Give A Dog A Bone

Harvey is very happy with his new bone.

I Can't Hear You. I Won't Fear You.

Could Have Been Me

The Struts (2013)

Don't wanna live as an untold story

Rather go out in a blaze of glory

I can't hear you

I don't fear you

I'll live now 'cause the bad die last

Dodging bullets with your broken past

I can't hear you

I don't fear you now

Wrapped in your regret

What a waste of blood and sweat

I wanna taste love and pain

Wanna feel pride and shame

I don't wanna take my time

Don't wanna waste one line

I wanna live better days

Never look back and say

Could have been me

It could have been me

Don't wanna live as an unsung melody

I'd rather listen to the silence telling me

I can't hear you

I won't fear you

Don't wanna wake up on a Monday morning

The thought of work's getting my skin crawling

I can't fear you

I don't hear you now

Wrapped in your regret

What a waste of blood and sweat

I wanna taste love and pain

Wanna feel pride and shame

I don't wanna take my time

Don't wanna waste one line

I wanna live better days

Never look back and say

Could have been me

It could have been me

A Night At The Garden

A Night At The Garden
Marshall Curry (2017)

On February 20th, 1939, an event was held at Madison Square Garden that was attended by over 20,000 people.  It was organized by the German American Bund and promoted with a sign outside the venue which called the event a "Pro-American Rally".  Just over six months after this event took place, the Invasion of Poland began, and with it came the start of World War II.

This rally at Madison Square Garden has been all but forgotten with the passage of time, but director Marshall Curry has combined footage from the National Archives, the Sherman Grinberg Film Library, Streamline Films, and the UCLA Film and Television Archive into a seven minute long documentary that shines a light on this shameful night in our country's history to serve as both a history lesson and as a warning.

New York Daily News (New York, NY) - February 21, 1939

Attendees to the Pro American Rally that night in New York stood as Fritz Julius Kuhn led them in reciting The Pledge of Allegiance to a row of American flags.  Both he and the flags stood on a stage with a massive portrait of George Washington flanked by two swastikas on the wall behind them.  Following the pledge, the crowd erupted into applause and Sieg Heil salutes.  The footage continues to show part of a hate-filled speech that is interrupted by a protester who was beaten while the crowd watched on in what appeared to be delight.

This documentary isn't a work of fiction.  It doesn't show something from another planet or a parallel dimension.  This took place less than a hundred years ago in New York City at a venue that is known throughout the world.  This is our fellow citizens who have allowed public speakers to manipulate their ignorance, their fears, and their intolerance of others into a movement that led to the bloodiest war in the history of the humankind.  It is a phenomenon that we're seeing play out in the world around us today.  The symbols may have changed, and the rhetoric has been updated for the new millennium, but the method remains the same: incite the masses by playing into their ignorance, their fears, and their intolerance of others to serve the purpose of the fuhrer, whether that be a failed infantryman in the Bavarian Army, or a failed casino mogul.

We are living in dangerous times, and A Night At The Garden reminds us of where this can lead.  I hope that a documentary filmmaker in the future doesn't have a reason to piece together footage from the rallies that are being held in our time to teach others about what the rise of fascism looks like.

Smoke Rings Over Broadway

Winston Cigarettes Billboard
45th & Broadway - New York, NY
From 1972 to 1977, a Winston billboard of a smoker that puffed real smoke rings into the skies above Times Square stood at the top of the Bond's Clothing Store building.  The billboard had a steam-producing copper box behind the head of the man in the sign which generated 1,000 smoke rings per day over a period of five years.  According to the New York Times, it was taken down by the cigarette company in the Fall of 1977 for a combination of reasons, including the expense to the company to keep the sign in operation.

The movie theater marquee showing The Exorcist in the photo on the left makes it likely that it was taken in 1973.  It was shared by Vintage Everyday, and I believe it was scanned from a magazine, but the source was not provided by the website.  The photo on the right was taken in September 1976 and was shared by Blair Stirrett.  In this photo, you can see that the theater beneath the billboard is showing Street People, starring Roger Moore and Stacy Keach.

The World May Never Know

I passed this Tootsie Roll truck on I-81 on the way to work this morning.  I'm not sure I ever saw one before today, but they're pretty cool.

