Willow Dale vs. Thoro Fashioned

I promised boxes in our previous post, though not exactly the novelty gag gift kind that we've been spotlighting so far this month. Instead, it's two very old, and beautifully designed, art deco era Willow Dale, and Thoro Fashioned hosiery boxes (yes, I collect these as well!) Both boxes are empty, unfortuantely, but the gorgeous girl art on each of the lids certainly makes them essential additions to the 'ol Karswell collection! I have quite a few more of these to post at a later date too, but you can see another one already in the AEET Archive by CLICKING HERE!

"Have Fun!"

Well, we're still not finished with the 'ol vintage novelty gag gift boxes, but I do hope everyone out there is still having fun and not getting bored. I mean, as long as you have your health 'n wealth, what more could you ask for? Oh wait, happiness... hopefully you're still gettin' some of THAT as well too! *wink! So, is there another box coming up in our next post, you ponder? Howz'about two!!

Instant Flood Control (For Home Use)

With everything under control in our previous post (or is it?), it's now time to address the flooding problem we're facing in the basement! Yep, just when you thought you'd seen the last of these old novelty gag gift boxes, here we go with another one! And once again, the art inside and out is quite stellar and very funny, while the tiny added prop really smells, errr sells, the 'ol twisteroo punchline.

Everything is Under Control, Sir!

It may be the 4th of July here in America today, but is everything, in fact, under control? That was hardly an issue back when this funny old novelty gag gift box was created nearly a half century or so ago. Lovely artwork on the inside and out though, with some very cute, doll-sized clothing to keep everything from REALLY going out of control! So who's laughing now, right? Riiiiiight...

Polyphon Music Box

Check out this beautifully old, late 1800's, German Polyphon turntable style, music box I saw the other day. With it's lever-wind mechanism, metal disc, plus a colorful, hand painted scene inside the lid, Polyphon's typically have a concealed storage compartment underneath which holds more discs as well. This single disc, though a bit warped, still worked and sounded great, but someone in the same room as me wouldn't stop yappin', so the video I shot was useless. Instead, listen to a similar one via Youtube that someone else kindly uploaded-- CLICK HERE. 

Madhouse Pinball

If you saw my previous post HERE where I swapped out the dull sports themed backgrounds of cheap, dime store, handheld pinballs from the 60's and 70's (with much prettier vintage pin-ups!), well, I've made another one out of an old football game. And this time I've brought in the late, great Vincent Price for something a bit spookier and fun. Fans of the 1974 British horror film classic, Madhouse, will undoubtably recognize the face under all of that monstery make-up. And no, the film is still tons more exciting than the game, but it looks extra cool how everything lined up with the score cups. Now, play ball!

Pin-Up Pinball

You can typically still find those old handheld pinball games they used to sell at dime stores back in the day for pretty cheap. The other day I scored two ultra lame, very faded ones with snoozy sports themes like boring ass basketball, and tiresome tennis-- YAWN! A buck 'n a quarter each and I already knew exactly what I was gonna do with 'em as soon as I got home. The cardboard image backing usually just slides right out, only held in place by a couple of plastic clips which you can easily maneuver around. The great thing about these two games is that the backing card image is exactly the same size as a postcard, and knowing that I have a huge collection of much more interesting subject matter in those same, manageable dimensions, I immediately got to work swappin' them both out. The only trimming required was at the bottom right corner of each, you know, to get around the pinball flipper. I'm sure you'll agree that these are much more fun now!