Advertising Book Matches (PART ONE)

Welcome to Part One of heavenly, ring bindered highlights from this super rare, midcentury Advertising Book Matches salesman catalog and price list. It's kind of fun to think about the many miles upon miles this thing was lugged around, as well as the number of hands that flipped through it, eyeing the vast array of designs, fonts, colors, and partial nudie cutie choices to be made here. There is a lot to go through, so I went in and photographed mostly what I considered to be the "best of" selections, with Part Two focusing on additionally cool illustrative touches and comedic elements, as well as a variety of subjects such as hair salons, hillbillies, and even spacemen! But as always, the gentlemanly thing to do is ladies first, so let's roll out this Part One barrel o'babes and let their curvy attributes sell your service stations, taverns, markets, bowling alleys, inns, etc. Your future customers... ummm, who are smokers (or pyromaniacs) will forever thank you! Part Two is coming up shortly, --so keep yer pants folded nicely, already!

Under Achiever Award

Welp, I missed my annual AEET April Fool's post by one day, *sob! Now, I did get one up over at THOIA HERE, but still, this is not only highly unusual for Mr. Karswell --it's UNACCEPTABLE! And that is why I'm taking a tip from our po'dunk Prez and thusly awarding myself this hilarious hobo-licious Under Achiever Award, via American Greetings Corp., from 1972. We all know who actually deserves it more than me, but whatev, I absolutely am my kind of under achiever, after all. Also, I can't decide if this thing looks more like Cousin Eerie or Jack Black, but I will say that whoever cleverly crafted the original sculpt of our handsome feller here, sure knew a thing or two about beautiful bum fashion. Okay, gotta skidaddle! I just heard the 8:15 a'whistlin' down the tracks, and there's an open box car with my name on it...

Clancy and Looney Guard a Mummy

We officially closed (and sealed for safety reasons) the tomb on our March of the Mummies Madness Fest over at THOIA, but we have one more encounter left here to unleash at AEET! So let's see what happens when ding dong duo, Clancy and Looney are assigned to guard a mummy, from the Winter 1942 issue of Jackpot Comics #8. And after that, you can also catch a gruesome glipse of what happens when even Labubu herself gets all wrapped up in macabre mummy madness too! This is another great figure collectible via Pop Mart's "The Monster's Carnival" blind box series from a few years back... --see ya's all in April for lots more!

Is it chilly in here?

I recently purchased this oddly beautiful, early 1920’s Niederfeld Funeral Home advertising thermometer-- talk about cool! Back in the day, Niederfeld apparently provided East St. Louisans with mourning time sincerity and financial fairness, ambulance service, as well as a gold-trimmed gauge to determine the ever madcap, midwest temperature tantrums. After much online digging, I could only find one actual mention of this business listed anywhere on the world wide web, --and the name was even misspelled as "Siederfeld." Fancy that illustration of the foreboding funeral home though, as well as the old-time hearse parked 'round back. Google Street View provided zero evidence of the structure still existing, so I decided to just jump in my new-time car and make the 45 minute trek across the Mighty Mississippi into Illinois and see the location myself. Unfortunately, whatever corner the funeral home once occupied remains a mystery, as considering the 4 possible intersection area choices, only one was actually in current use (some kind of small business garage or something.) The other three corners were simply vacant lots, brutally bare, and overgrown with grass though still showing some traces of foundational elements, proving that something once stood there, there, annnnd over there. But which corner actually belonged to Niederfeld? It would of course be wonderful to find an old photo of that impressive Victorian facade, so if any of you have impeccable internet sleuthing skills, I am putting you to the test! Thank you for your attention to this matter. 

At Your Service, Madame...

Here's a neat series of midcentury slides that I stumbled upon in a friend's antique mall booth the other day. It appears to be the same man and woman featured in a variety of service attendant / customer situations: gas station / mechanic, waste removal, TV repair, leg inspector, etc. I super love the interesting array of background scenery detail, vintage cars, work uniforms, and most notably the highly fashionable wardrobe, hair, and make-up styles on the woman. Boy, with all of the hard work that is clearly on display here, I do hope she remembered to tip him well, too!

Hi There!

Here's a long (novelty) letter for you from California. And pre-written, --so I didn't even have to!