I Believe It, Mr. Ripley

Earlier this month, the Ripley's Believe It Or Not comic strip had to twist the knife a little bit with a reminder that the Philadelphia Phillies are the first team in the history of Major League Baseball to have reached 10,000 losses.  On a more positive note, they also shared a couple of interesting facts about the signing of the US Constitution and the theme song to Tetris (source: Ripleys.com and GoComics.com).

Love Puff

I found this on the desk of someone who I just hired and trained.  Slightly afraid...

Coming Soon...

Winter Breakfast

Hot Cocoa Coca Puffs / Cinnamon Vanilla Lucky Charms
General Mills (2017)

These are both interesting twists on classic kids breakfast cereal.  It's also a pretty cool idea to brand them as limited edition winter flavors instead of Christmas.  I'm sure the conspiracy theorists will jump on their soapbox to say that this has something to do with a "war on Christmas".  In reality, it's just a smart way to sell a product after December 25th without stores being pressured to put their merchandise on a clearance sale, even though they're well within the product's shelf life.

Harvey's Peanuts

The shirt is from the Harvey's Peanuts stand at the Bloomsburg Fair. They don't actually sell t-shirts, but they were nice enough to sell me one of their employee shirts. My little Harvey may not eat peanuts, but he's a big fan of peanut butter.

Why Settle For Sonic Boom In A Bag When You Can Have...

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Cans
Red Bull (2017)
Capcom and Red Bull have teamed up to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the release of the first Street Fighter game in arcades.  It also comes with a code that you can use for Street Fighter V on Playstation 4.

Off The Mark Tower

The Dark Tower
Sony Pictures (2017)
I absolutely love The Dark Tower books and the way that it brilliantly ties together nearly all of the Stephen King novels.  When I learned that they were going to attempt to condense seven novels into a single film, I knew it was going to be a train wreck.

First and foremost, the elephant in the room is the decision to cast Idris Elba as Roland.  I could only imagine the uproar across social media if the Blade comics were turned into a movie that starred Jason Statham as Eric Brooks.  If a character's race or gender isn't a key part of the story, I usually don't care if they take creative liberties, but this casting choice all but eliminates a huge part of the dynamic between Roland and Detta Walker, who's mistrust of The Gunslinger is based largely on the fact that he's a "honky mahfah".  So, by miscasting Roland, they've pretty much written out a powerful woman of color who also happens to be one of the only badass action stars I can think of who is in a wheelchair.

As it turns out, the casting of Roland didn't really matter because the film bears only the slightest resemblance to any of the novels.  Clarisse Loughrey of The Independent put it best when she wrote that the film is "a dull disappointment without any set audience: incomprehensible to newbies, and wildly unfaithful and simplistic to fans of King's books".  There's no path of the beam.  Hell, there's no beam, other than the one that The Breakers (now kidnapped children instead of selfish men and women who took the job) shoot out of their heads from Algul Siento to attack the Tower directly.  Jake Chambers is just another kid they want to kidnap to work as a breaker.  The only thing he shares in common with the Jake from the book is the fact that he's a young boy from New York City.  Nearly everything else about the character has been changed, and we're left with a random generic kid.

It's not even worth discussing the rest of the ways that the film bastardized the novels.  Suffice to say that if you changed the name of the film and the names of two or three of the characters, I suspect few would have even guessed that the folks who wrote the movie have ever even read the books, let alone that the film is meant to be an adaptation of them.  Stephen King has attempted to justify these changes by saying that the film is a sequel to the books and another turn on ka's wheel, but that doesn't hold any water at all.  It's a completely unrelated, dull, Hollywood cookie-cutter story that, at best, has a handful of easter eggs that reference the works of Stephen King.

First Snow

Sometimes, the first snowfall of the year happens while the trees still have most of their leaves.  This results in a beautiful contrast of white snow on the red Japanese Maple leaves.

Roy Halladay

Roy Halladay
Toronto Blue Jays (1998 - 2009)
Philadelphia Phillies (2010 - 2013)
One of the greatest pitchers in the game is no longer with us.  Mr. Halladay was 40 years old.  Rest in peace, Doc.

Anime In The 80s: Tobor The 8th Man

Tobor The 8th Man
TCJ / Eiken Studio
54 years ago today, Tobor The 8th Man made its debut on Tokyo Broadcasting System.  The story focuses on Detective Tobor, an officer who is killed by gangsters.  His life force is transferred into an android body by Professor Genius, which makes Tobor impervious to bullets and gives him the ability to shape shift and to run at top speeds.  This anime was ahead of its time with elements that can be seen in works such as The Six-Million Dollar Man, Robocop, Mega Man decades before their existence.

