First Versions: February 2015

Mickey Mouse (comics)

Mickey Mouse
from the first
comic strip (1930)

Strip title: "Mickey Mouse"

Category: Comics

Genres: Adventure, Gag-a-day, Humor

Authors:

--- Walt Disney (story)

--- Ub Iwerks (character design)

--- Win Smith (art, 1930)
--- Floyd Gottfredson (art, May 5, 1930 - Nov. 15, 1975)

Country of origin: USA

First format: Daily strip on newspapers

First issue: January 13, 1930 - USA

First editor: King Features Syndicate

Cast:
--- Mickey Mouse, first appearance in comic strips on January 13, 1930. Cute anthropomorphic male mouse, originally Mickey Mouse was characterized as a mischievous antihero. He usually wore (red) shorts with two white buttons, large (yellow) shoes, and white gloves. "Mortimer Mouse" had been Disney's very first name for the character before his wife, Lillian, convinced him to change it.
--- Minnie Mouse, first appearance in comic strips on January 18, 1930. Cute anthropomorphic female mouse, Mickey's girlfriend Minnie Mouse originally had a playful, musical and flirtatious personality, marked by her long lashes. Her pre-1940s look consisted of a short flapper girl dress, shoes with oversized high heeled pumps, flowered bowler hat, and white gloves. The comic strip story "The Gleam", published January 19 - May 2, 1942 by Merrill De Maris and Floyd Gottfredson, reveals her full name as "Minerva Mouse"; although this is seldom used.

Plot: Mickey Mouse wants to learn to fly like Charles Lindbergh, who made the first transatlantic flight on May 20-21, 1927 (33h29 in the air). Playing with an airplane of his own creation, Mickey lands on an island where he encounters wild animals and angry natives who thwart his every attempt to find food.

Features: Mickey Mouse first appeared in comics after he had appeared in 15 commercially successful animated shorts and was easily recognized by the public. The strips first released between January 13, 1930 and March 31, 1930, has been occasionally reprinted in comic book form under the collective title "Lost on a Desert Island". The first part featured a loose adaptation of "Plane Crazy", an animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks, released on March 17, 1929; several gags in the story were also taken from other early Disney shorts.

Interesting facts: Progressively, Disney comics have seen a decline of popularity in their country of origin. In January 1990 the Disney comic strip department closed. In the rest of the world comic publications continue with new stories and reprints, especially in Europe.

Quote (Walt Disney): «Girls bored me - they still do. I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I've ever known».

Property: King Features Syndicate - Walt Disney Productions

Reference website: http://www.disneyinternational.com

Mickey Mouse comic strips, launch advertising on newspapers (January 1930). Note in the New York "Daily Mirror" Mickey's five-fingered right hand (unknown artist).

Mickey Mouse, the first comic strip (January 13, 1930)

Mickey Mouse, first appearance in comics (January 13, 1930)

Minnie Mouse, first appearance in the comics

Minnie Mouse, first appearance in comics (January 18, 1930)

Cover to "Mickey Mouse Series 1" (1931), art by Floyd Gottfredson for David McKay Co.

Cover to French "Albums Mickey 1" (1931, artist unknown), collecting "Lost on a Desert Island"

Cover to Italian "Albo D'Oro" (May 15, 1937), illustrating "Topolino nell'isola misteriosa" ("Lost on a Desert Island"). Art by Michele Rubino.

The creators of Mickey Mouse. From left: Walter Elias "Walt" Disney (Hermosa, Dec. 5, 1901 – Burbank, Dec. 15, 1966): business magnate, cartoonist, animator, voice actor, film producer.
Ub Iwerks (Kansas City, Mar. 24, 1901 - Burbank, Jul. 7, 1971): animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor and special effects technician.

Mickey Mouse celebrates his 90th Birthday in Italy (weekly No. 3286, Nov. 14, 2018)

Volkswagen: 1st model ever

Volkswagen logo 1938
by Franz Reimspiess

First prototype name (1932):
"Porsche Typ 12" (German), "Porsche Type 12" (Eng.)

First model name (1938):
"KdF-Wagen" (German), "Volkswagen Type 1" (Eng.)

