20th century keepsakes

Journal Record, The (Oklahoma City), Dec 13, 1999

SAN FRANCISCO (NYT) -- By far, the item most nominated as a 20th century endangered object is the slide rule, an engineering-student accessory for decades. According to the informal San Francisco Chronicle poll, among the other modern marvels destined to mystify future generations: the automobile crank, paper tape reader for computers, disposable flashbulbs, roll of film, black-and-white TV set, colored plastic to turn that TV set colored, the carburetor, clock with hands (so "clockwise" and "counterclockwise" will become meaningless).

And for the office, consider the ditto machine, already "gone the way of the dodo." Also ticker tape, Eaton's Corrasable paper, typewriter correction tape, typewriter correction shield and the little tubular metal thing with a ball embedded in the end that fits on a pencil and can be used to dial a phone. Note that this category includes many items for fixing mistakes, which will never go out of style.

In the closet, the buttonhook, diaper pin, darning egg to place inside socks, spats, zip-on extension to turn full-length coat to a maxi-coat, "buck bag" powder for cleaning white bucks and sanitary belt. For the kitchen, the washboard, milk box, ice cube tray, block of ice, ice tongs and church key bottle opener. Among other recreational supplies, multicolored confetti and pet rocks.

$2,990 for a Monroe photo

NEW YORK (AP) -- A photograph of Marilyn Monroe standing over a sidewalk grating in the Seven Year Itch brought in $2,990 at auction. The oversize print of the 1954 scene was sold Thursday at Manhattan's Swann Galleries. The print was purchased by an anonymous German photo dealer. The sale amount was small compared to the $1.26 million that one of her actual dresses -- the formfitting number she wore to serenade President Kennedy with "Happy Birthday" in 1962 -- fetched at auction in October. It was still well above the photograph's minimum pre-sale estimate of $800.

The week that was

HOLLYWOOD (AP) -- Here are some entertainment highlights during the week of Dec. 12-18:

60 years ago: Gone With the Wind had its world premiere in Atlanta. The film starred Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable.

55 years ago: National Velvet, starring Mickey Rooney and Elizabeth Taylor, premiered at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

50 years ago: John Wayne starred in Sands of Iwo Jima, which premiered in San Francisco.

45 years ago: Shake, Rattle and Roll by Bill Haley and His Comets was the first rock `n' roll single to reach the top of the British chart.

40 years ago: Stanley Kramer's On the Beach starred Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Anthony Perkins. And the Everly Brothers recorded their first session outside Nashville, Tenn. Let It Be Me was cut at Bell Sound Studios in New York.

35 years ago: Zorba the Greek starred Anthony Quinn, Alan Bates and Irene Papas.

30 years ago: Goldie Hawn, Walter Matthau and Ingrid Bergman starred in Cactus Flower. Hawn won an Oscar for her first big role. Chicago's debut album Chicago Transit Authority was certified gold. And the Plastic Ono Band played its first B and only B concert in Britain at London's Lyceum Ballroom.

25 years ago: Gene Wilder, Marty Feldman, Peter Boyle and Madeline Kahn starred in Young Frankenstein, directed by Mel Brooks. Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, William Holden, Fred Astaire and Richard Chamberlain starred in The Towering Inferno. And Mick Taylor left the Rolling Stones.

20 years ago: The Jerk was Steve Martin's first starring film role.

10 years ago: Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington and Morgan Freeman starred in Glory, a film about black soldiers who served in the Civil War.

Five years ago: Garth Brooks became the first solo artist to have two albums sell more than 10 million copies each; he set the record with Ropin' the Wind and No Fences.

The beanie end is near

OAK BROOK, Ill. (AP) -- New Year's Eve will be the last day of production for Beanie Babies, the maker of the popular stuffed critters says. Ty Inc. broke the news with a cryptic announcement on its Web site Thursday, saying only that production will stop Dec. 31 and warehouses will be cleared of surplus. The company hinted at the move with a similar Web site announcement last August that said it would "retire" all current Beanie Babies at the end of the year, but at that time it was unclear whether Ty would entirely stop production of the plush dolls. Many collectors and fans had been expecting a new line of the toys from the company.

Ty spokeswoman Anne Nickels said she "had no idea (why)" the cuddly toys will be discontinued, adding that the decision to stop production was made by the firm's owner, Ty Warner. "We're just as much in the dark here as everybody else," she said. One factor for the decision could be the growing interest in Pokmon merchandise, said Leonard Tannenbaum, president of Beanienation.com, an Internet auction site for the Beanies. "Our Pokmon sales have flown, but Beanie sales haven't," Tannenbaum said.

Since Ty began selling the toys in 1993, the privately owned company has distributed more than 100 characters, from dinosaurs and teddy bears to birds and zoo animals. Beanies initially became popular because their price of $4 to $5 was affordable for most children. Later, they became valuable collectibles for adults who could sell a single toy for as much as $1,000. Sales at Ty have skyrocketed -- the company had estimated revenue of $674 million in 1998, compared to just $1.7 million in 1995, according to the Port Washington, N.Y.-based NPD Group.