Round the World with Nellie Bly

Entry at Board Game Geek.

Nellie Bly at Wikipedia.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Aug 10, 2021 - Comments (3)
Category: Celebrities, Games, Journalism, Travel, World Records, Writers

The First Earth Run

First Earth Run: A Catalyst for Hope from Gail Straub & David Gershon on Vimeo.

This large event seems to have vanished from 2021 memory--at least judging by the paucity of Google references, most of which are for the accompanying song that was created for the occasion (below). One thing we can affirm: it did not bring Peace on Earth.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Jun 16, 2021 - Comments (2)
Category: Fads, Music, Sports, Travel, International Cooperation, Global Events and Planetary-scale Happenings, 1980s

Owney, the Taxidermy Post Office Dog

Mail clerks raised money for preserving their mascot and he was taken to the Post Office Department's headquarters in Washington, DC, where he was on placed on display for the public. In 1904 the Department added Owney to their display at the St. Louis, Missouri, World’s Fair. In 1911, the department transferred Owney to the Smithsonian Institution. In 1926, the Institution allowed Owney to travel to the Post Office Department’s exhibit at the Sesquicentennial exhibit in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. From 1964-1992, he was displayed at the Smithsonian museum now known as the National Museum of American History and in 1993 he moved to the new National Postal Museum, where he remains on display next to a fabricated Railway Post Office train car.

Source.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Apr 28, 2021 - Comments (0)
Category: Travel, Trains and Other Vehicles on Rails, Dogs, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century, Postal Services

The Traveling Candy Store

I must confess that the notion of a vehicle that brings candy directly to you had never occurred to me before. But what a great idea!

Here's the tale of a modern incarnation.



Here's their website, with an itinerary.

And here's the tale of someone who had the idea 100 years ago! (Scroll up.)

Posted By: Paul - Tue Jan 19, 2021 - Comments (3)
Category: Business, Retailing, Motor Vehicles, Travel, Candy, 1920s

Roy Mack’s milk-diet tour

Roy Mack set off from New York on May 2, 1939, intending to walk to San Francisco. To make this more of a challenge, he decided to do this while living on a diet of only milk — about six quarts of it a day. He said he wanted to "prove you can live on milk." The media dubbed him the "human milk bottle."

By August he had reached Oklahoma City and had also lost 10 pounds in weight. He maintained this was due to all the exercise, not his milk diet.

I have no idea if he ever did reach San Francisco, because I can't find any news reports about him after Oklahoma City. Perhaps the milk diet got the better of him.

Pittsburgh Press - June 3, 1939

Posted By: Alex - Fri Oct 30, 2020 - Comments (0)
Category: Food, Publicity Stunts, Travel, 1930s, Dieting and Weight Loss

Mystery Illustration 95

What type of craft was host to these scenes? Luxury railroad car perhaps? Ocean liner? What's your guess?

The answer is here.


Or after the jump.





More in extended >>

Posted By: Paul - Fri Jun 05, 2020 - Comments (6)
Category: Travel, 1920s

Turnpike Toll Gun

Introduced circa 1962 by Lyman Metal Products, the Turnpike Toll Gun allowed drivers to shoot quarters and nickels into toll baskets. I imagine that, nowadays, whipping one of these things out at a toll booth could get you in trouble. But it's still possible to pick one up on eBay if you gotta have one.

Source: airgunenthusiast.com

Cedar Rapids Gazette - Nov 4, 1965

Spokane Chronicle - Jan 23, 1963

Posted By: Alex - Wed Jan 22, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: Guns, Money, Travel

Ostrich Carts

Why these never caught on, I couldn't imagine.

Source.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Dec 04, 2018 - Comments (0)
Category: Animals, Travel, 1910s

Life preserver suitcase

Just imagine if everyone on the Titanic had had one of these! (I'm guessing it must have been inspired by that disaster).

The Kiowa Journal - Oct 7, 1915

Posted By: Alex - Wed Aug 22, 2018 - Comments (3)
Category: Boats, Inventions, Travel, 1910s

Extra Milers

The Extra Miler Club is a group of people whose goal is to visit every county (and equivalent jurisdiction) in every state of the United States. That's 3,143 counties. Indian reservations don't count, although some visit them anyway. Parishes do count, as do independent cities.

If you finish the goal, you're called a "county completer." Only 51 people have joined this elite group, and they're all listed here.

More info: boston.com

Posted By: Alex - Sun Jul 09, 2017 - Comments (1)
Category: Clubs, Fraternities and Other Self-selecting Organizations, Hobbies and DIY, Travel, Collectors