Bonus Day Brightener – Looks At Life – Particularly Liked The One About The Onion.
Author: lorenberg
Day Brightener – Remembering
Me too, that was the good old days.
A man grabbing a bite at a San Francisco diner and using the counter’s Buckley Music System selectors connected to a central jukebox, 1941.
The chart shown here is only ONE day of the week. This report also breaks down six more days, but because this is facebook and not a magazine article, I’m showing one day.*** Cost of feeding 4218 prisoners in Missouri for one day in 1932. (The rest of the week follows this chart.)
From, “Report of the Department of Penal Institutions 1931-32.”
Elevator operators at Marshall Field’s department store in Chicago, 1947. Dressed in their crisp, tailored uniforms with matching jackets and skirts, they represented the elegance and professionalism expected of the store’s staff. These women not only operated the elevators but also greeted customers, announced the floors, and often provided directions or assistance, making them an integral part of the shopping experience.
Jack Benny (violin), Fred MacMurray (sax), Tony Martin (clarinet), Dick Powell (flugelhorn), Kirk Douglas (banjo), and Dan Dailey (drums).. ( Jack Benny Show, 1954.)
Menu from the Commander Hotel. Ocean City, Maryland in 1963.
IBM Computer, 1960s
By 1967, the IBM System/360 had transformed the workplace. In humming computer rooms filled with blinking lights and whirring tape reels, women and men worked side by side, typing commands into bulky terminals. These machines, once the size of entire rooms, processed payrolls, airline reservations, and even space program data. For many, it was the first glimpse of a digital future — a world where information could be stored, retrieved, and analyzed faster than any human mind. The IBM computer was not just a machine; it was the dawn of the information age. #fblifestyle #TechHistory #1960sInnovation #MainframeEra
On Armistice Day in 1940, a blizzard, with 16.2 inches of snow and wind of 30 to 60 miles per hour, closed down all activities. People could not get to work, the streetcars couldn’t run, and people who were at work couldn’t get home. Many had to work an extra shift. They then, of course, got an extra day off, called “Snow Day”. The City Hall sheltered some, about 20 stayed over night in the Schwartz Motor Company garage and many homes offered overnight stays. People will always remember this blizzard because it hit so suddenly with a sudden drop in temperature. In Minnesota 59 people died, including many hunters in shirt sleeves and light jackets who froze in their duck blinds.
Menu from Café Safran. 1913.
From the New York Public Library
From the New York Public Library
car stuck in a pothole on Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis in 1965
Photo courtesy of Hennepin County Library
Approximately 1923 MNHS
Day Brightener – Just Too Funny Not To Share
A young man named John received a parrot as a gift. The parrot had a bad attitude and ana even worse vocabulary.
Every word out of the bird’s mouth was rude, obnoxious and laced with profanity. John tried and tried to change the bird’s attitude by
consistently saying only polite words, playing soft music and anything else he could think of to ‘clean up’ the bird’s vocabulary.
Finally, John was fed up and he yelled at the parrot.
The parrot yelled back. John shook the parrot and the parrot got angrier and even more rude. John, in desperation, threw up his hand, grabbed the bird and put him in the freezer. For a few minutes the parrot squawked and kicked and screamed.
Then suddenly there was total quiet. Not a peep was heard for over a minute.
Fearing that he’d hurt the parrot, John quickly opened the door to the freezer. The parrot calmly stepped out onto John’s outstretched arms and said “I believe I may have offended you with my rude language and actions.
I’m sincerely remorseful for my inappropriate transgressions and I fully intend to do everything I can to correct my rude and unforgivable behavior.”
John was stunned at the change in the bird’s attitude.
As he was about to ask the parrot what had made such a dramatic change in his behavior, the bird spoke-up, very softly, “May I ask what the turkey did?”
Day Brightener -15 Pithy Aphorisms
My favorite is the one attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt
Life is made up of marble and mud.
Nathaniel Hawthorne
It is not length of life, but depth of life.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood.
Marie Curie
He that would live in peace and at ease, must not speak all he knows or judge all he sees.
