I had the pleasure of checking out the Lansdale “Under The Stars” car show this weekend, in Lansdale, PA. Lansdale does several gear head events every year, including the big Lansdale Bike Night that attracts thousands of motorcycles from around the area (hosted by Blue Comet Motorcycle club).
That said, I really like this car show as being a night owl, I love the idea of walking around nighttime checking out cool cars, hearing some live music and getting a bite to eat. It mimics the feel of the race nights/track nights, and honestly it’s just a great time in a great town.
I didn’t take too many pics, after a long day with my nephew I decided to just enjoy the event and check out some cool cars. I’m sure there’s tons of pics and vids out there for the world to enjoy, but maybe nex year pencil this event in if you’re a Gearhead in the Philly area.
Also to point out – if you missed this one, another nearby town Hatboro PA hosts a similar night time car show that’s coming up on July 27th. You can find info on that car show at http://www.hatborocarshow.com/.
Got some sad news over the weekend; Make Magazine (Maker Media) has abruptly shut down all operations, which likely includes the “Maker Faire” events, at least the larger events held annually at locations across the US and the world. The New York event (which I’ve attended a number of times) was awesome and huge.
It seems the smaller “licensed” events are likely to continue, depending on each’s situation.
It seems not all may be lost though; there seems to be efforts to keep the business afloat (as well as possibly some of the Maker Faire events), so I guess we’re in a wait-and-see pattern as far as the NY Maker Faire is concerned. That said, today I received word that the 2019 Philly Mini Maker Faire, which is hosted at the Pennovation Center, is still on and completely funded and organized separate from Maker Media, which is awesome news to hear!
I hope for the best for this organization and hope the NY (and other) Maker Faires continue.
So while the current Franklin Institute building was built in the 1930’s, most people wouldn’t believe that the institute itself was actually founded nearly 200 years ago in 1824. I managed to acquire this interesting medal that includes FI’s original tagline of “To Promote the Mechanical Arts”.
I actually reached out to FI on this one in case anyone there knows what it really dates to. I have my doubts it’s actually from 1824, but the wear on it has me second guessing myself now. I’m guessing it was a souvenir from around the 30s to 50s but it would be really cool if it really dated back that far!
It’s hard to tell from the photos since I zoomed in, but the actual piece is about the size of a US Quarter. If anyone knows anything about this, please feel free to let me know in the comments (if you don’t see the comments below, click the title of the article to open the actual article first).
Anyway…enjoy what could possibly be the oldest piece of Franklin Institute ephemera yet…
FI’s original tagline was “For the Promotion of Mechanic Arts”
After many many years of the train room more or less looking the same, it seems today 6/4/2019 the Franklin Institute announced it will be renovating the train room and making it a two story affair!
While it’s awesome to hear the place is finally getting some updates, I really hope they plan to include many actual hands-on exhibits like they’ve done in the past, and not limit them to touch screens. Kids need to feel the weight of a train part, or be able to handle and see perhaps modern technology in modern passenger and freight trains. They can play with touchscreens at home!
Another awesome piece of Franklin Institute ephemera has been found – a booklet from an Art Expo held at the Franklin Institute from April to June, 1937. The expo was put on by the Graphics Arts dept the Institute had at the time, and was organized in part by Alexey Brodovitch, who also designed the poster below as well as the booklet/catalog for the event. (Alexey is also known as a founder of the current Philadelphia College of Art). The expo was focused on advertisement posters from both the US and around the world.
It amazes me that stuff like this still exists, 80+ years later. Granted there are books that are in the 100s if not thousands of years range, but for this stuff to randomly pop up is why I love collecting it so much, and provides a picture as to what a place I love was like well before my own parents were a twinkle in their parents eyes!
Yes, Radio Shack may still be around in some minor form and via web site, most of the stores, including all the ones in the PA area, are gone. Walking around the mall a couple days ago, I was reminded of what was once my favorite store, likely the only store I would really “shop” at in the mall….Radio Shack!
