asked to sponsor the UNICEF section of the fair however the board of directors could not decide on what to do and put in that section. Interestingly enough Joan Crawford stepped in! She was the widow of former Pepsi president Alfred Steele and she still had somewhat of say on the board. 

So Joan Crawford approached one of the long time friends who happen to be Walt Disney and asked him if he could make an attraction for this section. However this collaboration was met with criticism. The other members on the board did not want to have Walt Disney work on this. Joan Crawford came to defense of Disney saying that since they took too long on deciding what to sponsor that the deadline was approaching sooner than later. She also pointed out that Disney was also working on various  other attractions in the fair and was able to have him and his team finish this pavilion in 11 months time.

AND THEY DID!

Walt Disney was able to open this pavilion on time and even did an opening ceremony for it. He invited more than five hundred children from around the world to participate in the event. (The video above is some footage of the opening ceremony day)

This ride set  precedent for many things in Disney parks as well as other parks worldwide:

Walt Disney noticed how efficient doing boat rides in the attraction that many other rides such as “Pirates of the Caribbean” follow that way and that method is still in use today.

UNICEF  had a small gift shop connected to the exit of the “Children of the World” ride that many of the Disney parks and other parks have the same layout for all of the rides.

During it’s run at the World’s Fair this attraction sold over 8 million tickets.

After the World’s Fair ended in 1966 the Children of the World ride moved into the Disneyland Park. 

“Children of the World” was always a working title for this ride it wasn’t until the Sherman Brothers was by Disney for a song that could be sung in different languages and that could represent all of the countries in the world.

The Sherman brothers came up with the song It’s Small World (after all) from the aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis (1962). From that destruction and chaos they wanted to promote unity and peace throughout the world.

Mary Blair (who is one of my favorite Disney artists) was  responsible for making the color palettes and aesthetic  of the ride. She truly set herself apart from other Disney artist during that period. 

Until Next time!!

 

Today’s movie of the day is Basket Case (1982) directed by Frank Henenlotter and stars Kevin Van Hentenryck, Teri Susan Smith and Robert Vogel. 

It is about a man name Duane who carries his tiny creepy twin brother Belial in a wicker basket all over New York City until they find home in a run down hotel. However they did not travel to New York City for tourist reasons. Both brothers traveled to the city bent on  revenge!

Duane and his brother Belial were con-jointed twins and when they were twelve years old they were forced to have a surgery  that would removed Belial from Duane’s side and ever since then they both had  huge angry to the doctors that were responsible for the surgery and plan to cause them harm!

Frank Henenlotter is one of my favorite directors. He created the most unusual characters and plots that I find fascinating. Rumor has it that Frank Henenlotter keeps  the Belial  prop in his apartment. Which I guess makes for a scary interaction if you forget that he is there. 

Henenlotter made Basket Case in a homage to all of the exploitation and sexploitation movies he watch and even to the hey day of 1970’s 42nd street era full of porn theaters, scary and seedy bars and people.

Fun Fact: Frank Henenlotter got the idea to make this movie when he saw the movie It’s Alive by Larry Cohen

Below is the trailer for Basket Case:

Until Next time!

 

Jayne Mansfield you are this month’s Wo(man) of the Moment!

Jayne Mansfield has always been one of my icons because she alway lived her life to the fullest! One of my favorite movies that she starred in was “The Girl Can’t Help It” directed by Frank Tashlin.

Jayne was never scare to show off her assets and her personality. Even a simple trip to the supermarket was over the top! She believed that everywhere she went was a photo opt for the press. 

And it was no secret that her favorite color was pink. That color explains her personality perfectly because pink is a very loud color and it tends to stand out. One of my favorite houses ever is Jayne Mansfield house. She referred it as her “Pink Palace.” And everything was cover in pink or red. 

Even her car was pink!

In learning about Jayne’s life and watching her movies she kind of taught me a bit about life.  You must live it loud and live life well. If you love the color pink than there is no use in hiding it you gotta flaunt it! Just be real and be who you are.

 

Congrats Jayne on being this month’s WO(man) of the moment!!

 

Until next time!

 

I considered jewelry a form of expression. Either to express ” I love you”, a certain celebration like a birthday or a birth of a child. Jewelry has been a popularity item to give as a gift and as a status symbol. Little did I realized that jewelry can also mean a symbol of death.

Over a decade a ago I was taking an American history course and the teacher was covering a small chapter on Victorian Mourning Rituals. (Which I am not going to lie I really wanted him to go more into detail than only one class!) He mentioned that Victorians had a huge fascination with death and how they grieved was an interesting process. Death was a common factor during the Victorian period and it was very rare for someone to live past the age of  45. This was mostly due to Europe being in constant war and if there was lucky enough to survive war then many diseases such as smallpox, cholera, and scarlet fever would mostly take them in.

However one person in particular during this time made grieving a fashion statement.

Queen Victoria: 

Queen Victoria was the Queen of Ireland and the United Kingdom from 1837-1876 and had one great love in her life; her husband Prince Albert . So when he passed away in 1861 she went into a long state of depression for almost four decades until her own death. During her long state of mourning she wore nothing but black dresses and tiny pieces of jewelry with small paintings of Prince Albert on them.

