Saturday, January 9, 2010

Sew, A Needle Pulling Thread

With all this detail work, it's more like, "Sew, 'til you wish you were dead."

Labels: , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Thanks For The Reindeer Sweater

This sweater is proof that the dreaded holiday reindeer sweater has been with us for at least 70 or 80 years. (Long live retaliation via fruit cake!)

Labels: , , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Ha Ha, Your Momma Took Penicillin

Searching for old letters to illustrate my article at Inherited Values (yes, I need another website to write at, thank-you-very-much), I found this gem of a blog, Matrilineal, by Linda (a jackass owner), who is transcribing 15 years of previously unread family letters. Sadly I did not find any scans of the old letters (I just love looking at them; it's almost as good as holding them), but when you find entires like this one dated December 6, 1954, you can forgive nearly anything:

I was so scared and horrified when I read that you had taken penicillin. No wonder the doctor tested your heart. Don't ever take it again. After taking it several times it reacts on the heart and often causes death in a few minutes. Don't let any doctor give you any more of it.

Labels: , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Hopalong Cassidy Remained Still

Well, at least the boy in the Hopalong Cassidy costume remained still long enough to be photographed.



Labels: , , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Friday, September 18, 2009

Craft-Scan Friday: Should Coat-Hooks Be "Leafed" Alone?

My grandma totally had old plastic leaf coasters like these shown in this how-to from Popular Mechanics, June, 1957.

Labels: , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Friday, September 11, 2009

Craft-Scan Friday: Women Are Delighted By Shills

Err, Shillcraft -- women are delighted by Shillcraft.

Labels: , , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Monday, August 3, 2009

Modern Woman Monday: Women "Over 40" Wanted

I'm not sure what's up with the "over 40" in quotes business... But I guess the overall intent of this ad is to remind women that though they be barren & undesirable they are not useless; old sad-sacks can create gay floral arrangements for much prettier persons & for parties they are too poor to throw themselves.

Labels: , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Saturday, August 1, 2009

Pedro Didn't Mind Being Pink

But the flowers were overkill & emascualting.

Labels: , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

50's Car Ads




Three car ads in the same 1950 issue of Newsweek.

Labels: , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

High Style, Daddy-O



Via Life.

Labels: , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Monday, July 20, 2009

El Vampiro Atomico

Via Giovannarama at Collectors Quest, the Mexican lobby card for the 1958 U.K. film, Fiend Without a Face. For some reason, the Spanish title is far more intriguing to me.

Labels: , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Audrey Hepburn & "Mr. Famous"

A photo I didn't squeeze into my post about Capri pants.

Labels: , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Friday, June 12, 2009

Craft-Scan Friday: "It's A Thrilling Fad Of The Month Selection!"

I just love truth in advertising! Admitting "the lovely Ballerina Boudoir Doll" was a fad was one giant step forward for humanity. But we went two steps back when we learned that so many would be seduced by the concept...



Ad from the February 1952 issue of The Workbasket; a magazine which was very fond of presenting advertorials as content.

Labels: , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Oh, To Sit at Gene Rayburn's Table

Gene Rayburn, beloved host of Match Game, at dinner with Fran Allison, Gene's wife Helen, and Burr Tillstrom. Since Fran & Burr are from Kukla, Fran & Ollie, dare we hope for dinner and a puppet show? Photo circa early 1950s.

Labels: , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Saturday, June 6, 2009

Dames & Dogs #5


Via Infomercantile.

Labels: , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Friday, June 5, 2009

I Want To See Evelyn Green Dolls

In that amazing, amusing and much loved vintage issue of Profitable Hobbies magazine, a brief article on dolls by Evelyn Green, who, in 1951, had already made nearly 200 dolls.

Her collection, one of the most valuable in the nation, includes fur-clad cave-dwellers, Gay Nineties models, and modern bobby-sox types, depicting the fashions of mankind from 18,000 B.C. to the present. Mrs. Green requires a week or two to make a small doll and two or three months to complete a large, elaborate model. She has spent fourteen years on her hobby.
There's scant information about Evelyn Green dolls online; even though the doll maker was featured in Doll Collector Magazine in what appears to be 2005 (presumably prompted by the Evelyn Green portrait dolls which were de-accessioned, via Theriaults, from the collections of the Strong Museum in 2004). I found no clearly labled photos of the dolls themselves. Pooh.

Evelyn Green dolls now appaer to sell for between $200 and $400 each.

Labels: , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Craft-Scan Friday: Before There Was The BeDazzler...

There was the Spanglette.



Ad found in the March 1951 issue of Profitable Hobbies.

Labels: , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Contest Alert

This month Antique Trader is giving away a copy of Price Guide to Holt-Howard Collectibles and Related Ceramicware of the 50s & 60s. You can enter here, once a day for the entire month of June.

