Come On to the PTA PARTY!

Most likely 64 years ago tonight there was a PTA party in the county of Marin, California. I provide you with the handmade invitation from Montez Lawton's scrapbook.

So why can I narrow this down to 1951? The give away are the first few lines on the inside of the card:

"Come on to our school, our school,
We geeve you—dinner!"

This is a word play on the Rosemary Clooney 1951 hit "Come On-a My House." Too many people will have no idea who Rosemary Clooney was, unless they just think of her as George's aunt. And even fewer people will know the people are who are referred to in the information below from Wikipedia:

"Come on-a My House" is a song performed by Rosemary Clooney on her album Come On-A My House, released on June 6, 1951. The song was written by Ross Bagdasarian and his cousin, the Armenian American Pulitzer Prize winning author William Saroyan, in the summer of 1939, while driving across New Mexico. The melody is based on an Armenian folk song.

It was not performed until the 1950, off-Broadway production of The Son. The song did not become a hit until the release of Clooney's recording.

It was probably Saroyan's only effort at popular songwriting, and it was one of Bagdasarian's few well-known works that was not connected to his best-known creation, Alvin and the Chipmunks. Bagdasarian, as David Seville, went on to much fame with his Chipmunks recordings.

…the song touches upon traditional Armenian customs of inviting over relatives and friends and providing them with a generously overflowing table of fruits, nuts, seeds, and other foods. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

So take a minute and imagine the PTA party back in '51. I'm betting there were a lot of crepe paper decorations.





And the Rosemary Clooney record playing.

My 2013 RESOLUTION

Read more books and use a spiffy vintage bookmark.

BALL-BAND shoes from Mishawaka

If you grew up in the 1950s you probably remember Keds, Converse, and maybe PF Flyers. Ball-Band? Never heard of them.

I have no memory of these shoes made by the Mishawaka Rubber & Woolen Mfg. Co. in Mishawaka, Indiana.

This ad is from the July-August 1951 Archie comic. It amazes me how many of the ads in this one comic are comics themselves. I did find a series of these comic ads online at ebay, but no actual information about how the idea came about or if they had running characters.

Click on image to see it larger.

The following is a little history of the Mishawaka Rubber & Woolen Mfg. Co. once located at 312 N. Hill St., Mishawaka, Indiana.

(Courtesy of the Mishawaka-Penn Public Library historical archives)

In 1867 Jacob Beiger puchased a small wooden mill built in 1838 near the dam and Mishawaka Woolen Manufacturing Company was born. Incorporated in 1874, the company produced red flannel boots. Adolphus Eberhart and Martin Beiger invented All Knit Boots in 1886. They were made with a black band around the top and when a red ball was later added the Ball Band trademark resulted.

Life, May 10, 1948

Stakes were driven for the first rubber-making plant in 1897. In 1899 the company was authorized to build a new four-story warehouse. More improvements were added after 1900 because of an increase in sales. After Martin Beiger’s death in 1903, a 30-man syndicate took control of the company. Later, Mishawaka Woolen Company became a subsidiary of U.S. Rubber.

Life, May 7, 1951

In 1921 a five-story storage and warehouse building designed by Albert Kahn was erected. The name of the company was changed to Mishawaka Rubber and Woolen Manufacturing Company in 1923, and to Uniroyal, Inc. in 1967. All footwear manufactured by Mishawaka Rubber Company was discontinued in 1969, and, due largely to the price pressures from foreign competition, Mishawaka Rubber Company was dissolved. Uniroyal closed after filing bankruptcy on April 1, 1997. All the buildings were demolished/imploded a few years later. Today, the site is home to the C. Beutter Riverfront Park. (SOURCE: Goldstein, Deborah May. Made in South Bend/Mishawaka. Discovery Hall Museum, 1980.

CAPTAIN TOOTSIE and The Dangerous Buggy Ride

I give you Captain Tootsie. Okay, that just makes me laugh. I know times were different when this character was created, but were they THAT different? Didn't anyone think maybe calling a "superhero" Captain Tootsie was all wrong? Apparently not. Would Captain Roll have been any better? Captain Toot? It gets worse, but you'll need to continue reading for that.

