The Fairy Tale Art of Lungers Hausen

I've been a huge fan of Lungers Hausen art for many moons, so it was a real thrill to stumble upon these antique wooden stacking / nesting toy blocks from 1930's - 40's Germany recently. All sides are covered with beautifully rendered imagery: mostly animals and random objects, and lots of super cute children playing. But the real gems to me are of course Hausen's terrific flair for fantasy fairy tale art, highlighted by his gorgeous girls and endless eye-popping detail and color combinations. I've showcased a few of my faves below, but there are lots more... Googling "Lungers Hausen Fairy Tale Art" will most certainly make your day if you are not already familiar with all of his wonderful work, utilized in a variety of compelling, playful ways. And for those curious, the blocks are open on the bottoms so they can nest inside one another (see last image below), the stacking comes into play when you place them on top of one another-- natch!

Skeletor!

With October quickly approaching, it becomes increasingly easier to find vintage Halloween items popping up around town at the 'ol antique malls. This 80's Masters of the Universe Skeletor costume and mask isn't quite as "vintage" as I normally collect when it comes to Ben Cooper stuff, but for the giveaway price (and the fact that it appears to have never been worn), I couldn't pass it up, even with that gnarly bite taken out of the bottom corner of the box. Colors are still bright on both the mask and the costume, with only a few noticeable defects aside from the aforementioned box. It even still has the original paper insert. Any He-Man fans out there? I've never watched it...

Balsam for the Lungs!

Or: Consumption Junction, what's your function? If like me, and unfamiliar with balsam used as a medicinal cure-all for upper respiratory issues, then refer to this Victorian era die-cut advertising card that I coughed up the other day. Standing nearly a foot tall, and featuring some adorable artwork of a young lady climbing the ladder back to good health, one need only flip over said image to reveal all of the wonders of balsam from Dr. William Hall himself. Also note the handful of happily surviving customer tweets-- errr, I mean, testimonials. This cute card was also apparently just 1 of 4 different advert designs, as mentioned towards the very bottom on the back of the card. 

Tressy, Mary, & Cricket

I guess it's been a while since I've posted a 60's doll accessory catalog (check the archives for tons more), and this one come from American Character Inc. for their fun fashion doll trio of Tressy, Mary Make-Ur, and Cricket. So ok they're absolutely Barbie 'n friends knock-offs, but that doesn't mean they aren't still adorably sweet in a variety of nicely illustrated images dedicated to this / that years fab fashions! Have to admit though as much as I like the clothes, I dig the hootenanny hairdos more! I also wonder how well those cosmetic and hair coloring kits actually worked?

A Hammock Built for 2

Ooooo just what I always wanted-- a hammock souvenir sent all the way from Indianapolis, Indiana! But wait, how on Earth could this tiny mailer box hold a hammock actually large enough for two? So let's just lift the lid on this sucker and see what "2" they actually mean. Ah! Even better! These funny old gag gift boxes sometimes really go the extra mile for a saucy lil side-splittin' snicker, and this one made in Chicago in 1941 by H. Fishlove & CQ is certainly no exception. 

Smell the Mummy!

I've only just scratched the surface when it comes to antique perfume bottles, --I maybe have a half dozen or so, and most of them are from the Art Deco era), --but yesterday proved to be a super fine day to unearth a wonderful new addition for the collection, and to also add something else to my love for Egyptian Revival, and mummy items too. And okay, it's not really a mummy as you can see, but the sarcophagus, and produced in Germany in the early 1900's by Schaefer & Vater. Googling for more info I found that S&V made this bottle in a variety of styles, mostly painted all brown or all gray. I actually did not see a single version anywhere online of the full color style like mine, (I did see a camel bottle in the exact same crown top and color scheme though.) The sarcophagus is about 2 1/2" tall, with neat hieroglyph details on the front and back, the face and head dress nicely painted too. The gold crown top stopper is in very good condition as well, with only the cork starting to crumble apart a bit as you can see in the final image below. There is still just the faintest, sweet, incense-like hint of the perfume scent from within, --those hoping for the musk of a rotten mummy please refer to my book HERE instead.

A Love Mystery Nightmare

I originally had this story planned for THOIA later this month, and then suddenly thought that maybe it would play better over here at AEET. I actually do think about this type of thing when planning out my monthly posts, just so you all know that not everything Mr. Karswell does is the equivalent to flying by the seat of his bad boy britches. Anyway, this is a rather epic little mystery tale with plenty of cinematic style horror overtones, eerie atmosphere, and some really nice illustrative touches from the ever great, George Evans. Good writing too, even though the plotting is a bit on the familiar side of thangs. Yep, if more romance comics were like this I would absolutely be a bigger fan of the genre, --so see what you think. From the August 1950 issue of Love Mystery #2, a very short-lived attempt from Fawcett to do something a little different.