Topper Takes a Trip

Select art illustrations from the 1945 Pocketbook edition of Thorne Smith's hilariously cute, supernatural romance spooker, Topper Takes a Trip (originally published in 1932.) Lovely and loose style, almost like doodle rough sketches, meanwhile the cover painting appears to be signed, but I'll be damned if I can make it out. If you're a fan of the Topper adventures, this is also one of the better entries in the fun film series as well, as our goofball ghost attempts to reunite a couple that she inadvertently had a hand in splitting up! Starring cutie pie Constance Bennett, Roland Young, and Billie Burke. You can watch it FREE on youtube HERE!

Cavalcade Comments: Movie Edition

Speaking of Cavalcade magazine, (see our previous post) the October, November, and December 1953 issues each contain some really funny two-page "Cavalcade Comment" articles, cutely and hilariously illustrated by Hayles, and poking fun at the movies and the people who go to see them. From the then new, early 50's fads like sci-fi films and 3D gimmickry, to people's mimicry reactions to the films themselves-- is nothing sacred?! Hahaha... enjoy!

Battle of the Beaches

Summer's in full swing and it's time to head to the shore for some sun and fun --and most importantly, girl watchin'! And here's a funny little two page article from an early 50's issue of Cavalcade that might get you feelin' inspired. (The last image is also from Cavalcade, but a late 40's issue, seemed like a good fit, after some heavy clean-up 'n editing...)

Carousel

I'm always looking for interesting ways to display my mannequins, as well as the handful of counter top and wig heads I also have. I see these neat pink, late 60's Carousel cases around occasionally, and finally finding one that wasn't too expensive, grabbed it for one of my vintage wig heads --see how snug as a bug she looks inside of it at the end of the post! But also neat is the magnificent multi-page catalog tucked within the case, featuring a groovy assortment of nicely designed items that Carousel provided back in the day, ie: wigs and a variety of their popular hair care products. 

Vincent Price Shrunken Head Kit ('75)

Finally scored myself a Vincent Price Shrunken Head Apple Sculpture craft kit last week-- complete and never used as well! The one I had originally back in 1975 has long since vanished from my life, though I somehow managed to hang onto the one shrunken head that I actually made when I was seven years old (see pix below.) Anyway, it was fun to set everything up again and I even put my original shrunken head back into "The Shrinker" after all these years, haha. I was tempted to leave him in there and see if the lamp heat would somehow soften him up a bit-- mostly so I could reform his smooshed nose, --but alas, time has not been too incredibly kind on him as he's literally turned into the equivalent of a hunk of hardened rock. So I guess that means I'll just have to make another one, eh? Stay tuned, it may not be until Halloween, but you can be sure I will fire up the 'ol Shrinker again and make another! (*insert maniacal Vincent Price laugh here!)

Meaty Problem

My neighbor was telling me a story yesterday about how he was grillin' steaks last weekend and one of his giant dogs knocked over the BBQ grill! He had stepped away for just a second to grab something from inside the house and returned to find not only his grill upturned and the glowing charcoal and food spilled everywhere, (not to mention a small section of his yard on fire!), but his beloved pooch running off with a half cooked hunk of meat in his jaws! It reminded me of this silly old Harvey story I remember reading recently about meat maddened mutts running amok, --so now you get to read it too! From the April 1952 issue of Humphrey Comics #22.

Evil Mind

I haven't posted a vintage novelty gag gift box in a while, so here's one I found just today with my sister while on another one of our many antiquing excursions this week. Manufactured in the 60's by Golden's Magic Wand (based in Costa Mesa, CA), this one has three levels of eye poppin' hilarity: First comes the sinister box lid with a Confucius style, asian font warning --to really throw you off from what comes next. Now, lift the lid for the sexy "adults only" reveal! Ain't she cute? But wait-- there's more! Lift another level to reveal the silly Dalmatian with the dirty pillow eyes! Haha... did any of you see where that gag was going? Arf! 

The Sight of Blood!

Another cool 70's album insert order form, this time from the hottest band in the land-- KISS! Lots of Love Gun related greatness, (I still have the logo belt buckle G, as well as the logo necklace I), plus another reminder to join the KISS Army if for some reason you still hadn't by 1977. The backside of the form also reveals an ad for the amazing, 40-page, Marvel Comics Super KISS Special that actually had blood from all 4 members of the band mixed into the printing ink! All of this stuff totally rocked my 9 year old world back in the day, --it was such a great time era to be a KISS fan-- and I finally got to see them live a few years later in '79! My very first rock concert!

Alice Cooper T-Shirts & Fan Club Form

Unearthed this cool 70's Alice Cooper t-shirt and fan club order form this weekend. Assuming it's from 1977 as it states The Alice Cooper Show live album was then "NEW." I'd love to have that Design B tee on black, but really, they're all awesome! I'll have another one of these rock 'n roll fan club / mail-away order forms for you in our next post as well.