The Hound

Friday Frights time again, and correct me if I'm wrong, but have I ever posted any underground horror comics here? I can't remember either, so here's a good 'n gruesome one for ya from the May 1972 "Lovecraft" special issue of Skull #4, featuring the jolting art of Jack "Jaxon" Jackson (he also created the creepy cover art.) Seems like every time I turn around there's something new in film, tv series, comics etc. described as "Lovecraftian" so let's see how they did it at Last Gasp-- it definitely doesn't get more underground than this! And let's round it all out with Larry Todd's luridly luscious "ADULTS ONLY" pin-up painting from the back cover too... and if you ask me, this piece was clearly the inspiration for the Ghoulies (1984) film!

For the Father of the Bride (Mother Stover's, Inc.)

Some of you saw this on FB the other day, but here it is again-- and yes, after years of looking, it's true-- I finally found a late 50’s Mother Stover’s mini dime-store toy set. These always have the greatest header card art, (check google for tons of other incredible examples), and is it just me, or does this one seem extra packed with funny little teeny weeny accessories: a top hat, a check book, a pair of old shoes, two bottles of booze, lots of greenbacks, and a father of the bride shotgun, haha… HELP! My dream is to one day find some of the monster / horror themed sets. Anyone out there have any to sell or trade, please drop me a line!

Flip-Teez

Persistence paid off last week once again, as I spent a few hours digging around some dusty old mounds of midcentury paper goods (mostly dullsville post cards), to eventually stumbled upon something at the very bottom suggestively titled, "Flip-Teez." Okay, in 1940, The Morton Company, based in Miami FL, produced a series of cute little pocket-sized celluloid striptease booklets --presumably for our boys in uniform fighting the good fight overseas, but of course any lonely 'ol boy (or girl) would do! Highlighted by funny cartoon art on the cover, followed by a truly awful poem on the inside front cover (the less said about that the better), and finally the main event delivery: 3 clear pages of hand painted, layered, celluloid clothing that you slowly remove, cel animation style, one-by-one to reveal the wonton woman, as well as most of her beautiful bare essentials underneath. The girl featured here is of asian persuasion, but researching these online you can find a vivacious variety of others ranging from bouncy burlesque babes, to Manhattan guzzlin' barflies, to curvaceous cowgirls, to lights-out lingerie lasses, and more! A fun little bit of wartime era naughtiness-- anything to ignite those home fires and keep that morale UP, *wink!  

Friday Frights Presents Werewolf Wednesday

Friday Frights is covered in creature freak feature fur this week, and it's also a double header (as promised) because we missed last Friday's update. And this time around we have a couple of kooky werewolf tails (hee), both with their own uniquely oddball angle that I'm sure you'll find a bit-bite refreshing over the usual weird wolf man tropes. Fur'st up, "It Roams These Hills!", is a Wally Wood rarity that was originally featured as a back-up story in Avon's science fiction one-shot, Attack from Planet Mars, and published way back in 1951. Followed by a flash forward into the 70's silver age with a supernatural Charlton snarler, "The Werewolf's Ghost", from the March 1976 issue of Baron Weirwulf's Haunted Library #26. 

Miniature Art Poses

Are you an artist and like drawing women in various stages of undress? Then boy oh boy, do I have a handy-dandy, pocket-sized art pose assist for you! Take it anywhere (it's a little larger than, say, a library card), and simply use your thumb to scroll through the 5 different ladies who are more than willing to supply you with just the right pose yee be seekin'. It's fun and easy to use, and seriously, who needs an iPhone with the internet and 89 trillion clearer reference photos and illustrations to choose from when you have this adorable lil 'ol thing? Draw 'em the way grandpa used'ta! (Also useful for photography!) Anyway, yes, I found this today half-buried in an antique mall case for a couple o'bucks and couldn't pass it up. Not sure when it originally came out, but feels mid century or possibly older. It's a little dirty, and the die-cut window barely lines up with some of the girlies, but overall a neat find with a couple of very cute, clear-cut ulterior motives. 

Sun of '71

We're finally getting the 'ol beach ball rolling around here in June 2021, and I apologize for missing Friday Frights last week, I've been busy with a few new projects, --but we'll make up for it with a double horror header this coming Friday! Anyway, I dug out one of my old pharmacy calendars for todays post, and since summer is only a few weeks away I thought we'd focus on these sizzlin' hot suntan / sunburn lotion ads from STL's very own, Brouk's Concord Village Pharmacy calendar, dated 1971. These ads were printed super tiny, so I scanned them in a bit larger, hence why they have that wonderfully odd look to them. Lovely photography and cute illustration mingle perfectly together to create a fantastic glimpse into the early 70's. The calendar was also a bit warped having been rolled up for several decades, with the paper turning as brown as the beautifully bare lady flesh you're about to see below. Some groovy bikinis on display as well, plus I rounded everything out with a few Maybelline eye make-up ads, because aye-eye-aye, why not?