12/31/09

HAPPY TIMES SQUARE?


So how is it Times Square became such a gathering spot for New Years Eve? I've never really thought about it. My theory is that it became the national focus when radio came along and music was broadcast across the country. The festivities in New York were celebrated in Kansas even though midnight had not yet arrived. I could be wrong soooooooo...I googled some information.

HH Tammen Co_Times Square_New York_tatteredandlost
Click on image to see it larger.

Let's start with how Times Square became Times Square. According to Wikipedia, which means in net language "those who profess to have knowledge":
  • 1904 – The New York Times opens its new headquarters on Longacre Square (the city's second tallest building), and persuades the city to rename the triangular "square" for the newspaper. Owner Adolph Ochs initiates a massive celebration in the square for New Year's, which is so popular (200,000 came) it permanently displaces the celebration from Trinity Church. There is no ball, but there are fireworks.
  • 1907 – Walter F. Palmer, chief electrician for The Times, creates the first New Year’s Eve Ball in response to the behest of publisher Adolph Ochs to create some kind of spectacular midnight show that would draw attention to the Square. The New Year’s Eve Ball first descended from a flagpole at One Times Square, constructed with iron and wood materials with 100 25-watt bulbs weighing 700 pounds (320 kg) and measuring 5 feet (1.5 m) in diameter. At first, it dropped 1 second after midnight.
  • 1914 – The Times relocates to 229 W. 43rd St., but the celebration continues.
  • 1920 – The Ball was replaced with an iron material Ball and weighing less than the original, only 400 pounds (180 kg).
  • 1942 – 1943 – During World War II, the descending of the Ball was stopped due to wartime lighting restrictions in case of enemy attack. Celebrants observed a moment of silence at midnight, followed by chimes.
Of course over the years the ball itself has been changed numerous times and celebrations on grand scales happen everywhere, but New York is still the focus for many. Back when there were only three tv channels really your only choice at midnight was Guy Lombardo. If you don't remember Guy Lombardo and his music that's okay. There was something mind-numbing about it. Upper-crust-no-down-beat dance music. It was all very formal and BORING! Of course now with what passes for entertainment on other channels I almost long for old Guy to show up in his tux, wand in hand.

Anywhoooooo...the above postcard can now be dated to sometime after 1904 since the back copy refers to it as Times Square and no longer Longacre. You thought I'd end with that didn't you. No.

Take a look at that rather strange little icon on the back of the postcard, both above the arrow and where the stamp is to be placed. It looks like some sort of Mesoamerican sculpture. Why this was chosen by the HH Tammen Co. I have no idea, but Harry Heye Tammen was a pretty interesting fellow who's reach went beyond just selling postcards of New York. His reach extended to various newspapers, books, dolls, children's hospitals, and even Buffalo Bill Cody.

Harry Heye Tammen was born March 6, 1856 in Baltimore, Maryland. He died July 19, 1924 in Denver, Colorado. During those years he led an eventful life, though not always on the up-and-up. He owned a curio and souvenir shop in Denver, was the editor of the Great-Divide Weekly Newspaper, and was a bartender at Denver's Windsor Hotel. In 1895 he, along with Fredrick Gilmer Bonfils, bought the old Evening Post, which became the Denver Post, in 1895.

First a little history of The Post from Wikipedia:
In August 1892, The Evening Post was founded by supporters of Grover Cleveland with $50,000. It was a Democratic paper used to publicize political ideals and stem the number of Colorado Democrats leaving the party. Cleveland had been nominated for president because of his reputation for honest government. However, Cleveland and eastern Democrats opposed government purchase of silver, Colorado's most important product, which made Cleveland unpopular in the state. Following the bust of silver prices in 1893, the country and Colorado went into a depression and The Evening Post suspended publication in August 1893
A new group of owners with similar political ambitions raised $100,000 and resurrected the paper in June 1894. (Source: Wikipedia)
Enter Harry Heye Tammen and Grederick Gilmer Bonfils:
On October 28, 1895, Harry Heye Tammen, owner of a curio and souvenir shop, and Frederick Gilmer Bonfils, a Kansas City real estate and lottery operator, purchased the Evening Post for $12,500. Neither had newspaper experience, but they were adept at the business of promotion and finding out what people wanted to read. Through the use of sensationalism, editorialism, and "flamboyant circus journalism," a new era began for The Post. Circulation grew and eventually passed the other three daily papers combined. On November 3, 1895 the paper's name changed to Denver Evening Post. On January 1, 1901 the word "Evening" was dropped from the name and the paper became The Denver Post. (Source: Wikipedia)
The Post's rambunctious history began one day in 1895 when blue-eyed, roly-poly Harry Tammen, bartender at Denver's Windsor Hotel, strolled into the littered city room of the old Evening Post. At his side was a new-found friend, swarthy, wax-mustached Frederick. Gilmer Bonfils (pronounced bonn-fees), a dashing promoter who had just cleaned up $800,000 in the notorious "Little Louisiana" lottery. To weary Postmen playing poker, Harry Tammen drawled: "Don't let us disturb you but we've just taken over this paper."

