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Tamale King: ecommerce website from 1990s
- subpixel 6y agoThey ought to sell t-shirts, I’d buy one.
- avs733 6y agoa t-shirt about the product they sell or the nuclear bombproof ecommerce infrastructure they created on a Pentium 1?
- heyflyguy 6y agothe icing is the aol email!
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Igelau 6y agoI literally cheered when I saw that.
- eggfriedrice 6y agoWhat I like most about this is that the site didn't fall over from the HN hug of death. I assume it must be their massively scalable Kubernetes + NoSQL DB + CDN infrastructure.
- stickfigure 6y agoIn fairness, the hard part is scaling redundant HA phone operators. I'm sure between twilio, deep learning, and GPT3 they have the problem almost solved. Riiing. Hi, I'd like to order tamale maker TK156. No problem! Where in Tokelau would you like us to send 156 tamales?
- soared 6y agoI mean yeah, plain html/css scales well for any site that just exists to serve a couple lines of text and images. I can't think of a single site (outside of maybe craigslist) that can get by with that functionality today. Newspaper sites are the obvious example you'd think of... but they need comments, advertising (or login functionality), moderation tools, etc.
- forgotmypw17 6y agoBut you don't have to regenerate everything on every pageload.
- qw 6y agoAll of the features you mention can be done without JS using server side rendering. It would of course be more convenient to use JS for advertisements, but logins and comments used to be implemented without using JS for many pages, even if JS was available. HN is an example of such a site. This site does not have scaling issues due to login not using JS.
- mariocesar 6y agoI saw the site, read the whole page. and I want to buy it. Good marketing.
- crabmusket 6y agoFast, clean, and so easy to navigate thanks to hyperlinked CTAs like "DOWNLOAD" and "ENTER HERE!" It's perfect.
- MayeulC 6y agoI also appreciate that it is considerate of its customers' Internet connection: > This is the complete video. This is a large file, make sure you have a broadband connection like DSL or Cable. > This file is too large to download from a dial up connection. (The file itself is indicated as being 30MB) Also, this site is on the fastest side of the Internet, despite seemingly calling an exe each time, as per other comments.
- TonyTrapp 6y agoHot tamale, you say? :-) http://weebls-stuff.com/toons/hot-tamales-animated-music-video-mrweebl/ http://weebls-stuff.com/toons/hot-tamales-animated-music-vid...
- arkitaip 6y agoThis is one of the best landing pages ever because it sells the products with minimal UI, and decades after its inception, it renders perfectly fine.
- Kaibeezy 6y agoI like this one even better and I think many of you will too. I refuse to close the tab just so I can look at it once in a while. It makes me smile. I might buy some tiny trees and a Hornby Peckett 614. https://www.newmodellersshop.co.uk/ https://www.newmodellersshop.co.uk/
- fullstop 6y agohttp://www.tamaleking.com/page2.html http://www.tamaleking.com/page2.html is very improperly formatted.
- brosinante 6y ago"90 day limited warranty guaranteed to be free from defects in material and workmanship." Is such a short warranty common in the states?
- engineer_22 6y agoRetail warranty is usually 1 year, but this is B2B.
- aparks517 6y agoIn my experience, 90 days is very common in B2B. Though I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it varies by industry.
- fblp 6y agoIs this actually an ecommerce site? I can't see a way to buy.
- macspoofing 6y agoThere's a phone number right on the front page.
- markdown 6y agoToday you, tomorrow me.
- piker 6y agoThe counter element is interesting: <img src="http://count.freeyellow.com/cgi-shl/count.exe?df=tamaleking.dat&dd=A http://count.freeyellow.com/cgi-shl/count.exe?df=tamaleking...." alt="**" nosave="" width="100" height="30"> Interesting in that it calls a windows executable. Haven't seen that before, although it of course makes sense in cgi-bin. Also interesting are the headers returned by Apache: HTTP/1.1 200 OK Date: Thu, 28 Jan 2021 13:34:42 GMT Content-Type: text/html Content-Length: 14792 Connection: keep-alive Server: Apache/2 Last-Modified: Sun, 30 Jan 2011 09:02:49 GMT Cache-Control: max-age=3600 Accept-Ranges: bytes Etag: "39c8-49b0c90420040" Expires: Thu, 28 Jan 2021 14:31:11 GMT Age: 211
- VWWHFSfQ 6y agolooks like pretty standard headers
- phnofive 6y agoI think it’s the last modified field...
