Last post I mentioned items I took pictures of that I never shown on the blog, or at least I don't think I did. Today, I thought I'd show off a few more things. No cards today, but I'm pretty sure the next post will. I must say though, I'm not sure how wordy it will be because I'm trying to think what they are and how I got them. As for today's post, it will be wordy likely, but I have a lot of photos, so you can just look at them if you want.
We start today's post with something different, even for this blog. For a few years I've wanted to get a subscription to newspapers.com, and just go wild looking up stuff. I don't have extra money to do that and to top it off, most of the local papers here aren't included (one semi local one does go to 1978, another to 2015). So it would be nice to get a free trial, but I figured if I did I want to have it all figured out what to look up, and maximize my time. Well, in February, they had a free weekend. Look at whatever all President's Day weekend. I found out a few hours in, and I didn't have a plan. I did find out they do it every year at that time, so I will be ready next year. It also appears they might do the same for Mother's Day (so I have to remember that). The normal free trial is 7 days, and these are 3 days or so, but I was able to find a lot of stuff, and even a few random things. Maybe a future post will show stuff I actually tried to find, but for now I'll show a couple oddball things. I believe I found the first reference to K-Pop, albeit a little different than what you might expect.
So cheap! While this is kind of funny to me, it actually helped me out a bit with history. It actually places the K-Mart store I remember from youth to being in Sedalia prior to 1979, I think ever to 1977. It no longer is there, but I like knowing when stores came in. I was looking for a hamburger stand called Griff's which while still exist in the Dallas area, are long gone from here. I placed that to the early 70s. Remember I like advertising stuff, so a K-Mart ad and figuring out their local history was a cool find. Plus maybe this pic will get some notice on my Pinterest page if I ever remember to put it on there.
I found another interesting ad/notice as well in the local Sedalia Democrat in the late 70s. I'm sure it was from there, maybe it was another paper, either way I got a chuckle.
Looking at it now, I guess it was a Des Moines paper, not sure what year it was now. Bill Cosby special presented by McDonald's.... just don't have him bring your drinks. Oy... okay, let's move on.
When I get the chance next year, I have a long list of stuff to look up. I might try to look up cards, but right now it would be low on the list. I only wish I could get full PDF's of the newspapers, but I have no problem clipping stuff. You can clip stuff through their site, but I like having it on my computer. Again, I might do a post around that time if anyone is interested so I can remember the dates.
So let's see what else I have to show. After finally finding a place for my books, I have started getting a few more. Unfortunately I haven't read much more. I still want to change that, but at least I have them handy in case I want to grab one. Here are a few I've picked up this year and a few my mom bought which I thought I'd show too.
The first two my mom bought. The Mr. Food one is a cookbook, and I liked seeing him on TV growing up. He would have a 2 minute or so clip on the news at noon and always finish it up with "oooh, so good". I don't think I looked at this but might thumb through it one day. The Hoffa book, sounds interesting, but at this point I am tired of hearing about Hoffa (same with D.B. Cooper). While it would be nice to see both cases solved, every year or two "new details" come out and they might have solved it.... then nothing comes of it. I'll get excited when they are finally solved.
The Finish Strong book my mom thought I might like and she thought it was autographed. Turns out it was just a son inscribing it to his father. The book itself was okay from what little I read, but nothing impressive. I likely would have passed on it. Looking back, I probably should have done the same with the ESPN book, but I believe it has a DVD so I might check it out. I think my mom read part of it and liked it though.
The Tightwad Gazette book was kind of dumb if I remember. I think it is on my bookshelf but not sure if I'll keep it. I hear my town has one of those little free library's, so I might take a few books up there one day. Thin out a few and maybe find a couple I might want.
The Sesame Street one was one I was most excited to find. I had one of these growing up, and really hoped it was the same one. Mine is falling apart, and missing the cover and a few pages. I got home and realized it wasn't but it was still cool to have. I would probably buy more of these if I found them cheap.
I know I got a few more, but either didn't take pictures or just haven't put them in this folder yet (these are mainly from early in the year and maybe from last year).
So now let's move on to something else I was excited to find.
I usually don't look at glassware unless something stands out (I'm usually a sucker for fast food plastic cups or stadium cups). However I was trapped in the glassware section, so I just decided to look. The prices have skyrocketed in the last couple years. A .10 glass is now anywhere to 2.50-6.00. So I was quite surprised to see this one for I think 50 cents. I don't collect every Mizzou glass, but this one was too nice not to get. I displayed it shortly after I took this picture, and have a mini basketball that sits on top of it. Whenever I do buy glassware, I always use it to display. I guess I'm too much of a germaphobe to actually drink out of them.
Moving on, I also have more puzzles to show. Some I might have shown, and some I might have already completed, but a few I'll tackle as the weather gets worse (just had our first snowfall a couple nights ago, luckily it didn't stick to the roads).
