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The wildly different 3 amigos with a Racing Porsche, a Pre-War Flathead single seat racer, and our star, the amazing 1957 Isetta 4 seat Bubble Car, constructed by BMW and the car that saved the failing BMW.
In the early-1950s, in Italy, the market demand for small, inexpensive cars inspired engineer and businessman Renzo Rivolta to create one. At that time, he was the owner of Iso Autoveicoli the country’s third-largest motorcycle manufacturer, a company that, prior to the war, made refrigerators and other appliances. These roots were best symbolized by the refrigerator-like door, a feature that became emblematic for the microcar.
Revealed at the 1953 Turin Motor Show, the car envisioned by Rivolta was nicknamed Isetta, the diminutive form of Iso. It was created on a tiny chassis around a 236 cc (14.4 cu in) two-stroke sourced from the motorcycles built by the company.
Although it was very small, its bubble-shaped body was designed to maximize space and could accommodate two adults. To facilitate access the hinged steering wheel and column swung out with the large front door and legend has it that on the first prototype an actual repurposed refrigerator door was used.
Performance-wise, the 9.5-hp engine meant the car needed over 30 seconds to reach 31 mph (50 kph) but that didn’t stop several owners from entering Isettas in the legendary Mille Miglia endurance race in 1954.
Rivolta wanted to maximize the profits of this vehicle in order to fund his other projects which involved the development of luxury grand tourers, so he decided to sell the blueprints and equipment to other manufacturers.
Among the companies that acquired the license for the Isetta was BMW, which was experiencing poor sales and was in dire need of a new strategy.
In 1955, war-torn Germany was in the process of rebuilding, and in the East, the Messerschmitt KR175 microcar emerged as an increasingly popular vehicle. Sensing the segment’s potential, the struggling Bavarians introduced the BMW Isetta 250 hoping that it could help revive sales.
Equipped with a modified version of the 250 cc (15.2 cu in) four-stroke from the BMW R25/3 motorcycle and an upgraded front suspension setup, the German version also had repositioned headlights and a soft-top sunroof that was designed as an emergency exit.
With the new 12-hp engine, the car accelerated reasonably faster and could reach a top speed of 53 mph (85 kph). This helped make it more appealing than it ever was in Italy, with more than 10,000 units being produced in the first eight months.
The car evolved into a four-seater a year later with the introduction of the BMW 600, a stretched-out version with a more conventional four-wheel layout and the capacity to seat four. It was powered by a larger 19.5-hp flat-twin and was even available with a semi-automatic transmission. Only manufactured for two years, 34,813 units were sold which did not meet the Bavarian carmaker’s expectations, partially because it was similarly priced as the far more popular Volkswagen Beetle.
Production of the smaller 300 continued until 1962 totaling close to 130,000 units (excluding the 600s) which made it the best-selling vehicle of its kind. While BMW’s future remained in muddy waters throughout the early 1960s, the cash flow from the Isetta helped the company survive throughout one of its darkest periods and became a cult hero in the process. Without that cashflow, BMW would have gone under.
Apart from Italy and Germany, the innovative vehicle was also manufactured under license by Velam in France, Isetta of Great Britain in the UK, Metalmecánica in Argentina, and Romi in Brazil.
AS ALWAYS....COMMENTS & INVITATIONS with AWARD BANNERS will be respectfully DELETED!
Replete with reflection in the moat :)
The Castle at Kirby Muxloe was never finished, as the chap who was having it built, William, Lord Hastings, Lord Chamberlain of England, was summarily executed by Richard III ("Thou art a traitor. - Off with his head").
Kind of scuppered the cashflow somewhat...
Komm vorbei in meinen Bungalow
Ich hab Snacks für die Late-Night-Show
Mama kocht für alle
Mama kocht für mich und dich
Komm vorbei in meinen Bungalow
By the rivers of cashflow
Wir trinken Soda, trinken Soda...
Euro 66 DE6311-F (92 87 0077505-1 F-AKIEM), & DE6312-F (92 87 0077506-9 F-AKIEM) parked up at Antwerp-Schijnpoort Yard awaiting their move to France.
DE 6313 F (77505 or DE6313-F (92 87 0077505-1 F-AKIEM to give its full number), is poking its nose out on view behind.
After 3 years in store at the old Tilburg depot, these were collected (with a few other brand new sheds stored in Holland) and transferred from Rotterdam Kijfhoek Yard to Antwerp-Schijnpoort on 17 May 2011.
Officially they were sold to AKIEM (SNCF's pretend separate rail company) a month later on 20 June 2011.
They had originally been ordered for DLC - Dillen & Le Jeune Cargo which became Crossrail, but that fell through with their cashflow problems as various shareholders came and went.
So after 3 years stored since arriving from North America, they were finally almost ready for work 😊
Ironically after coming over from the UK to photo Eurosheds, these lok headed to the UK a couple of years ago.
With GBRF looking for extra locos, they were transported through the Chunnel in January (77506) and February (77505) of 2024.
After being fitted with UK signalling equipment, 77505 is now active as GBRF's 66315. While 77506 is 66314 and was named "Katie" by GBRF on 18/06/2025.
Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire had been on my ‘to do’ list for many years but time, distance and the affects of disability had conspired to prevent me from getting there until earlier this year. I was not disappointed as I found myself wandering around the ruins like a slack-jawed yokel, just marvelling at the sheer size of the place. More than once I was heard to say f*** me! But at least I had the good taste to spell the rude word with a letter ‘q’.
To understand my awe you have to remember that I live in Norfolk and I am well familiar with the remains of Castle Acre Priory, Binham Priory and the single huge arch which is all that is left of Walsingham Abbey. Fountains Abbey was built on a wholly different scale to these religious buildings, both vertically and horizontally. In its prime it was a site of vast and serene grandeur. Even now it retains the ability to affect a visitor. It certainly affected me.
For perhaps the first time I was confronted with overwhelming evidence (and a better understanding of the claims made by historians) that King Henry VIII was the greatest vandal in English history. His agents took a wrecking ball to dozens of magnificent buildings and strip-mined them for materials and money. Many, like Fountains, ended up just being used as stone quarries.
www.flickr.com/photos/barryslemmings/albums/7215771634122... to see the full set.
Fountains was one of the many religious houses suppressed by Thomas Cromwell on behalf of his master, the King. King Henry had broken with the Church of Rome in the 1530s over the matter of his divorce and remarriage to Anne Boleyn. Henry also needed to improve his cashflow. The church owned vast tracts of the richest land in Britain and wielded great influence over the hearts and minds of the King’s people. If Henry wanted to make himself head of the new Church of England he would need to line his pockets, build defences against a possible Papal invasion and destroy the ability of the great religious houses to put up a theological - or martial - defence against him.
It is no coincidence that the start of the Dissolution of the Monasteries was met almost immediately by a popular rebellion in 1536 which then led to the Pilgrimage of Grace:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrimage_of_Grace
It is also no coincidence that among the 216 known executions following the uprisings of 1536/37 were many monks and churchmen - including the former Abbot of Fountains, William Thirsk.
Henry VIII’s right-hand man Thomas Cromwell had started small by closing or amalgamating just the humbler or allegedly corrupt religious houses with the money going into the King’s coffers. Following Catholic rebellions the King and Cromwell appear to have regarded the untouched larger abbeys in much the same way as Adolph Hitler regarded Communism in WW2. Idealogical resistance from the heart of the church led to Henry VIII issuing the equivalent of Hitler’s ‘shoot the commissars’ order. Close the abbeys, turf out the abbots and execute any who opposed Henry’s supremacy. The Abbot of Glastonbury paid just such a price by being hung, drawn and quartered.
Thus it was that Fountains was closed and pillaged in 1539. Portable valuables such as gold or silver plate and vestments were taken away and sold off while the buildings and 500 acres (200 hectares) of land were sold to MP Sir Thomas Gresham, a former Lord Mayor of London. This was an epic shift in policy for Gresham as he had previously gifted tapestries to Cardinal Wolsey at Hampton Court and even paid for the poor Cardinal’s funeral when King Henry turned against Wolsey. Gresham was a man who could see which way the new wind was blowing. He went with it.
A full history of Fountains Abbey, once the richest Cistercian abbey in England, can be found here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountains_Abbey
It is well worth a read.
Today Fountains is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Although owned by the National Trust, English Heritage membership cards are accepted in full as EH also looks after the Studley Royal church on the same site.
Disability footnote: despite the well laid paths, etc, Fountains is not an easy site for the disabled. The main ruins are some distance from the entrance while the rest of the Studley Royal park is vast and was not visited by me. Pace yourself as I found getting out up the paths at the end while very tired rather difficult.
Will we make this happen?
The experiment continues. The mad professor and team are forging ahead with more tracked in real-time experimental field psychology.
Things will become 'safer' but less free: someone will have to pick up the tab after all.
UK retail sales 'growth' will be digitally tracked and traced and will make for interesting reading for the last week of July / Quarter 3 / H2 / Phase 1.
The UK high street may rebound (even dead cats bounce don't you know). Or it may tank further. Consumers may shop online even more so thereby finally signing the high streets death warrant (Cause of death: this year's on trend disease).
Of course spending via credit card will probably increase further so smaller retailers if they survive will have even worse cashflow of a form of currency that is even more Fiat. On the 'plus side', shoppers will have more of their purchases digitized and like good birls and goys their credit history might improve.
Will the high street bounce or will we roll over to provide a bezzoss bonanza? This is an experiment we can all take part in and alter the outcome through our actions, in real time.
Hello there. Relevant comments welcome but please do NOT post any link(s).
[29/365]
look at it big, ya know?
i've been working for three days straight and i got paid $80 to babysit last night. finally, my cashflow is back on trap. THANK GOD. for those of you who don't know me personally, i am a compulsive and impulsive shopper. it is dangerous, and i really really need to start saving my money. i gotta get myself an iphone in a few month so i'm not going to blow paycheck after paycheck like i normally do. gotta stack them suckas up! which is also good because MY PRO ACCOUNT EXPIRES IN TEN DAYS. shittt. don't be surprised if half my stream disappears for a little bit.
i'll most likely re-edit this when i get home from work today. i already have three different versions. i've been extremely nit-picky with my photos lately. i think i need to just relax.
leave me things.
time machine time again.
