The inventiveness of the 20th century left us with many viable, yet sometimes overlooked, genius brands. One such brand is the Heatilator, a fireplace heating system that gets more efficiency and safety out of the fireplace. Heatilator was the idea of making a cast iron wood stove look like aMORE HERE
Yangon, Myanmar – In every city, there are dozens of historic local brands that once defined a city, but have disappeared. The challenge is that often they were retail brands named after people or families, and a revival is, seemingly, a bit challenging. The store goes, the city changes, and anMORE HERE
BELIZE CITY – British Honduras, now Belize, became independent in 1981. Today, the Commonwealth country Belize has been one of the most successful post colonial countries. It has not only managed to preserve its institutions, but create a welcoming climate for locals and tourists, preserving its nature, farms, Mayan ruinsMORE HERE
National Airlines was one of the best-run airlines in the nation, and when it merged into Pan Am in 1980, one of the great airline brands disappeared. If we are making comparisons, it was the Apple Computer of the airline industry; each piece of the airline was designed to theMORE HERE
NEW YORK – The recent release of 870,000 images to the public at the New York City Department of Records has caused excitement for history and photography buffs around the world. The digitization project includes routine street-scape photos taken by the city for tax purposes, as well as other pictures.MORE HERE
For those of us who grew up in the 1970s, a Hyatt House was a sort of hotel paradise. Yes, there were Ramada Inns and Holiday Inns, and these were actually decent places for everyday family trips and such. But in terms of a really smart, slick hotel, a reallyMORE HERE
CHICAGO – An American-born graphic designer is working on a project to explore Cuban brands. It’s a visual exploration of Cuba through the lens of branding, and the designer, Emily Lozano, hopes to document the Cuban brands in order to tell about daily life. Writes Lozano: As an American-born CubanMORE HERE
GODALMING, Surrey, England – Perhaps the National Portrait Gallery in London might want to get an old picture out of Maj. James Abbott, for whom the town of Abbottabad in Pakistan is named. Abbottabad, is of course, the town where Bin Laden was hiding in Pakistan. Worldwide attention has beenMORE HERE
DETROIT – It’s a shame it takes an Italian company and an old rap star to see the value in Detroit. But that’s what is mightily apparent with new Chrysler 200 advertisements, which feature Eminem and the tagline “Imported From Detroit.” The commercial has had 4.8 million view on YouTubeMORE HERE
The carnage in Detroit (and so many other U.S. cities), where hundreds of gorgeous industrial buildings are either wasted by neglect or outright demolition, need not always happen. Since the 1970s, hundreds of historic industrial buildings have found new uses as offices, apartments and shopping centers. One use that isMORE HERE