It was the Chipotle of the 1970s. A fast food brand started by Marriott, Roy Rogers almost went by the wayside, but then the wayside of the New Jersey Turnpike kept the brand visible, and it lived. The idea was simple. Serve better ingredients than the normal fast food restaurant,MORE HERE
In Jim Croce’s 1970s ditty, bad boy Leroy Brown had a “Custom Continental” and an “Eldorado too.” Well, of the two, both are still quite memorable automobile models, the former always looking a bit stodgy and sometimes Presidential and the latter, frankly a bit pimp but in some years, quiteMORE HERE
WAYNESBORO – Perhaps the greatest American brass company of the 20th century was Virginia Metalcrafters. The company started as a stove manufacturer, early on making, of all things, the Hotpoint brand. Begun by William J. Loth as the Waynesboro Stove Company, it was born at a time when there wereMORE HERE
Pillsbury has made many a product since 1872. Perhaps one of the most forgettable was Space Food Sticks, a sort of chewy-chocolate Slim Jim vitamin. The Pillsbury Space Food Stick never really actually made as a top food served in space. In fact, if you were going to serve “spaceMORE HERE
The news that there were numerous bidders for the remnants of Radio Shack includes the fact of a joint Sprint/Radio Shack deal that came to the press in February. The bid aims to keep a half-skeleton of the stores alive, and use them as a place to promote Sprint wireless.MORE HERE
As the U.S. retires the last C-141 StarLifter, Lockheed-Martin issued a press release, the sure sign of a company that values its history, as it is currently making the C-130J modernizing the C-5 Galaxy. The aircraft, used from Vietnam to Iraq as a transport, debuted in 1967; the retired HanoiMORE HERE
LONDON – How about a rerun or a revival for Digital.com? A firm in the U.K. entitled Quality Nonsense purchased the digital.com domain and hopes to redevelop it. Or not. As they say in their website: We bought the domain to develop, rather than to speculate, and have declined several substantial offers.MORE HERE
NEW YORK – In an ever saturated market, with companies jostling to differentiate, the appeal to associate brand with ‘heritage’ continues to increase. Virtues of timeless legacy, quality & tradition become lighthouses of authenticity in ever volatile, albeit, undifferentiated waters. That said, when companies artificially manufacture such authenticity, do consumersMORE HERE
CANAJOHARIE, N.Y. – Classic kitchen staples that have not changed over the years are getting rarer and rarer. One of those mostly unchanged brands is Gravy Master, made by Richardson Brands. Richardson makes other classic niche brands, including Beechies, Dryden & Palmer Rock Candy and Richardson Mints, those tiny mint-candyMORE HERE
NASHVILLE – RCA’s Studio A, an important legacy in American country music history, is under the threat of demolition for a condo project. However, the music industry (and the National Trust) is taking note, hoping this great artifact can be saved, and in turn becoming a keystone in the musicMORE HERE