This is a Rhodes spring-driven Pathfinder Model Mark-Time parking. M. H. Rhodes added parking meters to its line of household and industrial timing devices in the mid-1930s. This manual parking meter showed the number of minutes an automobile was parked over the time limit.
Oklahoma City installed the first coin-operated parking meters in 1935, a practice soon adopted by other cities. Parking meters placed along curb lanes were meant to increase turnover, help enforce violations, reduce traffic congestion resulting from inadequate or haphazard parking spaces, and add much-needed revenue to municipal treasuries. City officials believed that parking meters were necessary to cope with the influx of automobiles into downtown areas and give more motorists access to stores and other businesses. But motorists and merchants challenged the legality of meters, claiming that they annoyed shoppers, deprived merchants and their employees of access to their front doors, and imposed an unfair tax on right-of-ways that were open to all. Most of the legal challenges failed, but meters were removed in several cities, and hours of enforcement were shortened in others. As parking meters proved their compatibility with downtown traffic and their success at increasing revenue, meters became an accepted way to regulate curb parking and fund traffic-related improvements as well as general municipal expenses.
This metal lunch box was manufactured by Thermos in 1981. The lunch box features imagery based on the TV show, Knight Rider, which aired from 1982-1986 on NBC. Knight Rider chronicled the adventures of K.I.T.T. the talking car, and K.I.T.T.’s driver Michael Knight, played by David Hasselhoff.
This snare drum was made by John Webster, near Spencertown, New York, around 1790-1820. It has a painted shell with a painted eagle with its characteristic “frog-legged” design that appears during the period of the 1790s to about 1820 on U.S. militia canteens, belt plates, cap insignia and knapsacks. Also this basic design, with a shield on the eagle‘s breast, was used on the U.S. Peace medals of 1792 and 1793. There are 13 stars painted on the drum shell in a circular pattern around the eagle motif. Also, there are 4 additional stars painted vertically to the right side of the eagle motif.
The drum has two wood hoops drilled with 9 holes each for rope, which at one time, was laced through leather ears, used to tighten the hoops. There are 2 skin heads in poor condition and remnants of a gut snare. The drum is disassembled and would require conservation to bring it back to its original condition. It is accessioned with a pair of hardwood drum sticks. There is a label inside the shell that is inscribed:
“I was made by John Webster 3 miles north of Spencertown Meeting House Sept 1779”
As indicated in correspondence with the previous owner, this drum was brought back from the War of 1812 by Captain John George Snyder. Further research is needed to determine details of Snyder’s military career.
Red, white, and blue leather hockey gloves with nylon lining, lace style closures, and tanned leather palms. These were used by Phil Verchota on the U. S. hockey team during the 1980 Winter Olympics when the United States defeated Russia to advance to the gold medal round. While it was the win against Finland that clinched the gold medal, the defeat of the Soviet team in the semifinals — known as the "miracle on ice" — captured the hearts and imaginations of Americans during a time of Cold War tensions.
The 1980 Winter Olympics, also known as the Games of the XIII Olympiad were held in Lake Placid, New York with 37 countries, 840 men and 232 women athletes participating. These Games are famous for the “Miracle on Ice” hockey team which consisted of American college hockey players competing against the more experienced and professional Russian team amongst the backdrop of the cold war. The Americans beat the Russians to move into the medal round beating Finland for the Gold but it was the game where they beat Russia which is most remembered and where announcer Al Michaels asked all American if they believed in miracles. US Speed skater Eric Heiden dominated the speed skating event winning gold in all five events, the only athlete in the Winter games to do so. The Soviet Union won the medal count with 22 with the United States coming in third with 12 medals.
Protropin is an injectable, recombinant pharmaceutical that is used to treat children with growth problems stemming from an inability to produce their own growth hormone.
