Capitol Hill Blue Forums Hot Topics & Breaking News The RoundTable Round Table For Thursday, June 25th, 2009

How many of you remember ... or ever heard of ... the Kewpie Doll? Are we dating you? The Kewpie Doll was created by Rose O’Neill, who was born on this day in 1874. Rose was raised in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania and had a rather successful career as an illustrator and author. In fact, her paintings, drawings, and sculptures of, what Rose called her “Sweet Monsters” (mythical creatures such as centaurs, fauns, satyrs), were exhibited in New York and Paris. But then, she began to design dolls, specifically, the Kewpie Doll.

A 1909 issue of Ladies Home Journal printed a full page of Ms. O’Neill’s doll designs catapulting the Kewpie Doll into a marketing success in the toy industry for over three decades.

The Kewpie Doll was a small, cupid-like, plump figure with a top-knot and was made of plaster or celluloid.




Click on the picture!


Today In History~

1788 - The Virginia colony including Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in North America, entered the United States of America as the tenth state. The state, also known as Old Dominion, was named after the "Virgin Queen", Elizabeth I of England. The Commonwealth of Virginia and its capital, Richmond, have played major roles in American history. Like West Virginia, it names the cardinal as the state bird. The official state flower of Virginia is the flowering dogwood.

1844 - John Tyler took Julia Gardiner as his bride, thus becoming the first U.S. President to marry while in office.

1876 - Indian Chief Crazy Horse won the two-hour Battle of the Little Bighorn, Montana, wiping out the army of Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer. Custer, who led the battle against the Sioux Indian encampment, was among the 200+ casualties. Ironically, the only survivor of Custer’s forces was a horse, Comanche.

1886 - Nineteen-year-old Arturo Toscanini moved from the cello section to the conductor’s stand of the Rio de Janeiro Orchestra. The maestro conducted Aida this day.

1910 - The U.S. Congress authorized the use of postal savings stamps.

1937 - Ed ‘Strangler’ Lewis was a little angry. He denounced the idea of lady wrestlers in the ring. Lewis said that women ’rasslers threatened to turn the sport of professional wrestling into a burlesque show.

1942 - The first broadcast of It Pays to Be Ignorant was aired on WOR Radio and the Mutual Broadcasting System.

1948 - Joe Louis KO’d Jersey Joe Walcott to keep the world heavyweight boxing crown.

1951 - The first commercial color TV program was seen. It was a four-hour-long show presented on CBS and carried in New York City, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Boston and Washington, D.C. Arthur Godfrey, Faye Emerson, Sam Levenson and Ed Sullivan starred in the TV milestone. An interesting side note to this event is that the public didn’t own any color TVs at the time and CBS, itself, owned only about three dozen sets.

1961 - Pat Boone spent this day at number one for one last time with Moody River. Boone, a teen heart-throb in the 1950s, had previously walked his way up the music charts, wearing white buck shoes, of course, with these other hits: Ain’t That a Shame, I Almost Lost My Mind, Don’t Forbid Me, Love Letters in the Sand and April Love.

1962 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled (5 to 4) that prayers in public schools violated the First Amendment to the Constitution regarding the separation of church and state.

1968 - Bobby Bonds of the San Francisco Giants started on the road to superstardom. Bonds connected for a grand-slam home run in his first game with the Giants. He became the first baseball player in the majors to debut in such an exciting way.

1969 - The Guess Who from Canada received a gold record for their hit single, These Eyes.

1980 - Miami Dolphins quarterback Bob Griese announced his retirement from professional football after 14 years in South Florida. Griese had some impressive statistics: 193 touchdown passes, 25,200 yards passing and the winner of two (out of three) Super Bowls.

1985 - ABC-TV’s Monday Night Football announcer lineup: Frank Gifford and O.J. Simpson were joined by Joe Namath. The trio was out to regain some of the show’s sagging ratings after Howard Cosell and Don Meredith exited the broadcast.

1990 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of an individual, whose wishes are clearly made, to refuse life-sustaining medical treatment. The 5-4 ruling upholding the right to die was made in the Cruzan vs. Missouri case.

1993 - Kim Campbell became Canada’s 19th prime minister -- and its first woman prime minister. Campbell governed until October 25, 1993 when the Progressive-Conservative party was royally defeated. (Her term actually expired November 4, 1993.)

1998 - Windows 98 was released. Microsoft used the slogan, “Works better. Plays better.” The company said the new operating system would bring an “increased computer experience by providing a rich feature set for a wider variety of users than ever before.” Interest in the new release was also increased by the publicity generated by the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust suit against Microsoft.

1999 - Adam Sandler’s Big Daddy debuted at theatres across the U.S. Sandler plays Sonny Koufax, who tries to get custody of his best friend’s son. Sappy? You betcha! Successful? You betcha: $41.54 million the first weekend.

1999 - The San Antonio Spurs earned their first NBA (National Basketball Association) title in their 26-year history by beating the New York Knicks 78-to-77. That gave the Spurs the series 4 games to 1.


Music For The Day~



Click on the picture! Beyonce-Fever


Picture For The Day~



Grasslands National Park, Canada

Beyonce is a Kewpie Doll??? I didn't know that. But do know some folks who went to a high school in Missouri that at one time used the Kewpie as its mascot. Don't know if they still do. Cute, huh? Fearsome on the football field!

Found it. Here's the link!

http://www.kewpie.net/

Note that this site also documents the 100th anniversary of that loveable little mascot.

Helllooooooo!!!!


No, I'm changing my ways - I appreciate how beauty comes in many different forms.

KDs weren't really around when I was a kid. We had Beanie Babies I think they were called.

GeeWhiz, Rick, I think I have shoes older than you!

Yep.

F/A/O Martha:

Read your PMs.

We've long had the Ginger or Maryann debate. Let's update it a bit.

Beyonce or Rhianna?


Beyonce


Rhianna

Speaking of beautiful women....

RIP Farrah Fawcett
Farrah Fawcett succumbs to cancer at 62