Looking back the future held more promise for people in 1945, yes a period of bad times were around the corner but were they to be as bad as what we are dealing with in this day and age?
Our youngsters are looking at a time of harsh hardships with cashflow being a dream for most, the cost of living is through the roof and prospects of getting out of the ruts of this life look slim.
Then we figure in Global weather changes, due to easy movement the transmission of disease is a lot higher and the rise is nut cases being heads of state means everyone's future is at risk at a push of a button.
I know it all sounds doom and gloom and I know its not.
Back in 45 there was sunlight on the horizon or at least the dream of it whereas nowadays it seems all we see is darkness.
Lets hope this pandemic makes us realise we have to live again and to give those who came after us a better future where greed, oppression and hate are things of the past.
A stock photograph created to illustrate finance articles. Feel free to use in any way you wish for your articles, blogs etc. A credit for "Alan Cleaver" would be nice! There are more free stock photography shots in my Freestock set.
Lynden, Washington
Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868[5] as the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the firm was originally a coachbuilder, manufacturing wagons, buggies, carriages and harnesses.
Studebaker entered the automotive business in 1902 with electric vehicles and in 1904 with gasoline vehicles, all sold under the name "Studebaker Automobile Company". Until 1911, its automotive division operated in partnership with the Garford Company of Elyria, Ohio, and after 1909 with the E-M-F Company and with the Flanders Automobile Company.
The first gasoline automobiles to be fully manufactured by Studebaker were marketed in August 1912. Over the next 50 years, the company established a reputation for quality, durability and reliability.
After an unsuccessful 1954 merger with Packard (the Studebaker-Packard Corporation) failed to solve chronic postwar cashflow problems, the 'Studebaker Corporation' name was restored in 1962, but the South Bend plant ceased automobile production on December 20, 1963, and the last Studebaker automobile rolled off the Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, assembly line on Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, 1966.
Studebaker continued as an independent manufacturer before merging with Wagner Electric in May 1967 and then Worthington Corporation in November 1967 to form Studebaker-Worthington (Wikipedia)
This image is best viewed in Large screen.
Thank-you for your visit, and any faves or comments are always greatly appreciated.
Sonja
Lynden, Washington
Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868[5] as the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the firm was originally a coachbuilder, manufacturing wagons, buggies, carriages and harnesses.
Studebaker entered the automotive business in 1902 with electric vehicles and in 1904 with gasoline vehicles, all sold under the name "Studebaker Automobile Company". Until 1911, its automotive division operated in partnership with the Garford Company of Elyria, Ohio, and after 1909 with the E-M-F Company and with the Flanders Automobile Company.
The first gasoline automobiles to be fully manufactured by Studebaker were marketed in August 1912. Over the next 50 years, the company established a reputation for quality, durability and reliability.
After an unsuccessful 1954 merger with Packard (the Studebaker-Packard Corporation) failed to solve chronic postwar cashflow problems, the 'Studebaker Corporation' name was restored in 1962, but the South Bend plant ceased automobile production on December 20, 1963, and the last Studebaker automobile rolled off the Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, assembly line on Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, 1966.
Studebaker continued as an independent manufacturer before merging with Wagner Electric in May 1967 and then Worthington Corporation in November 1967 to form Studebaker-Worthington (Wikipedia)
This image is best viewed in Large screen.
Thank-you for your visit, and any faves or comments are always greatly appreciated.
Sonja
Sooke, BC Canada
Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the firm was originally a coachbuilder, manufacturing wagons, buggies, carriages and harnesses.
Studebaker entered the automotive business in 1902 with electric vehicles and in 1904 with gasoline vehicles, all sold under the name "Studebaker Automobile Company". Until 1911, its automotive division operated in partnership with the Garford Company of Elyria, Ohio, and after 1909 with the E-M-F Company and with the Flanders Automobile Company. The first gasoline automobiles to be fully manufactured by Studebaker were marketed in August 1912. 231 Over the next 50 years, the company established a reputation for quality, durability and reliability.
After an unsuccessful 1954 merger with Packard (the Studebaker-Packard Corporation) failed to solve chronic postwar cashflow problems, the 'Studebaker Corporation' name was restored in 1962, but the South Bend plant ceased automobile production on December 20, 1963, and the last Studebaker automobile rolled off the Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, assembly line on Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, 1966. Studebaker continued as an independent manufacturer before merging with Wagner Electric in May 1967 and then Worthington Corporation in November 1967 to form Studebaker-Worthington.
(Wikipedia)
This image is best viewed in Large screen.
Thank-you for your visit, and any faves or comments are always greatly appreciated.
Sonja
Sooke, BC Canada
Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the firm was originally a coachbuilder, manufacturing wagons, buggies, carriages and harnesses.
Studebaker entered the automotive business in 1902 with electric vehicles and in 1904 with gasoline vehicles, all sold under the name "Studebaker Automobile Company". Until 1911, its automotive division operated in partnership with the Garford Company of Elyria, Ohio, and after 1909 with the E-M-F Company and with the Flanders Automobile Company. The first gasoline automobiles to be fully manufactured by Studebaker were marketed in August 1912. 231 Over the next 50 years, the company established a reputation for quality, durability and reliability.
