Come to a Party...

That's right! Before we get back into scans from Domino's Sugar Spoon Recipes book, I'd like to send out an awesome invitation* to everyone to be here Sunday, May 1st for my birthday! There's gonna be pie and cake and fun, fun fun, --and I might even let some of you lick the frosting spoon! In the meantime, as the super cute card below states: "Come to a party... the group needs you! Hope you'll be there!" We most certainly do!

*Special thanks to Crafty Pants Carol for the awesome Laurel Cards set, dated 1979 :)

Sugar Spoon (PART ONE)

This is just the start of a huge mouthful of posts from this spectacular recipe book, and will likely take us to the end of the month, or not-- we'll see how it goes! But needless to say, this spiral bound collection from the Domino Sugar Bowl Kitchen, aka The American Sugar Refining Company of NY (1962) is simply overflowing with magical recipes and exceptionally adorable key art sprinkled throughout. Hold on to your sugar spoons, cuz AEET is about to go deep into super duper, almost unbearably sweet, ultra mega overload!

KOOKS!

It's possibly unintentional, but maybe, juuuust maybe Montgomery Ward had a more playful model and photography edge than most other catalogs of decades gone by. This 1980 xmas catalog I've been highlighting so far all month is a perfect example of "cute", everyday looking kids modeling merchandise and obviously having tons of fun doing it, or sometimes very little fun (see the bummed girl with the juicer), and in some cases even acting like a flat-out obnoxious KOOK! In fact, as you are about to see-- the kookier looking / acting the better! To other larger and less adventurous rival department store catalogs, many of these photos would have most certainly been considered unusable outtakes and wound up on the cutting room floor. Some of these pictures might even seem downright creepy to you ridiculous over reactive types that get easily scared by non-scary things like clowns or tuna aspics. While scanning this post, I could almost hear the catalog editor's ghost still screaming from beyond the dead (retail) grave of no return, "Is this REALLY the best photo we have of this girl with the toy juicer??!! ARGHHH!!!"

UPDATED!!!

"Clowning Around"
by Mr. Cavin

The Fast Food Radios

"Don't try to eat them!" warns the 1980 Montgomery Ward xmas catalog. Tune in to some tasty tunes, with a tasty looking radio! Not sure why the hot dog costs $2 more than the cheeseburger, but it better deliver 100% ALL BEEF ROCK! Enhance this post by clicking HERE and listen to The Detroit Cobras do The Hot Dog! (PLEASE NOTE: Any comments mentioning Jimmy Buffet and a Cheeseburger in Paradise will be immediately discarded in the nearby rubbish bin. Thank You.)

Foot Prisons on Wheels

Talking about roller skating yesterday, the 1980 Montgomery Wards xmas catalog has a few examples to really help paint the picture of the kind of wheeled foot prisons I donned on my Rock Roll-O-Rena rink evenings back in the day in Arnold, MO. That's right, 1980 may have been considered more the disco era, but I guarantee I shot the duck and speed skated my pre-teen (and soon to be punk rock metal head) little brains out to Ace Frehley's radical '78 cover of New York Groove! Let's all skate! Enhance this post by clicking HERE!

Candee Babes

Anyone remember these? Teeny dolls that came in a candy bar shaped case, open it up to find there's a little room inside too! I hope it came with chocolate!

From the 1980 Montgomery Ward xmas catalog-- of course!

KISS vs. The Village People

How awesome is this recently purchased 1980 Montgomery Ward xmas catalog, you still have to ask? This awesome. So which guitar did you want? Choose wisely. Back in the day my friendship with you hinged upon delicate subject matters such as this-- and please note this has NOTHING to do with sexual orientation / preference-- but merely EVERYTHING to do with ROCK & ROLL!!!

Kaiju and Robots

More from the 1980 Montgomery Wards christmas catalog-- this time it's giant monsters and metal men to the wish list rescue! If you owned even one thing from this page then you were cool in my book. I had two of them. Can you guess which ones?

Nuff said. Seriously.

Horror-Heroes

REMCO'S Count Dracula, Wolfman, and Frankenstein('s Monster) put a real chill up the spine of this Montgomery Ward's christmas catalog from 1980. Clutching action and glow-in-the-dark heads and hands made this the "must have" toy set of the season for monster kids everywhere! 9 inch tall vinyl figures with real cloth costumes, each one came with an iron-on patch as well. There were actually 6 dolls in all, including The Mummy, The Phantom of the Opera, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon too! Frankie even had a "Monsterizer" lab table accessory for zapping some life into him (sold separately!) Check google for more because the packaging art is spectacular.

Ward's Game Shop

Page 481 from the 1980 Montgomery Ward's xmas catalog is called "The Game Shop" and features among other things 3 really cool items that I would have definitely added to my wish list. I remember playing Beware the Spider, but I'm pretty sure I never had it. This was a scary one where you had to snatch icky things out of the spider's web with a metal fork. In a similar vein as Operation, you must be extra careful not to touch the web itself or the spider will spring out and murder you in front of all your friends! Second, Run Yourself Ragged was an obstacle course for the armchair athlete, where it's you and your ball against the clock! (CLICK HERE for the awesome commercial, and good luck getting the song out of your head!) And finally, Atomic Arcade, which actually came out in 1979, brought the thrill and action of pinball right into your own home! I found this youtube link of a guy showing you how to make the game more fun / tolerable, so CLICK HERE! More from this catalog all this month, hope you're enjoying it!

Strolling Bowling

Strolling Bowling was a compact portable bowling game by Tomy that you could play in your living room, backseat, or even in your own backyard. Just open the case and there's your bowling alley! Wind up the ball, put it down on the lane and watch as it hops along and knocks over the pins! No batteries necessary, for ages 5 and up. Have tons of fun bowling today!

(From the 1980 Montgomery Ward xmas catalog.)

I Took a Lickin' From a Chicken

Okay, no April Fool's pranks here today, I promise, just a funny game from a 1980 Montgomery Ward's catalog called I Took a Lickin' From a Chicken (produced by LJN.) The catalog description says "...challenge this whimsical chicken to see who will outsmart whom. Try Tic Tac Toe a new way, with electronic sounds and motions! Beat the chicken and hear "Old MacDonald Had A Farm." Lose and this learned chicken laughs at you! Or try Tune Memory and try to beat both the chicken and the computer! Or play Total Recall-- where the chicken selects a number series to be added up before time runs out! But you better be quick! 4 "C" batteries, for ages 5 and up." Anyone remember this thing? I sure don't. And with a name like I Took a Lickin From a Chicken how could I miss it? Look it up on youtube to see the chicken give some nerds a lickin'!