Pop Culture Flashback: Hello Kitty is Born (Nov. 1)

From the local mall to baseball games, Hello Kitty is everywhere.

1974 – Hello Kitty is Born

You might recognize the name of Sanrio as the company responsible for the Hello Kitty craze, but she wasn’t a part of things until much later. Sanrio began as a company in 1962. At that time, they sold rubber sandals. They discovered that the sandals that featured “cute” designs sold better than the others. Soon mascots were drawn and were used primarily during gift-giving seasons.

Hello Kitty arrived on the scene in 1974 and today she is one of the world’s most recognized characters after Mickey Mouse. Also known as Kitty White, Hello Kitty was created by Yuko Shimizu and designed by Yuko Yamaguchi. She is a Japanese Bobtail cat with no visible mouth (at least not usually). The reason for this was the strong belief that people needed to learn how to express their feelings without words. Kitty speaks from her heart.

The first appearance of Hello Kitty came when she appeared on a vinyl coin purse in 1975, but the character didn’t arrive on U.S. soil until 1976. In 2004, you could find Hello Kitty MasterCards. In 2006, Fender created the Hello Kitty Stratocaster electric guitar and from 2005-2009, one Airbus commercial passenger jet airliner became known as the Hello Kitty Jet.

This feline is busy! In 2008, Hello Kitty became the ambassador of Japanese tourism, in 2010 she had her own line of wines, she has her own restaurant (Hello Kitty Sweets in Taipei, Taiwan) and she is a featured character at two Japanese theme parks: Harmonyland and Sanrio Puroland.

1966 – Apple Jacks Cereal is Trademark Registered

Who knew that a breakfast cereal could be so “highbrow”? Originally called “Apple O’s”, Apple Jacks cereal was invented by William Thilly, a member of Delta Upsilon Technology Chapter and later a professor at MIT.

On this day in 1966, the cereal was trademarked and was promoted with the “Apple Guy” mascot. He was essentially an apple with cereal shaped eyes. Later he was changed into an Apple Car. In 1971, the color crayon-inspired “Apple Jacks Kids” sang the classic song, “A is for apple and J is for jacks.” That campaign ran through 1992.

In 2004, the cereal received two mascots: a cranky “Bad Apple” and a “Jamaican CinnaMon Stick.” Today, the mascots are the same, but they’re just two jolly fellows now.

1867 – First ‘Harper’s Bazaar’ is Published Today

Harpers Bazaar magazine from 1894 — *Harpers Bazaar* magazine from 1894 *(Wikimedia Commons)*

Harper’s Bazaar (originally known as Harper’s Bazar was America’s first fashion magazine which debuted on this day in 1867. Then, it was a weekly newspaper showcasing fashion from Germany and Paris. It became a monthly publication in 1901 and today it is part of the Hearst Corporation.

2003: ‘Brother Bear’ Opens in Theaters

Two cartoon bears look up and see images in the sky — *Brother Bear (Walt Disney Animation Studios via TVDB)*

The most brilliant thing that Walt Disney Animation Studios did for Brother Bear was to include the moose, Rutt and Tuke who were voiced by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas who basically recreated their Canadian characters from the TV sketch series, SCTV.

The main story though involved two brothers – one who is killed by a bear while protecting Kenai, the younger one. Then after Kenai kills the bear, the spirits get angry and turn him into bear too. Sort of dark for a kids’ movie.

Directed by Aaron Blaise and Robert Walker, the film also featured the voices of Joaquin Phoenix, Jeremy Suarez and Jason Raize.

This was Walt Disney Picture’s 44th animated feature film, the third film to be produced primarily at the animation studio located within the Disney-MGM Studios theme park (now Disney’s Hollywood Studios) in Orlando, Florida. It was also the last as Disney was beginning to embrace computer animated films.