After an unsuccessful 1954 merger with Packard (the Studebaker-Packard Corporation) failed to solve chronic postwar cashflow problems, the 'Studebaker Corporation' name was restored in 1962, but the South Bend plant ceased automobile production on December 20, 1963, and the last Studebaker automobile rolled off the Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, assembly line on Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, 1966. Studebaker continued as an independent manufacturer before merging with Wagner Electric in May 1967 and then Worthington Corporation in November 1967 to form Studebaker-Worthington.
(Wikipedia)
This image is best viewed in Large screen.
Thank-you for your visit, and any faves or comments are always greatly appreciated.
Sonja
The Canadian View Card Company - CVCC
Canadian View Card Co. was based in Toronto, and was a prolific publisher of early Canadian patriotic postcards, as well as other early view cards. Their early series of postcards do not often bear the publisher’s attribution, however, an example from the Canada Coat of Arms series shows the publisher’s name associated with the card back that was frequently used with their patriotics series of cards. Later view cards more commonly bore the name of the publisher. LINK to the complete article - www.vintagepostcards.ca/Publishers/Canadian/CVCC/
In November 1884, the Canadian Pacific Railway railhead's westward advance reached Beavermouth. Inspector Sam Steele, Sergeant Fury, and about six or seven constables of the North-West Mounted Police maintained law and order within the camps. At Beavermouth, the police post was on the opposite side of the Beaver River to the construction camp, being connected by a bridge. The police facilities included cells for 30 prisoners, a courtroom, staff dining hall, and quarters for the men. In contrast, the worker quarters contained two long double tiers of bunks for 100 men, separated by a narrow passage. Water dripping from the snow-covered roof soaked the men's blankets. Unpaid wages were accumulating, because subcontractors had not been paid by CP, which was experiencing a chronic cashflow problem. In March 1885, hundreds of men from the various camps marched on Beavermouth. An attempt was made to arrest a man inciting workers to resist the police. Steele, sick with typhoid, went outside with a police magistrate, who read the Riot Act. After Steele threatened to shoot anyone who advanced on the police post, the gathering dispersed and the strike leaders were later fined.
The Kelham Island brewery closed recently and the likes of Pale and Easy Rider will no longer be available. With the Fat Cat in the background the brewery one of the first Sheffield independents will be missed.
Kelham Island Brewery opened in 1990 in the beer garden of the Fat Cat in Alma Sreet, and at the time was the city's first independent brewery in almost a century. The original site was later converted to a visitor centre and a new brewhouse opened in 1999.
By the end of the 1990s Sheffield's other main independent brewers had all shut (Wards, Stones and Whitbread among them), leaving Kelham Island as the oldest. The reason cited for closure was cashflow issues following covid. Fortunately the Fat Cat remains open.
Sooke, BC Canada
Studebaker was an American wagon and automobile manufacturer based in South Bend, Indiana, with a building at 1600 Broadway, Times Square, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Founded in 1852 and incorporated in 1868 as the Studebaker Brothers Manufacturing Company, the firm was originally a coachbuilder, manufacturing wagons, buggies, carriages and harnesses.
Studebaker entered the automotive business in 1902 with electric vehicles and in 1904 with gasoline vehicles, all sold under the name "Studebaker Automobile Company". Until 1911, its automotive division operated in partnership with the Garford Company of Elyria, Ohio, and after 1909 with the E-M-F Company and with the Flanders Automobile Company. The first gasoline automobiles to be fully manufactured by Studebaker were marketed in August 1912. 231 Over the next 50 years, the company established a reputation for quality, durability and reliability.
After an unsuccessful 1954 merger with Packard (the Studebaker-Packard Corporation) failed to solve chronic postwar cashflow problems, the 'Studebaker Corporation' name was restored in 1962, but the South Bend plant ceased automobile production on December 20, 1963, and the last Studebaker automobile rolled off the Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, assembly line on Saint Patrick's Day, March 17, 1966. Studebaker continued as an independent manufacturer before merging with Wagner Electric in May 1967 and then Worthington Corporation in November 1967 to form Studebaker-Worthington.
(Wikipedia)
This image is best viewed in Large screen.
Thank-you for your visit, and any faves or comments are always greatly appreciated.
Sonja
After shopping for hours and hours, one realizes that inadequately shopping makes effective cashflows. After all when it's time to go out with your best friend, there is no better time to wear your eye-catching rubber boots.
If it's Istanbul we are talking about, please be sure double it!
I created this shot in my studio for use on my site, AssistedSeniorLiving.Net but I want to share it since it is applicable to much more than just senior retirement planning. Feel free to use this image but please check out our website at www.AssistedSeniorLiving.Net and give us a little love. It is very difficult to get seniors to +1 so your help can really help us establish the site as a great resource for caregivers and seniors.
Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire had been on my ‘to do’ list for many years but time, distance and the affects of disability had conspired to prevent me from getting there until earlier this year. I was not disappointed as I found myself wandering around the ruins like a slack-jawed yokel, just marvelling at the sheer size of the place. More than once I was heard to say f*** me! But at least I had the good taste to spell the rude word with a letter ‘q’.