- TonyTrapp 6y agoIt maybe used to be a Windows executable (or any other platform using the .exe extension), but it probably isn't these days - but of course they cannot simply move the script to a different place because it would break all existing counters. You can still occasionally see this on some websites with old infrastructure or infrastructure that has grown over the years. For example if you book a train ticket in Germany through Deutsche Bahn, it will go through bin/query.exe!
- jaywalk 6y agoJudging by the 404 error, I'd say that it's definitely not a Windows executable or anything else.
- netsharc 6y agoYour mention of Deutsche Bahn reminds me of how their first online timetable was some guy's email address, he extracted data from their CD-ROM, and created a service that periodically fetched his e-mails, parsed them (the timetable query had to have a particular syntax), processed the routes, and sent replies to the e-mails. It ran on a (IIRC) 486 in his student apartment. I wish I could link you to this story, sadly Google nowadays can give you train timetables, but it no longer cares what words you enter in a search query, it just thinks I'm looking for the schedule information of train services around me.
- tomcam 6y agoLightning fast. Does the job.
- ArtWomb 6y agoFREE VHS ;) I take a lot of design inspo from this twitter bot that randomly chooses web archive screengrabs. Indeed, the free video offer seems to be a huge distribution trend circa 1996! https://twitter.com/wayback_exe/ https://twitter.com/wayback_exe/ One site I recently stumbled upon from that golden era is the UofM's Geometry Center. Static content still displays. But interactive Java applet support in modern browsers is an issue. http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/ http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/
- amelius 6y agoI can see now how Amazon became a thing.
- mumblemumble 6y agoAre we sure this is from the early '90s? For reference, CERN released the original Web software to the public in April 1993, HTML tables (which feature prominently on this page) entered the standard toward the end of 1995, and the version of HTML this page uses, 4.0 transitional, was published in December 1997. In short, aside from the embedded YouTube video, this looks more like a late '90s website to me. For reference, here is an example of what I would expect an early '90s website to look like: http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html
- whalesalad 6y agoOne of the best parts about growing up in So Cal was the fact that every once in a while there would be a few girls at school who would have coolers with dozens and dozens of hot homemade Tamale's for sale.
- conductr 6y agoSimilar to my experience growing up in Houston where it seems everyone has a side hustling abuelita tamale connection. My parents grew up in suburb of Friendswood and this tamale truck [0] is a local legend. I remember early 80s it was the only thing on this FM road for what seemed like miles in either direction. I think it's 2nd generation owner now but I went by last year and it's still very good. [0] https://goo.gl/maps/fkMrZPm4S4mHAW68A https://goo.gl/maps/fkMrZPm4S4mHAW68A
- jxramos 6y agoevery now and then there'd be people hawking tamale's at a store plaza's parking lot by our house. In our house we still repeat the phrase we heard from one of the sellers standing in the dark shadows under a tree in that parking lot saying "tamale, tamale, tamale". Pretty awesome that tamale truck has a facebook page https://www.facebook.com/hottamales76 https://www.facebook.com/hottamales76
- conductr 6y agoOur family tradition is tamales after Christmas. Usually the day after while extended family is still around. We also eat out Tex-Mex on Friday night including day after thanksgiving also while everyone is still gathered. I think it’s not uncommon to have some similar tradition for Texans of all backgrounds. That Facebook page is wild. I could tell last time I went that the hipster foodies had discovered the place. But those lines are wild. It was never like that as a kid in 80s-90s. Any given drive by there was usually max of 2 cars, most commonly 0. There was no parking lot. Things like this are interesting part about getting old, seeing how change occurs over decades.
