Friday, July 12, 2019

Don Ho vs. Shears

Two recent finds of the transparent / sorta transparent variety-- first up a superbly designed, one color, 60's / 70's Don Ho drinking glass from the Polynesian Palace in beautiful Waikiki, Hawaii:





I mixed my version of a Mai Tai in it (ie: Mountain Dew + freshly squeezed pineapple juice) and it tasted great-- it's my favorite new glass!

Followed by the equally kitschy awesomeness of this 50's / 60's Shears Bar-B-Q flame douser, for Bar-B-Qs and cook-outs, which was the (then) modern way to control charcoal fires:





I filled it with water and squirted it at my kid (outside) who tried to run away but I still soaked him-- even from about 20 years away! This wonderfully soft plastic bottle was made right here in STL MO too! Does anyone from this city know anything about Shear Co.?

4 comments:

Tom said...

I love wacky 50's gadgets like that BBQ douser. Love the art on it too. I couldn't find any info on the Shear Company, but I did find another product they made. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Clean-Creme-1950s-Sales-Ad-Sheet-Shear-Co-St-Louis-Mo-/270330654941

JMR777 said...

Down the rabbit hole I go,

Wheeeee!

1609 N 14th St St Louis MO originally was the Mullanphy Emigrant House, later turned into a factory by the Absorene Company, later bought by Harry Shear in 1954, who
..."extended the product line to include children's modeling dough made and packaged for many national accounts under private label."

links below

http://www.absorene.com/aboutus.html

https://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2014/03/19/mullanphy-emigrant-home-north-st-louis-landmark-slowly-returning-to-glory

An interesting trip, but the current state of the Mullanphy Emigrant House, as well as the neighborhood it is located in, is in a real sad state of decay. A look on google maps shows how the neighborhood has fallen n hard times.



Mr. Cavin said...

Yeah, love the rad perspective on that chef art. That grill is popping right out of the frame. But the Don Ho glass is my fave from today's post. The kitsch level is outta sight, while the utility is just as high. It's the perfect size and shape. I would drink out of that thing all the time.

Mr. Karswell said...

@Tom: good find, the only thing that I turned up was the same flame douser (black version) on eBay as a sales promo photo

@Mr. C: The kitsch level has officially reached CRITICIAL MASS here at AEET!

And HUGE thanks to JMR for digging up the deets on Shears Co, your official Sherlock Holmes No Prize is in the mail! haha