To understand my awe you have to remember that I live in Norfolk and I am well familiar with the remains of Castle Acre Priory, Binham Priory and the single huge arch which is all that is left of Walsingham Abbey. Fountains Abbey was built on a wholly different scale to these religious buildings, both vertically and horizontally. In its prime it was a site of vast and serene grandeur. Even now it retains the ability to affect a visitor. It certainly affected me.
For perhaps the first time I was confronted with overwhelming evidence (and a better understanding of the claims made by historians) that King Henry VIII was the greatest vandal in English history. His agents took a wrecking ball to dozens of magnificent buildings and strip-mined them for materials and money. Many, like Fountains, ended up just being used as stone quarries.
www.flickr.com/photos/barryslemmings/albums/7215771634122... to see the full set.
Fountains was one of the many religious houses suppressed by Thomas Cromwell on behalf of his master, the King. King Henry had broken with the Church of Rome in the 1530s over the matter of his divorce and remarriage to Anne Boleyn. Henry also needed to improve his cashflow. The church owned vast tracts of the richest land in Britain and wielded great influence over the hearts and minds of the King’s people. If Henry wanted to make himself head of the new Church of England he would need to line his pockets, build defences against a possible Papal invasion and destroy the ability of the great religious houses to put up a theological - or martial - defence against him.
It is no coincidence that the start of the Dissolution of the Monasteries was met almost immediately by a popular rebellion in 1536 which then led to the Pilgrimage of Grace:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrimage_of_Grace
It is also no coincidence that among the 216 known executions following the uprisings of 1536/37 were many monks and churchmen - including the former Abbot of Fountains, William Thirsk.
Henry VIII’s right-hand man Thomas Cromwell had started small by closing or amalgamating just the humbler or allegedly corrupt religious houses with the money going into the King’s coffers. Following Catholic rebellions the King and Cromwell appear to have regarded the untouched larger abbeys in much the same way as Adolph Hitler regarded Communism in WW2. Idealogical resistance from the heart of the church led to Henry VIII issuing the equivalent of Hitler’s ‘shoot the commissars’ order. Close the abbeys, turf out the abbots and execute any who opposed Henry’s supremacy. The Abbot of Glastonbury paid just such a price by being hung, drawn and quartered.
Thus it was that Fountains was closed and pillaged in 1539. Portable valuables such as gold or silver plate and vestments were taken away and sold off while the buildings and 500 acres (200 hectares) of land were sold to MP Sir Thomas Gresham, a former Lord Mayor of London. This was an epic shift in policy for Gresham as he had previously gifted tapestries to Cardinal Wolsey at Hampton Court and even paid for the poor Cardinal’s funeral when King Henry turned against Wolsey. Gresham was a man who could see which way the new wind was blowing. He went with it.
A full history of Fountains Abbey, once the richest Cistercian abbey in England, can be found here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountains_Abbey
It is well worth a read.
Today Fountains is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Although owned by the National Trust, English Heritage membership cards are accepted in full as EH also looks after the Studley Royal church on the same site.
Disability footnote: despite the well laid paths, etc, Fountains is not an easy site for the disabled. The main ruins are some distance from the entrance while the rest of the Studley Royal park is vast and was not visited by me. Pace yourself as I found getting out up the paths at the end while very tired rather difficult.
Jest Magazine Vol 6 No 30
January 1958
A Humorama Magazine
Back Cover Photo: Tana Louise
Back Cover Artists: DSD (Dan DeCarlo) and Paul Hamilton
The Humorama line was a small offshoot of Martin Goodman's empire known as Timely Features. Goodman eventually produced Marvel comics, but his first bucks were made with pulp western tales in the 1930s. Cowboys, horses, bandits and oats were good for Goodman, and he was eventually responsible for nearly 100 monthly titles.
Humorama was the dirty comics and pasty pin-ups sprout of Timely Features, a mere speck in Goodman's vast empire of stapled popular ooze. He let his brother Abe run the show. Martin made big bucks on True Detective type stuff and the Marvel line, but Abe's Humorama line delivered enough cashflow to sustain a dozen titles every month for years.
Each issue delivered 35 cents worth of cuties and cartoons. They were dirt cheap to produce and the artists were paid very little. So were the models, who included Bettie Page and Julie Newmar along with a hoard of country-raised "starlets" who never made it.
Some of the cartoonists went on to make it big like Bill Ward, Dan DeCarlo and Bill Wenzel; but there were dozens who remained in obscurity. One among them was Joe Shuster, who signed his work JOSH. Joe was co-creator of Superman.
Most of the Humorama digests had onomatopœic titles like:
Breezy • Cartoon Parade • Comedy • Eyeful of Fun • Fun House • Gaze • Gee-Whiz • Humorama • Instant Laughs • Jest • Joker • Laugh Circus • Laugh Digest • Laugh Riot • Popular Cartoons • Popular Jokes • Romp • Stare • Snappy • Zip
Jackpot originally popped up around the 1870s and was from the poker game “Jacks or Better”. This is much like traditional five card draw, except in this case, if a player does not have a pair of “jacks or better” in the first round of betting, he has to pass. This doesn’t necessarily mean he has to be holding a pair of jacks, queens, or the like. It just means that he has to be holding cards that will beat a pair of tens.
