of tigers and men

The Uniroyal Tire Commercial above is one of the most memorable commercial from my youth.  Each Uniroyal Tiger commercial pulled the viewer into first person action like the old Six Flags Chevy Show.  The animation made me feel those curves as the tiger paws grabbed and held the road.  The commercial is still a strong piece of advertising.

There was another tiger roaming around back at that time - The Esso Oil Tiger with the "Put A Tiger In Your Tank" slogan.  There was a great marketing give-away that went along with this campaign.  Do you remember?  It was the tiger tail that people tied to their gas tank.  I saw one of those tails today tied to a car.  I don't think they were advertising Esso, but rather an avid Auburn Tiger fan.

fatal vision

We used to have to watch these old automobile safety films in Driver's Ed class back when I was in high school.   I know I'm an old fart now, but all of these films were just as vintage to me then as they are now.  The teacher would roll out the 16mm projector and we'd have to make room for it in the center of room.  The guy sitting closest to the light switch in the back of the room would get the light.

The film would roll and it took me a few minutes for my ears to get accustomed to the sound of the film clicking through the machine.  I would soon become absorbed in the old tragedies.  I could hear the message clearly, and take in the reality gore fest.  We got the message quickly.

We would watch the scratched and hacked-up celluloid of bad drivers  who were scratched and hacked up.  It was there where I saw dead people for the first time in Driver's Ed class.  Many images in these safety films were pretty grizzly, charred bodies, limp bodies, disfigured bodies, all kinds of dead bodies.  The intent was of course to scare young careless drivers into being careful drivers.

the first pony

1966 Mustang Convertible

It's a beautiful thing.  The Ford Mustang caught everyone's eye back when it first rolled off the showroom floor in 1965 - MAN ALIVE!  The classic lines of this car has never lost it's appeal to me.  It's one of the most iconic cars the automotive industry has ever produced   It's beauty, power, and cool all rolled into one.  There's been a lot of variations since the Mustang's beginnings.  Down through the decades I've seen Ford try to rethink and redesign this car - but nothing can compare with the original.  The Ford Mustang of the 1960's was perfection on wheels.

we were there...

Back when I was in grammar school, we'd line up and head to the library.  The library was about the only place at R.A. Mitchell that I liked.  There were some times of exceptions.  Anytime we had to be inoculated/vaccinated for something, the library was used as needle central.  Frankly, I don't think that was a good idea.  A kid just didn't know if he was going to  get to peruse or get bruised.  Fact of the matter is - anytime we lined up single-file and walked down along those drab green walls - we never knew what we were getting in for.

But I digress.  Let's go back to the library.

My favorite series of books at the library were the 'We Were There' series.  I remember the one above the most, 'We Were There When Grant Met Lee At Appomattox'. As you can draw from this particular title,  the books were about certain events in our nation's history, as seen through the eyes of fictional children.   Each story was checked for factual accuracy by an authority on a books particular focus on history. These were probably the first chapter books that I remember reading.  The Appomattox book interested me the most because even as a kid I was interested in that era.

These historical novels were released between 1955 and 1963 by Grosset & Dunlap.  They have been out of print for some thirty-something years.   I remember all the We Were There books had to have been well read - given the physical condition of each copy.  The books at Mitchell didn't have jackets, but rather the color illustration was printed on the cover of each book.  Each story was chock full of line art illustrations.  It was a good thing.

On a side note.  I didn't learn much about the Civil War throughout my education.  There was a history textbook that we were issued, Know Alabama that had stories from our War Between the States.  I remember being disappointed that the chapters were mere brushed over.  Maybe I would have enjoyed history more as a child if the good stuff wasn't overlooked.  Even though my history teachers down through the years failed to give us more than names and dates...we'll always have the library.

Do you like gladiator movies?

300?  No.  This is the mighty Hercules!

If you're a baby-boomer and remember Hercules...you'll know that Steve Reeves was Hercules.  Though Steve made lots of gladiator 'Sword & Sandal' movies, he only played the character of Hercules twice.  HERCULES (1957) and HERCULES UNCHAINED (1960 U.S. release)  He was 'the man' back in those days.

In 1954 he had a small role in his first major motion picture, the musical in ATHENA (with Jane Powell).  The same year Reeves had a small role as a cop in Ed Wood's JAIL BAIT.  These were the only two movies that Steve's Reeves real voice were ever used.  Once in Italy - someone else's burly voice was dubbed in.

Reeves was born in the United States but found his stardom in Italy doing some memorable (and many forgettable) low budget movies.  From 1959 to 1964, he was Mr. Gladiator to us.  I was too young to see them at the movies, but remember seeing them on television.  Anyone remember Tom York's Dialing for Dollars Show?  Do you know the count and the amount?

So here's some facts I found that you might not have known about Steve Reeves.  After the Sword & Sandal movie craze faded - the Italian Westerns came into being.  It was a real shot in the arm for Italy's flailing movie industry.  Steve didn't see it coming.  He just thought it was silly for Italians to go West - "that Italians can't make Westerns".  

Al conrario!

So when Sergio Leone came calling, Reeves turned down the leading role that eventually went to Clint Eastwood in A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964).  Steve Reeves also said that he said no to the role that later went to Sean Connery in DR. NO (1962).

Ouch!

Reeves' final film that he co-wrote was A LONG RIDE FROM HELL, an Italian Western that was an attempted to mimic one of Sergio Leone epics.  Too late....he missed the stagecoach.  I've never seen it and would like to - just for the heck of it.

Nevertheless, Steve Reeves is fondly remembered as the mighty Hercules.