The take-over was breathless. For decades Bonfils & Tammen stirred up a brand of journalistic dust in Denver's rarefied air which made Hearst look stuffy. They raked the town for every bit of scandal, labeled their sheet "Your Big Brother, champion of
every good, pure, noble, holy and righteous cause." Sample causes: crusades against Governors, mudslinging matches with Senators, bullyragging attacks on advertisers, lavish parties for children, sick dogs and horses.

Between such spasms they ran the Sells-Floto Circus, beat the rival Scripps-Howard Rocky Mountain News into grogginess, forced Denver merchants to buy Bonfils' coal. They kept a shotgun in their red-carpeted office (which the underpaid staff called the "bucket of blood"), once were both wounded when an irate reader beat them to the draw. Even that affray was grist for their newsmill. Blustered Bonfils: "A dogfight in Champa Street is better than a war abroad." The maxim was drilled into George Creel, Gene Fowler, many another bright pupil in the Post's hell-for-leather journalism school.
And...
In December 1899 Tammen and Bonfils were shot in their Denver Post office by W.W. Anderson, an attorney representing "maneater" Alfred Packer after a Post article had accused Anderson of taking Packer's life savings as a retainer. In the scuffle in the office Bonfils was shot twice and Tammen three times. Anderson was tried three times but never convicted while Tammen and Bonfils were convicted for jury tampering in the third trial.

In 1900, both Bonfils and Tammen were horsewhipped and hospitalized by a lawyer who disliked their yellow journalism. Bonfils took $250,000 hush-money from Harry F. Sinclair in the Teapot Dome scandal.

From 1904 to 1921 they owned the Sells-Floto Circus.

In 1909 Bonfils and Tammen bought the Kansas City Post and owned it until selling it to Walter S. Dickey in 1922. J. Ogden Armour was a silent partner in the endeavor. The Post with its tabloid format, red headlines and yellow journalism was closely tied to the rise of the Tom Pendergast political machine in Kansas City. The Post was to fold shortly after the collapse of the machine. (Source: Wikipedia)
Now as to that circus they owned. The Sells Floto Circus was a combination of the Floto Dog & Pony Show and the Sells Brothers Circus that toured with sideshow acts in the United States during the early 1900s. The "Floto" name came from the Post's one-time sportswriter, Otto Floto. To see images from the circus, including posters click here.
During the 1914-1915 seasons the circus featured Buffalo Bill Cody.

By 1929 the Sells Floto was part of the American Circus Corporation, along with the
Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus, the John Robinson Circus, the Sparks Circus, and the Al G. Barnes Circus. John Nicholas Ringling bought the conglomerate organization outright for $1.7-million. With that acquisition, Ringling owned virtually every traveling circus in America. (Source: Wikipedia)
So, how did Buffalo Bill Cody end up working for this circus? Glad you asked. Near the end of his life his Wild West Show was in debt:
Cody's debts continued to grow and Cody was forced into a series of "farewell appearances." Cody borrowed $20,000 from Harry Heye Tammen, publisher of the Denver Post to cover the cost of printing posters. Forewarned is forearmed. Perhaps, Cody should have been wary of trusting someone who published a postcard bearing the motto: "Live everyday so that you can look every man in the eye and tell him to go to _______." When the show was performing in Denver, Tammen had the show seized by the Sheriff and sold at a Sheriff's sale. Tammen then, holding the debt over Cody's head, forced Cody to appear in a circus owned by Tammen. Judge W. L. Walls of Cody, Wyoming, noted that in the last two years of his life, Cody lost between $140,000.00 and $200,000.00. (Source: Wyoming Tales and Trails)
Now as to the dolls, and yes way back above I did mention Harry Heye Tammen's involvement with dolls, specifically Skookum Indian dolls. The dolls were originally made by Mary McAboy as a small cottage industry, but the dolls soon took off and she filed two applications for patents for a doll or toy figure on November 29, 1913. The patents were granted on February 17, 1914. In the 1920s she partnered with Tammen to market her dolls in order to keep up with the demand. To read more about these dolls visit Skookum Dolls. The doll to the left is from my own collection and dates from the 1940s.

