Although I actually grew up in Lake Worth, home of a hurricane-truncated pier, I consider Delray Beach to be my hometown, because that’s the place I lived for the longest amount of time after becoming an “adult. One of my favorite things about Delray Beach is that there’s a lot of random pineapple sculptures in various places, because the primary crop of the area in the early 1900s was pineapples. There’s also a history of an artist and writer’s colony in the winters around 1920 or so. The area is kind of fascinating, and I could list a BUNCH of other cool things about Delray, but I don’t want to be a bore. 😀
I had no idea there was once an artist and writers colony in Delray Beach. Perhaps the city should build another — something with socially distanced and affordable places to stay and work.
One of my favorite statues in Manchester, N.H. is the memorial to Ralph Baer. In 1968, Baer invented the first multiplayer, multiprogram video game system. Known as the “Brown Box,” the device allowed interactivity between the gamer and images on a TV screen and included games like checkers, soccer, target shooting and ping-pong (the inspiration for Atari’s “Pong”). According to Atlas Obscura, the prototype was licensed to Magnavox in 1972 and marketed as the Magnavox Odyssey Home Video Game System.
Interestingly, Baer also invented the 1978 memory game “Simon,” which was once advertised in a sassy commercial narrated by the great Vincent Price.
The memorial in Arms Park features a full-size image of Baer sitting on a park bench with a game controller in his hands. You can sit beside him for a moment of respite and enjoy a lovely view of the river or simply imagine that he’s using the controller to play a game in the windows of the former mill across the way.
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3 Comments
Steven
Although I actually grew up in Lake Worth, home of a hurricane-truncated pier, I consider Delray Beach to be my hometown, because that’s the place I lived for the longest amount of time after becoming an “adult. One of my favorite things about Delray Beach is that there’s a lot of random pineapple sculptures in various places, because the primary crop of the area in the early 1900s was pineapples. There’s also a history of an artist and writer’s colony in the winters around 1920 or so. The area is kind of fascinating, and I could list a BUNCH of other cool things about Delray, but I don’t want to be a bore. 😀
Jade Walker
I had no idea there was once an artist and writers colony in Delray Beach. Perhaps the city should build another — something with socially distanced and affordable places to stay and work.
One of my favorite statues in Manchester, N.H. is the memorial to Ralph Baer. In 1968, Baer invented the first multiplayer, multiprogram video game system. Known as the “Brown Box,” the device allowed interactivity between the gamer and images on a TV screen and included games like checkers, soccer, target shooting and ping-pong (the inspiration for Atari’s “Pong”). According to Atlas Obscura, the prototype was licensed to Magnavox in 1972 and marketed as the Magnavox Odyssey Home Video Game System.
Interestingly, Baer also invented the 1978 memory game “Simon,” which was once advertised in a sassy commercial narrated by the great Vincent Price.
The memorial in Arms Park features a full-size image of Baer sitting on a park bench with a game controller in his hands. You can sit beside him for a moment of respite and enjoy a lovely view of the river or simply imagine that he’s using the controller to play a game in the windows of the former mill across the way.
Steven
I do love a fun interactive statue. I’ll have to check that out some time.