Neon and Googie
A sad story in the New York Times to end the year. New York City is getting rid of neon signs and replacing them with LED lights.
The latest victims? 30 Rockefeller Center, the Apollo Theater, the Subway Inn, and The White Horse Tavern in Greenwich Village, where Bob Dylan and Jack Kerouac used to hang out.
This is a weird way to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first neon sign in Times Square.
If all that wasn’t depressing enough, we’re also seeing this sort of thing happen in other parts of the country. Googie (not to be confused with Google) is slowly vanishing too.
Sigh. Sometimes I really hate “progress.”
Fake Friends
You won’t believe this, but Facebook’s plans for 2025 involve … artificial intelligence.
They’re going to create millions of fake users! And they’ll exist and interact with you just like your real friends and followers do. They’ll have bios and profile pics and can share content. The company wants to drive up the numbers on the platform as they introduce more and more AI features, because AI is the only thing that matters in technology now.
I guess if New York City can replace neon with LEDs, the web can replace us with fake people.
Boy, am I glad I left social media ten years ago.
Hopefully you’ll be able to block/mute these fake people. Just like you do real people.
I’ve Heard of Pop Warner Football, but Pop-Tarts?
Did you catch the Pop-Tarts Bowl? It sounds delicious, but it’s actually an annual college football game. Apparently it included a look back at the life of a dead Pop-Tart, a giant toaster that created an edible mascot, and colorful sprinkles on the sidelines.
Christmas, By the Numbers
Can I talk about one more Christmas-related thing before we settle into 2025? Here are some of my Christmas stats.
- Number of Christmas movies/specials watched: 9
- Number of peppermint bark candy eaten: approximately 4,000
- Number of Christmas cards sent: 25
- Number of Christmas cards received: 3
Let’s talk about that last one.
This is the fewest cards I’ve received in years. I don’t keep a ledger of cards received, but when you receive only three it stands out.
I know, you’re thinking, “But, Bob, nobody sends out Christmas cards anymore! That’s so old-fashioned and takes so much time and money! Everyone does email and ecards now.”
Maybe, but I didn’t get any of those either.
Headline of the Week
“The World’s Best Chess Player Just Stormed Out of a Tournament – Over a Pair of Pants”
RIP Jimmy Carter, Greg Gumbel, Linda Lavin, Aaron Brown, Olivia Hussey, Charles Dolan, Warren Upton, Angus MacInnes, Hudson Meek, and Dayle Haddon
Jimmy Carter was the first president I ever voted for. Okay, I was 11 and it was a mock school election, but still! He died Sunday at the age of 100, the only president to make it to that age.
Greg Gumbel had a 50-year career as a sports anchor and correspondent for CBS and NBC. He died last week at the age of 78.
Linda Lavin was best known for starring in the sitcom Alice. She also won a Tony Award for Broadway Bound. She died Sunday at the age of 87.
Aaron Brown was the lead anchor for the ABC overnight show World News Now and later an anchor at CNN, anchoring their nonstop coverage of the 9/11 attacks (his first day on the job). He died Sunday at the age of 76.
Olivia Hussey played Juliet in the 1968 version of Romeo and Juliet. She also appeared in Death on the Nile and Black Christmas, and on TV in Lonesome Dove: The Series, Psycho IV: The Beginning, Murder, She Wrote, and several animated shows. She died last week at the age of 73.
Charles Dolan was the founder of Cablevision and came up with the idea for both HBO and AMC. He died last week at the age of 98.
Warren Upton was one of the last survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He died last week at the age of 105.
Angus MacInnes played Vander in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and Rogue One. He also appeared in Atlantic City, Force 10 From Navarone, Superman II, The Black Dahlia, and many other films. He died last month at the age of 77.
Hudson Meek was a young actor who appeared in such films as Baby Driver and The Santa Con and TV shows like MacGyver and Found. He died last month at the age of 16.
Dayle Haddon was a top model in the 1970s and ’80s and also an actress. She died last week at the age of 76.
This Week in History
Paul Revere Born (January 1, 1735)
Here’s the Post’s Ben Railton on the real story about Revere’s ride.
Last Cigarette Commercial (January 1, 1971)
It aired at 11:59 p.m. on NBC, during The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson.
Uploaded to YouTube by Timeline Machine
This Week in Saturday Evening Post History: Campbell’s Soup (January 1, 1966)
Is there anything better than a hot bowl of soup on a cold winter’s day?
January Is National Soup Month
That makes sense, actually. Sometimes you get a food holiday in a month that makes you scratch your head. For example, Turkey Month is in June.
Here’s a recipe for French Onion Soup from Serious Eats, and here’s one for Italian Meatball Soup from The Pioneer Woman.
Taste of Home has a recipe for Chicken Noodle Soup, Simply Recipes has an Easy Tomato Soup, and Allrecipes has this Slow Cooker Cheeseburger Soup.