Once the first person who has that has placed a bet in the opening betting round, the rest of the participants are free to bet as they will, regardless of the cards they hold. In the case where nobody holds “jacks or better”, the hand must be re-dealt with additional ante required, so the pot can grow just from antes.
When the game is finally over, no player is allowed to win with anything less than three of a kind or better. If, at the end, no one has better than three of a kind or more, then no player gets the pot and the hand is re-dealt with additional ante required to be added to the existing accumulated pot. Over time this pot can potentially grow quite large, hence “jackpot”.
Within a few decades of the term “jackpot” in poker popping up, the term morphed into a slang term for “trouble with the law”, and further morphed by the mid-20th century to primarily be associated with “hitting the jackpot” with slot machines. From there, it became even more figurative, referring to any big prize or good turn of events.
Actor Jimmy Stewart, who incidentally was a two star General in the U.S. Military , once starred in one of his more obscure movies called “Jackpot”. The movie was based on a true story of a man, James P. Caffrey, who won $24,000 (about $210,000 today) worth of random and sometimes bizarre merchandise (on August 28, 1948). In the movie itself, Stewart’s character wins such a prize from a radio contest, the same as the real life Caffrey. Unfortunately, there’s no cash involved yet the character is of course obligated to pay a lot of money in taxes, approximately $7000 that he doesn’t have (his annual salary being just $4500, or about $41,000 today).
Snappy Magazine Vol 4 No 24
March 1958
A Humorama Magazine
Back Cover Photo: Pat Shebanek
Artists: Kirk Stiles (left); Bill Wenzel (right)
The Humorama line was a small offshoot of Martin Goodman's empire known as Timely Features. Goodman eventually produced Marvel comics, but his first bucks were made with pulp western tales in the 1930s. Cowboys, horses, bandits and oats were good for Goodman, and he was eventually responsible for nearly 100 monthly titles.
Humorama was the dirty comics and pasty pin-ups sprout of Timely Features, a mere speck in Goodman's vast empire of stapled popular ooze. He let his brother Abe run the show. Martin made big bucks on True Detective type stuff and the Marvel line, but Abe's Humorama line delivered enough cashflow to sustain a dozen titles every month for years.
Each issue delivered 35 cents worth of cuties and cartoons. They were dirt cheap to produce and the artists were paid very little. So were the models, which included Bettie Page and Julie Newmar along with a hoard of country-raised "starlets" who never made it.
Some of the cartoonists went on to make it big like Bill Ward, Dan DeCarlo and Bill Wenzel; but there were dozens who remained in obscurity. One among them was Joe Shuster, who signed his work JOSH. Joe was co-creator of Superman.
Most of the Humorama digests had onomatopœic titles like:
Breezy • Cartoon Parade • Comedy • Eyeful of Fun • Fun House • Gaze • Gee-Whiz • Humorama • Instant Laughs • Jest • Joker • Laugh Circus • Laugh Digest • Laugh Riot • Popular Cartoons • Popular Jokes • Romp • Stare • Snappy • Zip
Fountains Abbey in North Yorkshire had been on my ‘to do’ list for many years but time, distance and the affects of disability had conspired to prevent me from getting there until earlier this year. I was not disappointed as I found myself wandering around the ruins like a slack-jawed yokel, just marvelling at the sheer size of the place. More than once I was heard to say f*** me! But at least I had the good taste to spell the rude word with a letter ‘q’.
To understand my awe you have to remember that I live in Norfolk and I am well familiar with the remains of Castle Acre Priory, Binham Priory and the single huge arch which is all that is left of Walsingham Abbey. Fountains Abbey was built on a wholly different scale to these religious buildings, both vertically and horizontally. In its prime it was a site of vast and serene grandeur. Even now it retains the ability to affect a visitor. It certainly affected me.
For perhaps the first time I was confronted with overwhelming evidence (and a better understanding of the claims made by historians) that King Henry VIII was the greatest vandal in English history. His agents took a wrecking ball to dozens of magnificent buildings and strip-mined them for materials and money. Many, like Fountains, ended up just being used as stone quarries.
www.flickr.com/photos/barryslemmings/albums/7215771634122... to see the full set.
Fountains was one of the many religious houses suppressed by Thomas Cromwell on behalf of his master, the King. King Henry had broken with the Church of Rome in the 1530s over the matter of his divorce and remarriage to Anne Boleyn. Henry also needed to improve his cashflow. The church owned vast tracts of the richest land in Britain and wielded great influence over the hearts and minds of the King’s people. If Henry wanted to make himself head of the new Church of England he would need to line his pockets, build defences against a possible Papal invasion and destroy the ability of the great religious houses to put up a theological - or martial - defence against him.
It is no coincidence that the start of the Dissolution of the Monasteries was met almost immediately by a popular rebellion in 1536 which then led to the Pilgrimage of Grace:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrimage_of_Grace
It is also no coincidence that among the 216 known executions following the uprisings of 1536/37 were many monks and churchmen - including the former Abbot of Fountains, William Thirsk.