Recombinant pharmaceuticals are created by inserting genes from one species into a host species, often yeast or bacteria, where they do not naturally occur. The genes code for a desired product, and therefore the genetically modified host organisms can be grown and used as a kind of living factory to produce the product. In this case, genes coding for human growth hormone are inserted into bacteria. Bacteria produce the growth hormone, which is harvested and used as the active ingredient in Protropin.
Object consists of a plastic box with three glass vials: two vials Protropin (Recombinant growth hormone) and one vial Bacteriostatic Water for Injection.
Ramses brand rubber prophylactics were manufactured by Julius Schmid, Inc. of New York, New York around 1929. Following the discovery of Ramses the Great’s Tomb in 1881, Americans had engaged in an Egyptology craze. Advertisers picked up on this trend and pitched products ranging from soap to cigars using Egyptians images. Condoms were no different. In a world which often pitched sex as a male conquest, Ramses condoms, named for Egypt’s most imperialist pharaoh, carried a not so subtle message about virile men and their conquests. This metal tin has a colorful Egyptian motif on its top, with an image of two Pharaoh Ramses seated on thrones facing each other and Egyptian columns with hieroglyphics behind them.
In 1872, the Comstock Act had prohibited interstate commerce in obscene literature and immoral material. Condoms and other forms of birth control fell under the category of “immoral material.” As forbidden material, condoms were rarely advertised openly. However, during the early twentieth century, rising concerns about gonorrhea and syphilis led a growing number of public health advocates to call for condoms to be sold to prevent disease. In 1918, a court case in New York, (The People of the State of New York v Margaret H. Sanger) clarified that existing penal codes allowed physicians to prescribe condoms to prevent disease. Named after Judge Frederick Crane who wrote the opinion in the case, the Crane decision opened the door for condom manufacturers to openly advertise and sell condoms, provided they were sold as a disease preventative.
Throughout most of the twentieth century, Julius Schmid, Inc. dominated the condom market. An immigrant from Germany, Schmid was one of the first American manufacturers to use “cold-cure cement” technique to make condoms. Workers at his factory dipped a glass mold into liquified rubber to create a sheath. The sheath was then vulcanized or hardened at a high temperature, enabling it to retain its shape.
Schmid’s condoms were not only standardized, they were also tested to ensure that they had no tears or holes. While cheap untested condoms were often sold on the street, Schmid made a point to sell his more expensive condoms in drug stores, a tactic which underscored his claim that his condoms were sold “only for protection against disease.” Aggressive marketing, combined with Schmid’s ability to move quickly when laws regulating condom manufacturing and distribution changed, were central to the company’s success.
The indications or uses for this product as provided by the manufacturer are: A soothing dressing for Burns, Minor Cuts, Skin Irritations, Sunburn, Frost Bites, Chafing, and a valuable aid in the Nursery. A relief for Nasal and Throat Irritations Due to Colds.
This rail press with its original wooden box and printing outfit, by an unknown maker, dates to about 1885. The press has a height of 4 inches a width of 3.5 inches and a length of 9 inches; its chase measures 1.5 inches by 2.75 inches.
The Daisy press, the Bonanza, and the Favorite were probably made by the Ives, Blakeslee company of New York (later Ives Blakeslee Williams). The company dealt in novelties and was the principal distributing—and perhaps manufacturing—company for rail presses at the end of the nineteenth century. Their line included the Boss, the Favorite, the Daisy, the Leader, and other very similar rail presses.
Donated by Penny Speckter, 1988.
Citation: Elizabeth Harris, "Printing Presses in the Graphic Arts Collection," 1996.
Model 431, 80W, 110-120V (AC only), 3-speed hand mixer and cutlery sharpener. Streamlined, bright yellow plastic motor body with matching bracket handle and horizontal, rocket-like, rear wings atop a polished chrome base with light brown, welded rubber cushion housing two, detachable, 4-blade, open rectangular beaters; smooth chrome cover conceals a small grinding wheel mounted in top front, and a yellow rubber power cord with 2-prong plug is attached at right back. Speed selector inside handle front has a yellow plastic knob above brushed metal plate printed "HIGH", "MED", "LOW / SHARPEN" and "OFF" in black. Product name debossed in metallic gold across right side of case; model specifications, manufacturer's name and UL safety mark stamped on base underside. Beaters unmarked.
