Andy Warhol's Time Capsules

The staff of the Andy Warhol Museum is currently in the process of opening and cataloguing each of Warhol's more than 600 time capsules. I wasn't aware that Warhol kept time capsules, but it appears that it was a standard practice of his.

"Now I just drop everything into the same-size brown cardboard boxes that have a color patch on the side for the month of the year. I really hate nostalgia, though, so deep down I hope they all get lost and I never have to look at them again." -- The Philosophy of Andy Warhol

This is a short list of some of the items they've found recently:

• 121 torn pieces of US 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 dollar bill edges
  
• Fan letter and nude photograph of Lance Loud, age 16ish
  
• Gift box sent to Warhol from a fan containing a doll and several handmade doll outfits
  
• Note of well wishes from Allen Ginsberg on a list of chanting mantras from the New School
  
• Necklace of Gumby figures crafted by Billy Boy
  
• A collection of stationery, menus, napkins, and brochures stolen from hotels around the world
  
• Photographic negatives of Campbell's soup cans and Coke bottles used as source material for artworks
  
• A selection from several hundred get well cards sent to Warhol following the 1968 shooting
  
• A postcard from Valerie Solanas criticizing Warhol for misspelling her name
  
• Two doggie sweaters for Andy's dachshunds, Amos and Archie
  
• A bag containing approximately 20 spools of wig tape
  
• One of Warhol's silver and black wigs
  
• Invoices from Stephen Sprouse's clothing store totaling $70,000.00
  
• A selection of kinky newspapers and magazines
  

And here's a sample capsule.

Happy Birthday, E-Commerce

The 25th anniversary of online retail almost slipped by me quietly and unobserved. Thanks to Alex Randall, a professor of communication at the University of the Virgin Islands, these birthday wishes are belated. I would have had no idea of the importance of Tuesday, March 4, 1983, were it not for an email Randall sent the Air-L discussion list.

25 years ago yesterday, the proprietors of Boston Computer Exchange -- including one Alex Randall -- sold a computer online via Delphi, a BBS of the time. The buyer was dialed in from Chile.

While it's arguable whether this was the first online sale -- surely, sales had been arranged via email -- the date could very well mark the first time a database of products was synchronized with an online network. And that's notable.

You can watch Randall tell the tale himself.

Any other notable online business milestones? This is fascinating stuff.

History Bits

It's a big day in media and technology history:

On this day in 1970, the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) was signed. In 1934, the Communications Act of 1934 established the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In 1914, a radiotelegraphic link was established between Germany and the U.S. and German Emperor Wilhelm II and US President Woodrow Wilson marked the event by exchanging telegrams. In 1912, the eight-hour work day was established in the U.S. ... And in 1846, the first baseball game under recognizable modern rules is played in Hoboken, New Jersey. Happy Birthday ... Guy Lombardo (1902), Moe Howard (1897) and Blaise Pascal (1623).

[via IDG Connect's email newsletter]

Happy Historic Birthday!

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was born today in 1859. Totally randomly, Caitlin and I watched the 1925 silent movie The Lost World, which was based on Doyle's 1912 novel, just last night.

The movie made media history in a couple of ways. One, Willis H. O'Brien, who did the special effects and stop-motion animation, went on to do King Kong, as well. His work inspired later stop-motion animators such as Ray Harryhausen.

Secondly, a Lost World game was marketed in conjunction with the film. Basically a sliding puzzle without the containing frame, the game consisted of tiles players could move one space laterally in order to rearrange into the finished image. I'm curious whether that's one of the first example of movie tie-in merchandising.

Event-O-Dex XXX

Monday, May 21: Beauty Bar New York's event The Phantastic Invisible Tentacle will celebrate Herge's legacy featuring slideshow readings of original Tintin-inspired material. Contributors include Josh Neufeld, Nick Bertozzi, Jason Little, and R. Sikoryak. The reading will be followed by a short presentation about Herge and Tintin, a documentary, Francophone pop, and DJs Stephin Merritt, Jesse Fuchs, Go-Karff, and ERL. The freee vent kicks off at 8 p.m.

Tuesday, May 22: The 100th birthday of Georges Prosper Remi (1907-1983), better known as Herge. That's the Belgian creator of The Adventures of Tintin.

Coffee, Crime, and Community Development

This morning on the way to work, I read Scam #5 1/2, a March 2006 issue of Erick "Iggy" Lyle's wonderful DIY zine. Subtitled "The Epicenter of Crime: The Hunt's Donuts Story," the zine celebrates the history and passing of a donut shop that was once a nerve center in San Francisco's Mission neighborhood. Originally written in 2004 for the Guardian (the article never ran), the piece doesn't seem dated at all, and Erick's handwritten introduction adds quite a lot to the article.

The story is multi-faceted. On one level, it's an epitaph for a beloved hangout. On another, it's a metaphor for the racial and economic tensions that can accompany gentrification. And on yet another, it's an untold history of an entire neighborhood via a single retail establishment. Erick did a ton of research and interviews, and it's surprising how much could be wrapped up in and influenced by a donut shop. For example, did you know that about 90% of the independent donut shops in California are owned by Cambodians? Isn't that fascinating?

One of the best zine offerings I've seen from Erick, and albeit a little old, still worth the $2 or $3. You can order from Last Gasp -- linked above -- or direct from Iggy hisself: Erick Lyle, P.O. Box 40272, San Francisco, CA 94140.

The Former Future of Advertising II

I also recently finished reading Joe Cappo's 2003 book The Future of Advertising, which was published in conjunction with AdAge. When I emailed Joe in thanks for his book, his response solely poked fun at my name, but I'll try not to hold that against him.

More recent than Richard Adler's The Future of Advertising, the book is slightly more up to date and meets a very different need. So what did I get out of Cappo's tome?

Subtitled "New Media, New Clients, New Consumers in the Post-Television Age," the book does well to address and expand on the different aspects of what online advertisers work with. I found Cappo's writing about agency consolidation, the death of the commission structure, the bottom-line role advertising plays (especially the bit on "below-the-line" marketing), the allure of ad awards, and the need for integrated marketing to be of particular interest. I was less impressed by his commentary on the changing media landscape and potential role of new technology, but that's little surprise given the age of the book.

I can't find Cappo's web site right now, but the last time I looked, it didn't look like he'd done a lot since the book. That's OK. But it'd be great if people writing books about the future of advertising kept a hand in the business. I'm sure he has, but given his Google absence, it's not a strong hand.

And that's what we need to build a strong industry: strong hands.