Vintage Ralph Crane photo, for Life magazine; via.
May 10th, 2012
The Cat Was The Hat
And Some Sort Of A Hat, Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful | 
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April 5th, 2012
Old Wacky Packages, New New New!
On April Fool’s Day, Topps released Wacky Packages Book New New New, a hardcover book celebrating the iconic, infantile, and insane stickers which kids like me were so stuck on in the 1970s. Like the first volume, this book packs in the images of the product parodies on glossy pages, with art three-times the size of the original stickers. Also like the first book, this one comes wrapped in a waxy dust jacket to resemble the original packs of stickers — and there are even four never-before-seen Wacky Package stickers inside.
Mercifully, there’s no gum. Just images of it. And that’s enough to remind me of the pain one endured to get those stickers. After all, mom and dad were watching; you had to at least appear to like the gum to ensure you could buy more stickers.
December 9th, 2011
Uncle Wiggily and The Sleds
Best band name ever. But also the title of Howard R. Garis’ book, published by Platt & Munk in 1939 (illustrated by George Carlson). Sleds with wheels? Coasters, perhaps…
December 2nd, 2011
Christmas In Hollywood Homes (1946)
From the pages of Modern Woman magazine, volume 15 number 7, 1946, two pages of vintage movie star holiday Q & A. Specifically the famous Hollywood folks were asked to name:
1) Favorite Christmas Story
2) Favorite Christmas Song
3) When Gifts Are Opened
4) Best-Remembered Gift
The celebrities included are, Lucille Ball, Bing Crosby, Bob Hope, Ray Milland, Betty Hutton, Jack Carson, Alan Ladd, Joan Caulfield, Peggy Ann Garner, Lon McCallister, Lynn Bari, Peggy Cummins, Victure Mature, Walter Pidgeon, Van Johnson, Robert Hutton, Martha Vickers, and Bette Davis.
As to be expected, I suppose, the most named Christmas story was Christmas Carol. My favorite was Jack Carson’s answer:
A story translated from Norwegian — doesn’t remember the name.
Maybe it was a translation of the Norwegian translation of A Christmas Carol.
My favorite answers were the ones naming their best-remembered gift.
Van Johnson’s:
His first fan, a mid-western Scandinavian grandmother, sent him a pair of Arguyle socks she herself knit. Because of his grateful thanks, she has kept his supplied with socks ever since.
Lucille Ball’s:
About ten years ago she was seriously injured — paralyzed — in an automobile accident. At Christmas everyone gave her gifts for an invalid — except her mother. Mother Ball gave her a new bicycle, and with it the assurance that she would walk again.
Jack Carson’s:
A puppy, part collie and part German shepherd. He was eight years old and living in Milwaukee. “I’ve never had a gift that thrilled me more.”
For what it’s worth, Bette Davis had “no specially-remembered gift.” Neither did Victor Mature — however, he was “emphatic about what he wants this Christmas; a new house! Victor, like thousands of other Americans, is desperate for a home.”
The whole this is as post-war American as pie.
The photo used on the first page is of Margaret O’Brien and “Butch” Jenkins who appeared together in Our Vines Have Tender Grapes, discussing “the possibility of Santa getting down the Jenkins chimney.”
Jane Powell, Roddy MacDowell, George Murphy (and son Denny with train set), and Diana Lynn appear in photos on the second page.
October 26th, 2011
“Here Are Your Reading For Meaning Stand-Up Figures” Circa 1966
From the Houghton Mifflin Company, glossy, colored, cardboard die-cut stand-up figures of Janet, Penny, Betty, Jack, Bill, Tip & Mitten — companions to the school text series Reading For Meaning, Fourth Edition, Pre-reading – Grade 6.
I’ve got the set up at eBay, so if your teacher never let you touch these as a kid, now’s your chance to get your hands on ‘em!
Here’s the rest of the vintage educational ephemera from the original mailing envelope and info on the ephemera…
Also included, the little light blue flyer titled “A Vital Role?” which tells teachers how to use the figures.
Envelope number I-40234, litho in USA, DN40M366. Flyer, also a litho in USA; RFM/SUE, DN40M466.
No date; circa 1966.
October 25th, 2011
Selling Schlitz Beer In Japan At The Turn Of The Century
I’ve posted lots of ads and information from this antique Japan travel guide, but I had to share this pair of advertisements from Pope & Co., who don’t want you to go hungry! I guess their solution is for you to be good and drunk on trips to the interior. I guess numb will keep you dumb to your hunger, so drink up the champagne, the whiskey and the beer! And cigars; smoke ‘em if you got ‘em — and if you don’t have them, buy them from Pope & Co.
October 24th, 2011
Modern Woman Mondays: Gelatin Edition
After WWII and continuing through the 1960s, an emphasis on kitschy culinary arts kept little women busy in their places: the kitchen. How else do you explain the Joys Of Jell-O?
Perhaps the best thing about the miracle of gelatin based foods was the fact that, other than boiling water, one didn’t ruin their makeup in the heat. No, I don’t think the best thing was food stuff themselves… So bright, yet so wrong. Vegetables? Waldorf Salad? Shrimp?! Even the photos of the desserts make my teeth hurt. …Although that Jell-O and ice cream gum-drop number might be worth it. For more on the miracle of gelatin foods, check out Retro Mimi (my interview with her here) and my Things Your Grandmother Knew blog.
October 15th, 2011
Vintage Ephemera Requesting Sergeant’s Dog Book
An old postcard of the 12th Green Drumlins “Pay As You Play” Golf Course, Syracuse, N.Y. used to send in for the FREE 40-page illustrated Dog Book from Sergeant’s Dog Medicines. As I said, it kind of makes you wonder if Theodore ever got his book, doesn’t it?
October 4th, 2011
Sweater Girl In Trouble
Cover of Police At The Funeral, 1967. (Click the link to read my review — and/or buy the book!)
September 28th, 2011
GE Kitchens Are Next To Godliness
The cover of God In My Kitchen: Fifty-Two Thoughts For Homemakers, by Dorothy C. Haskin. (I’m giving one away in this contest! Or you can find it on Amazon
In the acknowledgements:
The kitchen shown on the cover was designed by Home Guide Inc., using General Electric appliances. We are indebted to these organizations for the picture.
Personally, I never got over that documentary we were shown in collage. Ever since then, whenever someone says “GE” or “General Electric,” I scream, “Babies born without skulls!” …I guess that’s one type of atomic kitchen.