Queen Victoria was so well respected among her court and also was a public figure she quietly turned her visible grief into a fashion statement until her death in 1876. Anyone with any kind of nobility started commissioning artists to painted tiny pictures on rings, earrings, lockets, bracelets and necklaces of there dearly parted. 

Lockets were sometimes had a dual use of having the parted person on one side and a lock of hair on the other side. Also Hair pins with love ones lock of hair was very popular. Many Victorians believed that keeping a locket of hair from a deceased loved one meant that the spirit of that person was still a part of them and also meant that a piece of them was immortal if contained in a piece. Certain metals and materials and metals that were used in this fashion statement were onyx, pearls, black enamel, bog oak and dark tortoise shell. Some  metals had certain themes for example if white enamel was used it means that that person was grieving a death of a child or an unmarried women. 

So much death facing many Victorians of that era having these pieces of jewelry brought them some comfort. And many of them especially women wore these pieces like badges of honor. Even though that person is physically past and gone. The spirit an memory will forever be remember on a piece of jewelry.

 

Until next time!

 

 

Hello and welcome this week’s installment of Welcome to the Insta-hood! This week’s spotlight is on IG account: @savageswordofconan (Manny)

1. Tell me a little about yourself.”My name is Manny, I live in Florida. I’ve been collecting comics, movies, and records from a very young age. It’s entirely possible that if I focused my energies elsewhere I could’ve been a doctor or lawyer. After all, if I can remember the intricacies of ‘80s X-Men story lines then I’m sure I could’ve remember how many bones are in the human body (206 – I checked on Google!).

   I currently work at a record store. I had an “adult” job for years but left, finding that less money but less stress is better than no free time, heavy anxiety, and a few extra dollars. I also have a beautiful black cat named FauxFaux that I love very much. “

2. What made you want to start this IG account? “”I grew up with Conan comics. My father was a hippie and read Savage Sword of Conan, Heavy Metal, The Hulk comic magazine, Howard the Duck, Fangoria, Starlog, and so forth. He kept them in the closet in an old bag and I would grab them out all the time, perusing the pages like a fiend. Honestly, those comics and magazines were my introduction to nudity and violence.

   At Free Comic Book Day in 2017 I scored a giant stash of Savage Sword issues for dirt cheap. After reading through them I looked to see if there was an Instagram about Conan and the name SavageSwordofConan was free so I grabbed it. I really had no idea anybody would care and figured about 300 people would pay attention. Surprisingly, this wasn’t the case.

   I keep doing it because it’s fun and gives me a reason to sit down and read and flip through a bunch of Conan comics on a regular basis. Instagram is the only social media platform I really care for. These content driven accounts remind me of fanzines and I used to make those when I was younger (don’t ask the names because I won’t tell) so this seems like a natural extension, where I can do this with my digital devices and a stack of comic books. Since the account has gained attention I’ve tried to use the Story feature to publicize artistic endeavors by my friends and others that I respect and admire, whether it’s other IG accounts, art shows, punk shows, or whatever else. It seems like the logical thing to do, aside from posting dope pictures of Conan comics.

3.  Can you talk a little about your Conan collection?                                                      “Most of my collection consists of Savage Sword issues. I need about 30 issues of SSoC and Savage Tales. Unfortunately, that includes Savage Tales #1, Savage Sword #1, and Savage Sword #235, which is quite expensive because so few were printed. I just started grabbing issues of Conan the Barbarian, adding to my meager, but growing, collection of those (I have almost 50 according to my CLZ app). I have the Blu-Rays for all the films and the soundtracks on vinyl. One of my favorite acquisitions is a record from the ‘70s featuring L. Sprague de Camp reading two Conan tales (The Curse of the Monolith and The Bloodstained God). It was advertised in the back of Savage Sword issues and it came into my job in a used record collection a while back. I grabbed it pretty quickly.
4. What is your top three favorite Conan comic covers/images and why?”There are three that my father had which stand out and had a gigantic impact on me: #42 by Bob Larkin, John Buscema’s cover for the Marvel Super Special #2, which is from the first full-color Savage Sword issue, and #5 by Boris Vallejo. These were the issues I’d go back to habitually. Issue 42 was my introduction to nudity (Chabela) and that issue has Conan fighting against man eating plant monsters and saving the day. As a very young child, seeing this had a gigantic impact on me and that entire story arc is still one of my favorites (Conan the Buccaneer). 

   The Super Special issue was my father’s favorite. Once, he caught me reading it and instead of punishing me started talking about how it was his favorite and why. His was quite beat up and falling apart but I would still become fixated with that one. The wraparound cover is still one of my favorites. 

   Issue 5 has the iconic cover with Conan crucified. The story is an adaptation of A Witch Shall Be Born, which is probably my favorite of Howard’s Conan tales. The cover, the story, and the loose adaptation of that moment in the Conan the Barbarian film had an impact on me as a kid. It is absolutely brutal. 

5.  Which Conan comic has the most sentimental value for you and why?                       “I would have to say my copy of issue 42 and probably my copy of issue 5. Those both belonged to my father. I don’t have many of his issues anymore, or really many things that belonged to him, but I still have those. My copy of issue 5 has water damage and is definitely a reader copy but I won’t part with it. I still haven’t even grabbed another copy of that. Then again, I also haven’t run across one in the wild. “

 

If you like to know more about Manny please refer to this IG account: @savageswordofconan

 

Thank you Manny for this interview!