Nicknames: "Käfer" (German), "Beetle" (UK), "Bug" (USA), "Coccinelle" (French), "Maggiolino" (Italian), "Escarabajo" (Spanish)

Category: Cars

Subcategory: Sedan

Ferdinand Porsche
Masserfsdorf Sep. 3, 1875
- Stuttgart Jan. 30, 1951,
the automotive engineer
who created the
Volkswagen Beetle

Designer: Ferdinand Porsche

Prototypes producer: Zündapp (founded by Fritz Neumeyer in 1917)

First model producer: Volkswagen (founded by the German Labour Front on May 28, 1936)

First prototype made in:
1932 - Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany

Production start: 1938 - Wolfsburg, Germany

First model price: 990 Reichsmark

Prototype features: The Porsche Type 12 or "Auto für Jedermann" (car for everybody) was designed by Ferdinand Porsche for Zündapp. It featured the rounded styling then in vogue, typified by the Schlörwagen, Tatra V570 Chrysler Airflow, and KdF-Wagen (better known as the Volkswagen Type 1 or Beetle). It featured a five-cylinder radial engine at Zündapp's insistence, rather than the flat four Porsche preferred. It also used a swing axle rear suspension (invented by E. Rumpler).

First model features: The Volkswagen Type 1 was designed to be as simple as possible mechanically, so that there was less to go wrong; the air-cooled 25 hp (19 kW) 995 cc (60.7 cu in) motors proved especially effective in actions of the German Afrika Korps in Africa's desert heat. This was due to the built-in oil cooler and the superior performance of the flat-four engine configuration. The suspension design used compact torsion bars instead of coil or leaf springs. The Beetle is nearly airtight and will float for a few minutes on water.

Interesting facts: On May 26, 1938, Hitler laid the cornerstone for the Volkswagen factory in Fallersleben. The factory had only produced a handful of cars by the start of the war in 1939; the first volume-produced versions of the car's chassis were military vehicles. A handful of Beetles were produced specifically for civilians, primarily for the Nazi elite, in the years 1941 to 1945, but production figures were small. In 1945 all production was halted because of heavy damage to the factory by Allied air raids. Much of the essential equipment had already been moved to underground bunkers for protection, which let production resume quickly after hostilities ended.

Slogan (1959): «Think Small»

Property: Volkswagen

Product website: http://www.beetle.com

Zündapp-"Volkswagen", Porsche Type 12 (1932): all of those cars were lost during World War II, the last in a bombing raid in Stuttgart in 1945.

Porsche Type 12 - Reconstruction - Driver side

Porsche Type 12 - Reconstruction - Passenger side

Zündapp-"Volkswagen", Porsche Type 12 (1932), replica at the Museum for Industrial Culture, Nuremberg, Germany.

Volkswagen 1938, opening of the KdF factory

Volkswagen Type 1 at the opening of the KdF factory in Fallersleben, Wolfsburg, May 26, 1938

Volkswagen Type 1, newspaper report June 1938

Volkswagen Type 1, newspaper report (Evening star, Washington, D.C., June 3, 1938). «Hitler Boosts Car Sale - The car in the foreground is a sample of what Germans are going to buy for around $400, if plans of Chancellor Hitler, shown at the microphone, come true. Hitler is dedicating the new factory at Fallersleben, Germany, built to turn out these models, with rear engines, developing 24-horsepower. His dream is that German roads will be black with them in a short time. The car is called the Volkswagen».

Volkswagen Type 1 (1938): a batch of 44 pre-production models introduced split rear windows; both the split window and the dash were retained on production Type 1s until 1953.

Volkswagen Type 1, "Dein KdF-Wagen" bochure (cover by Werner von Axster-Heudtlaß, 1938)

Volkswagen Type 1, advertisement poster (art by Werner von Axster-Heudtlaß, 1938)

Volkswagen Beetle in its advanced version (2015)

Volkswagen Beetle, the last ever model rolled off the firm's production line on July 10, 2019 in Puebla, Mexico. At the end of the same year, Volkswagen USA released this short animated film, "The Last Mile" (90 sec.), as a tribute to their beloved Beetle.

The Beatles

The Beatles
"drop-T" logo 1963
by Ivo Arbiter

Band:
"The Quarrymen" (also "the Quarry Men", March 1958)
"The Beatles" (August 1960)

First song: "In Spite Of All The Danger"

Genres: Skiffle - Rock and roll - Soft rock

Musicians:
--- John Lennon - vocals, guitar
--- Paul McCartney - backing vocals, guitar
--- George Harrison - backing vocals, guitar
--- John "Duff" Lowe - piano
--- Colin Hanton - drums

Writers: Paul McCartney and George Harrison

ORIGINAL VERSION

--- Recorded: July 12, 1958
--- Producer: Percy Phillips
--- Studio: Phillips' Sound Recording Service, 38 Kensington, Liverpool, England
--- Label: Kensington Records
--- Format: 78 rpm acetate, B-side. On A-side: "That'll Be The Day"
--- Lenght: 3:25

