As much as Amazon’s “Everything Store” approach might seem disruptive, particularly as the retailer branches out into supermarkets and physical stores, it’s not that different from what Sears did nearly a century ago as its wildly successful mail-order business transformed into a bricks-and-mortar mega-chain. The question is: Can Amazon keep from making the same mistakes that led to Sears’ fall from grace? [More]
history
The Grocery Shrink Ray Hit Seattle Bakeries In 1916
By 10.26.16
Did you think that the Grocery Shrink Ray was a modern phenomenon? It turns out that shrinking down food and hoping that no one notices is a venerable tradition, and was front-page news in Seattle a century ago. [More]
Moving Walkways Were Around Long Before Airports Started Using Them To Move People
By 9.29.16
While moving walkways have become ubiquitous at airports around the country — along with the rage that comes from getting stuck behind the person who chooses to stand still and block everyone else from walking on them — conveyor belts that shuttled people around were invented long before air travel became the norm. [More]
“This Is Underwear Time” — The Most Brilliant Catalog Cover You Will See Today
By 4.14.16
While we don’t often deal in absolutes, there are some things we are 100% certain about. The cover of a 1920s trade catalog with the title “This is Underwear Time” — complete with the illustration of a a man getting dressed while his dog looks on — is one of those times where we can unequivocally proclaim to have found a truly (possibly unintentionally) brilliant piece of marketing. [More]
Original Taco Bell Building Saved From Demolition, Will Be Moved To Taco Bell HQ
By 11.17.15
After facing demolition for nearly a year, the Downey, CA, building where Taco Bell got its modest start will live to see another day. It’ll just see it from a different location: the fast food restaurant’s corporate headquarters in Irvine. [More]
Kentucky Fried Chicken Started With An Iron Pan, Dining Room Table & A Gas Station
By 5.4.15
When we imagine Colonel Sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken fame, we see an older man with a white beard and neatly pressed suit. But that’s not really how the foray into feeding the masses started for Harland Sanders. Instead, things began on a much smaller scale for the entrepreneur, who was in his 60s by the time he started letting others sell his chicken recipe. [More]
3D, Smell-O-Vision & Indoor Weather: Rating The Best & Worst Movie Theater Innovations
By 4.20.15
Summer blockbuster season is almost upon us. The months of kicking back in the full-blast air conditioning and watching digitally-created stuff blow up will begin in just a couple of weeks, and at this point, it’s an annual ritual. [More]
Taco Bell’s Founder Originally Intended To Start A Burger Empire
By 4.20.15
If you drive to Downey, CA, you can find the oldest existing McDonald’s eatery and the currently vacant building that housed the first Taco Bell. And the tie between the two famous fast food names goes deeper than that. It was in the parking lot of the very first McDonald’s that the man who would eventually create the Taco Bell empire dreamt of a fast food empire stretching from coast to coast. [More]
Remembering When America First Met, Fell In Love With Pizza
By 4.13.15
In The Time Before Pizza, or as I like to call it, America’s Dark Days, people didn’t have easy access to the delicious, doughy, cheese-and-tomato discs many of us love today. Those who did were mostly limited to the descendants of Italian immigrants, say wise pizza historians, until soldiers abroad in World War II discovered the mouth magic that is a good slice of pizza. [More]
Taco Bell May Relocate Original Bell Building To Save It From Demolition
By 3.20.15
Back in January, we reported that the Downey, CA, building where Taco Bell got its start more than 50 years ago is facing possible demolition. Taco Bell, which has long since moved on from that building, responded with a social media campaign to judge whether the structure was worth saving. But now it looks like the company is seriously considering the possibility of preserving the building where it all started, but in a different location. [More]
Dollar Stores Existed In 1870, And They Were Pretty Classy
By 9.6.12
The late 19th century gave us the five-and-dime store, where everything cost five or ten cents. Those are the ancestors of what we think of as a “dollar store” today. What you might not know is that dollar stores have been around for more than 140 years. It’s just that back then, a dollar could buy you a lot more, so they were rather swanky. [More]
How Snake Oil Dodged Basic Laws In 1907
By 5.25.11
It’s funny how similar the labeling tactics used by hucksters of fake snake oil used after getting busted by new laws in 1907 are to some techniques used by food and product packagers today. [More]
Obama To Bankers: Remember When Creating The FDIC Was Going To Ruin The Economy?
By 4.22.10
During the President’s address to Wall Street bankers today in New York City, he reminded them that their predecessors had completely flipped out about a bill that passed through Congress way back in 1933. It was, in their view, sure to “not only rob them of their pride of profession but would reduce all U.S. banking to its lowest level.” What was this reform bill? [More]
Hot Dog Found At Coney Island May Be 140 Years Old, But Definitely A Hoax
By 2.25.10
Update: As several readers have pointed out, it’s a Coney Island publicity hoax, which probably explains why CNN yanked the clip. * People are calling it the caveman hot dog. Okay, nobody is calling it that. But one person interviewed by CNN News12 Brooklyn said, “That’s unbelievable, finding hot dogs that are 140 years old. That’s crazy, to me it’s crazy.” Another person said, “These things are irreplaceable, they’re priceless. And it’s great that they found it, and that it will be here for generations to come and see and learn.” [More]
Think Times Are Tough? Try The Recession Of 410-1100
By 12.23.09
Cheer up! Sure, you may be unemployed. The bank may be close to foreclosing on your home. And other creditors are circling like vultures to make sure they get a piece of your hide before you declare bankruptcy or go underground. But at least you don’t have to deal with a complete collapse of all commerce, no infrastructure to speak of and the total loss of all skilled labor. Of course, as long as you weren’t covered in sh*t, you were probably doing OK. [More]
Walmart Vs. Historians In Battle Over Civil War Site
By 9.24.09
Historians and conservationists have united in Virginia against a common foe: Walmart, which wants to build a 38,000-square-foot Supercenter near near Wilderness Battlefield, a Civil War site and National Park. The groups filed a suit on Wednesday charging local officials with brushing aside concerns about the site when they approved Walmart’s plans in August.
Does Living In California Make You A Higher Credit Risk?
By 9.21.09
Paul Smith, who lives in San Diego and has a credit score of 751, had his HSBC credit card limit lowered from $7,000 to $1,400 recently for mysterious reasons. He called HSBC to find out why.
Seven Free Sites To Track Your Personal Information
By 9.14.09
The Consumer Reports Money Adviser has compiled a great list of sites that store your personal information and will provide free copies of their reports to you if you ask.