And finally as to Tammen's involvement with a children's hospital:
He donated money to the Children’s Hospital in Denver, for the construction of Tammen Hall. At his death, he bequeathed a trust fund for the care of children whose parents could not afford hospital expenses. (Source: Find a Grave)
Note, that at the source above, Find a Grave, you can see a photo of Tammen and his grave site.

Obviously I haven't proven why Times Square is the focus of the nation on New Years Eve, or if it even really is. It's the focus of New Yorkers, who pretty much do consider New York the center of the universe, and for a very long time New York controlled the media. So I'm sticking with my "radio did it" reasoning.

As to why Tammen chose a Mesoamerican sculpture for his logo? Haven't a clue. Perhaps someday I'll find more information because I certainly have enough cards in my collection that have this logo on the back.

Well, this was a rather pointless journey for New Years Eve, but it's kept me off the streets. I will be spending a quiet evening, except for the sound of my own coughing and hacking until midnight when the gunfire will start, and the fireworks, most likely followed by the siren from the local volunteer fire department, which will probably closely be followed by the pack of coyotes howling. Oh, and the turkeys. They'll probably start screaming when they hear the gunfire. By then I'll be in bed having missed New Years completely, but putting a note on my mirror to remember to watch the Rose Bowl parade.

Happy New Year to all and keep it safe on the roads.

Now, for something a lot less complicated visit the continuing saga of the little snow man.

12/24/09

MELE KALIKIMAKA!


For my best friend with memories of Christmas past.

Santas Gone Hawaiian record_tatteredandlost

Santa's Gone Hawaiian LP_tatteredandlost

And a little Lucky Luck with Kanaka Christmas.

Mo da kind sistuh.


12/23/09

And in a couple of days the ELVES GO WILD!


The time is soon here. The work will be done and the elves will get a few days off and then they can party. Elves go wild! They're counting the minutes. Otherwise...

Coca Cola ad_Dec 1953_tatteredandlost
Click on image to see it larger. (Source: National Geographic December 1953)

this is the last Coca-Cola Santa for the year.

12/22/09

Well, THEY FINALLY DID IT! Log Cabin scared everyone away.


It's pretty obvious now that Log Cabin either put everyone to sleep or scared them all away because in this December 1933 ad from Delineator they're down to just the tin running around. Scary, no? Even scarier is the poor woman below who perhaps partook of too much Log Cabin. Perhaps she wasn't able to sleep and was dosing herself nightly with Log Cabin in hopes of that gentle sleep they promised.

Log Cabin ad_Dec 1933_tatteredandlost

Seriously, girdles. What horrid contraptions. I remember these things. Rubber with holes all over them so the rubber could "breath". I remember watching my mother get into one and thinking that when I got older no matter what I would never wear such a contraption. Just horrible mind numbing, butt numbing torture. Women were not allowed to be women. Of course things aren't much better these days. It's just as physically and psychologically damaging to woman, and especially young girls, to think plastic surgery is an option for just about everything and heaven forbid should a spec of body hair appear anywhere. So actually maybe we're as a whole much more mental now than back in the '30s.

And congratulations. You've made it through my final Log Cabin Syrup ad.

12/21/09

Have yourself a MERRY ELFIN CHRISTMAS


I don't know how old this card is. My best friend sent it to me in the '70s and I think it was old even then.

Open it up and it's a pop-up card.


