Chi Omega Sorority - University of Oregon

I have posted a number of photo postcards and cabinet cards of unknown people, but never any that included my own family. For a change, I'll post one that does. Here we have the Chi Omega sorority at the University of Oregon in about 1954:

A nice group of wholesome girls. Any resemblance to the Belles of St. Trinian's is purely coincidental, although the movie was made in exactly that year, so it does make you wonder.

Which one's related to me? Well, the blond one in the back holding the plunger over her sorority sister's head is Betty, my mother. The only other one I know anything about is Allison LaRue (originally Leroux, and now McKay), who was is an actress and a dancer. She was also the Plumber's wife on the old Liquid Plumr ads. But my mother is holding the plunger; perhaps she should have been in those ads.

Last year, there was a post on The Lost Oregon Blog entitled Where Have You Gone Allison LaRue? I saw the post and thought the name sounded familiar, so I passed it on to my mother. As a result, there's an exchange of comments and some pictures on that blog, which is a very interesting site by any measure.
By the way, this post is part of a fun event called Sepia Saturday. Click here to see a wonderful assortment of old photos and read the compelling stories that accompany them.

Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog

I picked up this card in one of the local shops, and had every intention of going to the production. Unfortunately, the next time I picked up the card, the performances were all over.  I'm sorry I missed it, but I look forward to checking out a future performance by Blue Monkey Theater.

The card inspired me to find out more about Dr. Horrible and his video blog though.  It turns out that Dr. Horrible's  Sing Along Blog is a short musical video produced exclusively for internet distribution in 2008. Am I the only one who had never heard of it?  The story revolves around the lovable aspiring super-villain, Dr Horrible, his nemesis Captain Hammer, and their mutual love interest, Penny.

The Whedon brothers (writer/directors, and a composer) and Maurissa Tancharoen produced this gem during the WGA writers' strike. They wanted to produce something inexpensive, yet professional, that would also circumvent the issues that were at the heart of the strike. The short film ended up receiving numerous awards. Neil Patrick Harris (remember Doogie Howser?) does a great job as Dr. Horrible.

You can download it off iTunes, but not quite for free from the official Dr. Horrible site.

Victor Bicycles - Overman Wheel Co. - Part 3

This is the last day of three for the Victor Bicycles advertising booklet. Just a few more pictures. This is the back cover of the booklet:

It seems that buying a Victor bicycle ensured that repairs were quick and easy. Look at all of the equipment you need to repair the other bike! If only those people had had the sense to buy a Victor bike. Speaking of equipment, these football players aren't wearing any helmets.

And the female tennis players might be surprised to see what Venus Williams wears when she plays tennis.

 

Run fox, run!

Although I couldn't determine who created these beautiful illustrations, I did notice that this particular booklet was stamped B.E. Pudney, Bicycle Agency, Sidney, New York. What's interesting to me about that is that B.E. Pudney was also a postcard publisher.  Perhaps B.E. got caught up in the cycling craze along with everyone else. I found a New York Times article from 1895, that listed the names of cyclists suspended by the League of American Wheelmen for competing in unsanctioned events on the Sabbath. Some of them were suspended for as long as two years! The article also listed race meets for which sanctions had been granted, including one on September 12th, sponsored by B.E. Pudney.