E. Burnham's Reducing Lotion Bottle

I found this beautiful old bottle the other day, but haven't had much luck digging up anything about it online, other than the company appears to still be around and / or just utilizing the classic name. So for now, just the label information will have to do: Established in Chicago in 1871 --the same year as the great Chicago fire!-- E. Burnham's Reducing Lotion promised superfluously successful flesh absorption / reduction with a daily massage of its contents. Prepared only by E. Burnham himself, the best thing I can say about this stuff (after popping the ancient cork and seeing the creepy calcified contents at the bottom of the bottle), is that Mr. Burnham designed a truly gorgeous, nouveau-esque bottle label. The smiling young lady with the rouged cheeks and powered wig beckons you to dive in with the circular kneading motion immediately! "KALOS" as written upon her chest, is a Greek word describing something that is not only good in quality, but also has an attractive, captivating character. I'd say that sums up this bottle perfectly.

Points of Interest

With summer 2024 just a few weeks away, it's time once again for AEET to present you with a few perky "points of interest" to look over, uh, for the more adventurous among you! Yes, it's definitely peak season for vacationers who enjoy grand views in a sizzlin' Daytona Beach setting. And okay of course this is just another excuse for me to post another silly old novelty gag box gift-- but of even greater interest (I might equally point out), is the red image inside the box (under the rubber boobs, fellas!) which is clearly swiped from one of the most famous calendar photographs of all time. CLICK HERE for more about it, if you're not immediately recognizing it for some reason...

Stick-It-To 'Em

Fleer produced a ton of great non-sport trading card sets in the 70's, and the Stick-it-to-'em collection from 1976 was no exception. Defiling your friends, enemies, businesses, and other random surfaces everywhere was never so much fun as laying one of these sticky insult stickers on 'em! So far I've only found 17 from the 66 card set, and here they are featuring great artwork by what appears to be an excellent assortment of cartoon talent. I'll do a follow-up post if I find more...

Your Operation

I'm not sure I've actually ever heard of the adult greeting card company called Peppermint Sticks, but this funny get-weller produced by them in 1973 definitely hits on all things Karswellian, ie: funny artwork, campy horror, and sexy ladies! There's seriously so much going on here it'll make your nips spin, from the Peter Lorre lookalike eating a hand sandwich, to the Daisy Mae knock-off revealing the disaster of her recent surgery (uh, don't knock-it too quickly if you think about the possibilities!) We even get Chicago horror host, Svengoolie choking his chicken and crackin' his Berwyn gag from the confines of his cornball coffin. Yep, I give this one a solid 10/10 on the kitsch greeting card scale, --even the minty fresh company logo on the back is tops!

French Tickler

Picked up another funny novelty gag gift box the other day, and as usual, the art on the lid hints at something you just know is going to conflict with whatever is going on inside the box. Though to be honest, this time it actually penetrates a little closer to the implication than, umm, usual...

ELECTRA: The Girl from Outer Space

***ADULTS ONLY!*** It was always a bit more interesting when adult magazines from the 70's would offer up something different than the usual straight-forward bed/poolside/wheatfield nudie girl lay-out themes. And while there isn't a whole lot of assorted variety in ELECTRA's posing here, this was still quite the memorable 5 pages of electrifyin' space babery from my early youth. I mean, seriously, for me the only thing that ever came close to mixing girls and horror, was mixing girls with science fiction. From the May 1976 issue of Larry Flint's almighty, Hustler.

Whats'a Matter(horn) with You?

One of my better old photo finds this week while digging around the dimly lit, dusty corners of forgotten antique malls, was this 1961 Disneyland Matterhorn ride photo opp, complete with original envelope and die-cut window display. These happy people climbed to the very tippy-top of one of Walt's scarier snow covered mountains, survived the dangerous twists 'n turns of the path as well as the Yeti attack, and still managed to have a great photo of their adventure taken as well! Haha, where are they now? And why on Earth did they not hang onto this insanely wonderful snapshot?! I guess I could'a / should'a hung onto this and posted it next month on the 27th, eh?

Nightmare of Death!

If you enjoyed our recent crime horror mini-fest over at THOIA, prepare for a nightmarish leftover right here at AEET too! From the August 1951 issue of Crime and Justice #3, --yep, better pinch yourself as hard as you can to see if you're dreaming, or are you trapped in a never ending--

Buxton Girl Fan

Let it be known that I am now officially a big fan of this 1928 illustrated Buxton girl. Which also means I am equally a fan of Buxton girl fans, of which I just acquired a very lovely Deco era example. Folding inward / outward, neatly and compactly, the 3-piece fan when fully opened, reveals a pretty painted lady plucking berries from a flowery vine, while a colorful parrot watches her with feathery fascination. Signed by Buxton and dated Jan 3rd, 1928, and as noted on the backside of the fan, was a complimentary gift from THE MODEL "Store of Style and Economy" which was originally located not too terribly far away from me in Vandalia, IL.