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BunaB
BunaB was the name of a line of purposely useless novelty products, promoted as if they were useful via carefully written marketing hype. They were created by American radio host Al Crowder (1904-1981). Beginning in the 1950s BunaBs were purportedly produced by the firm of Orville K. Snav and Associates and distributed from its headquarters in Snav Towers, Mason City, Iowa. The company's chief product was the Improved No. 7 BunaB, an assembly of two insulated wires, red and blue, held together with neatly applied yellow electrical tape at the ends. BunaBs have been described as examples of primitive conceptual art. History In 1951 Al Crowder was a music store employee and radio host at KSMN in Mason City. A cryptic gift of an object resembling a water jug from Crowder's father-in-law to Crowder's son inspired Crowder to write to the manufacturer, the International Latex Corporation, to ask what the object was. The response, received from E.C. Jakoswiak, Assistant to the Preside ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Crowder
Al Crowder (1904–1981) was an American radio host, music teacher and humorist, best known as the creator of the BunaB line of products. Crowder's BunaBs and related merchandise, ostensibly produced by "Orville K. Snav and Associates," are considered an early form of conceptual art. Crowder received nationwide exposure through appearances on ''The Garry Moore Show'' and in a 1957 profile in ''Playboy''. Crowder was born in Louisville, Kentucky in 1904. In the 1920s he toured as a banjo and accordion player and as an announcer at shows and on the radio. By the early 1930s he was teaching music in Fort Wayne, Indiana, moving to Mason City, Iowa in 1939. He worked at the Vance Music Store and Carleton Stewart Music in Mason City. teaching and playing the banjo, accordion, clarinet, saxophone and bass clarinet. In 1951 Crowder was on local radio as "Grandma's Disc Jockey," playing music from his personal collection of early recordings. BunaB In 1951 Crowder conceived the BunaB #7, a d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Novelty Item
A novelty item or simply novelty is an object which is specifically designed to serve no practical purpose, and is sold for its uniqueness, humor, or simply as something new (hence "novelty", or newness). The term also applies to practical items with fanciful or nonfunctional additions, such as novelty aprons, slippers, or toilet paper. The term is normally applied to small objects, and is generally not used to describe larger items such as roadside attractions. Items may have an advertising or promotional purpose, or be a souvenir. Usage This term covers a range of small manufactured goods, such as collectables, gadgets and executive toys. Novelty items are generally devices that do not primarily have a practical function. Toys for adults are often classed as novelties. Some products have a brief period as a novelty item when they are actually new, only to become an established, commonly used product, such as the Hula Hoop or the Frisbee. Others may have an educational element, s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dave Garroway
David Cunningham Garroway (July 13, 1913 – July 21, 1982) was an American television personality. He was the founding host and anchor of NBC's ''Today'' from 1952 to 1961. His easygoing and relaxing style belied a lifelong battle with depression. Garroway has been honored for his contributions to radio and television with a star for each on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the St. Louis Walk of Fame, the city where he spent part of his teenaged years and early adulthood. Early life Born in Schenectady, New York, Garroway was of Scottish descent. By the time Garroway was 14, he had moved with his family 13 times, finally settling in St. Louis, Missouri, where he attended University City High School and Washington University in St. Louis, from which he earned a degree in abnormal psychology. Before going into broadcasting, Garroway worked as a Harvard University lab assistant, book salesman, and piston ring salesman. After not being able to successfully sell either, Garroway de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston Hefner (April 9, 1926 – September 27, 2017) was an American magazine publisher. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of ''Playboy'' magazine, a publication with revealing photographs and articles which provoked charges of obscenity. The first issue of ''Playboy'' was published in 1953, featuring Marilyn Monroe in a nude calendar shoot; it sold over 50,000 copies. Hefner extended the Playboy brand into a world network of Playboy Clubs. He also resided in luxury mansions where ''Playboy'' playmates shared his wild partying life, fueling keen media interest. He was a political activist in the Democratic Party and for the causes of First Amendment rights, animal rescue, and the restoration of the Hollywood Sign. Early life Hefner was born in Chicago on April 9, 1926, the first child of Glenn Lucius Hefner (1896–1976), an accountant, and his wife Grace Caroline (Swanson) Hefner (1895–1997) who worked as a teacher. His parents were from Nebraska. He had a you ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myrna Loy
