Midcentury Corpse Reconstruction Wax Practice Model (Cincinnati School of Mortuary Science)

Spent the last week driving completely around the entirety of Lake Erie. Saw a lot of great stuff too, starting in Chicago with The Outsider's Musical, as well as Marc Martel's amazing "One Vision" Queen tribute band (even Brian May can't tell the difference between him 'n Freddie!), also toured a Frank Lloyd Wright house, and an ancient Nubia Bestiary exhibit! Then it was off to Detroit to visit Jack White's Third Man Records home base HQ studio / store. Spent quite a few bucks there too, natch! Crossed the border from there and went right into Canada (please refer to a map if you're getting lost or confused) and floored it all the way to the magnificently monstery, tourist trap chaos of Clifton Hill, which overlooks Niagra Falls from the Great White North side. Ventured through many haunted houses, found some nice antique shops, and ate a lot of great Canadian food, before once again crossing the border back into the US again via Buffalo NY. More fab antiquing to be found, as well as seeing The Falls from the opposite side now, and yet another Frank Lloyd Wright house! And from there, --now a bit more than half the way around Lake Erie-- it was off to Cleveland. So what does a "Midcentury Corpse Reconstruction Wax Practice Model from the Cincinnati School of Mortuary Science" have to do with any of this? Cleveland Curiosities (in Cleveland, duh!) A real gem of a shop, loaded with macabre goodies, both real and unreal, a little bit kooky, and a lotta bunch spooky-- and just as mysterious as it is mystically magical. All era of oddities are displayed, going as far back as the Victorian days, possibly even earlier. Everywhere you turn it's a freaky feast of cleverly curated taxidermy mishaps, side show spooks, religious relics, horror heroes, and vintage funeral home fun. And that's where our beautiful boy below comes in. I suppose the card under his chin is pretty self explanatory, though I will add that, to me, this was the the most unique thing I encountered on my entire eerie trip of the Erie, --and the perfect end to six much needed days away out on the open road. I still had one more day to drive back to MO, and if you're wondering, this smiling, side-burned, eternal slumberer below was unfortunately not my co-pilot.

Birdwatcher's Handbook (Hospital Edition)

Here's a silly, multi-paged, midcench "get well" greeting card that doubles as a hilariously helpful "handbook." And lol, birdwatching was never more bird-brained than this because for one, we're being led by the cover to believe that this edition is in reference to actual shapely, female human birds, --when in fact, we're simply getting cutely clever comparison gags about our actual literal feathered friends of flight. It's all very well illustrated though, and quite funny too, poking fun at not only the nursing staff and their distinctive behaviours, but our fellow hospital patients as well.

The Hanky Trio

It's been a box-filled month so far here at AEET, (see the previous few posts concerning shoes and pencils), --and now it's time for yet another question: "Where are you going to store your handkerchiefs?!" I suppose this is less of a storage box though, and really more of a fancy, faux framed way to display three hankies. The gorgeous lid art painting by renowned, turn of the century, comic strip artist, painter, and sheet music illustrator, Frederick S. Manning is repeated once more inside the box. And here we find slits in the design being utilized as a way to tuck and fold the handkerchiefs inside and actually make them look as if they are part of the dresses worn by our trio of beauties. Pretty clever, eh? I'm not sure about the actual age of this box, but I'm going to take a guess and say possibly the 1920's - 30's.

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!