Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Monday, November 19, 2012

Lunar Consolation

You will remember how piqued I was to learn that I missed being in the First Moon Flights Club.  In a moon-envy-induced frenzy I began collecting moony articles circa 1969 in all the newspapers we had available online.  A Los Angeles Times article* tipped me off to another moon souvenir worth having!  It seems that Trans International Airlines also capitalized on the moon-madness with a travel guide: Charters to the Moon.
"This booklet was prepared especially for the travel agent as a guide to use in planning, for his clients, future-out-of-this-world charter travel.  As the leading air charter carrier, TIA is proud to help travel agents to prepare for the future, just as we work together in the present."

A Google search located one of these brochures for sale.  For $30 I purchased my own moon souvenir!



More elaborate and goofier than the First Moon Flights Club card, this brochure lays out in detail the delights of lunar vacations."Enjoy your stay on the Moon, one of the most relaxing resorts in the Universe.  Its unique attributes include: smog-free atmosphere, no rain or snow, no breath of wind, and profound silence.  Your hotel, the Luna, is located in the Sea of Showers--which is, of course, not a sea (nor does the moon have showers)..."  "After your restful 63 1/2-hour trip by TIA '949' Super Spacecraft (you travel at speeds up to 36,000 miles per hour--six times the speed of the fastest bullet!), and after relaxation in your Luna luxery resort hotel, remember--Budget Rent-A-Mooncar serves all the Moon, with the latest model surface vehicles.  Offices: Copernicus Crater."   "For a unique experience, try a 'Moonhike.' The supporting strength of the lunar surface is much greater than previously suspected."  It goes on like that.  See large scans of the pages here for more excitement!

Now I need to find some way of preserving and displaying both sides of this brochure.




*Hulse, Jerry You May Be Man on the Moon, LA Times, June 15, 1969, pgH6.
Also mentioned in Moon Trip, Schenectady Gazette, June 16, 1969, p. 13. Found in the Google News Archive.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

New Beer in Old Bottles

Dave made some Blood Orange beer and gave me a couple of bottles.  He wisely uses old beer bottles to hold his own brew.  He warned me that I wouldn't be able to discern a blood orange taste, however, it was fruity and smooth.  Kudos to Dave the brewer!
You can't see it very clearly on this picture, but my beer mug has a picture of Robby the Robot.






I paired the beer with Corn Bread Tamale Pie, an old Joy of Cooking recipe I use again and again.  This time I replaced the ground beef with soy protein crumbles.  It's great comfort food for cold weather.




Friday, November 09, 2012

Lunar Regrets

In the 1960s Pan Am started taking reservations for its first moon flight.  Now that there is a TV show about the airlines, people are pulling out their Pan Am souvenirs, including their "First Moon Flights" Club cards.

(Courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

OK, I was a moon enthusiast.  I did a report on the moon in school at some point.  Why did I not pick up on this?  I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey, which featured a Pan Am Moon shuttle, yet somehow I missed out.  I would have cherished that "First Moon Flights" Club card now that Pan Am is kaput and Youtube is filled with videos demonstrating how the moon landing was faked!

Thursday, November 01, 2012

Beware of the Water-bearer

Steve got me this nice souvenir from the Provincetown Carnival.






I wondered why aliens are so skinny; you can see this one's ribs sticking out.  Steve thought it was the long space journeys.