This image is from the July-August 1951 Archie comic. Since I'm not a comic book collector I had never seen this character. Okay, I've had this comic for years, but had never noticed or at least remembered this ad. He's apparently well known amongst serious collectors.

Now, I was a big fan of Tootsie Rolls as a kid and even used them to help take out loose teeth. Yes, it's true, a kids loose tooth and a Tootsie Roll work perfectly together. I won't go into the details. Suffice it to say it was a relatively pain free way to get the tooth disconnected from the gum when it was hanging by a thread and my mother just kept saying, "Pull it! Just pull it!" I liked the Tootsie Method better.

Let's check with Wikipedia to see how Captain Tootsie came about.

Captain Tootsie is an advertisement comic created for Tootsie Rolls in 1943 by C C Beck and Peter Costanza. It featured the title character Captain Tootsie and his sidekick, a boy named Rollo and 2 other young cohorts named Fatso and Fisty. 
It had many generic stories in the form of full colour one page Sunday strips, black and white daily strips usually with very few panels and 2 issues of a comic book of the same title released by Toby Press.


The character was extremely similar to Beck's other main work, Captain Marvel published by Fawcett Comics. The way all the characters featured were drawn looked to be stolen and changed very slightly from one of the stories of Whiz Comics (the Fawcett Comics feature of which Captain Marvel starred).


The stories were written to happen quickly without any background information and were usually quickly solved in only a punch or two, then ended off with 'the gang' enjoy a delicious snack of a Tootsie Roll product.


The advertisement comic was featured by many publishers who rivaled Beck at Fawcett, Fawcett and in the newspapers.


It is currently unknown how many stories were created for these ads, but some full stories can be found around the web.

His powers were quite generic. He seemed to be quite strong and quicker to the punch than any of his enemies. He was never seen flying or bouncing bullets off him, but it never really came up. His stories were kept as light and 'kid-friendly' as possible.



Captain Tootsie's comic strip ads ended at some point in the 1950s and besides a few posts about him online and being mentioned in a Comic Book Encyclopedia published in 2004, he has remained mostly forgotten. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

Oh why, oh why, couldn't my comic have Fatso and Fisty in it? But Fisty? Seriously? Captain Tootsie and Fisty? Not goin' there.

To see more Captain Tootsie ads click on any of the following links:

Comic Book Ad Hall of Fame

Toonpedia

Retrospace

The Fabulous Fifties

Cartoon Snap

DUBBLE BUBBLE would cause me trouble

Oh how I loved Dubble Bubble and Bazooka gum when I was growing up. A big wad of it stuck in my mouth, forever trying to blow big bubbles, ending up with it stuck in my hair, my mother telling me to hold still while she got it out (often with scissors).

The added bonus were the little tiny comics inside the wrapper. Now I probably couldn't read them without a magnifying glass.

And I wouldn't even think of trying to chew a big wad of bubble gum now. If I didn't pull a crown off, I'd most certainly send my TMJ into overdrive. Dubble Bubble would be for me nothing but trouble. And that makes me a little sad because I really did enjoy blowing those bubbles.

This image is again from the July-August 1951 Archie comic.

Click on image to see it larger.

And here's a little background about Dubble Bubble. Who knew it had an interesting history?

The Fleer Corporation, founded by Frank H. Fleer in 1885, was the first company to successfully manufacture bubblegum; it remained a family-owned enterprise until it was taken private in 1989.

Fleer originally developed a bubblegum formulation called Blibber-Blubber in 1906. Unfortunately, while this gum was capable of being blown into bubbles, in other respects it was vastly inferior to regular chewing gum, and Blibber-Blubber was never marketed to the public. In 1928, Fleer employee Walter Diemer improved the Blibber-Blubber formulation to produce the first commercially successful bubblegum, Dubble Bubble. Its pink color set a tradition for nearly all bubble gums to follow. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

and

Dubble Bubble is a brand of bubble gum invented in 1928 by Philadelphia-based Fleer. Walter E. Diemer — an accountant at Fleer — enjoyed experimenting with recipes during his free time. In an interview a few years before his death, he said, "It was an accident". In 1937, the gum went on the market nationally. It featured a comic strip that came with the gum starting in 1930, featuring twin brothers Dub and Bub. They were replaced by a new character named Pud in 1950.