- alangibson 6y ago
- sharker8 6y agoWay cool, with javascript! Ad_status.js, remote.js, and cast_sender.js!
- wejick 6y ago>make sure you have a broadband connection like DSL or Cable. This file is too large to download from a dial up connection. Very emphatic, not like today's news portal which plays video automatically.
- alangibson 6y agoI wonder if the company still exists. I'm seriously considering trying to get one. I'd kill for some tamales, but I never make them because it's an insane amount of work.
- jascii 6y agoBack before the pandemic we would have tamale making parties, hang out with friends, make tamales, drink, eat tamales! That was a lot of fun!
- seryoiupfurds 6y agoThis page has a scanned price list from October 2019. http://www.tamaleking.com/page4.html http://www.tamaleking.com/page4.html
- jascii 6y agoarchive.org's first snapshot is from June 2001: https://web.archive.org/web/20010607155325/http://www.tamaleking.com/page1.html https://web.archive.org/web/20010607155325/http://www.tamale... The public wayback machine started in 2001, however, they started archiving in 1996: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machine https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayback_Machine
- ConceptJunkie 6y agoI would totally love to be able to buy those spices and seasonings, even at prices adjusted for inflation.
- jascii 6y agoI am currently hosting a website that has been around in pretty much the same form since the 1990's: http://www.marinerkayaks.com/ http://www.marinerkayaks.com/ (https://web.archive.org/web/19991013075202/http://www.marinerkayaks.com/ https://web.archive.org/web/19991013075202/http://www.marine...) When their previous host crapped out, I had to recreate it from a combination of crappy old wysiwyg tool files and archive.org snapshots. I'm glad I get to do it, it is an important part of our communities history and the "stolen kayak spreadsheet" still gets updated...
- fred_is_fred 6y agoThe pages are conveniently numbered so I can make sure to go through them in order which is nice. I wonder what the creator of the HTML is up to these days - Robert Moseley.
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- Igelau 6y ago1) It looks totally fine on mobile. 2) I want to hug that VCR gif like a long-lost friend. 3) I really want a tamale from this food truck looking gizmo.
- rkuzsma 6y agoFor fun, I built a search experience for their product catalog using App Search this morning. https://agitated-heyrovsky-08b108.netlify.app/ https://agitated-heyrovsky-08b108.netlify.app/
- joemasilotti 6y agoIt's... so fast! You click a link and BOOM the page loads. Sad that that experience isn't ubiquitous across the web anymore.
- dublin 6y agoI can be, if you don't server everything through databases and app servers. Remember that HTML was really designed to work reasonably well in the age of dial-up modems, so it flat screams if you use it correctly. (Also note that coming from the age before CSS dramatically helps both speed and code complexity - table-based layouts were certainly abused, but they had their advantages, too - and should still almost always be used for actual tabular data!) Have a look at this, if you want a more modern way to build sites this fast: https://jamstack.org/generators/ https://jamstack.org/generators/
- jxramos 6y agoThis part's the best, full page ad chockfull of humor http://www.tamaleking.com/page8.html http://www.tamaleking.com/page8.html
- optimalsolver 6y agoObligatory: The official site for the 1996 film Space Jam is still up: https://www.spacejam.com/ https://www.spacejam.com/
- clawlor 6y agoDead at the moment. Tamale King 1, space ballers 0.
- com2kid 6y agoWhat is amazing is the story behind the product, http://www.tamaleking.com/page5.html http://www.tamaleking.com/page5.html, and how it really is a case of someone spotting a problem, learning multiple new specialized skills to create a solution, patenting that solution, and then making a living off of the invention. People criticize the patent system in regards to software, but it has been reliably driving progress in meat space for a long time!
