Originally published October 30, 2009 When I was growing up in southern California, the change of seasons was most noticeable in the lower hourly rates charged at beach parking lots. The only changing fall colors in Los Angeles are the intensity of people’s tans. So when I moved to northern California, I was glad to […]

Are there any three words more dreaded by American youths than “back to school?” I still cringe at the thought, and for the last few weeks I’ve been waking up in a cold sweat, having dreamed of not remembering my class schedule, or being caught naked in the hallway without the combination to my locker, […]

One of my most popular columns of recent times highlighted a safety booklet from the 1940s entitled “It’s Great to Be Alive.” If you didn’t catch that installment, you should take a look — it’s pretty funny how gruesome some of the safety warnings for kids were back then. I recently came across another safety […]

With much of the United States sweltering in a heat wave, it’s the perfect time to enjoy some of the coolest vintage summertime images from the Scanning Around With Gene series. OH BOY, IT’S SUMMER! features the wholesome images of kids at play in the sunshine from the 1956 children’s book Summer Is Here. The travel […]

Originally published February 12, 2012 I’ve long wanted to do a column on the covers of Fortune magazine, especially those published before 1960 when the magazine was one of the most lavishly produced in the United States. However, because the magazine began publishing in 1930, it was difficult to edit the many possibilities down to […]

Originally published October 7, 2011 Many people more qualified than me are writing tributes to Steve Jobs and indeed, I barely know what to say. Mostly I find it sad that four kids have lost their father at too early of an age, and that no matter your success and resources, sometimes life takes a […]

Originally published December 29, 2011 When I came across a 1947 edition of “Painting With Air” (published by the Paasche Airbrush Company and written by Frank J. Knaus), I assumed the airbrush had lost favor in our digital times. Once a standard for photo retouching and original illustration, the airbrush was a common tool in […]

Originally published on January 30, 2009 Depending on who you ask, my musical tastes run from “eclectic” to “total dip.” I’m just as comfortable listening to television theme songs and commercial jingles as I am obscure 1980s punk bands or movie soundtracks. So I can get away with humming just about anything around the house […]

Originally published December 29, 2010 One of my favorite magazines, at least from a vintage perspective, is Popular Mechanics. You can find nearly every issue going back to 1905 at Google Books. For many years (back as far as 1908), Popular Mechanics Press, the parent company to the magazine, published a series of special editions […]

Originally published August 6, 2008 When I was in high school I spent a great deal of time hiding behind a 35mm Nikkormat camera under the guise of taking pictures for the yearbook. I noticed pretty early that kids with cameras around their necks were less likely to get beaten up, and there was a […]