Hi Again!

Yesterday I started exhibiting my Trek collection with an old cigar box from around 1973.  Today we open the little Pandora to see what’s inside. (My eyes, my eyes…)

First, the interior.  I didn’t want the floor of the box to be bare, so every week I went through the TV Guide and cut out the daily descriptions for Star Trek, which aired weeknights on WPIX (we had “eleven clear channels to choose from“* with this new thing called ‘cable’!) at 9:00 and Mom and Dad let me stay up with my sibs to watch it.  We got cable mostly so we could watch Star Trek. Of course, we had all watched it when it originally aired (although I didn’t always get to see it) and by age 12, in ’73, I was totally into it. By ’76 it was on our local channel 40 every night at 6:00, and Mom wasn’t too thrilled that it was on at dinnertime, but she would let me watch it on Fridays.   Anyway, here’s what old Trek listings looked like back then; something that’s never used now.

You can also see more images from the article I used for the box lid and if you read closely, there’s a little letter to the editors of TV Guide about who the best chess player is. 😉  -Can you name all the episodes described here?
*This expression is from a cable commercial that aired endlessly on our local channels; there was a lady who would go on and on about how cable had
“Eleven clear channels to choose from and absolutely perfect picture!”

Now, as to what I kept in the box?   It was good for spare change and rubber bands, but eventually I had little things related to Star Trek that I kept in it. First of all, a ‘Spock Rock’; that is, a stone I found one day along the river that reminded me of Vulcan pointed ears, so naturally, I painted a cartoony little portrait of Mr. Spock on it.

Cute, huh?  I’m surprised it hasn’t worn off much in the 39 years since I painted it! I like that I gave him a little smile.

Next we see a prized Spock button I bought at the 1979 ‘Star Trek Bi-Centennial 10 Convention in 1976.  It was special because it presents a scene from the Trek episode “Elaan of Troyus” that was never used. Spock is seen playing his Vulcan harp in the grand recreation room, a set that was only seen in “And the Children Shall Lead”.  A shame this scene was cut, but you can see a pastiche of it here.

Another thing I kept in the box was a lot of correspondence, there’s a note from NBC in ’73 thanking me for liking the Star Trek cartoon and  where I can write to the stars, but the  most exciting pieces were the little notes I’d get annually from the LNAF — which was ‘The Leonard Nimoy Association of Fans” run by a Ms. Louise Stange. (Odd, her last name was pronounced ‘Stang-Gee’– but to me it sounded better if it rhymed with ‘flange’, but I digress).  Louise had  thrust the monumental task upon herself of managing this fan club that was growing by leaps every day, mimeographing newsletters every few months, and once a year  the big annual yearbook loaded with candid and professional pictures of Mr. Nimoy and his fans. Yet she still took time to send each fan a personal note at least once a year, and I was always happy to see that familiar green ink return stamp on my letters and manilla envelopes on those special occasions.   Here you see my 5 membership cards for the half-decade I belonged from 1975-80; the first three years had the smiling black and white picture, the last two the more pensive picture.  How Louise kept track of everything I’ll never know – this was eons before the internet, but she did a great job, met Leonard frequently, and was rewarded by being an extra in the first Star Trek movie.  Wonder what she does these days?  Wherever you are, Louise, thanks for all your hard work in those exciting years.  I felt less like an outcast when I knew there were other kooks out there like me! You’ll see more stuff from the LNAF in future posts. Somewhere I have the full color postcard of Nimoy that came with the intro pack,  and a lot of other stuff and nonsense.  See you tomorrow, with one of my most prized possession,  and as Louise would sign” “Nimoyingly,” -Therese