RELEASE VERSION

--- Released: "In Spite of All the Danger" was not released to the public until it appeared on 1995's "Anthology 1" collection - Nov. 21, 1995
--- Producer: George Martin
--- Studio: Abbey Road Studios (EMI Studios), 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England
--- Labels: Apple Records Ltd. - EMI Records Ltd.
--- Format: Track No.4 - Vinyl (triple L.P., Disc 1, A-side) - C.D. (double, Disc 1)
--- Lenght: 2:44

Overview: In March 1957, John Lennon, then aged sixteen, formed a skiffle group with several friends from Quarry Bank school. They briefly called themselves the Blackjacks, before changing their name to The Quarrymen after discovering that a respected local group was already using the other name.
With the cover of Buddy Holly's "That'll Be the Day" recorded at the same session (A-side), "In Spite Of All The Danger" were the first professional recording made by what would become The Beatles. Only one copy was made.

Quote (Paul McCartney): «It was my song. It's very similar to an Elvis song. It's me doing an Elvis. I'm a bit loathe to say which! "Yeah" is all I'm going to say on that. I know which one! It was one that I'd heard at scout camp when I was younger and I'd loved it. And when I came to write the first couple of songs at the age of about 14 that was one of them».

Property: Apple Records Ltd. - EMI Records Ltd.

Official website: http://www.thebeatles.com

"In Spite Of All The Danger" (1958) original audio

IN SPITE OF ALL THE DANGER

In spite of all the danger
In spite of all that may be
I'll do anything for you
Anything you want me to
If you'll be true to me

In spite of all the heartache
That you may cause me
I'll do anything for you
Anything you want me to
If you'll be true to me

I'll look after you
Like I've never done before
I'll keep all the others
From knocking at your door

In spite of all the danger
In spite of all that may be
I'll do anything for you
Anything you want me to
If you'll be true to me

Yeah!

In spite of all the heartache
That you may cause me
I'll do anything for you
Anything you want me to
If you'll be true to me

I'll look after you
Like I've never done before
I'll keep all the others
From knocking at your door

In spite of all the danger
In spite of all that may be
I'll do anything for you
Anything you want me to
If you'll be true to me

I'll do anything for you
Anything you want me to
If you'll be true to me

"In Spite Of All The Danger" (1958) lyrics

The only copy of the shellac acetate
containing the first two songs professionally recorded by The Quarrymen

Percy Phillips' shop, studio and home at 38 Kensington, Liverpool; the article from the Liverpool Echo (Dec. 24, 1977) in which Percy Phillips recalls The Quarrymen session.

The Quarrymen. George Harrison, John Lennon and Paul McCartney in 1958 at Auntie Gin's house for a wedding in Dinah's Lane, Liverpool. Auntie Gin was Paul's aunt. Photo taken by Paul's younger brother Mike McCartney.

The cover of "Anthology 1" is the first third of the Anthology collage made by Klaus Voormann. Various photographs and album covers are torn and collected together.

The Beatles. Ringo Starr (left) join to the definitive formation in 1962, the year of "Love Me Do", with John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison.

Marlboro

Marlboro design 1955
by Frank Gianninoto

Name: "Marlboro"

Category: Tobacco

Subcategory: Cigarettes

Inventor: Philip Morris

Producer: Philip Morris & Co., Ltd

Production start: 1924 - Richmond, Virginia, USA

First price: 20 cents 1 pack (20 cigarettes)

Philip Morris
Whitechapel, 1835 -
London, 1873,
tobacconist.
After his death, his
cigarettes became the
Marlboro brand

Overview: Marlboro is the largest selling brand of cigarettes in the world. The brand is named after Great Marlborough Street, the location of its original London Factory. Philip Morris Company, a London-based cigarette manufacturer, created a New York subsidiary in 1902 to sell several of its cigarette brands, including Marlboro. In 1924 Philip Morris launched the Marlboro brand as a woman's cigarette. In 1930 Marlboro cigarettes had a greaseproof ivory tip to prevent women's lipstick from smearing; in 1940 a red "Beauty Tip" to hide unsightly lipstick smudges. Marlboro becomes a cigarette brand for men in 1954. During the 1950s Reader's Digest magazine published a series of articles that linked smoking with lung cancer. Philip Morris, and the other cigarette companies took notice and each began to market filtered cigarettes. The new Marlboro with a filtered end was launched in 1955.

Slogan (1924): «Mild as May»

Property: Philip Morris USA Inc. - Altria Group Inc.

Product website: https://www.marlboro.com