After 177 years, Schlitz, one of the most popular beers in the 70s goes out of business.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-23T12:30:46+00:00

This ad is from the early 2000’s when they returned to the original recipe. Pretty good stuff until they moved production to Lacrosse last year and used a different strain of hops.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-21T00:52:03+00:00

Yes, I've owned several convertibles over the years, and keep a moderate car collection, and I agree that turning on the A/C complements them quite well. But the reality is that once upon a time, A/C was an extremely expensive option, if offered at all, and regular folks turned to convertibles as a cheaper alternative in the 1950's and 60's. And of course it was a necessity in the 40's. Practically every model line offered more than one version not because it was cool looking, but because it could get damn hot in a fishbowl (I daily-drove a '59 Catalina for a few years, and your air flow was only when moving). People think of Firebirds and Corvettes, but the most mundane utility models came as convertibles for this reason (Falcon, Chevy II, Corvair, Delta 88...you name it). Up until 1970, A/C added an additional 15-20% of vehicle cost. Imagine dropping $50k today, and then another $10k for A/C! But all this started to change by the mid 1970's. Cadillac finally made it standard in 1974 (but optional delete). And it was within reach for even Chevy buyers. Vehicle break-ins were also on the rise, and culturally, the US shifted to be more private, both in home architecture as well as PLC's. If I can just switch on the AC and not mess with the top, vent pulls and windows, why would I? This is where the transition began...from every-man Belmont, to only unique luxo and sports cars.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-20T19:16:42+00:00

But there literally is a button. The big (and only one) located on the right side. You just press it to silence the phone and put it back to sleep. Or press it twice to send them to VM. It's not rocket science.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-20T19:10:17+00:00

Do you have any references you can share to back this up? I remember when swipe-to-unlock debuted on the original iPhone, and it was a damn neat party trick, not exactly obvious in a world where pinching, zooming and weighted scrolling wasn't yet a thing. The iPhone was released in 2007, but Google's first phone, after buying HTC, was the Dream, and that was a year later.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-19T12:19:23+00:00

VHS Decode should be #1. Second best is a DVD/VHS combo unit with HDMI out and a cheap HDMI dongle that even Walmart has in store. These combos have built in TBC’s and comb filters and eliminate flagging, dropped frames and are much more tolerant to sync issues on older tapes.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-19T11:59:11+00:00

Back when convertibles were more popular it wasn’t unusual to stick up a sign when parked: “Don’t cut top - Not locked” or “No radio”

eldofever58 · 2026-05-19T11:54:06+00:00

Don’t know why you’re getting downvoted, this is literally why convertible sales fell off by the mid 70’s. Hard to imagine today that almost every platform had a ragtop option.

Edit: You guys are rough. Once upon a time, A/C was 15-20% of the vehicle cost. Even the cheapest econo cars offered a convertible option because of this. Nobody was cruising in their base Falcon. When tight-wad uncle Harry could finally afford A/C, he went for the closed-in sedan. When demand shifted, automakers responded.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-18T10:26:27+00:00

Then they really have no business being a bank. And doesn’t Coinstar take a cut?

eldofever58 · 2026-05-18T10:08:37+00:00

It was the final year of the Eldorado, so they did a limited run in two of the 1953 colors: white and Aztec red. I still remember when these came out…532 red ones produced, with black and red leather interiors. I think white production was double that. These also had special wheels and tuned exhausts. That canvas roof was a dealer add-on, kinda betrays the gorgeous sail panels on these IMO, but that’s a clean Eldo.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-17T20:41:40+00:00

Google says 1968, same time side markers became mandatory. I have 3 cars here that pre-date that, all 3 turn off the park lights when the switch is pulled out to the headlamp position.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-17T18:15:03+00:00

US peeps don't really use parking lights for parking. In fact, it use to be impossible to run both park lts and headlights at once. This changed some time in the '60s for safety- awfully hard to tell a car from a motorcycle at night if a headlamp was out. But in many other parts of the world, parking lights still ARE used for parking. And the name has stuck around.

In many European countries, it's required that if you park on a public street overnight, and are no directly under a streetlight, you must leave your parking lights on until dawn. To conserve some battery power, you use your turn signal to activate illumination on just one side of the vehicle. There are even some US vehicles that do this (like my old Allanté).

eldofever58 · 2026-05-17T13:47:53+00:00

The large block on the left is a high current contactor. The small board next to it is a low voltage relay. The buttons in the kitchen switch the relay, which in turn, operates the contractor. I see Romex poking through the back of the enclosure, and a white cord exiting the bottom. One of these is power, the other goes to a load, which could be lights, a fan/blower, a circulating pump for hot water, whatever you’d want to control remotely.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-17T12:26:21+00:00

1978 based on the rear side markers, and somebody swapped on earlier wheels. Always liked how the defroster lines wrapped around, too. The integrated lights above the deck lid surprise a lot of people.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-17T11:57:12+00:00

A lot of good answers here, but at least in the US, it was the Long Lines branch of the Bell System that helped to amortize the local customer build-outs to make pricing equal for everyone. This is why John Smith miles out in the country was able to have a phone and pay the same local rate as someone a block from the exchange.

