Pop Culture
TV Guide Fall Preview Issue
When leaves begin to turn and kids head back to school, you know it’s time for a new TV season. TV viewing habits have changed a lot in the last fifteen years. With the introduction of TiVo in 1998, we could start watching TV shows whenever we wanted. (Well,...
Thinking inside the box
Forget “You are what you eat,” for school kids, you are what you eat out of. When we were kids, Back to School Sales were the harbinger of death. Cruelly, they seemed to start in July when the sun was still shining and vacation days were still upon...
And the “band” plays on
It’s hard enough to make a living as a musician, without having to compete with machines for jobs. Fairground organs were the first juke boxes, providing music for parks and fairgrounds at the end of the 1800s. Usually including a pipe organ along with percussion instruments, the organ used...
The Sesame Street Generation
“Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?” How to get to Sesame Street? Easy, just head straight back into your childhood. There is little that’s warmer and cozier than memories of Sesame Street. That is, if you were one of the kids who grew up watching...
All for just 25 cents
Can you buy social harmony out of a vending machine? A strange phenomenon has been taking place in the past year or so, and it has nothing to do with the fact that Curio & Co. had a vending machine at Comic-Con (we were offering advice for 25¢,...
Tasty “snax” from childhood
Forget the counting, there’s no spelling for taste! When you’re a kid, you know you’re in for a treat if a product name uses non-standard spelling. Froot instead of fruit, cheez instead of cheese. Are manufacturers legally required to change the spelling because there isn’t any real fruit or...
A well-loved Love Bug
Hollywood is fickle, even for a plucky little car that wears its heart on its fender. The recent Pixar films might wish you to think otherwise, but no other car has won as many hearts as a little ’63 Volkswagen Beetle named Herbie. Dean Jones, one of Disney’s most...
American Dreamer, 1984
Turns out, imagined intrigue is just as dangerous as the real thing. Some films will just always remind you of home, either because you watched them as a child or because of the warm relationships they depict. American Dreamer, starring JoBeth Williams and Tom Conti, takes the audience on...
Curio & Co. at Comic-Con 2012
Pack your bags, we're heading to San Diego, California! The uneven bars have the Olympics, dogs have the Westmister Kennel Club. For the entertainment industry, the big show is Comic-Con International in San Diego, California. The show notoriously sells out almost a year in advance, and you'll bump into more...
Slip 'n Slide, 1961
Nothing says “summer” like a trip down the Slip ‘n Slide. You need a running start to get the best slide – at least six steps and then a loud whoop as you hit the plastic. After that, just hope it doesn’t end right at the driveway. For most of...
The Sears & Roebuck Catalog, 1893-1993
From clothing to carriages and bridles to beaver traps, if it wasn’t in the catalog, it probably didn’t exist. In the late 1800s, it was difficult for rural Americans to get the supplies they needed for a price they could afford. Monthly trips into town to visit the General...
Curio & Co. at the American Library Association
You can’t avoid “overdue” jokes at the biggest library conference. Here at Curio & Co. we love a good library. Shelves and shelves of books, helpful staff who can answer any question, and those crinkly book covers – what’s not to love? We’ve toured beautiful libraries in Europe that...