Blue text and image of speedboat on white background. MYR is outlined in white and blue.

The Horace E. Dodge cup race was a championship race for hydroplane motorboats held in Detroit, Michigan. Millionare manufacturer Horace E. Dodge, son of the automobile manufacturer, was an avid boat enthusiast and racer (1925-1930) manufacturing boats from his Detroit plant from 1930-1936 during the Great Depression.

William Edward "Bill" Muncey (November 12, 1928 – October 18, 1981) was an American hydroplane racing legend from Detroit, Michigan. The International Motorsports Hall of Fame and hydroplane historian Dan Cowie described Muncey as "without question, the greatest hydroplane racer in history." Muncey was nicknamed "Mr. Unlimited" and won 62 races, which was the most races in the history of the sport until Dave Villwock broke his record in 2011.

From 1970 to 1975, Bill drove for his old friend Lee Schoenith's Gale Enterprises team from Detroit. Under the sponsorship of MYR SHEET METAL in 1970, Muncey won three races and finished third in National High Points. This marked the first time that Bill had won more than one race in any one season since 1962. Muncey and the Myr won the Horace E. Dodge Cup in Detroit.

Photograph of Red Buttons wearing a winter hat in the center with white text and stars surrounding on red background.

Red Buttons was born as Aaron Chwatt in New York in 1919. He got a job as an entertaining bellhop at a Bronx tavern at age 16. There, the orchestra leader started calling him “Red Buttons” due to his red hair and the bellhop uniform. A stage name was created. Buttons had a movie career from 1944-2005 including The Poseidon Adventure. He had his own TV variety show from 1952-1955. In 1953, he recorded a hit record, “Strange Things are Happening/The Ho-Ho Song.”

This artifact misquotes the “The Ho-Ho Song” refrain as actual lyrics list, “Ho-Ho, He-He, Hoo-Hoo.”

Red text surrounding image of man. When turned, the man appears to be a masked demon.

The comedy horror film, My Demon Lover, is the story of a young vagrant musician in New York who has been cursed to morph into a various demon-like creatures whenever he becomes interested in a woman he meets. Directed by Charlie Loventhal and released by New Line Cinema on April 24th in 1987, the movie stars actor, Scott Valentine, who is most well-known for his reoccurring role as Mallory Keaton's dopey artist boyfriend, "Nick Moore", on the hit sitcom, Family Ties from 1985 to 1989.

Though the film was poorly received by critics, it grossed $3,922,273 in theaters worldwide and now often appears on B-movie review sites due to its fantastical plot lines, "cheesy" special effects, and as a general relic for fans of 80s-themed nostalgia.

White text on black background. When turned, yellow rings appear in Fibonacci spiral starting from third O in text.

Released in 1985, Cocoon is a science fiction film that delivers a comedic and dramatic account of aliens, romance, a human retirement home, and the fountain of youth in a backyard swimming pool next door. An alien race known as Antareans had inhabited a portion of Earth thousands of years ago in a place called Atlantis, but after it was claimed by the ocean, only twenty of their people survived by being safely encapsulated in cocoons. The Antareans come back to Earth to retrieve their kin but must first replenish the cocoons and the Antareans inside with life force before they can safely make the journey home. The romantic story of a human and an Antarean and the hilarity of the residents of the retirement home next door who discover the pool of life energy ensue, leading to the close of a film that won two Academy Awards, was nominated for seven Saturn Awards, and was recognized by the American Film Institute more than two decades later on two of their AFI lists.

Photograph of Tom Hanks holding Daryl Hannah as mermaid from the movie Splash with blue illustrated text in the upper right and black copyright text on the bottom. When turned, the photograph changes to Daryl Hannah laying on the beach with the blue text on the upper left.