I thought there was more, oh well. I think the Harbor one I've done, but I could be wrong. If not I did a similar one. The Big Ben (second one) will take a while, as it's 2000 pieces. I think a good snow day will be the best time to break that one out. The one I'm dreading and excited for is the Chicago one. In fact my mom and I spent about 2-3 days working on it before realizing it will take a long time to finish, so we decided winter was a better time to do it. Luckily, we have a few other puzzles to do before the weather is too bad, and might even redo some so we are stocked for now. I am hoping the current one is finished soon, a bit tired working on that one.
So I guess now is the time to show off some VHS. I think VHS has replaced card collecting this year, and its a bit cheaper at the moment, but takes up more room.
My first goal in collecting VHS is to get the movies I had growing up, or just remember having. The only one in this batch is the Animal House one, which I think my sister got for my dad in the later lifespan of VHS. Beyond that, I try to get movies I like, or are ones not on DVD or Blu-Ray, or just odd. I got Commando because I don't own it on DVD, and until I do, this will work. I liked the movie growing up, so it was a nice find, even if it is a SELECTIONS version (I much prefer the original boxes, like a first printing of a book). Robocop was beat up, but I wanted a copy, so it was good enough for me. Bad News Bears I was on the fence about. I got it because VHS is 4 for a buck, and because I like the movie and the case is in outstanding condition.
As you can tell, am not getting these to resale, so condition can be beat up, and I'm not trying to make a profit on these.
I remember showing Big on here before. However after I got home I noticed a red pen marking on Tom Hanks' face, so I wanted a better copy. I finally found one, and was happy with this one. Carman was a Christian singer and I really liked him. I remember when this movie came out, and I was critical of it. I didn't really like it, but it wasn't bad enough that I'd never watch again. It is on DVD, but I'm happy finding it on VHS. I may or may not have had it on DVD or VHS before (still regret not keeping all my VHS from before). Lastly is the Ninja Turtles. I never had this, but loved the cartoons, so this was a nice find and glad I have it.
I wish I had a better VCR , but I might watch a few of these soon, just for old times sake. I want to convert some to DVD, but I may need a need a new VCR to do that. I really need one or two on backup.
WAIT, there's more VHS.
This batch my sister actually got for me. She got the Red Skelton more for my mom, but it will stay on my VHS shelf. I will try to convert that at some point. I might do the same for Every Which Way But Loose, which is the first time I've ever owned it. It's been so long since I've seen it, I can't even remember it. The Baseball Greatest Moments fits in the oddball category, and not likely on DVD, so I'll give that a watch soon.
The blank one is for now my favorite. I like the unknown aspect of it, and hope it has old commercials on it. I try to convert those and put them on Youtube. I haven't in a while do to my old VCR messing up. The current VCR works, but I can't track the time on it, so its tougher to do. Until I get one that can track (not onscreen), then I'm holding off on that. I have a lot of tapes to still go through, so I need to do that soon.
Another oddball I found, which isn't the first demo tape. I don't think I've ever seen this one, but I might check it out one day.
I got Old Yeller for my mom. I passed it up a couple years ago, and she mentioned she would like to see it, so I got it. I got My Cousin Vinny and Blank Check because I don't own either on DVD or Blu-Ray and wanted copies. I like both, but at least My Cousin Vinny is on TV enough I likely won't have to watch this much. I got Walking Tall because the case looked really nice, and since its from like 2004, it is one of the newest VHS tapes I'll likely own. I'm not sure how many more I have that were released after this but it was cool to find. I actually really like the movie, but thankfully its on TV enough I don't have to pull this out much. Plus I also own it on DVD.
Last batch, which I thought I'd shown before, but maybe not. The first one is an oddball from Reader's Digest. I'm not sure what to expect, but maybe I'll look for it on Youtube. I might do the same for the car one. Another oddball, but glad I found it. Most of these when I do end up viewing, are really boring, so I don't have high hopes for most of them.
The last one, was one I was really happy to find, especially signed. Ray Speckman in the 80s and 90s would do these 2-5 minute specials on KOMU TV at the end of the broadcast, showing the Lake of The Ozarks. He didn't work there, but it was like a little bonus section of the show, usually shown on weekends. I had long forgotten about them until a few years ago and tried to find some old ones with no luck. However a blank VHS tape I went through about a year ago had one of the episodes, and when I get things going again, I'll upload it. I decided to look up Ray and see whatever happened to him, and it looks like he writes novels about the lake. I'm not sure if they are murder mysteries or historical murder books, but he has a few. He also might be running a boutique/thrift shop with a "lady friend" (as the bio I found indicated). I might have to stop in if I ever go near there again. It would be cool to meet him.
So I guess that wraps it up for today, thanks for reading and allowing me to clean out some folders of stuff I have bought the last couple years. Next time should be some cards, and maybe a few other things. I have more stuff to show and maybe more movies. I might keep that separate though. Thanks for reading and have a great week.