It's got a lot more pop-up than I have today. First day of a cold. A crummy stuffy runny cold. I will spare you anymore details. I don't have time for a cold this week. It's going to ruin everything!

12/19/09

And in a week it will ALL BE OVER


Coca Cola_Dec 1952_tatteredandlost
Click on image to see it larger. (Source: National Geographic December 1952)

12/17/09

LIONEL TRAIN...where the pedal meets the metal and the boy meets the man


In 1959 I asked Santa for a toy train and I got one. We had just moved from our house outside D.C. and were spending Christmas in Harrisburg with my grandparents before driving across country on our way to Hawaii. There under the tree Christmas day was my train. An HO with two Plasticville buildings. I LOVED it! Over the years I'd put the train up each Christmas under the tree. As years went by the layout became more and more elaborate with more and more buildings and lots of snow. It was my idealized white Christmas. 

I still have the train in all of its original boxes along with the little green bottle of whatever it is to put in the engine to make it puff smoke as it goes around the track. I haven't put it up in a very long time and I miss it. I think of the little box of people I used to place in the same position each year. The rest of the year they were stuck in a little plastic box, but for a few weeks they were out and about in my wonderland beneath the tree. It took me days to put the whole thing up, but only a few hours to break it down.  

The ad below sort of ticks me off. Trains were always marketed as a toy for boys. The only time they marketed them for girls they made them...and I get ill thinking about it...Pepto-Bismol pink. What were they thinking? I imagine if you can get a mint pink train (hmmmm...note to self, possible odd candy to manufacture) in the original box it costs quite a pretty penny. Sorry, don't want one. I love my original with the black metal engine. Yeah, I miss it, but...

A few years ago my best friend, knowing my love for toy trains, gave me a DVD for Christmas entitled "Toy Trains & Christmas: Parts 1, 2, 3". I savored every moment of it. If you like toy trains or know someone who does I'd bet they'd love this video. I watched it over a series of nights with the glow of my Christmas tree in the room. Made me long for my train even more, but it's a good substitute. I've put a link to the video in the left column at the top of the Amazon listings.

Lionel train ad_December 1954_tatteredandlost
Click on image to see it larger. (SOURCE: National Geographic December 1954)

Yup, a boy toy. Little girls weren't supposed to have any interest. I guess I just didn't fit the restrictive mold. But I will say that the train brought my father and me closer each Christmas. For years it was a tradition that we'd head out some evening to the hobby store to buy a new building to add to the village. Some of the buildings were Plasticville that I'd put together each year. Other, more elaborate buildings, were kits that my dad would meticulously put together. Good times. Good times.

12/16/09

EDDIE ELEPHANT'S BACK! New at CafePress!


Seriously, DID YOU THINK I WAS THROUGH WITH THIS?


More evidence has been uncovered. Apparently Log Cabin Syrup is now a good justification to use in court for dissolution of a marriage. Or perhaps...ummmmm...alien abduction. Now that I think of it, I do recall hearing there was a section in Project Blue Book called "Log Cabin...alien love syrup?" Okay, now I'm just pullin' this stuff out of thin air.

Log Cabin ad_May 1934_tatteredandlost

12/15/09

Once again THE EYES HAVE IT


Wish I had something clever to say but my mind is runnin' on empty. Okay, it's specifically running on Ambien which I stupidly took too soon which now has me wondering if I'll actually even take the muscle relaxant for the dislocated jaw. Oh whatever. Let's all pretend we're this lovely lady with the come hither eyes. Probably lived on Park Avenue and only knew about the Depression when her car drove quickly by the people standing in food lines. I'm being mean. She was probably a nice lady...just like the wives of the Wall Street honchos with the humongous gross out bonuses. Oh it's time for me to hit the sack. My cursor is starting to look like a little bug on the screen and soon I'll be down the hall spreading Nutella on a tortilla and then completely forgetting about it until I wake up the next morning and find chocolate on my toothbrush. Ambien...a dangerous dance with the pharmaceutical devil.

But back to this lady. Ummmmmmmmm...I know nothing other than she was illustrated by Dynevor Rhys. I posted two more of his illustrations back in October.