The California gold rush quickly gave the United States not one new gold coin, but two: a tiny gold dollar at the lower end of the monetary spectrum, and a large double eagle, or twenty-dollar coin, at the upper end. Why did Americans need more gold denominations?
So much gold was now coming out of California that it was actually lowering the value of that metal against silver. Bullion dealers began buying up silver dollars and half dollars for melting and export, for they were now worth more than face value as bullion. A Congressman from North Carolina had an idea: If gold dollars were struck, to pass at par with the silver ones, it might ease some of the pressure on silver coinage.
His bill was introduced late in January 1849. At the last minute, a provision was added for an entirely new coin, a double eagle. Thus amended, the bill became law on March 3, 1849. The production of gold dollars swung into action fairly quickly, and coinage had gotten under way by early May.
But the double eagles took longer. James B. Longacre, the artist selected to design the new large coin, encountered initial opposition from Mint officials, and it was late December before the first two pattern double eagles could be struck. One disappeared long ago, leaving this as the only surviving gold pattern from 1849.
This is the 7-inch 45 rpm single containing Perez Prado and his orchestra’s rendition of “Cherry Pink and Apple Blossom White” with the B-side “St. Louis Blues Mambo.” Originally released in 1955, the single featured trumpeter Bill Regis and hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for ten consecutive weeks. The instrumental was used as the theme for the 1955 film “Underwater” starring Jane Russell. This record is the RCA Gold Standard reissue from 1962.
This Massachusetts license plate was registered to William Gray and used on his Winton Auto in 1910. Massachusetts was the first state to issue license plates to motorists, beginning in 1903. The commonwealth began putting the date on the plate in 1908. In 1907, Massachusetts became the first state to require drivers to take a driving test. In 1928 an embossed codfish was added to the plate in what was an early example of the now common phenomenon of decorative plates.
The plate is marked MASS.730/1910 on front, and “The Baltimore Enamel and Novelty Company” on the back.
This “Blackie” Beanie Baby sat on the desk of Bill Gross as a representation of a “bear” market. A bear stock market is one that is on the decline in value.
This small machete was used by workers at the Mars Center for Cocoa Science in Itajuipe, Bahia, Brazil. Typically machetes are used for a variety of work from trimming of branches and harvesting pods to opening the pods or fending off snakes.
Cacao trees, the source of all chocolate, is grown in equatorial regions of Africa, South America, and Asia by about 6.5 million small land owners using simple techniques. But the trees are endangered by diseases such as black pod, witches’ broom, and frosty pod rot. Additionally, the low productivity of the trees helps lock farmers into poverty. The Mars company maintains a research facility in Brazil to improve cacao cultivation techniques and help develop hybrids resistant to disease and improve yields.
The song “Happy Days Are Here Again” from a 1930 movie musical was played at the 1932 Democratic National Convention which nominated Franklin D. Roosevelt. Immediately associated with Roosevelt’s campaign, it was the first pre-existing song selected for a presidential campaign theme song. Although the phrase “Happy Days” probably referred to hopes for the end of the Great Depression, this shot glass clearly promoted the repeal of Prohibition which was also associated with the song and endorsed by the 1932 Democratic platform. Economic circumstances and his party’s popular positions helped Roosevelt win his first term in the White House, defeating President Herbert Hoover, the Republican incumbent.
Description: blunt tipped silver swords with hand guard
These donated swords were a gift to Mr. Lewis from Forrest Mars Jr., friend, and colleague, in honor of UWG’s historic Mars candy account and were displayed as art in his office.