My first experience with this anime was in December, 1988.  I had just been given a VCR for my bedroom as a Christmas present (one of the best gifts I had ever been given, then or since), and my grandmother bought me a few tapes from the drugstore so I would have something to watch on it.  The one that jumps out from my memory was Tobor.

Not only was this unusual for the fact that the cartoon was black and white, and that it had an other-world feel (it would be years before I had ever heard of the word "anime"), but the tape was released in an oversized box that also contained a bag of microwave popcorn.  It was released by New Age Video in their Kiddy Popcorn Classics series, which was comprised of public domain cartoons packaged with popcorn.  What more could an 8 year old ask for!

I've looked for this particular VHS tape in the years since, but no luck.  In fact, this tiny gif is the largest photo I could find to confirm that this wasn't a figment of my imagination.  The series has since found its way to the Dollar DVD rack, and many episodes have been uploaded to YouTube, though you'll have to supply your own popcorn for each.

The entire series can be seen on YouTube from 8thManDVD.com.

Amiga Tetris

Tetris
Spectrum Holobyte (1988)
Tetris was created in 1984 by Soviet programmer Alexey Pajitnov.  It didn't become a household name until Nintendo acquired the license to port it and pack it with the new Game Boy system.  However, in the years before Nintendo, many different versions of Tetris found their way to consoles and computers across the world.   One of the first was an Amiga port by Spectrum Holobyte, which included Russian imagery and music that became synonymous with the game.

Just Like Every Cowboy Sings A Sad, Sad Song

Five Star
Laurel Mall - Hazleton, PA

Either Bret Michaels has a second job writing fortunes, or somebody at the cookie factory has been listening to 80's rock ballads for inspiration.

By the way, this place has the most delicious dumplings I've ever eaten.  Even if they ran out of the rest of the food in the kitchen and had nothing but dumplings to serve, I'd still come here for dinner and leave full and happy.

Atari Shop

Atari Shop
Las Palmas de Gran Canariane, Spain
This photo was taken earlier this year by Roman Dudek and was shared with AtariAge.  The store, which closed sometime in the early 80's, is in an abandoned shopping mall on The Canary Islands in Spain.  Presently, it is used as a storage facility for a local furniture store.

The Power Forward Power Reliever

Ron Reed
Relief Pitcher - Philadelphia Phillies (1976-1983)
Today is the 75th birthday of a former Phillies reliever who has had an especially interesting career.  The 6'6" Ron Reed played basketball for Notre Dame.  In 1965, he was drafted by the Detroit Pistons and signed with the Atlanta Braves.  For three years, Reed was a two sport athlete who pitched in the Braves minor league system while playing for the Pistons.

Reed's basketball career ended after the 1966-67 season when he was brought to the Major Leagues and decided to dedicate himself to baseball full time.  He was traded to the Phillies in December 1975 and was a key contributor out of the Phillies bullpen for their years of contention in the late 70's and early 80's, and was a member of the 1980 World Series Championship team.  He retired after the 1984 season after pitching for 18 seasons in the big leagues.

The 1983 Fleer card in this photo is one of my favorite Phillies cards.  Reed was a good reliever, but he never won the Rolaids Relief Man Award in his career.  Maybe he got a label maker and stole it from Bruce Sutter when the Cardinals were in town?

8-Bit Arcade

8-Bit Arcade
Wendy's Kids Meal: Design Your World
Fast food kids meal toys are usually themed after movies, cartoons or toys that the restaurant has licensed.  Despite this, some of the most memorable toys throughout my lifetime have been their own unique creation.  The most recent of these sets are the Wendy's "Design Your World" toys.

These are very simple toys - just four cardboard walls, a floor, and a plastic frame to use to put it together.  Each toy also comes with a plastic figure and a sheet of stickers that can be used to decorate the building and to turn your plastic figure into either a boy or a girl.

The 8-Bit Arcade is my favorite of the toys in this set. While not featuring any trademarks or specific games, the inside walls of the arcade features a claw machine, a space shooter, a racing game, and other retro video game imagery.  Very cool!

Careful Man, I'm Training Beverage Here!

There were only about five people in the whole building that understood the costume.  Such a sad state of affairs.

Happy Halloween!