Labels: , , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Thursday, May 14, 2009

The Trouble With Trimbles...

Is that they cannot agree on how to spend their money:
The Trimbles, mother and son... His dreams are of a red convertible, hers of a new typewriter.


Photo of Mrs. Pearl Carter Trimble and her son Carter Trimble from an article on the "mother & son writer-photographer team" inside the march 1951 issue of Profitable Hobbies magazine, which we assume stopped making a profit decades ago.

Yes, I know there are unfortunate holes in the vintage paper; let's just be glad we can see what we can.

Labels: , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Sunday, April 5, 2009

Proof That The 1950's Were Nutty

Where else but eBay would you find this classic New Look sundress -- with a nutty print.



The seller says:
UNBELIEVABLY FABULOUS photo print of NUTS...shelled, and unshelled WALNUTS, and it looks like some shelled almonds are in there too, the 'photo' is black and white, which has been hand-colored in tan, sepia, green and gold with grey 'shadows'....LOVE IT!!!

Labels: , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

The Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee



The Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee

Ho, for the Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee!
He was as wicked as wicked could be,
But oh, he was perfectly gorgeous to see!
The Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee.

His conscience, of course, was as black as a bat,
But he had a floppety plume on his hat
And when he went walking it jiggled - like that!
The plume of the Pirate Dowdee.

His coat it was handsome and cut with a slash,
And often as ever he twirled his mustache
Deep down in the ocean the mermaids went splash,
Because of Don Durk of Dowdee.

Moreover, Dowdee had a purple tattoo,
And struck in his belt where he buckled it through
Were a dagger, a dirk, and a squizzamaroo,
For fierce was the Pirate Dowdee.

So feaful he was he would shoot at a puff,
And always at sea when the weather grew rough
He drank from a bottle and wrote on his cuff,
Did Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee.

Oh, he had a cutlass that swung at his thigh
And he had a parrot called Pepperkin Pye,
And a zigzaggy scar at the end of his eye
Had Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee.

He kept in a cavern, this buccaneer bold,
A curious chest that was covered with mould,
And all of his pockets were jingly with gold!
Oh jing! went the gold of Dowdee.

His consience, of course it was crook'd like a squash,
But both of his boots made a slickery slosh,
And he went throught the world with a wonderful swash,
Did Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee.

It's true he was wicked as wicked could be,
His sins they outnumbered a hundred and three,
But oh, he was perfectly gorgeous to see,
The Pirate Don Durk of Dowdee.

From Enchanted Isles, Charles E. Merrill Books, 1954. Written by Mildred Plew Meigs, illustrated by Decie Merwin, via Flickr.

Labels: , , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Before Snap, Crackle, Pop...

There were the Ajax elves.

Labels: , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

You Could Be "Shirt Changed"

Unless you read "Good Blousekeeping" -- so warns the March 1954 issue of Silhouette magazine, a promotional booklet for Hollands Dry Cleaners.

Labels: , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Retro Turquoise Smoking & Magazine Stand

This is too cool for words:
It has a hanging magazine holder, a center stamped template for glasses, cigarettes, matches and a multi colored glass lined area. The turquoise painted portions are wood while the pole is a brass colored metal. It is 18 1/2" tall, 15 1/2" wide and 12 1/2" deep.


Labels: , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Using Peer Pressure To Hook Teens On Crossword Puzzles

The back cover of Scholastic's Crosswords for Teen Agers not only uses the "C'mon, join the crowd!" to push the crack of word games that is "crossword puzzles", but employs sexual dance euphemisms to lure the teens in:
Dozens of delightful puzzles

Tailored to your taste...and your tempo

Pick up speed as your do along:

Enjoy yourself with the "easies"

or...

Mess around with the "mediums"

or...

Tangle with the "toughies"


Crosswords for Teen Agers, by Murray Rockowitz, copyright 1958 (TAB Books, published by Scholastic), 6th printing, May 1963.

Labels: , , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Little Black Sambo Fashions

Yes, you read that right; these are Little Black Sambo fashions.

Vintage 1950's dress, scarf and hat ensemble.


Labels: , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Hoop-Dee-Doo, Time To Tie One On!

Vintage necktie advertising Kay Starr's version of the swing tune Hoop Dee Doo on Capitol records; via eBay.

Labels: , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Friday, December 19, 2008

Old Christmas Tree Lot


Christmas tree lot at Jennings Lawn & Garden in Overland Park, Kansas, 1955.

Labels: , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Monday, November 3, 2008

Sucaryl On This

Slenderella, packed by Richmond-Chase Company, featured Sucaryl® -- "the magic sweetener that doesn't add one single calorie". The cutie-patootie in the ad exclaims, "...so finally I tried slenderella low-calorie foods... and look what happened to itty-bitty me!"



