Leaving it to Beaver…
Plan 59 is an extraordinary resource– an online repository of 1950s illustrations of every ilk… there’s just so much to browse– and so many memories evoked…
Your correspondent’s favorite is the playfully-named “Gallery of Demonic Tots and Deeply Disturbing Cuisine”… ah, for those days of Cold War sublimation and scrumptious “serving suggestions”…
The Joy of Good Eating, 1952
Broncos: Crispy, french-fried wieners, 1958 Barbecue Cookbook
Enjoy the entire collection here.
As we loosen our trousers, we might wish a cautious congratulations to William Dampier, who was christened on this date in 1651 (his birthdate is unknown). Dampier was a sea captain, author and scientific observer, a contributor to the works of Charles Darwin and Alexander von Humbolt, the first Englishman to explore and map parts of New Holland (Australia) and New Guinea, and the first person to circumnavigate the world three times… he was also a pirate.
Almost forgotten now, Dampier was a demi-celebrity in earlier days, with voluble fans who included Samuel Pepys and John Evelyn (with both of whom he dined), Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Jonathan Swift, and Captain Cook. For all this, Evelyn described Dampier as “a very modest man”… the “anti-Jack Sparrow.”
Dampier’s works are on Project Gutenberg, here.
William Dampier