1973 silent footage of Tommy's Elbow Room (exterior) and the adjoining Firelight Room restaurant (interior) in Fairbanks. This footage was originally a commercial that aired on KTVF, but the audio is lost. Via UAF's Alaska Film Archives. #alaskahistory #alaska

1977 Nerland home furnishings of Fairbanks, Alaska commercial. You know there's a few homes around that still look like 1970s Nerlands on the inside. The winter driving footage was a bonus. Via UAF's Alaska Film Archives. #alaskahistory #alaska

A 1911 cigarette card about an Alaska lighthouse, a 1967 toy ferry, and a 1992 volcano merch shirt, more Alaskana in my latest Anchorage Daily News article. adn.com/alaska-life/20…

Three odd bits of Alaskana in my latest article, from 1911 to 1992. And of course I picked using a shirt that said "I Got Blasted." Read more here (adn.com/alaska-life/20…). #alaskahistory #alaska

Opening to The Alaskans, a 1959-60 ABC show set in Gold Rush Skagway. A pre-James Bond Roger Moore starred, but he despised the experience, wearing thick coats in California heat & pretending to be cold. Called it "my most appalling television series ever." #alaskahistory #alaska

Footage of laundromat at Tuntutuliak from a 1984 episode of Alaska Review. #alaskahistory #alaska

One of my rarest finds, a 1970s Grizzly Burger of Anchorage radio commercial, "Grizzly Burger vs McDonalds." Grizzly Burger was cofounded by Tony Knowles in 1969, closed in 1979. First McDonalds in town opened in 1970. #alaskahistory #alaska #anchoragehistory #mcdonalds

1973 Ski-doo "A Million Machines Can Teach You A Lot" snowmachine commercial. That slogan sounded a lot less threatening back then.

March 20, 2014 editorial cartoon by Steve Sack for Minneapolis Star Tribune. Context: this is shortly after the Ukrainian Revolution of Dignity & Russian invasion of the Crimean Peninsula. #alaskahistory #alaska

Still from 1960 Soviet propaganda film "In the Year 2017," named for the centenary of the October Revolution. Film suggested a future where Alaska has been "liberated" from capitalism and connected to Siberia by a combination dam/railroad & nuclear-powered trains. #alaskahistory

Feb 8, 1994 Weekly World Report on Russian politician Vladimir Zhirinovsky: "I'll turn Alaska into a concentration camp!" Report was a tabloid, but he indeed called for military seizure of Alaska, which was where he wanted to dump inconvenient Ukrainians. #alaskahistory #alaska

Aug 12, 1869 former Secretary of State William Seward spoke at Sitka. He set a standard for visiting politicians w/ vague promises & compliments. And comments on the weather, saying, "It is an honest climate, for it makes no pretensions to constancy." #alaskahistory #alaska

From the 1991 song "Don't Play the Fool, America" by Russian band Lyube, a call to take Alaska. "Give us back the land that is Alaska, Give us back our dear land." Lyube is a Putin favorite and has been reportedly played while dissidents are tortured. #alaskahistory #alaska

1986 T-shirt commemorating the USS Constellation's visit to Anchorage. As the aircraft carrier traversed the Gulf of Alaska, a Soviet trawler picked up its garbage hoping for an intelligence coup. Via Anchorage Museum. #alaskahistory #anchoragehistory #alaska

In 1982 Brian Slavens was a Marine stationed at Adak. While on leave, he decided to desert & walked into the Soviet embassy in DC offering info on Adak for $500-$1000. This genius was quickly arrested, confined for 2 years, & dishonorably discharged. #alaskahistory #alaska

"Eduard Taeragtin, Chukchi, Second Brigade | Chukotka, Siberia | Russia, 2012" by photographer Jimmy Nelson.

In 1994, after a Russian politician called for return of Alaska, a Jim Borgman cartoon in the Cincinnati Enquirer had President Clinton asking the National Archives for a receipt. This cartoon inspired Alaska Senator Frank Murkowski to literally call the Archives. #alaska

In the 1985 "Great Alaska Land Rush" episode of GI Joe, the evil terrorist organization Cobra takes over Alaska after supposedly proving that the Treaty of Cession was never finalized. Cobra then puts a Russian puppet in charge, Gerky Potemkin, and Alaska is renamed Gerkyland.

A highly fictionalized version of the 1867 Treaty of Cession, which did not involve a diamond encrusted seal, from the 1985 "Great Alaska Land Rush" episode of GI Joe. That said, some people believe the money never changed hands. Those people are idiots. #alaskahistory #alaska

Why wasn't there a stronger Russian presence in the Upper Cook Inlet? Because the Dena'ina killed them. In 1797, Dena'ina warriors defeated Russians at Tyonek, Iliamna, & Fort St. Nicholas (Kenai). Russians then avoided Dena'ina territory except for Kenai church & trading post.