Henry VIII’s right-hand man Thomas Cromwell had started small by closing or amalgamating just the humbler or allegedly corrupt religious houses with the money going into the King’s coffers. Following Catholic rebellions the King and Cromwell appear to have regarded the untouched larger abbeys in much the same way as Adolph Hitler regarded Communism in WW2. Idealogical resistance from the heart of the church led to Henry VIII issuing the equivalent of Hitler’s ‘shoot the commissars’ order. Close the abbeys, turf out the abbots and execute any who opposed Henry’s supremacy. The Abbot of Glastonbury paid just such a price by being hung, drawn and quartered.
Thus it was that Fountains was closed and pillaged in 1539. Portable valuables such as gold or silver plate and vestments were taken away and sold off while the buildings and 500 acres (200 hectares) of land were sold to MP Sir Thomas Gresham, a former Lord Mayor of London. This was an epic shift in policy for Gresham as he had previously gifted tapestries to Cardinal Wolsey at Hampton Court and even paid for the poor Cardinal’s funeral when King Henry turned against Wolsey. Gresham was a man who could see which way the new wind was blowing. He went with it.
A full history of Fountains Abbey, once the richest Cistercian abbey in England, can be found here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fountains_Abbey
It is well worth a read.
Today Fountains is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Although owned by the National Trust, English Heritage membership cards are accepted in full as EH also looks after the Studley Royal church on the same site.
Disability footnote: despite the well laid paths, etc, Fountains is not an easy site for the disabled. The main ruins are some distance from the entrance while the rest of the Studley Royal park is vast and was not visited by me. Pace yourself as I found getting out up the paths at the end while very tired rather difficult.
· On my way to Warm Planet to get my brakes fixed, I saw these two stickers. The one at the top represents my bike repair cashflow problems (at least it's not a car). The "no brakes" at the bottom suggests a crew I could join as an economy alternative.
The giant wheels on the right separated only by a line of bendy-straw drive-over plastic bollards disabused me of the latter notion.
FINANCE - There are problems of rich, very rich, and Apple's problems. The success of the inventor of the iPhone has made it possible for the group to sit on a mountain of more than $250 billion in cash. But his problem now is knowing what to do with it.
According to its quarterly results released on Tuesday, May 2, Apple had 258.8 billion available cash as of March 31,2010, the vast majority of which was stored abroad. This is equivalent to the Gross Domestic Product of a country like Chile.
Such means would enable it to buy many of its competitors or even diversify into other sectors such as electric cars, a product to which it attaches great interest, for example by buying Tesla.
Surprised by the huge amount of its reserves, the imagination of Internet users was immediately overwhelmed, transforming Twitter into a more or less zany idea box.
Shares of Apple and its suppliers tumbled this week after multiple industry analysts predicted weak demand for the new flagship iPhone. Apple's (AAPL) stock slid by as much as 4% in premarket trading Tuesday.
The radically redesigned iPhone X was supposed to give Apple a boost following a couple years of sinking sales. Early sales reports were positive, and Morgan Stanley reported last week that the iPhone X is especially hot in China.
But the first wave of demand among Apple fanatics seems to have passed, and analysts are skeptical that more casual iPhone customers will upgrade to the iPhone X.
Citing the iPhone X's super-high $1,000 price and confusing features, a Sinolink Securities analyst predicted that Apple will ship just 35 million iPhone X devices in the first three months of 2018, roughly 10 million fewer than previously expected. JL Warren Capital now estimates Apple will deliver just 25 million iPhone Xs. Jefferies is slightly more bullish, expecting Apple to ship 40 million.
The analyst reports come after Taiwanese newspaper Economic Daily reported Monday that Apple had dramatically lowered its own iPhone sales expectations from 50 million to 30 million.
Apple didn't immediately respond to CNNMoney's request for comment.
Investors punished companies that make iPhone components. Shares Genius Electronic Optical, which makes of iPhone lens modules, have fallen by more than 11% this week. Pegatron and Lumentum fell by 3%. Finisar and Skyworks fell by 2%. Foxconn fell by 1%.
Related: For Apple, iPhone X times $999 = Many, many billions
The good news for Apple is that the 2017 holiday shopping season was likely its best ever. Analysts predict Apple sold as many as 90 million iPhones over the past three months, which would blow away the company's previous record.
CEO Tim Cook said in November that orders for the iPhone X have been "very strong" and defended the $999 price tag for the redesigned phone. The company hasn't publicly released iPhone X sales figures.
Apple's stock is up 50% for the year and continues to inch closer to becoming the first public company worth $1 trillion.
Over the past decade, Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) financial performance has become increasingly reliant on a single product: the iPhone. This is not news. These days, the iPhone typically comprises between 60% and 70% of revenue in any given quarter.
For most of the iPhone's history, Apple only released a single model per year, efficiently focusing its development resources and strategically choosing product depth over product breadth, which incidentally concentrates product risk. Starting in 2013, Apple released two models per year, and then unveiled three models in 2017 for the first time. Theoretically, diversifying the lineup reduces risk, but ultimately the disproportionate importance of the iPhone inevitably created a massive risk factor that investors have had to contemplate for years: What if an iPhone flops?