Ron Howard’s 1984 film, Splash, was the first film released by Touchstone Pictures, a Walt Disney Studios label geared toward adult audiences. The cast included major names for the time: Tom Hanks, Daryl Hannah, John Candy, and Eugene Levy. The film tells a tale of a mermaid in New York, long lost first loves, and a crazed scientist desperate to prove that mermaids exist. The film was an overall success, grossing $69.8 million in the United States and Canada during Splash’s initial run. Although Splash was nominated for six Saturn Awards, Daryl Hannah took home the only win for Best Actress. Splash also won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Screenplay, which was written by Bruce Jay Friedman, Lowell Ganz, and Babaloo Mandel.
There are many promotional posters for Splash, including two different images of Tom Hanks holding Daryl Hannah. In one, he is wearing a suit jacket and in the other, he is not. While there are several posters that feature Daryl Hannah without her character’s tail, the majority of posters do feature her character as the mythical mermaid, complete with her orange mermaid tale.

Black and white photo of Elton John's face. When turned, the button has black text and illustrations of apple glasses on white background.

Elton John has been called the biggest pop star of the 1970s and his career has gone on to span decades. He was born Reginald Kenneth Dwight in England in 1947 and demonstrated musical talent at a young age; he began playing the piano at age four and by eleven he had won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Music. He joined his first band in 1961, but after leaving that group, he teamed up with lyricist Bernie Taupin, writing music to Taupin's lyrics, forming a songwriting partnership that has lasted decades. Elton John’s fame skyrocketed in the 1970’s; he began to record the songs created with Taupin and from 1972-1976 they were unstoppable, with 16 top 20 hits in a row, and John has gone on to record successful albums ever since. 

Elton John is famous for his flamboyant performances as well as elaborate costumes, both on and off the stage. He experienced a decline in popularity after publicly identifying as bisexual due to oppressive views about homosexuality. Rising above conservative attitudes, he went on to record top hits and has become a prolific and iconic musician. In 1992, he came out as gay and married his husband, David Furnish, the following year.

John is known for his outlandish glasses, which have become a trademark look for the star. Around 1975, he was photographed wearing his apple shaped frames by Michael Ochs, a well known rock & roll photographer from the 1960s and 1970s.

Blue text outlined in white above image of George Burns dressed as an angel sitting on a cloud in front of a rainbow with black text below. When turned, lenticular button shows red text outlined in black with image of George Burns smoking a cigarette. The O in the text above the image has a halo or devil horns.

The popular 1984 Paul Bogart film, Oh, God! You Devil, was a sequel to the 1977 hit Oh, God! and the 1980 sequel Oh, God! Book II. All three movies star comedian George Burns, who won the Saturn Award for Best Actor for his first film portraying God on screen in 1977. In the first two, George Burns plays the role of God, but in Oh, God! You Devil, Burns plays both God and his devilish counterpart. The plot follows a regular musician named Bobby Shelton who sells his soul to the devil to become a famous rock star so that he can support his wife and begin a family of their own. When the contract is signed, Bobby Shelton is transformed into the famous Billy Wayne but is forced to give up his old life and watch as someone else takes his place beside his wife. Desperate to back out of the deal, Bobby Shelton tries to contact God for help. Oh, God! You Devil collected $5.5 million on its first weekend in theaters, taking the lead for that weekend. Although the film was a hit in theaters and George Burns was once again nominated for Best Actor in the Saturn Awards, Oh, God! You Devil did not receive much critical acclaim and has a drastically worse rating on Rotten Tomatoes than its counterparts, Oh, God! and Oh, God! Book II.

Blue text on pink and white striped background.

The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash (1978) is a mockumentary that mimics The Beatles career. This British band started as fictional, but due to their popularity, they became a real band. The Rutles belonged to the “Rutland Weekend Television” show. “I think it was the trousers” can be credited to the 1978 film. The phrase was a joke on how tight British trousers were to the American people or audience. The main members of the band include John Halsey, Ken Thornton, Phil Jackson and David Catlin-Birch. 

Photograph of The Rutles band with orange text.