Benjamin Franklin
Life is short, art long, occasion brief, experience fallacious, judgment difficult.
Hippocrates
Tell me who admires and loves you, and I will tell you who you are.
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
We are always the same age inside.
Gertrude Stein
History, like beauty, depends largely on the beholder.
Desmond Tutu
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.
Widely attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt
The act of dying is one of the acts of life.
Marcus Aurelius
To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.
Oscar Wilde
There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.
Leonard Cohen
Brevity is the soul of wit.
William Shakespeare
Travel is fatal to prejudice.
Mark Twain
Day Brightener – 18 Surprisingly Hilarious Quotes From U.S. Presidents
If I had to name my greatest strength, I guess it would be my humility. Greatest weakness, it’s possible that I’m a little too awesome.
Barack Obama
There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing it.
Andrew Jackson
Honestly, if I were two-faced, would I be showing you this one?
Abraham Lincoln
He has no more backbone than a chocolate éclair.
Theodore Roosevelt on William McKinley
I’m not worried about the deficit; it’s big enough to take care of itself.
Ronald Reagan
How has retirement affected my golf game? A lot more people beat me now.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
When we got into office, the thing that surprised me most was to find that things were just as bad as we’d been saying they were.
John F. Kennedy
Being President is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. There’s nothing to do but to stand there and take it.
Lyndon B. Johnson
Some folks look at me and see a certain swagger. In Texas, we call it walkin’.
George W. Bush
My esteem in this country has gone up substantially. It is very nice now when people wave at me, they use all their fingers.
Jimmy Carter
I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit for political purposes my opponent’s youth and inexperience.
Ronald Reagan
I’m so overexposed I make Paris Hilton look like a recluse.
Barack Obama
I have now come to the conclusion never again to think of marrying; and for this reason; I can never be satisfied with any one who would be block-head enough to have me.
Abraham Lincoln
Being President is like running a cemetery; you’ve got a lot of people under you and nobody’s listening.
Bill Clinton
No matter how tough it gets, however, I have no intention of becoming a lame duck President — unless, of course, Cheney accidentally shoots me in the leg.
George W. Bush
If one morning I walked on top of the water across the Potomac River, the headline that afternoon would read “President Can’t Swim.”
Lyndon B. Johnson
I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency, even if I’m in a Cabinet meeting.
Ronald Reagan
These days, I look in the mirror and I have to admit, I’m not the strapping young Muslim socialist that I used to be.
Barack Obama
Day Brightener – These Were The Good-Old Days. For those of us old enough to remember, these should bring back some memories.
Step back into the Golden Age of Aviation!
A rare glimpse inside the cabin of a TWA Lockheed Constellation during the 1950s. Known as the “Connie,” this aircraft was one of the most elegant airliners of its time.
Passengers often dressed in their finest clothes for the journey.
Wide, reclining seats and plenty of legroom made the trip comfortable.
Overhead racks weren’t filled with bags, but with pillows and blankets for in-flight rest.
Families, businessmen, and travelers alike enjoyed a stylish and social atmosphere in the skies.
The Constellation wasn’t just a plane—it was a symbol of speed, luxury, and the excitement of a new jet age dawning.
Step back into the golden age of travel with TWA’s Lockheed L-1011 TriStar cabin.
Introduced in the 1970s, the L-1011 was known for its widebody comfort, spacious seating, and advanced technology for its time — including a quieter ride thanks to its Rolls-Royce RB211 engines.Compared to today’s cabins, the L-1011 offered generous legroom, larger windows, and a touch of retro luxury, while modern airliners focus more on efficiency, mood lighting, and high-tech entertainment systems.
It’s a fascinating contrast: the classic elegance of 1970s TWA versus the digital convenience of today’s fleets.
Here’s what economy looked like on a Qantas 747B back in the early ’70s.
One movie for the whole cabin, playing up front, with the sound coming through those quirky stethoscope-style headphones.