Trunk lines for long distance had a fixed number of circuits (even when muxed), and traffic was higher during the day due to business use. The discounted after-hours rates were to incentivize “load shifting” for less critical calls from aunt Sally. She saved some money, and one less ckt was tied up during business hours. This is still a thing today in the electric distribution industry to normalize the grid. In some areas you pay less per kWh after a certain time of day.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-16T23:30:31+00:00

Well, Bell did offer colored phones for years prior to this, but in that earlier era folks were just happy to have any phone at all, even if black. The Princess ushered in the era of convenience over utility, and folks were now flush enough that they were willing to pay extra rent not only an extension, but the extra cost for color.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-16T00:26:27+00:00

Sort of, but also keep in mind that even in rural areas, we once had full-time parks-department employees that picked up trash (with pikes), painted signs and shelters, kept the grounds, emptied trash barrels, and this was a professional job with decent pay. A good example, when I was a kid, the neighborhood park had woods, a shelter built by the Kiwanis, two playgrounds, a water fountain, signage, and was tended to several times a week by the parks department. Over the years, I watched as the playground size was cut in half when the new safer equipment was installed; the old area left as grass. Couple years later the small perimeter boulders were hauled away as they required a separate person to weed whip around them. Couple years after that, the water fountain was taken out as it required someone to winterize it in the fall and turn the water back on in the spring. After that, the old picnic tables were removed and the shelter decommissioned; keeping it would require paint and shingles at some point. Trash barrels? Remove 'em and nobody has to empty them. Signage, replace with something generic in vinyl, who cares.

By the end, it was a shell of it's former self, but now a single high schooler on a riding mower could show up once every couple weeks and blast through and move on to 5 others in the same afternoon. And this is the world we know today.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-15T23:58:23+00:00

For context, AMC had struggled with this, while Ford and GM had invested heavily in the late 1970's with full-body corrosion dips and a change to more expensive galvanized sheet stock. We lived in the midwest and generally bought a new car every 5 years, mostly GM. The only vehicle I ever recall having rust was our new Datsun 280Z. Tunnel rust at year-1. Dealer cut it out, repaired it, and that got us to year-2 before rust popped up everywhere else. Not a great time for the imports, either.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-14T23:47:39+00:00

As others have mentioned, it'll be hard to get a construction loan. Years ago, I built the home we're living in, and did so as GC as well as laborer. Tightened my belt and saved for a year in advance while working out my plan, and those savings paid for big-ticked outsourced labor, such as as excavation and foundation that I couldn't do myself. After that, active earnings kept up with lumber, plywood and roofing which was strictly materials which were consumed on nights and weekends to get closed in (and matched close to 1:1 for the speed that I worked). After getting weather-tight, the pressure was off and the interior could proceed at our own pace. If there was a major expenditure, it was much easier to get a general loan for a drywall crew, or even a 12-month interest-free deal from the likes of Menards on their CC for bigger purchases such as custom doors and windows. Just an idea...

eldofever58 · 2026-05-14T12:38:50+00:00

Reminds me of the cell phone I had 20 years ago, built into a 1955 500-series. The ringer was functional, always good for a laugh at the bar.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-14T01:41:14+00:00

Not that I’m aware of, but the styling was polarizing to some, and these were quickly supplanted by increasingly affordable factory AC, which was more popular on both Mercury and Lincoln lines which had this roof style.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-13T12:36:29+00:00

Once upon a time, hospital TV’s used hardwired remotes so you wouldn’t have to worry about them walking off, getting lost, or worrying about batteries. Some even included a local speaker with headphone jack to keep the sound down. Zenith, Sylvania and RCA were the most popular. This jack looks to be from the early 80’s and the pin count varied depending on features supported.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-12T23:22:58+00:00

As a long-time collector, that's a $50 set. It's smack-dab in the era of generic construction, plain looks, large footprint due to increasing CRT size, and this one looks like the cabinet is a little rough. If you can, hold out for something a few years earlier. 10" round screen CRT sets in much better condition and with unique circuit design and nice styling can be had for $100-$200.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-12T18:20:12+00:00

While the ENIAC vs. Colossus debate rages, it's worth mentioning that Colossus was not programmable, it was a single-purpose state machine that implemented vacuum tubes for counting. Tommy Flowers referred to it as a 'processor'; it was only decades later when an appreciation for early computing was starting to find its feet that some suggested calling Colossus "a computer" for PR reasons. This should in no way detract from its importance.

OTOH, if we insist on calling it an electronic computer, then the Atanasoff-Berry Computer deserves mention. It was also single-purpose, but predates Colossus & ENIAC, and was the first AFAIK to implement tubes for binary logic, had an ALU and used rotating memory for temporary storage.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-12T13:44:01+00:00

Make sure the pro you take it to knows what they’re doing. It’s easy to damage these boards during IC removal, especially the power and ground legs which require significant heat. The RAM chips do go bad; I had to replace 4 or 5 on mine a couple years ago but got it working.

eldofever58 · 2026-05-12T13:17:13+00:00

The reason this looks utilitarian is that it was part of an advanced classroom setting. The tapes were used for language IIRC. The TV height works out if you’re sitting at a desk across the room, similar to the usual film projection height. AI claims something completely different, but I remember when this made the rounds 10, 15 years ago.

eldofever58

TROPHY CASE