Delineator_Dec 1933_tatteredandlost
Click on image to see it larger. (Source: Delineator, December 1931) 

Talk amongst yourselves. Today's discussion is on the NRA. NO not that one. Not the one that thinks people should have a gun in each pot and four semi-autmatics loaded under the bed just in case a deer walks by. No this is the National Recovery Act and how desperately do we need one now? You can see the eagle logo in the lower left portion of the cover. Here's a bit of history about the logo:
The Blue Eagle, a blue-colored representation of the American "thunderbird," with outspread wings, was a symbol used in the United States by companies to show compliance with the National Industrial Recovery Act. It was proclaimed on July 20, 1933, as the symbol of industrial recovery by Hugh Samuel Johnson, the head of the National Recovery Administration.
The design was sketched by Johnson, and based on an idea utilized by the War Industries Board during World War I.

All companies that accepted President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Re-employment Agreement or a special Code of Fair Competition were permitted to display a poster showing the Blue Eagle together with the announcement, "NRA Member. We Do Our Part." Consumers were exhorted to buy products and services only from companies displaying the Blue Eagle banner. According to Johnson, "When every American housewife understands that the Blue Eagle on everything that she permits into her home is a symbol of its restoration to security, may God have mercy on the man or group of men who attempt to trifle with this bird."

On September 5, 1935, following the invalidation of the compulsory code system, the emblem was abolished and its future use as a symbol was prohibited. (Source: Wikipedia)
UPDATE: Wow I figured this would be bad when I looked at it this morning but not that bad. This is what happens when you mix a piece of fudge at bedtime and an Ambien. Above is the cleaned up version. My best friend alerted me to my stupidity. Sistee Lister indeed!

12/13/09

SANTA SWAPPING stories by the Coke machine


I've said before that I have created, in my mind, a fantasy world for the elves. And I think this just might be proof that Santa is a jolly old soul. Santa caught taking a break next to the Coke machine right before he's about to take off for his eventful flight. He's cracking jokes with the elves while they fill his sleigh. Knows them all by name. Is great with small talk, no height joke intended.

Coca Cola ad_Dec 1954_tatteredandlost
(Source: National Geographic December 1954)  Click on image to see it larger.

Then again maybe this is Santa at the ad agency getting ready to pose for another Coke ad. Who knows. Let your imagination lead you where it will.


Eddie Elephant Update: More Eddie items will be appearing at CafePress within the next twenty-four hours. Yeah, I know, it used to say 12, but things aren't going as fast as I'd hoped.

12/12/09

EDDIE ELEPHANT by Johnny Gruelle, author of RAGGEDY ANN


By now you'll have noticed the flashing introduction to Eddie Elephant next to this post. Well, let me tell you a bit about Eddie.

Eddie Elephant, by Johnny Gruelle, was published in 1921 and was my dad's favorite book as a child. It was given to him by his cousin. In fact it's the only book that has survived from his childhood. He has virtually nothing from those days so whenever he sees this book it makes him smile. So I decided if Eddie can make my dad smile, and he certainly makes me smile, more people should have the chance to be brought on board and become fans of Eddie.

The story of Eddie is very simple. Eddie sets out from home to go visit Granny Elephant and has an adventure along the way meeting all sorts of friends in Jungleville. 

The author, Johnny Gruelle, was born on December 25, 1880 in Arcola, Illinois and died January 3, 1938 of a sudden heart attack in  Miami Beach, Florida. During that span of life he created one of the most beloved characters, Raggedy Ann. 
Johnny Gruelle was an American artist, political cartoonist, and writer of children's books. He is best known as the creator of Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. He also provided colour illustrations for a 1914 edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales.
He was born John Barton Gruelle in Arcola, Illinois. His father, Richard Gruelle was a noted artist affiliated with Hoosier Group of Indiana artists. His first well known cartooning work was Mr. Twee Deedle which Gruelle created after he beat out 1,500 other entrants in a cartooning contest sponsored in 1911 by The New York Herald. Mr. Twee Deedle was in print from 1911 to 1914.

One day, Johnny gave his daughter Marcella a dusty, faceless rag doll found in the attic. Johnny drew a face on the doll and named her Raggedy Ann. Marcella played with the doll so much, Raggedy Ann became like a sister to her. Gruelle figured other children would like the doll as much too. Gruelle's Raggedy Ann doll U.S. Patent D47,789 was dated September 7, 1915. In 1918, the PF Volland Company published Raggedy Ann Stories. Gruelle then created a following series of popular Raggedy Ann books and dolls.