I look slimmer when I wear my tablecloths too, bitch.

But seriously... Sucaryl ® is Cyclamate, and was banned in the US for cancer. Which sort of begs the question about just what would be the cause of any weight loss.

If you can stand more strange factoids about Sucaryl®, check this info from Wikipedia:
Like many artificial sweeteners, the sweetness of cyclamate was discovered by accident. Michael Sveda was working in the lab on the synthesis of anti-fever medication. He put his cigarette down on the lab bench and when he put it back in his mouth he discovered the sweet taste of cyclamate.
Just how do lab rats manage to survive at all?

Ad found in The Dakota Farmer, "Dakota's Own Magazine", April 18, 1959.

Labels: , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Friday, October 31, 2008

Halloween Parties Of Yesteryear

As I wrote, the JoCoHistory site is an amazing historical database; I knew I'd find some great Halloween images there.

From the Kansas State School for the Deaf, the Class of '53 in costume. I have no idea what the sack costumes are... "Sack race contestants" is a costume?


Don't you just hate it when other kids have the same costume? (Kansas State School for the Deaf, Halloween, 1959)


Well, at least you weren't the kid in the black face jack-o-lantern costume.


At the school's 1956 party, someone took their costume very seriously and spent much of the party scrubbing floors. Yes, I do believe that is a dude.



In 1958, one kid went dressed as Big Ben -- but looks more like a 1950's cartoon alarm clock.


The Johnson County Museum shows us Zorro; a Space Ranger; a girl with an oval white mask over her eyes, white cardigan sweater buttoned partway down over satin dress (lame!); and Droopy Dog.


Before we leave these Halloween parties of yesteryear, let's not forget to thank the Halloween Party Committee, the bakers and hostesses, the decorators and chaperons, for all their hard work!

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Monday, October 27, 2008

Never Too Much Gay Head

I had to drop another 50 cents, even when hubby thought we already had this -- because you can never have too much Gay Head.



Now, you may be thinking that Dear Gay Head: Letters from the Mail Box answered by Gay Head (aka Margaret Hauser) is just another silly out-dated etiquette book for teens. Well, it is. But that's precisely why I love it. Exhibit A:

Q. I wanted to ask a certain girl for a date, but when I talked to a couple of the fellows in the gang about her, they told me she's a "square." I hardly know her, since she's a grade behind me at school, but I still think she's cute. Would I be foolish to go ahead and ask her for a date anyway?

A. You'd be more foolish if you didn't ask her for a date! Changing your mind just because a couple of the fellows said she's a "square" isn't straight thinking at all. Besides, don't you like to make your own decisions?

Why did the other boys call this girl a "square"? Because she doesn't interest them? Because they heard it from someone else? Whatever their reasons, it doesn't necessarily follow that your opinion would be the same as theirs. The only fair way to judge a person is to get to know him or her for yourself.

"Labeling" people is a habit to avoid. Who has the right to say what's genuine and what's synthetic about another's personality? Everyone has good qualities and bad qualities; all individuals have different interests and characteristics. And people value their friends for different reasons, too.

Develop your own beliefs and opinions, and reject unfounded hand-me-downs. You'll not only avoid hurting others needlessly, but you'll gain new respect for yourself.
Amazingly hip, that Gay Head. Note the troublesome areas she blithely skipped as she seamlessly melded teen lingo and lecture so that those kids would really hear her. Not to mention the homosexual double entendres!

Describe your favorite Gay Head parts and maybe I'll toss an award your way.

Labels: , , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

Sunday, October 12, 2008

The Nock-A-Bouts

After the Trash or Treasure event at the Plains Art Museum today, we stopped in one of our favorite local antique malls where I snapped-up, at $1 each, these 8 x 10 promotional photos of the band the Nock-A-Bouts.




I believe the men are older in the second photo; hubby says the photos were taken the same day because of their suits. I insist the first photo of the trio is them in their hey-day, playing the college & club circuit; the latter them on the way down, older musicians trying to get a gig -- the same suits are the result of not being able to afford new suits.

A little research shows very little on the trio, other than they were Dorsey, Flo & Jimmy Clark (Dorsey presumably the one, in both photos, with the "D" hanky in his pocket) and they cut at least one comedy/party album. As the title of the recording is The Two Sides of the Nock-A-Bouts, I'm guessing hubby is right. And now I'll need to eat my own hat. Or pith helmet. Or whatever.

Labels: , , , , ,

StumbleUpon Google Bookmarks Technorati Del.icio.us Fark Reddit DiggIt Facebook

blog advertising is good for you

No Payola Here!

Join the No Payola Campaign Here.

Powered by Blogger

High-Five Fridays
We give High-Fives on Friday -- do you?

Lifestyle Blogs - BlogCatalog Blog Directory