The Roof Is On Fire, Oh, And The IRS

We’ve been listing old Model Railroader magazines lately, and I loved my little model railroad when I was a kid.  I had all kinds of funky buildings and stuff, and I even threw in some Robotech stuff that was the right scale, and all sorts of things that were wildly not to scale. On one hand, realism is a goal, on the other hand having weird stuff is par for the course.  Hence, the existence of this:

the-irs-is-on-fire

Why the IRS?  Who cares!   Why not just a plain and austere IRS building for the train set?  Of course not – burn that sucker down!

You can still buy the set today from Model Power, complete with flashing fire lights and a tiny smoke machine, all of which you can see here, with a special appearance by King Kong.  Why not?  Model railroad guys are freakin’ crazy.

Professional Gianting Is Over

While researching old news, I stumbled across this story of economic hardship and the ever-changing employment market from 1917:

gianting-the-thing-of-the-past

“There’s nothing in professional gianting any more, states R. E. Madson of Norfolk, Neb. , a 20-year-old youth who stands 7-1/2 feet in his stockings…”There isn’t enough money in the circus business any more to attract a real big man,” said young Madson.  “There’s no reason why a man who is a few inches, or a foot or two over the scale, should not use his brains and live like a man and not a freak.  I don’t find it hard to do.”

There’s a certain amount of naivete in Madson’s quote, and not just because he’s promoting his movie in North Dakota.  Here’s Ralph Madsen a couple years later:

ralphmadsen

 

The movie that Ralph Madsen was promoting in ND in 1917 doesn’t show up in his IMDB listing, but Madsen did have other plans to use his intellect and skills.   Madsen was an expert in livestock raising and veterinary care, and being a skilled rancher seemed to be his goal in life.  Based on the picture above and others,  young Mr. Madsen apparently discovered that you can take a giant out of the circus, but you won’t ever completely get the circus out of the giant.

Puddington In Underpants

This has been on my bucket list for long long time — at least as long as we’ve been waiting for Mr. Oliver T. Puddington, our Basset Hound puppy. Well, I’ve been dreaming of putting Puddington in a little lederhosen. (Dressing French dog in German pants seems quite American to me.) I thrill at the idea of little tiny short pants and the long suspenders required to cover a Basset Hound’s long torso. But since hubby won’t invest in little leather pants for our pup, we have to make do with what we have: boys underpants. Hey, at least hubby and our son (who wants me to be clear demands I state that these are not his underpants!) were willing to humor me and go this far. Anyway, last night, the magic happened!

Oliver was incredibly patient and willing as we put the small underpants on his back end, tucking his long tail through the little flap. Doesn’t Mr. Puddington look Marvel-ous in his comical comic-themed underpants?!

marvel-ous hound dog

underpants on oliver the basset

When Oliver went to follow our son, Hunter, for a treat, Oliver’s fist step in those underpants must have felt odd, for he made a little funny hop with his hind-end before he trotted off in pursuit.

dog underpants hop

trotting in underpants

When Oliver returned with his treat, he generously shared is bounty (as he usually does) with his kitten, Old Man Chicken Bone. (Oliver’s nemesis, Toodles “Squirrel Face” Davidson III, our Cairn Terrier seen in some of the photos, had to try to find a scrap if she could.)

oliver sharing his treat with old man chicken bone the cat

basset hound in underpants

puddington in underpants

Puddington had been so patient, I felt bad that he shared his treat. So we gave him another one that he could have all to himself once we removed his underpants.

attentive olver in boys underpants

For the record:

Yes, I giggled myself silly the whole time.

Yes, I will do this again.

And, yes, I am more enamored than ever with investing in little lederhosen with long suspenders for Mr. Oliver T. Puddington.

(And this pair of underpants has helped with size selection; the lederhosen or next pair of underpants ought to be a wee-bit longer for a better Basset fit.)

oliver licking his nose

oliver sitting pretty in underpants

treat time for oliver

Lenticular Jesus

A little video of the vintage religious kitsch piece we have for sale in our booth at Exit 55 Antiques (Fergus Falls, MN). We thought you would enjoy the lenticular action of the 3-D holographic Jesus better this way. (And, yes, that cord you see means this piece has its own lighting — the bulb is beneath that extra layer of ornate golden filigree fame at the top of the picture. Jesus literally lights the way.)

jesusphotoexit55