Marcella, after being vaccinated at her school for smallpox, was given an unidentified second shot without the consent of either parent. She soon contracted diphtheria and died, aged 13. After this bitter blow, family friends described him as "possessed, with a heavy countenance, and ... with the only thing he would bear to have near him as a reminder of Marcella a rag doll."

Gruelle lived in the Silvermine section of New Canaan, Connecticut, where the dolls were first mass produced, and later moved his home and company to neighboring Wilton, Connecticut. Gruelle spent a year in Ashland, Oregon from 1923-1924. He died in Miami Beach, Florida on January 8, 1938, of a sudden heart attack. (Source: Wikipedia)
To see more of Johnny Gruelle's work click here to go to Google's image site.

Eddie long ago was out-of-print so I thought I'd start Eddie back on his road to adventure by adding images of Eddie to my CafePress shop. More images are to come so keep checking back. 

Eddie is probably one of the sweetest elephants you'll ever come across, not that many of us come across elephants in our own day-to-day adventures. Oh shoot, just take a look and tell me what you think.

12/11/09

3 -2 -1 -CONTACT!


I did a short piece about redecorating your kitchen at my other blog called Cooking Outside at any Age. So many people offer helpful domestic tips on their blogs. Anyone who reads the goings on here knows I have only mentioned tablescaping once, provided only one dubious recipe, and just generally leave others to do what they do best and I don't. But today, well, I'm going to outdo all of them. I have the ultimate decorating tip. And everything, I mean EVERYTHING will be easily wiped down with a sponge when you're done. I know, I know...it sounds too good to be true. Wellllllllllllll...sort of.

I give you the room of tomorrow or ummmmm yesterday courtesy of Woman's Day September 1970. The modern rumpus room, suitable for wild parties and children.

contact paper decorating_1970_tatteredandlost
Click on image to see it larger.

And just think  how nice that bowl of cream corn with bologna and olives will look here. You can basically spray the whole room down with a hose after the party's over. Okay, okay, getting cream corn out of this rug will be a challenge, but now I'm going to offer my own useful hint. LEAVE IT! Tell people it's a shag rug and some of the shag is just more tightly wound. Hey I'd buy it.

Forget the recipe? No problem. Here's a link. Bon appetite and don't worry about spilling any. I've got the garden hose right here.

And you probably thought I was just going to do sweet Christmas posts this month. Ha!

12/10/09

Ladies, HE CAN'T BE COMPLETELY BLAMED


Ladies, and I speak to you as a woman, don't be angry if this year under the tree is a toaster from your husband. It's not completely his fault. Oh wait...ummm...yes it is! However if it were 1957 he should have been given a partial pass. What was a poor guy to do? He hadn't been taught to buy things for women that didn't have to do with the bedroom or kitchen. Those were the options and advertisers simply reinforced the stereotype.

Example A: Toastmaster ad from the 1957 Better Homes & Gardens Christmas Ideas magazine.

Toastmaster Christmas ad_1957_tatteredandlost
Click on image to see it larger.

So guys, this is a warning. Do not, I repeat DO NOT put a thong inside the toaster box and think you're going to get a  jolly Christmas. Just a warning as you head out shopping.

12/9/09

Santa meets the MAD MEN AGENCY


This Santa is cool daddy-o. He's hip. He hangs out in the Village after hours with the cats from Sterling Cooper. They've influenced this version of the iconic Coca-Cola Santa. 

Coca Cola ad_Dec 1956_tatteredandlost
(Source: National Geographic December 1956) Click on image to see it larger.

So sit down, tell Santa everything. Oh, and just to let you know that mirror on the side of the room...yeah, there are five guys in business suits on the other side watching you. They're researching you. Researching how you interact with Santa. They're seeing if you're worthy. But for heaven's sake don't look at the mirror. Just act casual, like Santa. Have a coke and tell the jolly man everything. He doesn't keep track of what you say.

12/8/09

New added benefit found for LOG CABIN SYRUP!


