I found another list of movies, this time the most profitable movies. This is based on their return on investment. Most of these are lower budget movies that made it big at the box offices. Instead of spending money on costly hotels the producers usually sprung for a New York Bed and Breakfast!

Release Date Film Budget Worldwide Gross % Return

1 7/14/1999 Blair Witch Project, The $35,000 $248,300,000 354,614.29%
2 10/6/2004 Tarnation $218 $662,014 151,738.07%
3 3/21/1980 Mad Max $200,000 $99,750,000 24,837.50%
4 5/7/2004 Super Size Me $65,000 $29,529,368 22,614.90%
5 11/21/1976 Rocky $1,000,000 $225,000,000 11,150.00%
6 8/11/1973 American Graffiti $777,000 $140,000,000 8,909.01%
7 8/5/2005 My Date With Drew $1,100 $181,041 8,129.14%
8 7/25/1969 Stewardesses, The $200,000 $25,000,000 6,150.00%
9 12/21/1937 Snow White (Disney) $1,488,000 $185,000,000 6,116.40%
10 6/11/2004 Napoleon Dynamite $400,000 $45,658,577 5,607.32%

You can see the complete list at The Numbers.

I still haven’t seen the newest Pirates of the Caribbean movie, but I hear it had a huge budget. I don’t think that necessarily makes the movie a success. If you remember, Waterworld had a big budget as well (the biggest up to that time) and it was considered a flop. The directors of that movie should have used budgeting software.

Here is a list of the top ten highest budget films, adjusted for inflation:

10. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
9. Spider-Man
8. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
7. Armageddon
6. The Chronicles of Narnia
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
4. Spider-Man 2
3. Titanic
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
1. Spider-Man 3

The oldest movie on the list (number 50) is Cleopatra which was filmed in 1963 and cost $44 million dollars to make.

Pete the Pup was the famous dog from Our Gang (later known as The Little Rascals). Pete did not have a ring around his eye. That was added for a part he had as Tige in the Buster Brown series. The director, Hal Roach, liked the ring and decided to leave it on. After the original Pete died, Harry Lucenay used one of his offspring called Lucenay’s Pete to play the part of Pete. Lucenay’s Pete was the most famous of the Petes.

Lucenay was fired from the Our Gang series in 1932 and he took Pete to Atlantic City where he was photographed with children at the Steel Pier. A number of other bulldogs played the part of Pete thereafter. Lucenay’s Pete lived to the ripe old age of 17 even without the help of Organic dog food.

Does anyone remember this short-lived TV series? It aired on ABC for two seasons, beginning in 1968 and ending in 1970. There were a total of about 51 episodes. Here is the opening titles from the show.

The show was set in the future year of 1983. It tells the story of the crew and passengers of the spaceship called the Spindrift. The Spindrift is supposed to transport passengers between Los Angeles and London (via outerspace). However, something goes wrong and the ship lands on a planet where everything is twelve times larger than it is on earth. The giants want the Earth people captured and the whole series revolves around them escaping from the giants.

The budget for each episode was $250,000 which was an all time high. The cast, however, had to do all of their own stunts!

When I was small, we always had the Fuller Brush Man come to our door in hopes of selling his cleaning products. My mom sometimes bought them. Today, you don’t see many door to door salesmen anymore. In the 50s, 60s and 70s you would see them all the time – trying to sell encyclopedias, cleaning products, vacuums and even Funeral Insurance.

Many cities starting passing a Green River Ordinance (named for Green River, Wyoming where the bill was first passed). This ordinance prohibits door to door selling without permission from the household ahead of time. Some ordinances include a clause that prohibits even political, charitable or religious groups as long as there is a “No Trespassing” or “No Solicitation” sign posted. The Supreme Court has reviewed several of the ordinances and found that those that prohibit selling are constitutional (and a state’s rights issue). However, those suggesting a total ban may be deemed unconstitutional based on freedom of speech and religion issues.

Ever wonder how much everyday items have increased in price? Here are a few items with their prices from the 1970s. What do you pay today?

Alka Seltzer, $0.39
Bananas, $0.12 per pound
Toilet Paper, $0.13
Cool Whip, $0.38
Ground Beek, $0.98 per pound
Grapefruit, $0.99 for 10
Frozen Vegetables, $0.25 for two packages
Potato Chips, $0.89 for a 24 oz bag
Sugar, $0.39 for 5 pounds
Medium Eggs, $0.25 per dozen

Wow! You sure could get a lot for less than $1.00! If you want to see the entire list, Visit The People History.

Bob Hope, who passed away in 2003 at the age of 100, will long be remembered for his wit, humor and service to the USO. He will also be remembered for the Bob Hope Classic, a golf tournament named for him since 1965. The Bob Hope Classic is held each January in Palm Springs, California and is part of the PGA Tour. Besides Pro Golfers, there are also a “celebrity” golfers. The first tournament was one by Arnold Palmer with a total of 22 under par! The event takes place over five days. Four of these days include celebrities.

In 1995, Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Gerald Ford, Bob Hope and Scott Hoch (defending pro champion) teed up for the opening round.

Besides the game of golf, money is raised for local charities. There are also exhibits featuring advertisers such as Ping Golf, Taylor Made and Nike and a host of others.

My daughter’s school recently celebrated Flag Day on June 14th. Every year they have a big production with the mayor, songs and stories. How did Flag Day get started?

On June 14, 1777, the second Continental Congress adopted the use of a flag, designed by Betsey Ross, for the newly formed United State of America. But it wasn’t until 1885 that the first flag day was celebrated. A schoolteacher in Wisconsin (BJ Cigrand) arranged for the students to celebrate the Flag’s Birthday. In following years, he encouraged the practice and wanted June 14th to be observed as Flag Day.

Later other schools and communities adopted Flag Day. In 1894 the Governor of New York directed that the Flag should be flown over government buildings on June 14th. The same year, the American Flag Day Association was started in Chicago. More than 300,000 children participated in the program.

The official establishment of Flag Day happened on May 30th, 1930 by President Woodrow Wilson. An Act of Congress in 1949 made June 14th a National Flag Day.

I was at the doctor the other day for a check-up and notice that she was using a littman stethoscope. That got me to wondering – when were stethoscopes first invented.

The stethoscope was invented in 1816 by a Frenchman named René-Théophile-Hyacinthe Laennec. It had a wooden tube and looked like an ear trumpet. In 1851, Arthur Leared perfected the instrument by making it binaural (which means there are two channels – one for each ear). Commercial production of the instrument came in 1852 when George Cammann perfected the design. In the 1940’s, Rappaport and Sprague designed a new stethoscope which is now the standard.

The stethoscope is used to listen to internal body sounds, such as the heart, breathing, intestines and blood flow. It has become one of the symbols of the medical profession.

Remember the day when celebrities who didn’t want to have the bald look wore very bad toupees. Actually, they weren’t that bad compared to the ones the general public could get, but they were still bad. You always knew who was bald. Now celebrities just go to someone like Dr. Larry Shapiro to get quality hair transplants. You can’t even tell who is losing their hair anymore!