A Musical With A Splatter Zone

Evil Dead: The Musical

FM Kirby Center - Wilkes-Barre, PA
I first heard about Evil Dead: The Musical about ten years ago and always wanted to see it, but I didn't have the opportunity until now.  It exceeded my already high expectations in every way.  I can't remember the last time I enjoyed a musical this much.  The Wedding Singer is the only thing that even comes close.

It's the first live show that I've been to that has a Splatter Zone.  Unlike Gallagher, you're not getting hit with pieces of flying watermelon at Evil Dead: The Musical - you're getting drenched in gallons of blood from the limbs that are being chopped off on stage.  They play it a lot like the old Shaw Brothers kung fu films, with a comical amount of blood shooting like a fountain out of the victim.  We were sitting just a couple of rows back from the Splatter Zone range.  Most of the folks sitting in those rows either had plastic tarps to cover them, or were wearing plain white t-shirts, or both.  The few who weren't very likely regretted their lack of preparation.

The entire show was hysterically funny from start to finish, and the music was surprisingly catchy.  It'll be a long time before I manage to get "Do The Necronomicon" out of my head.

The audience had a Rocky Horror vibe to it with lots of folks showing up in costume.  This includes the creepy ass dude who photobombed my wife and I before the show.  Whoever you are, dude, I ain't even mad.  You've got a groovy costume!

I didn't take too many photos of the show, both because it was prohibited and because I didn't want to watch it from the lens of a smartphone.  When we first walked in, the Necronomicon was sitting ominously on the stage. as shown in the top photo.  The bottom photo is from the very end of the show, by which point the cast has taken to using Super Soakers filled with prop blood with a target on anyone who managed to stay clean and dry.

Strawberry Cream Cosplay

J-Pop singer Yua Mikami dressed up as a Starbucks Strawberry Cream Frappuccino for Halloween this year.

Scrunchous?

Nestle Crunch (1986)
Artwork by Jack Davis.

Back To The Upside Down

The second season of Stranger Things is available on Netflix today.  Pixel art by Maucho Fett.

Halloween Savings

Halloween sales flyer
K-Mart - mid 1980's
This takes me back to a simpler time when I looked forward to putting on my costume and going out to collect candy and goodies.

Spooky Cereal

Froot Loops, Apple Jacks and Chocolate Frosted Flakes (with Marshmallows)

Kellogg's (2017)

There are a few new twists on some old favorites in the breakfast aisle.  Kellogg's is selling Froot Loops, Apple Jacks and Chocolate Frosted Flakes in Halloween themed packages.  Each of them have skeleton bone marshmallows added which can be pieces together to make a full skeleton.

Not to be outdone, General Mills has released Halloween Crunch, which is a variation of Captain Crunch.  These don't have any added marshmallows, but they do have special ghost cereal pieces that turn your milk green.  They really missed out on having the Cap'n at the helm of a ghost ship on the package, but it's still a pretty cool idea.

Vampire Dirt

Click here to enlarge

Dracula's Castle Soil Amulet
Warren Publishing Company (1979)
The ad says that no mystical powers are claimed for this amulet, but I'm not so sure.  I'll bet that it had the mystical power of turning random dirt into $9.95.

Vincent Price Has A Cookbook

Come Into The Kitchen Cookbook
Mary Grant Price and Vincent Price (1969)

My dad's school library was getting rid of this, so he rescued it for me.  How could anyone pass up the opportunity to make dinner from the Vincent Price cookbook?

Candy Command

Missile Command Halloween Costume
Collegeville (1982)
During the time of peak Atari, children would dress up as their favorite game characters for Halloween.  Since most of the characters of the day were just a solid block, costume companies has to get creative.  This Missile Command costume features the unnamed character that appears on the arcade flyer and on the Atari 2600 cartridge label.

Invisible Cola Man

For the Halloween season in the 90's, Pepsi cardboard cartons featured Universal monster posters.  Naturally, the Invisible Man represented Crystal Pepsi.  Source: Dinosaur Dracula

Castle Dracula

Castle Dracula
Midway Pier - Wildwood, NJ
In this side shot of the castle, you can see the I-Scream shop (with the giant pretzel).