In the midst of the Beatles craze in the 1970's, comedian Eric Idle (best known for his writing and acting in Monty Python) aired a clip of The Rutles on both BBC-2’s series Rutland Weekend Television and American NBC’s Saturday Night Live. The clip shown on Saturday Night Live on October 2, 1976, was such a hit with viewers that Idle was approached to create a longer film, which Saturday Night Live producer, Lorne Michaels, would also produce. Idle wrote the whole of All You Need Is Cash besides the music, which was written by Neil Innes, whom Idle had previously worked with on the Rutland series. The parodies in the satirical film, All You Need is Cash, are considered by many to be extremely similar in essence to the Beatles’ originals, both in music and video.

The Beatles had varying reactions to the film and the portrayal of themselves by musicians and comedians. George Harrison had been involved in the project for its duration. John Lennon loved it, but mentioned that one of the songs was too close to their original. Ringo Starr enjoyed the more upbeat scenes. Paul McCartney wasn’t thrilled with the film, but was said to have changed his mind after his wife found it funny.

The cover art and promotional pieces mimic the photographs used on the American sleeve for Beatles' songs, “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” and, “I Saw Her Standing There.” The positioning of The Rutles matches that of The Beatles, and the attire is strikingly similar. The main differences between the two is that The Rutles’ image was colorized and meant for comedic purposes.

Blue and red text on white background.

The Rutles began as part of a made-for TV movie called, All You Need Is Cash, which aired originally in the U.S. on the NBC televison network on March 22, 1978. This spoof documentary about a legendary band of the 60's was created by two veterans of comedy and music, Eric Idle and Neil Innes. Eric Idle was one of the founding members of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Neil Innes was one of the founding members of cult comedy-rock group, "The Bonzo Dog Band", which was picked by The Beatles to appear in their 1967 film, Magical Mystery Tour. Neil Innes went on to become the "seventh Python", providing and performing comedic music for the troupe, and appearing with them live on stage. Together, they created the mythical Rutles as device to parody the Beatles story. Neil Innes wrote, recorded and produced all the music, and Eric Idle wrote and co-directed the spoof documentary film which lampooned the Beatles legend. Eric Idle and Neil Innes also acted in the show. Neil played Ron Nasty (the John Lennon character) and Eric played Dirk McQuickly (the Paul McCartney role). Two musician friends were recruited to play the other two Rutles. Rikki Fataar (a top session musician who played with the Beach Boys in the 70's) played Stig O'Hara (the George Harrison character) and British drummer John Halsey became Barry Wom, the Rutles version of Ringo Starr. Among cameo appearances by stars such as Mick and Bianca Jagger, and Ron Wood, real-ex-Beatle George Harrison did a guest shot in the movie as an interviewer. All You Need Is Cash was produced by Lorne Michaels, known for producing Saturday Night Live on NBC. Through various releases to VHS, DVD, and cable broadcasts, several small but noticeable differences can be seen in the versions of the movie.

All of The Rutles music seen in the film and heard on the soundtrack album was sung and played by the three musicians - Neil Innes, Rikki Fataar and John Halsey, with the addition of Ollie Halsall, who also played guitar and did most of the "Paul" type vocals. Ollie can be seen in the film briefly as "Leppo". Eric Idle did not sing or play on the album, and just lip-synced Ollie Halsall's tracks in the film. 14 of the 20 songs from the show were originally released on album by Warner Bros (#HS 3151) in March 1978. This album was nominated for a Grammy for Best Comedy Recording. All of the original Rutles music is now available on CD from Rhino Records, RHINO R2 75760, which was released on July 7th, 1990. The CD has six bonus tracks that the Warner Brothers LP didn't have. A soundtrack album in 1978 was followed in 1996 by Archaeology, which spoofed the then recent Beatles Anthology series. A second film, The Rutles 2: Can't Buy Me Lunch – modelled on the 2000 TV special The Beatles Revolution – was made in 2002 and released in the US on DVD in 2003.