A flop can also mean failed execution
The possibility of an iPhone flop hasn't really been an issue thus far. Even when some headline features prove to be gimmicky novelties (like Siri initially or 3D Touch), Apple's marketing department picks up the slack and still convinces consumers that they need it.
Fortunately, Apple has mostly enjoyed successful iPhone launches every year. The company has a strong track record of introducing new features that consumers covet so much that they line up for days. Meanwhile, Apple has been able to overcome prior supply constraints with relative ease, particularly back when Tim Cook was COO and earned the reputation of being an adept supply chain coordinator and efficient operator.
There are two main ways that an iPhone could flop: The product itself could fail to impress and demand could falter, or Apple could fail to execute in meeting demand even if the product is strong. It's this latter scenario that is currently unfolding before our eyes.
With daily reports detailing iPhone X production challenges, the all-important new flagship looks more and more like it will be a flop. Not because the product itself is weak -- quite the contrary, iPhone X looks like an incredible smartphone -- but more due to Apple's inability to meet demand. In no uncertain terms, a failed iPhone launch is investors' worst nightmare, one that promises to wreak havoc on financial results during Apple's most important quarter of the year.
It's worth revisiting Apple's risk factor legalese (emphasis added):
Due to the highly volatile and competitive nature of the industries in which the Company competes, the Company must continually introduce new products, services and technologies, enhance existing products and services, effectively stimulate customer demand for new and upgraded products and successfully manage the transition to these new and upgraded products. The success of new product introductions depends on a number of factors including, but not limited to, timely and successful product development, market acceptance, the Company's ability to manage the risks associated with new product production ramp-up issues, the availability of application software for new products, the effective management of purchase commitments and inventory levels in line with anticipated product demand, the availability of products in appropriate quantities and at expected costs to meet anticipated demand and the risk that new products may have quality or other defects or deficiencies in the early stages of introduction. Accordingly, the Company cannot determine in advance the ultimate effect of new product introductions and transitions.
The production and supply issues this year appear to be worse than they've ever been, and the supply chain logistics also sound more complicated than ever before due to how much technology Apple is packing into iPhone X. While demand outstripping supply is generally a good problem to have, and one that Apple is all too familiar with (and it's still better than the inverse scenario), that demand is only as good as Apple's ability to meet it in a timely fashion.
iPhone X represents Apple's biggest risk factor materializing: an unsuccessful product launch.
www.fool.com/investing/2017/10/25/why-iphone-x-is-apple-i...
Meanwhile back at home on the 3rd floor where I started the company - its now my home workspace where I'm accompanied by Mirai and Kizuna.
Over the years ever since I started my company, I would be so envious whenever I visited my clients offices - seeing a load of warm bodies in large offices all working together towards a common goal. I got particularly envious when I visited the Comic Fiesta Offices in KL which are so stylish!
For so many years my company only made enough to make ends meet and without cashflow it was difficult to grow fast. I didnt want to take investment from anybody because I didn't create this company to be a machine to churn out money just so that I could buy fast cars and expensive apartments.
In most cases, folks invest in your company upon understanding what your exit strategy is which is either to sell the company or go IPO. Neither of these two options interested me - I'm already pushing 40 now and am not about to sell my life away.
Another reason I started this company is to be honest why a lot of other bosses start their company - so that they don't have to listen to others ^^
Amazon hired me to run the technology side of website development - they paid my salary so its only natural that I listen to and execute tasks that are given to me and I was perfectly fine with that.
Its not that I don't like listening to others - its just that I had my own vision of creating something that was not possible while working for others.
I feel that taking investment means that I would effectively go back to being a salaryman listening to investors with the pressure of money on my shoulders and that is not how I want to live the rest of my life. It is rare that you would find an investor who gives you money to splurge without their say. Oh wait there is KickStarter and Indiegogo for that ^^
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with working for others and in fact I think that it is essential that you go out and get work experience. I learned so much during my corporate years especially at Amazon where I discovered a lot about my skill set and what I wanted to do in life.
As for the staff at my company - I'm under no illusion that everybody will stay forever and realize that folks will want to move on (just like I did) but while staff are working for me, I want to make sure that I provide the platform and environment that will enable them to grow, learn and do cool things at influence millions of consumers at the same time.
There was a sacrifice that I had to make to attain the freedom that I have right now which was to cut off my life support systems. Giving up a steady paycheck is not something folks like to do willy nilly as money pays for our basic human needs of food and shelter.
However, if there was one piece of advice I would give to folks who are interested in building a career - that would be to make sure you could start all over again if you lost your job or everything.
This not only involves making sure you got off site backups of your data but also making sure you equip yourself with skills from Google Sensei and a network of people who need your skills.
While the future was uncertain, starting my own company was like setting sail on an exciting adventure. I expected to encounter rough stormy seas but even if I became shipwrecked I would be able to build a new boat assuming that I land on a deserted island that at least had a few trees - I call that island Google ^^;
View more at www.dannychoo.com/en/post/27241/How+I+started+my+company+...