Article Archives: Bumps in the Night

Dancing Harry, Robota the Witch, and Colonel Super Fly, Part 1

July 21, 2022 | by Al Hunter

1974-75 for the ABA Indiana Pacers was a season of change. They moved from the State Fairgrounds Coliseum where they had won three league championships (1970, 1962 and 1973) to Market Square Arena. Three of the team’s perennial Allstars were gone: Roger Brown, Mel Daniels, and Freddie Lewis (along with … Read More

The Buzzbee Flying Disc and Other Banned Toys, Part 2

July 14, 2022 | by Al Hunter

It was known as the “Buzzbee,” a flying disc sold in the 1970s. The Buzzbee disc was made by Altered Perception of Long Island. It sold for the price of $7.95. Their print ad featured the catchphrase “Catch-A-Buzz!” along with a comic strip they called ‘The Travels of Buzzbee!’ A … Read More

The Buzzbee Flying Disc and Other Banned Toys, Part 1

June 30, 2022 | by Al Hunter

Summer is here and even though it no longer has the length or importance that it did when I was growing up, it is still summertime. Recently, I ran across a little pinback button that reminded me just how different the activities we busied ourselves with were and how the … Read More

Little Boy Jim and the Texas Better Babies Contest

June 23, 2022 | by Al Hunter

Recently, I purchased a small group of documents that stirred memories of a dark time in American history: the “Better Babies” movement of the early 1900s. I have written about this “movement”, which first began in the Southern U.S. around 1900 and lasted until just before World War I, in … Read More

Watergate A Half Century On, Part 2

June 16, 2022 | by Al Hunter

This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Watergate break-in: June 16, 1972. I was nine years old at the time and for the next couple of years, I consumed the news reports and witness testimony of the Watergate scandal like a can of Pringles potato chips: one after another. … Read More