Yes, it's true. Log Cabin Syrup continues to astound the scientific community with its many amazing properties. In February 1934 it seemingly allowed William Archibald Pennington, Jr. to simply disappear. Amazing! Truly astounding! Scientists were left scratching their heads. The military brass  instantly became interested in "Project Log" which until recently was stamped "TOP SECRET" and kept in an old coffee can at the Pentagon. Yes, it's true. Even the Pentagon isn't very good at managing their ephemera.

Log Cabin ad_FEB 1934_tatteredandlost

I'll let you decide next time you try a bottle. Do you get all tingly, feel like you're about to enter another realm? Okay, seriously...have you had your glucose checked lately because I think we're talking some serious diabetes.

12/7/09

THE PERFECT GIFT FOR THE COLLEGE STUDENT in 1956


So what's the gift on the lips of every college student this Christmas? Their lips tell you iMac, but their eyes say Remington Quiet-Riter. Never judge a college student by what you see in their eyes, or for that matter what's on their lips.

If they'd been alive in 1956 perhaps this typewriter would have been exactly what they dreamed would be under the tree (besides Tuesday Weld or James Dean). Alas typewriters have gone the way of too many things to list. Let's just say I learned to type on a Remington that belonged to my mother. It's still in the closet. It's a work of art.

Remington Quiet-Riter ad_1956_tatteredandlost
 Source: National Geographic December 1956

12/5/09

SHIRLEY TEMPLE paper dolls 1935


These Shirley Temple paper dolls date back to 1935. They're quite tattered and not a complete set. I purchased them as one item in a huge box I bought years ago on eBay that contained around 100+ vintage paper doll sets, some complete. Shirley was actually thrown in as a bonus. 

Shirley Temple paper dolls_1935_tatteredandlost
The dolls, clothing, and accessories are all double-sided so Shirley looked sensational whether coming or going. There are at least another dozen or more outfits in the bag and lots of little accessories. One of these days I'll get all of it into an album just as I've done with all the other sets I purchased.

Shirley Temple paperdoll_1935_clothes 2_tatteredandlost
As you can see Shirley's been run through the mill more than once. She's bent and torn and one doll is missing a hand. That's okay. I say she's been personalized. You can still occasionally find these dolls on eBay. Complete sets in booklets go for several hundred dollars. Or you can do what I've done and buy some of the reproductions done by Dover. I've put links in the left column at Amazon.

Shirley Temple paperdoll clothes_1935_tatteredandlost

12/2/09

Here comes SANTA CLAUS


Last year I did a post about the iconic Coca-Cola Santa painted by Haddon Sundblom. Of course not a living soul outside my own brain new this blog existed so I'll give a link to that post.

What you see below is the cover of a wonderful book of these very Santas. I've put a link to the book in the left-hand column. It's a  book with beautifully reproduced vintage Coca-Cola ads. Brings back the Santa I remember from my childhood. 


And here is the oldest Santa Coca-Cola ad I have. It's from the December 1939 National Geographic.

Coca Cola ad_Dec 1939_tatteredandlost
Click on image to see it larger.

Now, to read a bit about Haddon Sundblom and see some of his other work click on the following links:

American Art Archives (Dave, make sure you click on this one. There's a surprise there for you.)

Haddon Sundblom at Wikipedia  You'll be surprised to see his last "Santa" 


And from the wonderful blog Today's Inspiration:

Work from home. BE A YOGI! Torn bed sheet required.


Still looking for a way to run a business from home? Selling donuts didn't work for you? Resoling shoes just made a mess on your dining room table? Well, do you have an old bed sheet and a very large barrette? Be a Yogi. Not Yogi Bear. That would be silly. When listed in the phonebook you'd be alphabetically second. No, you need to be Yogi Alpha. See? "A" before "B" makes sense to me.

This ad is from the March 1934 Delineator. Imagine my dismay at finding this ad and thinking there was surely a whole slew of information online about this mesmerizing con-man only to find virtually nothing. I'm so disappointed. I was hoping to discover his name was Ted Smith and he was long ago proven to be a charlatan and was outed while spending his ill gotten gains on hookers and booze. Alas he just seems to be nothing more than leftover ephemera. I will share what I found.