While in recent times, Radio Shack struggled to keep up with my massive need for all things technology, I did still frequent the store just to see what they had that was new, and especially what was on clearance. While they were all around, the one I remember and likely visited the most was the store at the Plymouth Meeting Mall, in Plymouth Meeting PA. Every now and than I would manage to find a connector, a weird battery, or some other oddball item that I could use.
Radio Shack – Plymouth Meeting Mall, Plymouth Meeting, PA Feb 2015
That said, I remember fondly growing up where I was cutting my teeth playing with TVs, VCRs, boomboxes, and other stuff, where most of the time I needed batteries, or usually some “RCA to (some other plug) adapter”. We’d always mess around with the computers, and make sure we got our free battery from the free battery club! (While the club is long gone, Rat shack’s web site has t-shirts themed on it!)
The distinctly fond memories I have though, going back to the late 80s and early 90s, would be checking out the computers in the back of the store, and playing a game called Thexder on a TRS-80. I also remember the robotic arm called the Armatron they had at the counter that I’d play with while waiting in line. The one with the constantly-grinding gears that felt like it was going to break at any moment.
Lastly, I also remember the newer computers, one of which my parents finally bought me the family for Christmas, and the look of horror in my dads face when I told him we needed a “VGA” monitor, and when we went back, the $400 price tag that monitor had (after dumping over $2k into the actual computer). It was a Tandy 2500 SX 386, and I still have it!
Soon after I got the 386, a friend of mine also got a new computer, a Tandy Sensation 486, complete with the new MULTIMEDIA speaker sound system! Oooh! (Yes, still jealous!)
I’ve had lengthy discussions with friends over what Radio Shack could have done to save themselves, and honestly from what I heard, they sorta knew. In reality though, having quick access to nearly any kind of component within a couple days certainly put a hurting on them, and I think its ironic that they really died off at a time when the Maker movement was really starting to take off. I realize more and more that malls have become mostly havens for clothing and jewelry, with Sears gone (the “other” store I’d shop), its somewhat difficult to actually buy hard goods at a mall anymore, especially anything having to do with “repair”.
Oh well…I’m just glad that with the writing on the wall, I learned to take the initiative to take a pic of the store before it closed up. The pic above was taken by me in February 2015. I have a couple other pics and videos of the Plymouth Meeting mall dating back to the mid 90s, so stay tuned for more nostalgia posts!
If you’re a nostalgia nut like I am, there’s tons of Radio Shack media out on the internets, including commercials, catalogs, other blog posts, and more. One example I found was this web site that has tons of Radio Shack catalogs. Cool!
Hard to believe I’ve passed this place a million times driving up the Ben Franklin Parkway, yet this weekend marked the first time I’ve been there since a grade school field trip in likely 6th or 7th grade. Pretty cool to see the dioramas and all the detail they put into them. Worth a visit if you’re in Philly!
Recently came across this on Ebay and had to have it. Franklin Institute map and exhibit list from 1934 (going by the included Planetarium card with a 1934 schedule).
The crazy part of this map is the description of the basement, which has always been off limits as far as I remember. I would LOVE to see whats still down there!
Being a Philly native, I have fond memories of the Franklin Institute from class trips and family outings. Growing up in the 80s and 90s I remember there being a new-ish ham radio station on the 4th floor where the telescope still is. Sadly like many things there it’s long gone, but I happened to find and acquire this old QSL card from the original station in 1958!
I do collect some FI ephemera, especially looking for ANYTHING from when they had the Futures center in the 1990s. Hit me up if you have any!
The ham radio station at the Franklin Institute was a partnership with a local ham radio club called the Philmont Mobile Radio Club. You can read more about the history of the station on the site here: http://www.phil-mont.org/tfi-hist.html . On a side note, I’ve hung out with the guys at Philmont and even got my ham radio license via their monthly testing sessions. If you’re looking for a local club, they’re a good one to check out!
I purposely left the rear of the card off as I have to censor some of the data, but the operator at the time was Nelson Schurr, W3DYP who filled and sent the card.
Stay tuned for more cool Franklin Institute stuff!
