The PopCulteer
September 23, 2022
As you may remember from last week and earlier, your PopCulteer took an anniversary trip up North that included a stop at The Grave Creek Mound Archeological Complex, which is one of West Virginia’s state museums. It’s been almost a month, and I haven’t even posted half of the photos I took that day yet.
So to correct that, here is a quick photo essay of the exhibits at the Grave Creek Museum that pay tribute to some of the cool businesses that have been based in Northern West Virginia.
The plan is to run a couple more photo essays next week, but the original plan was to have run almost all of these before last week, so who knows what will actually happen.
Stick around for a radio note at the end of today’s post.
Right now, once more into the Mound…
There is a huge display of Ron Hinkle Glass, which sadly I didn’t get an in-focus photo of for this essay. Maybe next time. Meanwhile, check out these cool close-ups.
This stuff looks so amazing, it’s hard to do justice to the way the light plays off of it in photos.
Gotta love the psychedelic feesh
You had to know I’d graviate to the Marx Toys exhibit, on loan from Francis Turner and The Marx Toy Museum.
And of course I had to get a picture of Johnny West and friends as they pretend not to notice the giant pony.
More classic Marx Toys.
One of these days PopCult will take their cameras (still and video) to Marble King in Paden City. Until then, this exhibit will have to do.
I had no idea that the marbles in Hungry Hungry Hippos were made in West Virginia.
This gigantic mural made of marbles was maybe twenty feet wide, and is understandably roped off.
One photo of the cabinets filled with Fostoria Glass.
Mrs. PopCulteer’s favorite part of the museum, the FiestaWare section.
This whole corner of the museum is one long display of the tableware made by Homer Laughlin Company, in Newell, WV (renamed The Fiestaware Tableware Company recently).
My photos did not capture the long table laid out in a vivid spectrum of china. This is just one small section.
We end this essay with a glance across the street at the former West Virginia Penitentiary, complete with digitally-manipulated sky.
Stars On MIRRORBALL
Last week’s new MIRRORBALL was not heard in its regular timeslot due to The AIR having a rare service outage, so we’re running the show again this week, and re-posting the notes on it here.
You either love ’em or you hate ’em, but Friday at 2 PM you’re going to get a full hour of Stars On 45 on MIRRORBALL. Mel Larch uncorks a new MIRRORBALL! The AIR is PopCult’s sister radio station. You can hear this show on The AIR website, or just click on the embedded player found somewhere on this very page.
Friday afternoon The AIR’s showcase of classic Disco music presents ventures into the 1980s when the folks holding down the Disco fort were a Dutch novelty band that never gave up on the Disco sound, even when they were putting together medleys of Beatles songs, or bizarre collections of songs that blend the theme from Star Wars with Ennio Morricone, The Who’s Tommy, Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds and Carl Douglas’ “Kung Fu Fighting.”
Disco might have ducked in the alley and out of the mainstream, but one group of artists kept the radio hopping with slick production, chorus vocals like the Bee Gees and the requisite 120 beats per minute. Stars on 45 was led by a former member of Golden Earring and featured vocalists who could mimic everyone from The Beatles to Donna Summer. The “Stars On” group took hit songs by The Beatles and other pop groups, and strung them all together with a strong Disco beat. And they managed to top the charts all over the world at a time when the anti-Disco backlash was stronger than ever.
For one hour you can go back and hear this Disco-fied artifact of 1980s excess. Just check this odd playlist…
“Beatles Medley”
“Long Play Part Two”
“Sixties Medley”
“Bad Girls Medley (12″)”
“Get Ready”
“ABBA Medley”
“Star Wars Medley”
You can hear MIRRORBALL every Friday at 2 PM, with replays Saturday at 9 PM (kicking off a mini-marathon), Sunday at 11 PM, Monday at 9 AM, and Tuesday at 1 PM exclusively on The AIR.
That is this week’s PopCulteer. Check PopCult for all our regular features, with fresh content every day.
Great Picts of great things like murals made of marbles.