Fiona Originals: Las Vegas Showgirl Doll '79

Found this cute Fiona Original doll from 1979 the other day, and have to say I'm shocked that I've never heard of these until now considering how much I adore Las Vegas showgirl culture! So, unlike the real showgirls, she's not made of the most top notch material, fyi, but she's still pretty great none the less in her silver boots and glued-on glitter outfit and fancy feathers. That's right, her entire top, bottom, choker, and wrist bands are simply glitter glued right on her plastic flesh --you can even see where it has rubbed off over the years and missing in a few places. (I'd call that a nip slip if she actually had nipples, but as with most 70's dolls, she's missing those too!) "Not recommended as a toy" it says on the bottom of the base, and I'm also not sure if she's modeled after any one particular famous showgirl or what, but googling "Fiona Originals", I do see there were quite a few of these made, and in a variety of lovely shapes, colors, and hair styles. 

Vincent Price in Oliver! (1976)

Digging around in a big pile of old souvenir play programs this week and found a great one from 1976, aka the 58th Annual Summer Season at the STL Muny Opera. There were a lot of stars shining brightly here in a variety of top notch productions that year, everyone from Roy Clark and Minnie Pearl, Angela Lansbury and Shirley Jones, The Hudson Brothers, Peter Graves, Yul Brynner etc. But it was the 6th production of the summer running from August 9th thru the 15th that probably caught most theatre (and horror) fan's attention, and that was Oliver! starring Vincent Price as Fagin, --which I would have of course killed to attend, even at the young age of 8! Many of you know that Price was actually from STL, so it was always a big deal when he did any sort of performance or appearance here, especially considering this was only his second time onstage in his hometown city performing at The Muny, (the first being in 1940!) 1976 was the same year he appeared in the "Black Magic" episode of The Bionic Woman, and also as "The Creature of Frankenstein" on Donny and Marie, with no theatrical films released that year.

Sky Girl in "Snakes on a Plane"

For those of you enjoying the recent good girl art and snake tales over at THOIA, let us now uncoil some similar fun here at AEET by whippin' out another dose of pretty legs and pythons! Yes sir, these sexy Sky Girl back-up stories found in 1940's Jumbo Comics are a real hoot, hilariously scripted by Bill Gibson, and I suppose if you've never read one before then this is a wonderful introduction to the wacky WW2 era world of gorgeous Ginger McGuire, aka SKY GIRL! You can get her abbreviated bio / back story HERE, --and though her hair color might've changed a few times throughout her lengthy, air headed, aviation adventure run, one thing remained consistant: those lovely legs of hers wrapped in pin stripe stockings and very short shirts, as only the late, great illustrative master, Matt Baker could draw 'em!

The "Post" Man Cometh!

Fun article about Don Post Studios as featured in the debut issue of Modern Monster #1 from April 1966, plus an ad from the back pages of the same issue. Umm, is this really an article though? I mean, it's not even listed in the table of contents which now makes me think that maybe the entire "article" itself is just an ad as well. Not that it matters, and either way you slice it, the mid 60's was a primo era to not only be a monster kid, --but to also be a Don Post mask collector!

The Boy Who Couldn't Shudder

Here's an oddball fairy tale freak-out from the August - September 1953 issue of Jack the Giant Killer #1, published by Bimfort, Inc. and, according to GCD, this is the one and only comic that Bimfort ever produced. It's a funny little back-up filler story with some silly supernatural moments, not to mention an ending that'll leave you all wet! So hang onto your shivers, and try to control them sufferin' shakes! It's time for--

Don Post Frankenstein Prop

Another big monster score this week: a 30+ inch tall Don Post Frankenstein prop from the early 90's. I actually have a few of these larger size, seemingly hand painted, squishy foam prop toys or whatever they are (a werewolf, a witch, and a ghost girl too, though I'm not sure if those were actually made by Don Post or not but are of the same exact material.) This one still had the DP "care sheet" card attached, and googlin' around I see they also made a Halloween Michael Myers... but I think Frankie here takes the cake, looking aggravated as Hell at not only being alive again, but then also having to stand around outside and get his goddamn picture taken in 100 degree midwest heat by yours truly! And as you can see in the last photo as well, the backside of him is rough and unfinished, as if pulled raw right out of the mold (my ghost girl is like that too), for no ifs ands or buts, essential prime time leanin' against the wall action!

Hasbro's Haunted Mountain Marble Maze Game

Found this really neat midcentury marble maze game yesterday made by Hasbro, highlighted with spooky fun background artwork featuring giants, devils, ghosts, man eating plants, red witches, blood lakes, and more! Test your skill and coordination (and your nerves!) as you guide your marble around the macabre maze, but don't fall into any of the deadly traps --"Shark Lake" seems like a particularly bad place to wind up! The very last image below I found online and shows what the original packaging looked like.