A Treasury of Christmas Ideas

How about some holiday highlights from a fun little midcentury Illinois Power Company freebie booklet called "A Treasury of Christmas Ideas!" Loaded with dozens of easy-does-it helps 'n ho-ho-ho's concerning food, decor, gift magic, and even picking out that perfect xmas tree! Plus, if you're clueless about how to thaw out that giant xmas turkey, well, we got ya covered there too! Actually, you'll have to figure out most of this stuff on your own, because aside from a few examples below, I really mostly just wanted to share the cute key art imagery and lettering from the various chapters. Oh well, you can't always get what you want, --even around xmas time.

Budget Balancer

Anyone out there having a swell time balancin' the 'ol budget lately? Good grief, who in 2025 thought things would actually be the total opposite of "great again?!" Anyway, for those in need of assistance, this midcentury Budget Balancer metal box might help ya sort through your troubles during the holidays. Perfect for storing receipts, recipes, and even your weed, and if anything else, you can always gaze upon the wonderful kitsch mastery of Stylecraft of Baltimore color combos and illustrations adoring all sides of the box-- thus, dreaming about days gone by that actually were great, or in the very least, somewhat closer to what that concept was supposed to be all about, or whatever...

Candy Containers: Holiday Edition

Last month I showed you an assortment of fun plastic candy containers HERE, and now with xmas on the horizon, I have a few more of them assembled into a nice little holiday theme. We'll start with xmas and a badly painted Santa, as well as a couple of neat examples of snowmen --one with a rather melty case of explosive, sugar ball diarrhea -- eeek! --and one you can make jump around when you push up on the lever attached to his feet. I've also included some Halloween and Easter bunny containers because, yeah, those holidays are a long way away, --who knows if I'll even remember to post about them when the time comes! And yes, you can also make that wicked witch dance around by lighting the whole thing on fire. "Some traditions never die..." giggled the skull.

Super Track Pop Car

Scored another cool little Labubu item from an older blind box POP MART series called Super Track Pop Car. Of the 11 various toy autos offered in the set (including the "secret") two of them are Labubu, with the rest being an assortment of other various popular Pop Mart characters including Molly, Pucky, Dimoo, and the sensational Skullpanda (I believe I need her in that black cop car too!) The other Labubu car I still need is a Model T style classic-- hope to acquire it soon. But first I had to test the waters of this set and see what the Space Age Car was all about, and it seriously doesn't disappoint! These are absolutely top quality metal "Hot Wheels" style cars. The wheels spin and they glide smoothly across any flat surface. I definitely think this is the best one of the set, and Labubu is hilariously designed with a flat spot on his cheek because he's so smooshed inside and pressed against the glass dome, ears smashed back, and clearly sweating that cute little red nose off! This is yet another incredible, and somewhat obscure Pop Mart series that most casual Labubu collectors probably don't even know about. With wonderfully bright packaging, and stellar design, and as most things POP MART related, comes with a double sided collector card. (FYI the "secret" car is a Molly Mini Taxi, if interested, hit up Google to see what it looks like!

Venus Over-Eating

We're still trying to finish up all of those terrific Thanksgiving leftovers from last week around here! Yep, too much good food = too much added baggage around the 'ol midsection! Good thing New Years is coming soon so we can dive back into all of those unresolved resolutions that we left danglin' in the 2025 winter wind. You know, what we really needed was more of the Sure Way To Prevent Over-eating utensils method, and less shakins from the gay! practical! and amusing! "Venus" salt 'n pepper shakers! We seasoned that bird and all the trimmings too good, I tells ya! 

Also, vintage gag gift boxes o'kitsch like these make great xmas presents, just sayin'...