Melynie the Defender

Melynie the Defender (1985)
Using a kitchen colander as a space helmet, Melynie pilots her starship while blasting enemy ships and rescuing the humans on Defender for the Atari 2600 on a black and white television.  The wood paneling and the table covered in Tomy Pocket Games complete this scene from the 80's.  Shared by Melynie Withington [source]

Quite Hung Over

Bill "Spaceman" Lee - LHP
Boston Red Sox (1969 - 1978)
Montreal Expos (1979 - 1982)
One of my all-time favorite players, and at the top of my list of players who I wish played for the Phillies.  To the best of my knowledge, he is also the only player to have campaigned to become the President of the United States on the platform of banning AstroTurf and the Designated Hitter Rule.

Bill Lee ran for the presidency in the 1988 election as a member of the Canadian Rhinoceros Party.  When asked how a candidate for the American presidency could live North of the border, he said "I live in Canada because I've got a lot of plaid shirts."  Among his other campaign promises were to turn the White House into a Rastafarian-themed Mexican restaurant that offers free showers in the West Wing.

He also wrote this letter to himself as a baby, which was published last year on The Player's Tribune.

Letter To My Younger Self

by Bill "Spaceman" Lee  (August 19, 2016)

Dear Recently Born Bill Lee,

(For the record, it’s Bill Lee, not Billy. Your first memory of rejection will be in kindergarten, when you come to class on your first day and your kindergarten teachers asks, “What’s your name?” You’ll respond “Bill Lee.” She’ll say, “Oh, well what’s your last name?” You’ll say, “Bill … Lee.” She’ll say, “Don’t be smart with me. What’s your last name?” It will be humiliating.)

(Eventually, she’ll realize her error, but the damage will have already been done.)

The first time you’ll ever drive a truck will be to take a load of elk and deer meat over the pass up on Route 80. You’ll be with your grandfather coming back from Tahoe during a snowstorm. He’ll say to you, “It’s getting slippery, you better drive.” And you, somewhat scared, somewhat intrigued, will respond, “Grandpa, what do I do?”

His response will be simple, but profound: “Don’t accelerate, but don’t brake.”

Good luck with that, kid.

Right now, things might seem slow for you. You’re a really shy kid. People think you’re weird, or that you’re dumb because you struggle with dyslexia. You’re probably a little scared about what’s to come. But as you move forward in life, try to remember your grandpa’s advice. Don’t accelerate and be obsessed about what awaits in the future, but at the same time don’t brake and be consumed by the past. There’s nothing you can do about the past, and not much you can do about the future, either. You might as well do the best you can right here in the present.

Also, this is unrelated to the metaphor, but keep two hands on the wheel. It’s really icy.

As you embark on your journey through life, here are a few bits of advice that you might want to keep in the recesses of your mind:

