Well, it isn't really, but we are officially halfway to Halloween 2024 though, and if you need a little night cap after our weird Walpurgisnacht festivities over at THOIA HERE, how about this mutha of a story from the March 1956 issue of Astonishing #47 (featuring art by eerie Ed Winiarski.) May is just around the corner, so as usual, stay tombed to both blogs for lots more...
Unearthed a super cute and very old Tess and Ted School Shoes promotional pinback today-- and ain't they just about the cutest, most unjustly forgotten mascot team ever? Aka "The Star Brand Kids," Tess and Ted were characters created in the early 1900s to be featured in advertising materials for children's shoes manufactured by the Roberts, Johnson, and Rand Shoe Company in St. Louis, Missouri. According to the Button Museum website, this darling young duo apparently became quite famous at the time for their popular "rhyming adventures" as featured in trade catalog books and other advertising materials. They even became an actual real live song and dance act that performed for children in St. Louis. But back to the sweetly illustrated button, which is, like most things from the ever amazing Victorian era, just absolutely, beautifully rendered. From their fresh lil faces to their high falootin' fashion sense, I do believe it's time for Tess and Ted to make their long awaited comeback...
Found a very rare, super old 1929 Popeye hand game where the object is to maneuver all your little BB balls by hand into the designated holes --and even balance one on his pipe! The back instructions are funny because they make it sound like an actual challenge vs. Popeye! Anyway, this one's a bit rusted around the edges, with character colors faded on the playfield, but overall it's in decent enough shape and still plays great. Made by Ear Zim Toy MFG. Co., INC. in New York.
Vintage novelty booze flasks could be found in pretty much every kitsch loaded gift shop back in the day. This particular one that I came across (and before anyone gets mad at me, no I did not buy it) originally hails from the touristy Bagnell Dam strip area of Lake of the Ozarks MO, a place where I spent practically every summer as a kid in the 70's and early 80's. So here we have it, flimsy art slap-dashed on the front with a lame drinkers gag meter on the back... they clearly sold a million of these things with a wide variety of artistic interpretations of the stereotypical "drunk injun" caricature too. Google it and you'll see what I mean, --from Ft. Lauderdale beaches to tourist trap ghost towns of the wild west-- I even spotted one HERE online that appears to have actually been sold on a Cherokee Indian reservation in NC.
Yogee-- the Amazing Answer Board that glows in the dark is one of the more interesting examples of Ouija board variety, this one being from 1944 and, as mentioned, contains an eerie glow in the dark bonus (see close-ups of the four board corner swami's for example.) It also features two little devils holding up the Yogee board name on the front, then, flip it over and follow the answer board directions, or for those of you too afraid to dilly dally with the dead, you can just play chess or checkers instead (snooze!) So did I buy this thing? Unfortunately no, condition vs. price just wouldn't align... but I took a buncha pix of it!
Stumbled upon this hilarious novelty record yesterday, released by Vacuum (har) Records in 1959. It's a foagie-friendly gag most likely put into existence in righteous retaliation to that awful new Rock 'n Roll trend that all the kids were being so loud about around the time. Boy, they sure showed them! Played at any speed (har 2), each side features 3 whole minutes of pure, unadulterated silence. And yes, they still bothered cutting grooves into the vinyl, you know, so that your turntable needle can actually have something to do while you're sitting there being a grinning 'ol fuddy duddy. Be sure to read the funny "long-play" releases that were also available, as listed on the back cover. (PS: Youtube link not required.)
Have any of you ever seen a Schuco Perfume Monkey? Made in Germany around the late 1920's, these little guys came in a variety of sizes and mohair fur color, highlighted with the oddball surprise of a hidden perfume bottle tucked inside. Just remove the head to find the corked glass tube nestled halfway in its brain, and sliding all the way down into his body cavity (like his spine has been replaced with a bottle.) This is the second one I've found, and unfortunately it also contains no perfume, nor even the slightest scent of one. I do hope it was banana scented though! Anyway, the monkey itself is fully jointed like a child's toy, and couldn't be more "adorable" with felt paws, and a metal painted face. Those cold, dead eyes make him look like he possibly swallowed a bottle of poisonous perfume or something. For an even more interesting variant on the Schuco monkeys, CLICK HERE for the compact version, where the body splits right down the middle and the monkey graphically opens up to reveal a mirror hidden within his torso-- no fooling!
Okay, here's a vintage 50's or 60's kid's Halloween costume that I've never seen or even heard of before-- Collegeville's kooky Space Monster! In the box he might be sorta Creature from the Black Lagoony, but once you take him out of the box he's clearly more freaky frog than anything else (maybe even a little bit old school gremlin!) If you don't look at the image on the smock frock, he totally reminds me of something else that I can't quite put my finger on, (help, anyone?!) maybe a comic book alien, I think, possibly from some old DC science fiction story. Whatever he is, he's pretty cool, and the owl box with die-cut body window is something to really hoot about! Hoot!
I honestly can't reckon how many of these hilarious vintage hillbilly themed matchbooks I have, but it's a lot! They're pretty much everywhere around here too, cuz every time I open up a drawer or start digging around in a box of stuff, I always find a couple. So here we go with a small, but eye-poppin' example of the ones that have surfaced recently, and it's a real nice 'n spicy showcase of various artists doing what they do best in their unique, individual styles: drawing perty lil country gals and their cantankerously bearded 'ol Ozark mountain men! I'll post more in the future whenever they make an appearance, cuz if there's one thing I'm reeeally bad about it's keeping my matchbooks organized and all together in one place...