- deaddodo 6y ago> When he reached our table I ordered a dozen for me and a dozen for each of my two friends. "That will be eighteen dollars" he said. As I was paying I told him that it was a lot of money for three dozen tamales I mean, 50c/tamal isn't bad. Growing up in SoCal, homemade tamales bought on the street were 30c-$1/ea (sometimes less, in bulk). And that was without a tamale extruder. Honestly, I don't even see the point of this machine. People that could afford this won't enjoy the profit margins of making tamales and people who make tamales can already do it plenty fast for much cheaper: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7EYf5h8HFc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7EYf5h8HFc
- hnzix 6y ago> Honestly, I don't even see the point of this machine. You can hire unskilled workers or open up a second store and the Tamales will be predictable.
- deaddodo 6y agoThe sellers referenced in my story (and the quoted one) were street vendors, not stores. Places like El Pollo Loco, Del Taco, The Tamale Factory, etc already have their own (superior, based on images of the final product) specialized machinery.
- geocrasher 6y agoThree points: 1) No optimization, no problem. Plain static HTML needs nothing more than maybe some basic caching. Apache hardly even knows it's there. 2) Why is this such a lost art? Why do we tell people to go learn full stack development when HTML can do the job quite well? Are we trying to compensate poor marketing skills by adding whiz bang buzzword bingo technologies? 3) If you are now hungry for Tamales, and I know you are, Costco (in the US) has great tamales in the refrigerated section near the pastas and sausages. They are muy bueno :)
- twic 6y agoWhat is a tamale? It's some sort of steamed maize doughnut?
- dicroce 6y agoIts not sweet (usually)... It is steamed though, and generally filled with some kind of yummy meat. For some reason, I grew up eating them with scrambled eggs so that's how I like em.
- deaddodo 6y agoSweet tamales are definitely a thing and, though a little less common, plenty common themselves.
- deaddodo 6y agoMore like...corn dumplings or Mexican(/Latin American) ZongZi. They can be sweet (sugar added to masa, then filled with raisins or other fruits) or savory (more common, salty masa filled with spicy or flavored meats).
- tonyedgecombe 6y agoNice work but it Lings Cars beats it hands down: https://www.lingscars.com/ https://www.lingscars.com/
- dublin 6y agoThe impressive thing about that one is that it's still alive and working to support a going business that's delivered cars this week!
- mikestew 6y agoShe gave the business to her staff and started riding a bicycle around the world? This one is bookmarked for reading tonight: https://www.lingsbiketrip.com/about https://www.lingsbiketrip.com/about
- geocrasher 6y agoThe tale of how this guy became the "Tamale King" is fantastically written, funny, and interesting. http://www.tamaleking.com/page5.html http://www.tamaleking.com/page5.html
- twic 6y agoSeconded, this is a hell of a read. The guy's mother is the real hero. EDIT This is a perfect example of the Hero's Journey [1] Call to adventure: the kid selling tamales in the bar Supernatural aid: his mother The threshold: calling round the various suppliers Challenges and temptations: making the tamales by hand Revelation: he conceives the machine Transformation: hiring the machinists, perfecting the machine Atonement with the father: the patent attorney?! Return: throwing the Cinco de Mayo party Perfect, i tell you! [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey
- mrlala 6y agoHN sure does like to circlejerk over pure html.
- adl 6y agoI'm Mexican, and I know that there are different kinds of Tamales, that said, that machine does not make sense to me, I have never seen tamales like those.
- quercusa 6y agoI used to much thicker ones - is that what you have in mind?
- hombre_fatal 6y agoYou haven’t seen tamales like those? The cross section looks like 90% of tamales I’ve seen across Mexico. A quick production machine sounds like what the tamal market needs since it’s relatively labor intensive for such a simple food on the go that ends up getting prices at pennies anyways.
- tweetle_beetle 6y agoIt's sad that 25 years of technology has made for slower websites. I know it's a crude measure but this site scores a perfect 100 for mobile on PageSpeed Insights. Years later people are putting hours into trying to achieve a score in the high 90s, dreaming of hitting 100 so many years later - there are 500+ posts on SO about this. https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tamaleking.com%2Fpage1.html&tab=mobile https://developers.google.com/speed/pagespeed/insights/?url=...