Dubble Bubble was distributed in military rations during World War II until 1942. Due to war efforts, latex and sugar became scarce, briefly putting a halt to bubble gum manufacturing in the U.S. By 1951, Fleer was again able to manufacture Dubble Bubble, and in 1954, the company began sponsoring bubble gum blowing contests, which grew in popularity and were eventually televised.

Dubble Bubble was introduced as the first five-pack of gum in 1957, and began selling gumballs in 1999. Fleer eventually extended the line to apple, grape, cherry and watermelon flavors.

When Concord Confections bought the Dubble Bubble name from Fleer in 1998, they did not use Fleer's original 1928 Dubble Bubble recipe, and comic strips were discontinued; Pud remained mascot. In August 2004, Tootsie Roll expanded its presence in the bubble gum category by acquiring Concord Confections. Today, Dubble Bubble continues to grow, with Tootsie adding product extensions like Dubble Bubble Mini Tubs and Halloween Combo packaged gumballs and expanding distribution globally. The gum is sold in 50 countries. (SOURCE: Wikipedia)

Go here to see an early 1960s ad. Click here to read a bit more about the inventor, Walter Diemer.

"You can thank POPSICLE for saving the day!

It's 1951 and the Commies are everywhere. EVERYWHERE I TELL YOU! So what are you to do? You're just a kid with a love of Popsicles. How can you possibly help save mom, apple pie, and Los Alamos? With your Popsicle flashlight of course!

I think these Popsicle premiums need to be reissued. Catch spies, catch terrorists, or just catch your neighbor stealing your lawn flamingo with a Roy Rogers flashlight, a bike horn, and a water pistol.

Scoff if you must, but thanks to Los Alamos many of us spent far too much time under our desks in school waiting to be annihilated.

Just another item from the July-August 1951 Archie comic book.

Click on image to see it larger.

My first bike was not a SCHWINN

I have no idea who made the little red tricycle I first rode. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to find out it was something my grandfather got for me at the junk yard. He loved looking through junk yards down near the railroad tracks. He came home with some wonderful stuff.

My first two wheeler was a Huffy which came with training wheels. I still remember crying when my dad took those training wheels off. I was sure I would fall and the world would end for me. He ran alongside me, holding me upright, until he wasn't. He let me ride off down the sidewalk not knowing I was on my own. When I realized it I was so excited and remember seeing my folks in our front yard smiling and laughing.

My second bike was also a Huffy. I did not get a Schwinn until I was out of college. I used to love taking it to the mountains to ride around Squaw Valley and around Lake Tahoe. Good times. Good times.

This ad is from the July-August 1951 Archie comic. You can see some photos of an old Schwinn Phantom here. And go here to read about the Schwinn company.

Click on image to see it larger.

Remember when YOU GOT A TOY IN THE CEREAL BOX?

I don't buy much box cereal anymore so I really have no idea what's going on inside or outside the box. As a child I was heavily influenced by cereal commercials in the 1950s. My poor father ended up eating a lot of bad cereal. I took one bite and wouldn't eat anymore. My folks didn't have money to throw away on food so dad ate the dreadful stuff.

My main interest were the toys in the boxes or the games on the back. I no longer have any of those toys and actually can't remember what any of them were. Sometimes you had to cut a form off the back of the box and send it in with some small change (which at the time was not small change for my folks) and a box top. Then the excitement was waiting for the mail to arrive. Ah yes, that scene in Christmas Story when the decoder ring arrives; mail like that was exciting.

This ad is from the July-August 1951 Archie comic. The entire comic is in bad condition looking like a mouse feasted on one corner.

Click on image to see it larger.

Anybody out there ever get one of these rings? Think that's a foolish question? Well, I've heard from people who bought the little soldiers featured in ads from comic books so who knows?

The following two ads were found on Google Books, each an ad in an old Life magazine. Who remembers Pep cereal made by Kellogg's? Not me, which doesn't mean the mere mention of it wouldn't put a lump in my father's throat.

April 30, 1951

March 12, 1951

Think I'm crazy? Think these things weren't marketed to kids?

I rest my case.