Tape Dispenser Pop Tart Pencil Case

I was gonna add this to the end of the previous "back to school" shoe box post, but then totally forgot, because of course, --and just as important as new school shoes, begs this ever important question: "What're ya gonna put your new pencils in?" Well, it appears that back in the day, Doreen Friedmeyer of North County STL MO put hers in this amazing tape dispenser pencil case shaped like a school bus! How cool is this thing anyway? Pencils, tape, and I feel like there's still enough room inside on the left for a couple of Pop Tarts. Doreen, if you're still out there somewhere, drop us a line here at AEET and fill us in on what you've been up to! 

Step Master Shoes

Uh oh, kids! August means were inchin' closer and closer to that inevitable return to school! Why, it's practically right around the corner! GAG! CHOKE! Best to be prepared, of course-- you don't wanna be caught shufflin' 'round the halls wearing a ragged old pair of last year's icky earth pads now. And this is where Step Master Shoes steps in! Step Master Shoes wasn't tailored to just the needs and tastes of growing boys and girls, they also knew exactly how to design a shoe box and cover it with cute, midcentury illustrations of youngsters doing whatever it is that lil brats do best: Playing video games? Staring blankly into smart phones? (insert something else about Pokemons and NeeDohs here?) Yes, every single side of this beautiful box is graced with sunny fun, 'n guns, and even sharing a bottle of pop. Who among you doesn't love leap frog, or performing the Heimlich maneuver on a dog? And if that ain't enough, the bottom of the box also comes complete with tricks, puzzles, and games! Okay, it's time to put an egg in your shoe and beat it back to the AEET Archive now for even more shoe box fun-- yep, right HERE!

There Will Come Soft Rains...

Well, it didn't rain today, but something else rather momentous just occurred, and thankfully Mr. Karswell was reminded in the very nickiest of danger dame time to get something related posted here immediately at AEET! And what on Earth could it possibly be? You'll just have to read the Al Feldstein and Wally Wood EC Weird Fantasy #17 comic adaptation below of Ray Bradbury's sci-fi classic (which originally appeared in a 1950's Collier's Weekly issue) to find out! And though many of you are already in bed, and likely won't see this until tomorrow-- it's still oh so very apropos! (And thanks again to DD for the amazing head's up!)

Miniature Greetings

July at AEET ended with the gift of Christmas, now here comes August with best wish celebrations for birthday, anniversary, wedding, and more. And it's not presented in just any 'ol normal sized greeting card fashion, as we immediately see below that each one comes in a very scaled down, but no less dynamic dimension. Not only that, each card includes a miniature gift as well. Adorable, midcentury art with a tiny charm bracelet trinket attached will always be tons more fun than it rightfully should be! Ice cream, trophy,  --even false teeth for a baby (?!!) And hey, now you don't have to eat a whole box of stale Cracker Jacks to get a cute, puny prize, too!

Christmas in July Edition (1954)

Ho! We almost exited the month without our annual Christmas in July celebration! And it's a good thing I spotted this fabulous xmas '54 mailer yesterday-- because unlike St. Nick, I was definitely coming to town unprepared! A fun package all 'round too, and if you were somehow part of the Abbott Laboratories family, you probably looked very much forward to getting this thing in the mail every December. And aside from being packed with fiction, poetry, articles and medical features-- it's also exploding with festively gorgeous, midcentury xmas artwork by some of the biggest names in commercial art of the time era! So yeah, as much as I love that superb, full-page Santa VI-DAYLIN advert by Stan and Jan Berenstain, as well as the brilliantly colorful cover abstracts by Thomas Vroman, it's those hilarious illustrations by Larry Klein for "A Short Guide to Good Skiing" that we'll actually be taking a much closer look at. And okay, it might already be 90 degrees here in the midwest at 8am in the morning, but we're still bundlin' up and heading for the slopes --Dead Man's Hill, to be exact! Merry Christmas (in July), everyone!

Li'l Abernathy!

Mr. Karswell likes nothing more than a nutty 'ol satirical, comic book spoof. We just did it over at THOIA (HERE!) when we married that freaky teen-age fly. Let's do it again here at AEET now, but instead'a monsters, lets take a whackity whack at another Mr. K fave-- L'il Abner! From the madcap March 1954 issue of Premier Magazines Nuts #1, with poor "Lazy May" shorely and sorely gettin' wrung through sum hysterical, hillbilly hi-jinx! Dawww! Artist remains in question...