One photo, spot on, would be just right. I usually have no problem choosing one image.
Until almost midnight on Monday night. Blue.
Yes, that is a leather bodice. NYC shop window. I was focusing on the shoes but the blue dress caught my eye when I was looking for a blue photo.
Urbanspoon gave it a 93 % positive rating. Check it out here. Next time I visit I will photograph the interior. Meatloaf and mashed potatoes or breakfast all day.
There’s a bronze statue of an unemployed Maytag repairman in Newtown Iowa where they manufactured Maytag washing machines. Here is another view of the same statue in the snow. I was in Perla’s Appliances Plus Store in Swissvale, picking up a grill plate for my new stove they delivered last week and saw this statue of the lonely Maytag repairman. Turns out there are other figurines of the same theme in existence and are popular collectibles. I asked to blog it and they said fine by them, thank you! Do you remember Jesse White the character actor who first played the Maytag Repairman in a commercial in 1967?? There is a Youtube video of a Maytag Museum in Eaton CO if you want to see the collections of washing machines, some powered by gasoline and one actually has a meat grinder attachment. Wringers, rollers, drums, agitators, tubs, automatics and rack and pinion gearing, motors and spin cycles. But since the Maytag needed so few repairs, their authorized repairman was taught to carry a deck of cards to play solitaire as he was called so infrequently! 
When my family lived in Newark, NJ my brother and I used to skate around the block. Your feet would hum after you took off the skates. You left your regular shoe on your foot and tried to fit it into the metal brace. I can hear the sound when I look at these old skates. Childhood of the 1950’s. They were heavy. At least that is how I remember them.
And on the other side…….
Still in the COSI Progress exhibit. Last week we had a nice day trip to downtown Columbus, driving around the city to check out Laura and James wedding venue, reception and the hotel where we’ll be staying. When we went through the Columbus Science and Industry center the kids showed me their favorite room. There is a vintage soda fountain and in one corner the jukebox and the other corner a pinball machine which you can play if you have a dime.
Actual VINYL plays inside this gem of a coin-operated jukebox . Seems everything is moving to a digital file. Records, 8-tracks. cassette, CDs.
Learned how to make a ® symbol on the Mac keyboard so thought I would use (overuse) it for this post.
These names are familiar I know. And to people my age, a host of memories will resurface after you view these images.
Silly Putty® is now owned by Binney and Smith and is more than fifty years old. Tons of this pliable stuff has been manufactured and sold in the past fifty + years.
Slinky® has an interesting history, too, and About.com lists this memorable jingle but be careful cause it might stick in your head all day and you’ll remember the tune, too. They are manufactured in Holidaysburg PA.
“What walks down stairs, alone or in pairs, And makes a slinkity sound?
A spring, a spring, a marvelous thing, Everyone knows it’s Slinky…
It’s Slinky, it’s Slinky, for fun it’s a wonderful toy
It’s Slinky, it’s Slinky, it’s fun for a girl and a boy
– Advertising Jingle for Slinky
You can always buy a new Slinky cause who hasn’t gotten one stretched out and tangled up irreversibly?
And I remember when Wiffle® Balls came out ! Do you? They are still selling strong. Especially to college kids.
I was in Shadyside Variety Store, picking up a few items for the grandchildren. I remember when Mark, Matthew and Laura used to shop here in the early nineties. We lived around the corner for two years and they could walk there to shop.
So many nostalgic favorites- and the latest inventive toys from the Toy Fair, like Spot It which Sharon the proprietor demonstrated for me so I can play it with Anna and Michael when I visit. Keeping my brain sharp. I am fairly certain they’ll beat me.
See the rubber chicken dangling inside the colorful hula hoops at the store entrance? Next time the grandchildren come I am going to take them to the Shadyside Variety Store, give them each some money and see what they decide to buy after extensive browsing!
The nicest guy from Texas,who just finished up a Robotics Conference at CMU, was shopping – he held the Etch-a-Sketch up for me when I was exploring the store for classics!
When your shopping list says birthday gift, jumprope, jacks, sidwalk chalk, art supplies, Dots, Pinky Balls, and Silly Putty, Slinky and Wiffle Ball….. Shadyside Variety Store 5421 Walnut Street, Pittsburgh – (412) 681-1716 (Cash or check!)
Someone asked me the other day if I were a reporter. No, a blogger. Self-assigned!
My friend G’s mother in Morris Plains NJ used to make these icebox cakes in the sixties. I always loved to eat a slice of one. And they still sell the cookies you need to make one. I hear they are difficult to find. I found a box on the top shelf of Giant Eagle supermarket right here in Pittsburgh and I saw them for sale in Kroger in Ohio.
We are still missing the NABISCO bakery which is now a location for Google and the new gym, Anthropologie and some other stores. There is even a hotel in Bakery Square where the NABISCO bakery used to be. I am not sure if they used to bake these chocolate wafers in that facility or not. Found an article that these cookies were advertised in 1929 with this recipe suggestion! And the author of the article is correct- these cookies are always hidden on the top shelf in the cookie aisle. I’ve been thinking about making a Famous Chocolate Refrigerator Roll for a long time. 
So I bought the Famous Chocolate Wafers and a pint of heavy cream to whip. Mine did not look as neat and lovely as my friend’s mother’s dessert did when we were growing up. Once I covered it all with the leftover whipped cream it looked better. It is chilling now. Laura is coming in tomorrow from OH and I hope she will find it amazing when we slice it and it is striped.
Milk chocolate is all I had for a garnish but dark chocolate garnish would have looked better. After you put it all together, it sits in the refrigerator and as I remember it, the cookies soak up moisture and get cakelike and soft, with the layers of cream in between. A no-bake dessert you just assemble and refrigerate. Anyone remember eating this as a child?
If you want the nutritional information you can click here but just enjoy a single slice and have people over to share it!
Where can you see all that in one afternoon? BELLEVUE, PA And in the slideshow at the end of this post!! Head vases, a statue of Groucho Marx, autograph book, Betty Boop and an Atwater Kent Radio.…..oh, and another church for sale, too!
After my 11 o’clock appointment, J and I headed for Bellevue. Who knew that tomorrow is the start of their 4 day long Summer Solstice Spectacular. You can click here for the details We grabbed a quick bite at Joe’s Rusty Nail, an ice cream scoop of chicken salad on greens, some mandarin oranges and strawberries with balsamic and a blueberry muffin. A tall glass of ice tea. Cash or check, no cards. We walked down the block to a place we had driven by. Joyce’s Antique Emporium at 494 Lincoln Avenue in the heart of downtown. Oh my. We could have spent hours there, everything so carefully arranged and classified. Things you might have had as a kid or your mom had or the neighbors or your grandmother. I’m still thinking about the set of Pyrex bowls I left there and am thinking about going back if they are still there. Afterwards we stopped by the Farmer’s Market booths and I bought some strawberries that I made into jam when I got home- Joy of Cooking recipe. There was a shaved ice vendor. J bought the perennial Bloodroot to plant in her wonderful garden. We had fun checking out the antiques store with EVERYTHING. The Pickers Show on the History Channel needs to come and do an episode from this place. I am serious. We had the nicest conversation with the man minding the place and he was knowledgeable and full of great stories about the items in the store! The aluminum glasses on a blue coffee table outside the store caught our interest and we couldn’t get over the variety of items displayed. Canisters Depression glass, Kewpie Dolls, Betty Boop, swizzle sticks, an accordion, bugle, toys etc etc etc….See the slide show below. Call them at (412) 761-1288.