The New Treasure Hunt
This colorful 1973 game show is a little bit Let’s Make a Deal, a little bit Deal or No Deal, and a lot of bizarre.
The show, a reboot of Treasure Hunt from the 1950s, uses the old familiar trope where a master spy has hidden $25,000 in one of thirty gift packages laid around a television set.
The host, Johnny Jacobs, goes through three rounds in which three females (always females) were selected for a chance to try and find the loot.
When a contestant picked a package, they were also given an envelope that had a dollar amount on it. She then had the option of keeping the money or rolling the dice on the contents of the package. The package’s reveal was intentionally long and drawn out, often including sketches or gags, to play on the contestant’s emotions.
This aspect of the show was apparently a driving reason behind the show’s decision to only feature female contestants – in addition to the creepy idea that females’ emotions were easier to exploit, they also feared the males’ reactions to being strung along and frequently let-down. The seventies, ladies and gentlemen!
At the end of the episode, if the check has not been claimed, the spy briefly returns to reveal where he stashed it. As a spy would do.
Makes sense. Here’s an episode.
Thayer’s Quest
Rick Dyer’s Videogame company, RDI Video Systems, had designs for a laserdisc-based home console called Halcyon that could play Dragon’s Lair-type content at home. The Halcyon was scrapped but the flagship title for the system, Thayer’s Quest was converted to play in arcades on old Dragon’s Lair cabinets. Check out a walkthrough – the animation is pretty incredible.
Could you imagine playing this in your living room in the 1980s?
Le jardin Anime
This beautiful French coloring book from the 1920s or 1930s is featured over at 50Watt. Hit the link for more scans, these are some of my favorites:
1970 Playmobil Little People Ad
Of all of the great things about this ad, the glimpses of the ’70s living room and the great synth button toward the end are at the top.
Glass Works with Vinegar
Or, you could just use vinegar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AJtAa4f8Jg
-ds