Yogi Alpha_tatteredandlost

At this site you'll find a large ad for Yogi Alpha from a 1934 Modern Mechanics. I'm thinking Omar Shariff would star in the film version of Yogi's life.

And then there's the following from a book I found on Google Books. An excerpt from Astrology: Science of Prediction 1945 by Sidney Kimball Bennett.
Shortly thereafter I received a letter from Mr. Proskauer. He wrote, in part:

"Dear Mr. Bennett,
Personally, and officially as Chairman of the Press Bureau of Parent Asscmbly No. 1, Society of American Magicians: permit me to congratulate you on the fairness of your Reply to Critics of Astrology as printed by you.

We were particularly pleased with your statements in Wynn's Astrology Magazine that astrologers who are worthy of the name should be examined and licensed by state boards, that 'phonies' should be barred by law from handing out boilerplate 'horoscopes' and that newspapers should be severely censured for accepting advertisements from 'Yogi Alpha' who, under the guise of being an astrologer, gives such predictions as 'You will marry the lady you
have in mind in the second week of May. next year.'

Another thing that pleased us was your expose of the astrological forecasts sold by Simmons of Chicago to the 'trade' [carnival 'astrologers") .. ..

Sincere people, entitled to their own opinions, are not the target for our guns. It's those fakers, who yearly steal large sums from the public, that we arc exposing and showing up in their true colors.. . .

The Federal Radio Commission's action in citing two stations for 'alleged broadcasting of improper astrological programs' should go a long way to warn every broadcast station in the country not to engage any astrologer who predicts definite future events, marriage, deaths, travel. etc, And your stating the Commission did right in these two instances should go a long way toward backing our campaign to prevent fakers from using the air. It is too bad the
innocent must suffer for the sins of the guilty."
Somebody was a little bent out about Alpha male Yogi. So, ol' Yogi was outed, but it wasn't long until another charlatan stepped into his shoes. Anyone remember EST, the Erhard Seminars Training founded and run by a car salesman? Two day seminar with the now famous "No you cannot leave the room to go to the bathroom" rule?

You know they're out there. Hoping to get a fool to part with their money.
Dear Sir,
I am a Prince in Nigeria whose father the King has died and I cannot access  his funds. With your help and bank account number...
You get the point. Yogi is just the old game but he had a costume. You could see him coming...all the way from San Diego, a hotbed of Yogis. Alpha males everywhere!

And hey, if the whole Yogi thing doesn't work for you there's always growing mushrooms in your basement. "Really officer, they're mushrooms. I sell them to the restaurant down the street and I also ship them across the border to Canada. That's where the Mushroom HQ is located."

I hope this has been useful. Be your own charlatan or maybe not. Just grow mushrooms in the shed. No bed sheet required.

12/1/09

LOG CABIN redux and more GLUYAS WILLIAMS


Back from a pleasant Thanksgiving break and whoop 'n tarnations I didn't have any Log Cabin syrup! There were no waffles or pancakes! Not that the extended weekend was without food. Too much food. Of course I didn't have to eat it, but I wasn't going to be rude. I had to consume as much as everyone else or maybe even one-up them.

I return home and go in search of some worthy ephemera and come upon this. Log Cabin redux. On November 11th I posted an ad from an old Saturday Evening Post describing the apparent virtues of syrup as a sleep tonic. Now I come to find it's also a good excuse to avoid work. Log Cabin...multipurpose elixir!

Again the illustration is by Gluyas Williams and again you can read more about him by clicking on this link. This particular ad ran in the March 1934 Delineator. I have a feeling in time I will find more of these and we'll be even more amazed at the incredible properties of Log Cabin Syrup. 

And here are a few other links with brief information about Gluyas Williams. The first is apparently where his papers are stored at Syracuse University and here is another with a brief biography. The most interesting is a link to a 1984 article in American Heritage

One of these days I'm going to find a reasonably priced Log Cabin tin and I'm going to buy it to add to my collection. Yeah, it's true, I collect old tins too. I know, don't even try to imagine what my place looks like. I can tell you my relatives don't understand. You people however would be perhaps more forgiving of my eccentricities.

Gluyas William_Log Cabin Syrup_tatteredandlost

And todays secret word is: HJJ3UT8UJ5XE