• Ask questions. Always. If you don’t ask questions you’re never going to learn anything.
• That being said, don’t be satisfied with the answers you get. Embrace the Socratic method. Have the courage to dig deeper, to seek more and more information. There’s so much to learn. Never be satisfied.
• When you play YMCA football, Father Crow will come to the house and yell at you because it’s a Protestant sport that he says you shouldn’t be part of. He’ll tell you that you’re going to hurt yourself. The next game you play, you’ll punt a ball off the back of a kid’s helmet and have it come back and hit you right in the fucking teeth. Now, at the time you’ll wonder, How did Father Crow know that was goin’ to happen? But don’t overthink it. The universe unfolds as it should. That football was always destined for your teeth, Bill. You didn’t do anything wrong.
• You’re destined to be a pitcher. But you already know that. Your grandfather played pro ball, your aunt played pro ball and your dad played semipro ball. Hell, when you were a baby, you had these blocks with A-B-C and 1-2-3 on them, and whenever you fell down on their sharp edges it would hurt … so you threw those fuckers out of the playpen. Pitching is in your blood. Don’t overcomplicate it by letting your mind get in the way. Throwing a baseball is feeling, not thought. It should be like a religious experience every time you go to the hill. Approach this game with sound mind, sound body and controlled emotions. When you think, you only fuck it up.
• You’ll get your tenacity from your father, but when it comes to pitching form, listen to your aunt. There’s a reason she was the first woman to throw a perfect game in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League. She’ll teach you your fundamentals and delivery. When you do pitch professionally, you’ll have the same movement as her, the same pitches and the same arm slot. Most baseball players might be hesitant to learn from a woman, but guess what? Most baseball players suck.
• Oh, and a side note here: It’s amazing what you’ll one day know about volcanology, climatology and sedimentology.
• The most important thing in this life is attitude. The lining of your stomach changes constantly — every four hours you produce a new layer of cells. So if you’re ever feeling upset, just wait around a bit, take a good shit and you’ll be fine.
• A big turning point for you will come when you decide where to go to college. You’ll want to go to Oregon, but your family will push you toward USC. Your dad will sit you down one day and ask, “Son, do you want to be a big fish in a small pond, or a small fish in a big pond?” You won’t know the answer, so he’ll continue, “Well, if you’re a big fish in a small pond, you’re never gonna grow. But if you’re a small fish in a big pond, you have a chance to grow a lot.” You’ll scratch your head, and then you’ll ask, “What does that even mean?” He’ll say, “It means you’re going to USC.”
• Just a heads-up: You’re going to get kicked out of Shanghai in ’75 for smoking dope. But hey, it’s better than being hanged!
• On that note, let’s discuss marijuana because you’ll get asked about it a lot as you get older. It’s in the nature of man to try and alter his state of consciousness, whether it be with alcohol, peyote or religious ceremonies. The only problem with any of these things is if you become reliant on them and use them as a crutch. You don’t need pot to pitch, but you’ll recognize that it helps you. Many of the drugs you’ll encounter in the big leagues, such as amphetamines, are meant to speed you up. But marijuana slows you down, and allows you to focus. Some of your greatest athletic feats will occur while you’re high, but not because you’re high. Understand that distinction.
• Thomas Malthus was wrong, Bill! Malthusian economics surmise that goods and services grow arithmetically and population grows exponentially, therefore there’s not enough to go around. That’s bullshit.
• Think twice before you decide to climb up to a second-story balcony to say goodbye to that girl in Montreal. Your heart is in the right place because you don’t want to disturb the whole house by going through the front door, but when you slip and fall you’ll be placed on the 21-day disabled list and feel like a total asshole.
• Throwing hard is overrated. Pitching is all about movement and location. Guys who throw the same speed are only pitching in two dimensions. A guy who can throw the ball at different speeds is pitching in three dimensions. He can add or he can subtract, and he can move it every which way. Always pitch in 3-D.
• During your playing career, you’ll be mostly a loner. Not everyone has the same outlook as you, and that’s fine. But in Boston, you’ll become part of a group called the Buffalo Heads, which will include Ferguson Jenkins, Jim Willoughby and Rick Wise. The buffalo is the dumbest animal on the face of the earth. As Ferguson used say — and pay close attention, because he’ll be your idol one day — “We don’t even use arrows to kill them, we just run them off a cliff and go pick ‘em up.” The Buffalo Heads will understand that, in the grand scheme of things, we know very little about the universe that surround us. But that’s not a reason to be upset. Instead, be close with those who embrace the unknown and revel in it. Those who fear what they do not know have little room for growth.
• If you seek revenge, you dig two graves. Get mad early, and get over it early.

Bill, for you, true happiness and joy will come from living in the moment. Try to make those around you feel relaxed and happy. Don’t get hung up on living the best life possible, instead, think about how you can make every single day the best it can possibly be for yourself and those you encounter. Influence people to have bigger smiles and more generosity. More than anything else, this is what will bring you joy.

And chop your own firewood, godammit!

From Planet Earth,

Bill Lee

Super Mario Makeup

Super Mario Bros. Makeup
Shu Uemura
With names like Fire Flower, Saved Peach and Stage Cleared, the Super Mario Bros. Holiday Collection from Shu Uemura offers gamer girls (and boys) a way to feel like a different kind of princess.  Enjoy these after a Sonic The Hedgehog Sephora skin firming treatment to re-live the 16 bit wars on your face.

Christmas in October: 1989

Kay Bee Toys flyer
October, 1989
This sale from 28 years ago was distributed only a couple of months after the Nintendo Game Boy was introduced in the United States.  Prior to the Game Boy, the portable game market was dominated by LCD games from companies like Tiger Electronics, and even those who worked at Nintendo weren't convinced that it would be a success.  Before the end of its life cycle, the Game Boy would go on to sell over 118 million units.

Give Me A Break

Kit Kat wrapper
Hershey's Chocolate (1987)

Tennessee Ernie Ford Warned Me About This

Henri's Company Store
Nestle USA - Solon, OH

There is an employee store in the Solon, Ohio campus of Nestle USA where you can purchase just about any product we make.  I stocked up on Cailler chocolate to bring back to the team in Wilkes-Barre.