Modern Beauty Shop '66 (PART ONE)

I recently stumbled upon a couple really great issues of this 60's magazine called Modern Beauty Shop. It's half full of hair-dos (and don'ts), and man oh man, I am talking the awesomely MASSIVE kind of do's that are so wildly intricate, they actually resemble something more like a roller coaster than a head of hair. More on that later next week though, cuz for now we have the first of two posts that focus more on the lovely advertising found on nearly every page within: styling products, wigs, beauty parlor machinery, etc... I'm particularly fond of the beautiful women of course, but also the Beauty Gram Fun Cards, and the amazing Bonet Flip-Top hair dryer that seriously looks like something right out of a 60's Italian sci-fi film! As mentioned, lots more in part two coming up next!

Plug-A-Jug ('69)

What??? You've never played Parker Brother's hillbilly hoe-down hootenanny, Plug-A-Jug??!! That knee slappin', foot stompin', letter pickin', jug pluggin' game, for ages 7 and up? (Rules and gameplay are on the back of the jug), --and don't forget the Mountain Dew! This is a seriously fun little word scramble game with some super cute artwork on the label, ya durn tooting'!

How to Behave in a Hospital!

Someone very dear to me wound up hospitalized recently, so this get well post is for you... it's a very funny Rust Craft Publishers card booklet from 1955 created to liven the spirits and make your unfortunate downtime a bit more tolerable --yep, screwball jokes and super cute artwork are always the best medicine! Get well, dearest! :) XOXOX

Christopher Lee (1922 - 2015) RIP

(Photo from the March 1974 issue of Dracula Lives! #5)

Burger Chef Matchbook

Found this cool, and unused Burger Chef matchbook in a box in the basement (along with the Sugar Bear comic of our last post.) This is pre-"Burger Chef and Jeff" era that I was incredibly fond of as a kid, but I totally love this earlier BC mascot as well, --and of course the typography and orange / blue color combination is outstanding! I miss Burger Chef.

Sugar Bear in "The Great Gold Robbery"

When I was a kid, the Super Sugar Crisp commercials were pretty much the best thing on tv --check youtube HERE if you need a quick schoolin' on this fact! Great animation, voice acting, and top notch writing really sealed it... and though the cereal wasn't actually my fave, hot dog I sure did love Sugar Bear the character mascot! Eventually a series of lil premium Sugar Bear comic book adventures became available around that same time-- found buried inside the cereal boxes! They captured the same fun and all round silly spirit of the tv commercials, with the spectacularly stylized art and hilarious dialogue. Here's one example from my collection, recently unearthed from a box, and boy was I ever surprised, (and very very glad) to discover I still had this! Starring the smooth talkin', quick thinkin' Sugar Bear himself, plus Granny, and their evil arch nemesis "The Blob", these 16 pages pretty much sum up what my 70's cartoon and cereal childhood was all about :)

Krazy Krax

Not to be confused with the adult film of the same name, "Krazy Krax" was one in a long line of tiny gag ads found in an old comic book. The description here is vague, but obviously it's some sort of clear plastic sheet detailed with a shattered glass motif and after applying it to the television screen it (most likely) magically clung in place thanks to static. Or maybe you had to tape it to the screen? Either way, it's "The perfect TV gag!" Yep, this might've been a truly devastating prank to pull on someone in the 50's, especially when TV sets weren't so cheap, (let alone the repairs) nor were sets typically found in every household. Take a look at illustrated mom's reaction in the ad for example: "Oh dear more expense!" Oh indeed. I'm still trying to decipher the little kid illustration... thoughts?