It might feel old-fashioned now, but there was something special about the whole plane laughing at the same scene together. Editor’s note – just look at the size of the seats.: Qantas
Step Inside the Jet Age – TWA Convair 880
This rare photo captures the cabin of a Trans World Airlines (TWA) Convair 880, one of the fastest commercial jetliners of the 1960s. Known for its sleek design and speed (capable of cruising at Mach 0.89), the Convair 880 was an engineering marvel—but it struggled to compete with the larger Boeing 707 and Douglas DC-8.
Only 65 Convair 880s were ever built, making it one of the rarest jetliners in history. Though its commercial career was short, the aircraft remains an icon of the glamorous Jet Age, when flying was as much about style and luxury as it was about speed.
A snapshot of a time when passengers dressed in their finest to board an airliner, and the skies truly felt like a new frontier.
United Airlines Douglas DC-4, one of the classic workhorses of postwar commercial aviation. Introduced in the 1940s, the DC-4 revolutionized long-distance travel with its four reliable radial engines and spacious cabin, helping usher in an era when air travel became more accessible to the public.
United proudly operated the DC-4 on its transcontinental routes through the 1950s, connecting America’s major cities with comfort and speed unimaginable just a decade earlier.
From wartime transport to peacetime passenger service, the DC-4 paved the way for the modern airline industry we know today.
Day Brightener – Different Ways Of Looking At Things
Two guys were discussing popular family trends on sex, marriage, and family values.
Bill said, ‘I didn’t sleep with my wife before we got married, did you?’
Larry replied, ‘I’m not sure, what was her maiden name?’
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A little boy went up to his father and asked: ‘Dad, where did my
intelligence come from?’
The father replied. ‘Well, son, you must have got it from your mother, cause I still have mine.’
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‘Mr. Clark, I have reviewed this case very carefully,’ the divorce Court Judge said, ‘And I’ve decided to give your wife $775 a week,’
‘That’s very fair, your honor,’ the husband said. ‘And every now and then I’ll try to send her a few bucks myself.’
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A doctor examining a woman who had been rushed to the Emergency Room, took the husband aside, and said, ‘I don’t like the looks of your wife At all.’
‘Me neither doc,’ said the husband. ‘But she’s a great cook and really good with the kids.’
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An old man goes to the Wizard to ask him if he can remove a curse he has Been living with for the last 40 years.
The Wizard says, ‘Maybe, but you will have to tell me the exact words that were used to put the curse on you.’
The old man says without hesitation, ‘I now pronounce you man and wife.’
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Two Reasons Why It’s So Hard To Solve A Redneck Murder:
1. The DNA all matches.
2. There are no dental records
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A blonde calls Delta Airlines and asks, ‘Can you tell me how long it’ll take to fly from San Francisco to New York City ?’
The agent replies, ‘Just a minute.’
‘Thank you,’ the blonde says, and hangs up.
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Two Mexican detectives were investigating the murder of Juan Gonzalez.
‘How was he killed?’ asked one detective.
‘With a golf gun,’ the other detective replied.
‘A golf gun! What is a golf gun?’
‘I don’t know. But it sure made a hole in Juan.’
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Moe: ‘My wife got me to believe in religion.’
Joe: ‘Really?’
Moe: ‘Yeah. Until I married her I didn’t believe in Hell.’
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A man is recovering from surgery when the Surgical Nurse appears and asks him how he is feeling.
‘I’m O. K. But I didn’t like the four letter-words the doctor used in
Surgery,’ he answered.
‘What did he say,’ asked the nurse.
‘Oops!’
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While shopping for vacation clothes, my husband and I passed a display of bathing suits. It had been at least ten years and twenty pounds since I had even considered buying a bathing suit, so I sought my husband’s Advice.
‘What do you think?’ I asked. ‘Should I get a bikini or an all-in-one?’
‘Better get a bikini,’ he replied. ‘You’d never get it all in one.’
He’s still in intensive care.
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The graveside service just barely finished, when there was massive clap of thunder, followed by a tremendous bolt of lightning, accompanied by even more thunder rumbling in the distance…
The little old man looked at the pastor and calmly said, ‘Well, she’s
There.’
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