Another Year in the Trenches
Another Year in the Trenches
Greetings Retrorama fans! Yes, it’s actually that time again and Retrorama is celebrating its second anniversary on Nolan’s Pop Culture Review website. This has been a great year for me, especially going on to the content management system and taking a greater hand in the formatting of this column. I have also received a lot of positive E-mails from readers and I always appreciate any and all feedback. Time sure seems to fly when there is so much to discuss.
At the first anniversary of this column, I mentioned a few areas I wanted to emphasize in coming year and then, for the most part, failed to do so! Nostalgia on Demand has actually worked fairly well and I have been able to respond too many of the requests I received for information on movies, comic books, and other assorted vintage topics through the regular departments. Forgotten Florida morphed into Nearly Forgotten Florida with articles on tourist attractions that are still managing to hang on, like Monkey Jungle and Weeki Wachee. I still plan to revisit some of their defunct counterparts in the not too distant future. Finally, the Collector’s Corner that I had envisioned never actually occurred even after several promising conversations that seemed like guaranteed leads but ultimately never amounted to enough for a column. This section may still see the light of day in some form but, in the meantime, I commend Chris Woods for sharing his collections with us through his highly enjoyable Growing Up Fanboy column.
So what does year three hold in store for Retrorama? The short answer is – plenty. The Retrorama file cabinet drawers open and close much more freely these days but they are still packed with information. While I never like to give too much away, let’s just say that in the next few months you will see Charles Manson, some classic musicians, and the strangest films to ever come out of the great state of Texas featured on these electronic pages. There are also a few films celebrating the fortieth anniversary of their theatrical releases that deserve recognition before the year is over. Of course this will all be in addition to regular coverage of conventions and events and there are plenty of those coming up.
The very first Retrorama column featured some kitschy pop culture curiosities coupled with corrosive comments. This evolved into the Time Warp Toybox feature which has appeared only sparingly in the past year. Look for a revitalization of this in the near future and some similarly themed columns celebrating other pop products of the past. If anyone has any vintage favorites they would like to see featured, like the Stir-Crazy Popcorn Popper or 8mm movie projectors, I encourage you to send them in.
Speaking of reader contributions, I am going to take this opportunity to announce the second annual installment of A Very Fanboy Christmas, provided, of course, that fellow columnists and site contributors dust off their yellowed snapshots of Christmas past and send them in. While I put special emphasis on new submissions this year, previous contributors are welcome to send in new photos. Remember to include a little information like the year, location, and what made that Christmas special to you. For some reason, even though my mother loved to take photographs, she never seemed to take any for Halloween. If anyone has photos of themselves dressed as their favorite ghoul for trick or treating, please send them in to me. Retroween will be returning in October and can always use a few vintage spooks!
Well gang, it has been an honor and privilege to be with you another year revisiting the past and analyzing the antiquated. I intend to spend the next twelve months mining golden oldies and continuing to examine the enigma that is our pop culture heritage. As Jeremy Hillary Boob, the Nowhere Man, said in Yellow Submarine, “add hoc, add lock and quid pro quo, so little time, so much to know”. See you next week!