Myrna Loy (born Myrna Adele Williams; August 2, 1905 – December 14, 1993) was an American film, television and stage actress. Trained as a dancer, Loy devoted herself fully to an acting career following a few minor roles in silent films. She was originally typecast in exotic roles, often as a vamp or a woman of Asian descent, but her career prospects improved greatly following her portrayal of Nora Charles in ''The Thin Man'' (1934). Born in Helena, Montana, Loy was raised in rural Radersburg during her early childhood, before relocating to Los Angeles with her mother in her early adolescence. There, she began studying dance, and trained extensively throughout her high school education. She was discovered by production designer Natacha Rambova, who helped facilitate film auditions for her, and she began obtaining small roles in the late 1920s, mainly portraying vamps. Her role in ''The Thin Man'' helped elevate her reputation as a versatile actress, and she reprised the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cary Grant
Cary Grant (born Archibald Alec Leach; January 18, 1904November 29, 1986) was an English-American actor. He was known for his Mid-Atlantic accent, debonair demeanor, light-hearted approach to acting, and sense of comic timing. He was one of classic Hollywood's definitive leading men from the 1930s until the mid-1960s. Grant was born and brought up in Bristol, England. He became attracted to theater at a young age when he visited the Bristol Hippodrome. At 16, he went as a stage performer with the Pender Troupe for a tour of the US. After a series of successful performances in New York City, he decided to stay there. He established a name for himself in vaudeville in the 1920s and toured the United States before moving to Hollywood in the early 1930s. Grant initially appeared in crime films and dramas such as ''Blonde Venus'' (1932) with Marlene Dietrich and '' She Done Him Wrong'' (1933) with Mae West, but later gained renown for his performances in romantic screwball ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Barry Goldwater
Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and United States Air Force officer who was a five-term U.S. Senator from Arizona (1953–1965, 1969–1987) and the Republican Party nominee for president of the United States in 1964. Goldwater is the politician most often credited with having sparked the resurgence of the American conservative political movement in the 1960s. Despite his loss of the 1964 U.S. presidential election in a landslide, many political pundits and historians believe he laid the foundation for the conservative revolution to follow, as the grassroots organization and conservative takeover of the Republican party began a long-term realignment in American politics, which helped to bring about the "Reagan Revolution" of the 1980s. He also had a substantial impact on the American libertarian movement. Goldwater was born in Phoenix in what was then the Arizona Territory, where he helped manage his family's department ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Helen Hayes
Helen Hayes MacArthur ( Brown; October 10, 1900 – March 17, 1993) was an American actress whose career spanned 80 years. She eventually received the nickname "First Lady of American Theatre" and was the second person and first woman to have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award (an EGOT). She was also the first person to win the Triple Crown of Acting The Triple Crown of Acting is a term used in the American entertainment industry to describe actors who have won a competitive Academy Award, Emmy Award, and Tony Award in the acting categories, the highest accolades recognized in American film, t ...; to date, the only other person to have accomplished both is Rita Moreno. Hayes also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor, from President Ronald Reagan in 1986. In 1988, she was awarded the National Medal of Arts. The annual Helen Hayes Awards, which have recognized excellence in professional theatre in greater Washington, DC, si ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jerry Lewis
Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture, Lewis was nicknamed "The King of Comedy". Starting in 1946, he teamed with singer Dean Martin to form the famous Martin and Lewis, then in 1956, went on as a solo act on stage, top-grossing movie star, a staple on television and filmmaker. He starred in 60 films, directed 13 movies and was an early and prominent user of video assist, which allows real-time review of how a scene looks on camera. During his years as national chairman of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), Lewis supported fundraising for muscular dystrophy research and hosted ''The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethon, The Jerry Lewis Telethon'', which raised $2.6 billion. Early life Lewis was born Joseph Levitch on March 16, 1926, in Newark, New Jersey, to a Jewi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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