And here are recipes for vintage soups like Ham and Pea, Kidney Bean, and Gravy Soup, from the pages of the Post and the Post’s sister publication, The Country Gentleman. They’re well over 100 years old.
The recipes, not the ingredients.
Next Week’s Holidays and Events
National Trivia Day (January 4)
You can amaze your friends and family with your knowledge of when the last cigarette commercial aired.
82nd Golden Globes Awards (January 5)
It airs on CBS at 8 p.m. ET.
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Comments
The best part of the 2 business trips to Tokyo I made in 2017 and ’19 were all of the gorgeous neon signs. Japanese, English, the flashier the better! Some would “dance” up to a 60-90 seconds before starting over. Still and all though, there was nothing quite like Coca-Cola’s red and white elaborate delight.
I appreciate the link on Googie architecture Bob, but it’s been virtually dead for decades. Shockingly, Pann’s Restaurant on La Tijera Blvd. is one of the few places I can still go for a mid-20th retro-futurism fix in my otherwise dumpster fire of a city. The food is wonderful too as a bonus.
I miss Ship’s with its toasters on the table and Space Age architecture; gone since the ’80s. Some of the Googie rooflines looked a lot like the back end of the ’59 Buick’s fins, not to be confused with Chevy’s. I’m a big believer in sending out Christmas cards. Those who received mine were in for an immediate treat. The handwritten messages equally important.
Linda Lavin was a personal favorite of mine. The Post did an great online feature earlier this week on ’70s films that became TV series, such as Linda’s wonderful ‘Alice’. Definitely read it. I send President Carter’s family healing thoughts at this time as well.
Thanks for the link of the last cigarette commercial to ever air. Though never healthy, cigarettes didn’t smell like poison the way they do now. Hate accidentally getting a whiff from people smoking in cars. If it’s cannabis, that’s different. The ones for Virginia Slims were the best. Check out their classy, sexy (and possibly sexist?) ads from 1968!! The music alone is fantastic. A time when originality was king. Music, films, TV, auto design, everything.
Love the 1966 Campbell’s soup ad. In the winter, sometimes a bowl of Matzo Ball chicken soup is just what the doctor ordered, if you have a deli near you. Get the rye bread with it. Amy! Thanks for the info on the Neon Museum in Las Vegas. Seeing most all lit up will be to the eye, what the scent of peanut butter is to a dog’s nose.
Happy New Year and Many Wishes for Many Blessings in 2025 for everyone.
I agree. Leave the neon signs alone. LED lights have their place but that does not include neon replacement. They are great for vehicle and motorcycle lights and for indoor use. “Progress” is not my favourite thing either and low on my priority list.
I remember those Virginia Slims cigarette commercials. Their slogan and the actresses used were always quite catchy and caught my attention as a pre-teen.
Our Christmas Cards mailed versus those we received were quite low too considering past years. However, one thing we noticed is for some reason many of the cards came just before or right after Christmas Day. Is that a postal delivery issue? I have no idea. Either way, my spirit was not dampened.
Rest in Peace President Carter. Enjoy your reward and reuniting with Rosalyn, Mrs. Lilian, Billy, and others. Though you may not have been a very good President, you were a great person and a fine upstanding Christian, unwavering from your faith.
I love sending annual Christmas cards with an abridged written reflection of the past years’ events about our family.
We do not engage in social media; FB, Tic Tok, Instagram, etc. so what we share through our holiday cards is hopefully fresh and engaging to our relatives and friends. We still receive a healthy number of Christmas holiday cards from long time family and friends in return. (those of us still alive and cognizant of course.)
I like the idea of ‘another tool in the toolbox’ instead of an ‘all or nothing’ approach to inevitable change as humanity continues its quest toward ‘progress’. Neon versus LED, hand written holiday cards versus screen time images and correspondences, I don’t know that any one way is better or worse for us, but that we have options is ideal. But as all things must pass, eventually modes of present day ingenious developments as to how we work, live, play and connect, will all become an historical archive to the generations not even yet born. All in the name of ‘progress’. Hopefully, ‘The Saturday Evening Post’ will continue in that vain of a readable archive of how it once was. “We’ve come a long way baby!”
Amy: Thanks so much! Much appreciated. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year, Bob!
Thank you for the articles on neon and Googie. It is really sad to see them both going away. I think the author of the Googie article may have captured something about them both when she wrote, “We’ve lost faith in the future, and Googie represents a time when we still had it.” Neon and LED are just not the same.
If you get to Las Vegas, the Neon Museum has an excellent evening tour where they turn on most of the signs! It’s very fun to see them “alive” again.
Just a note to say you are my favorite Post writer and I read your column faithfully every Saturday morning. I will try to get a Christmas email off to you on time next year!