Found some fun, 1950's Post Toasties "Spook Patches" cereal prizes a few weeks back, though mine seem to be part of the mail-order option, per the wonderfully designed envelope. And while Spook Patches aren't exactly "spooky", (I mean, the ghost on the envelope is), I'm assuming the "spooky" factor applies to the eerie "glow-in-the-dark" aspect. That's not to say though that there might've been some other scarier artwork on some, because as you can see, I only have 19 of the 60 that were available. So okay, these actually feel more like a cheap Cracker Jacks paper prize, and it's odd that the yellow gritty textured areas on the stickers aren't actually the areas that glow. Still a blast from the glow-in-the-dark past none the less, and a few of them have some really great illustrations. (Advertisement image found on eBay.)
3 comments:
It's the plain background that glows??? And the part that doesn't is flocked with glitter? And these are labelled as spooky but ... aren't? OK, I'd be disappointed as a kid but these are still super cool!
I love the envelope ... if you ordered these at the time it would have taken 4-6 weeks to get them, so seeing the artwork on the outside would have been fun as a kid. I still remember ordering old comics from Mile High Comics and checking the mailbox every day!
I like Holy Cow and for some reason Perfect Square. That one just enchants me!
I assume that last patch was to be applied to the backside of one's pants--Then you could reenact the Oswald Rabbit title card announcing the conclusion of his cartoon. What fun.
These are cool. And there is certainly a wide range of odd cultural nods happening here. Some of it clever and some of it just the same-'ol. Where's 23 Skiddoo? Where's Kilroy Was Here? I wonder what percentage of the remaining forty-one patches I could accurately guess? Some of these are pretty funny, though. Puddy Tat cracked me up--Saturday morning cartoons through a teen's caustic filter. Quelle Chick also struck me as pretty funny.
I like the way the envelope (these came in?) is yet another coupon to purchase them. That strikes me as some refreshing faith in the product. I imagine most companies responsible these mail order specials had faith that ran quite the other way: No kid was ever gonna even admit they fell for X-Ray Spex or a hundred soldiers or whatever, let alone buy again. I always thought the usual envelopes would say something like "no take-backs, sucker!"
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