WIN A TRIP TO HOLLYWOOD! Be on DR. KILDARE!

Okay, ladies and gents. This is what you've been waiting for! I've got a HUGE PRIZE here for some lucky fan. All expense paid trip to Hollywood, California and a part on Dr. Kildare! The real Hollywood. Not the Florida, Hollywood. The one with the odd footprints and handprints and paw prints in cement. The one where a guy dressed like Charlie Chaplin used to wander around Hollywood Boulevard freaking me out. THE Hollywood.

Make sure you read all the details. You wouldn't want to miss out on this one because of not crossing a "t" or dotting an "i."

Of course, some time travel at your own expense* is required. This contest IS from 1963. But on the upside, I don't see any date for when the contest entries had to be in. So don't let the fact that Dr. Kildare has been off the air for decades stop you from entering. And if you're a guy, well...times have changed. This might be the trip for you too! I'm sure we could take the skirt in with some seams and make a smart short pant suit for you.

Dream big my friends. DREAM BIG!












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*This contest is brought to you by the June 1963 Modern Teen magazine. This website has no responsibility to help you with your time travel should you win this prize. If you do win this prize, or know of anyone who has, please contact the editor because MAN, I WANT TO HEAR ALL ABOUT IT! 

**My condolences to Mr. Chamberlain if he actually had to go through with this.

MODERN TEEN June 1963

This one is pure heaven inside.

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Four of the following are dead. Do you know which ones?


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Gettin' a Little CHRISTMAS CRAFTY!

Okay Christmas crafters, I'm rollin' out the big guns now! Are you crafty enough to handle it? We're talkin' BH&G in 1957!! Read 'em and weep!!!

I could go on, but I'm gettin' tired of typin' exclamation points!!!!





Fifty 4" foil plates? Uhhhh...no.


(SOURCE: Better Homes & Gardens Christmas Ideas, 1957)

If you TALK DOWN TO YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE...

 If you talk down to your target audience, inferring they're stupid, does your audience get it?

This comic is from an old Teen from the mid-1960s. In order for there to be humor a teenage girl would have had to recognize that someone is stupid. I'm guessing it was hoped that the reader would not identify themselves as the target, but would instead think, "Oh yeah, Margie is just like that!"

So why would editorial think this was funny? Am I reading too much into this? Hey, it's late and my net access has been out all day.

SNOW WHITE and the SIX GNOMES cut-outs

This Snow White and her Six Gnomes is from The Delineator July 1918 issue. Sometimes the magazine included paper dolls, other times they were little cut out scenes like this.


(SOURCE: The Delineator, July 1918) Click on image to see it larger.

The artist, Robert McQuinn, is rather difficult to research. I cannot find any biographical information about him other than that he did illustration work for publishing and also was involved in costume and set design for the theater.

(SOURCE: Historic Newspapers)

(SOURCE: The Bookman, Vol. 43)

To see other work by McQuinn click here and here.

Okay, you're probably asking the same question I'm asking...where's the seventh gnome? That could be a mystical question for sure.

It's a BUICK KIND OF CHRISTMAS

Yesterday I gave you the back cover of the December 1936 "The Buick Magazine" with Santa hawking Buick. Today I give you the front cover.

Click on image to see it larger.

I generally like to do a bit of research about the ephemera I'm posting; sometimes I find a lot, sometimes I find little, and sometimes I just don't have the time or bandwidth to do it justice. Tonight will be the latter thanks to the windstorm going on. I'm expecting to lose power at any moment.

Fortunately someone else has already done the research about the illustrator of this cover, H. E. Vallely so I'll leave it to them to fill in the blanks.

http://henryvallely.blogspot.com/

HOME FROM SCHOOL on Sept. 10, 1974

Okay, so you've managed to con your mom into believing you're not feeling well so that you don't have to go to school. How will you while away your hours? With television of course. And you know I Love Lucy will be on at 9 am. I swear all over the country she was on at 9 am. But what else is on?

The world before cable. Make sure to take a look at the stuff that was on for the early risers who were trying to get their act together and get out the door to work. I'm sure there were a lot of people who got in late because they were enraptured by the 6:30 showing of "Superintendent of Schools Annual Report"* or perhaps "Group Therapy with Dr. Irene Kassorla." I don't even want to know what "Across the Fence" was.

Okay, by 1974 I was already one of those poor souls already out the door by a little after 6 for my two hour drive to work.

*Please note that should you not make the first viewing of "Superintendent of Schools Annual Report" you can catch it again at 10 am. Remember this is pre-VCR days so you could not tape it to watch later. Pity, huh?

TALK SHOWS in 1974

Talk shows in 1974 were different. There was no Jerry Springer. There was no Maury Povich. People didn't throw chairs at each other, beat each other up, or trash talk each other about things they should have been talking about in private. When you turned on a talk show in 1974 you got entertainment, showbiz, not skank biz. Granted it wasn't always GREAT showbiz, but doggone it the people knew who their babies fathers were.

Now, quick...count how many people shown or listed on this page are dead.

And for the younger crowd just count up how many people you've never heard of.

Who knew that showbiz would turn into "You show me yours and I'll show you mine."

TV SEASONS come and go, PART 3

If I can't tempt you with some of the tv shows from 1974, how about some classic hits on 8-Track?

Now remember, you only get to choose 10 for 99 cents and then sign over your life for the next 3 years and or your first born.

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TV SEASONS come and go

Is it any wonder that the network tv season shows up in the fall? Most of the shows wither and die before the first frost.

I can remember when the fall premier of the three networks was a big deal. They really had us where they wanted us. Same with sweeps month. Now...fuhgetaboutit. I have no faith in what the suits will turn out anymore. I have my HBO and I'm happy. And from what I have seen of this seasons new shows I don't hold much hope for any of them to be in constant reruns 37 years from now.

But what about the shows that premiered in 1974? Were there any hits?

Before we get to the hits lets look at some misses and one cult classic.

Now, I'm a big Jack Elam fan, but I have no memory of this show with Mark Hamill and Gary Busey. And think of it, this is only a few years before Hamill became a household name for Star Wars and 36 years before Busey became whatever it is he became for Trump. Mind you, The Texas Wheelers was pulled after I think the fourth episode. Don't expect a Blue-ray release any time soon.

As to the young girl shown above, Karen Oberdiear, she died in a plane crash in 2009.

More to come.

TRON 1982 and THE DUDE

I never know what I'll find around here. Today, taking a break from Christmas and Child Life, I give you the cover of the August 19 1982 Rolling Stone featuring Jeff Bridges and the movie Tron. Why post this today? Because Tron 2 is coming out, or whatever it might be called.

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I never watched the first Tron movie. It was about a video game. I really could care less about video games, but there are now millions of people who grew up not knowing life before video games. And probably many of these people, now young adults, have never seen this old magazine. There are two articles inside. One "The Secrets of Tron" and the other simply titled "Jeff Bridges." All of this long before the Coen brothers came along and turned him into one of my all time favorite characters, The Dude. Looking forward to seeing their take on True Grit.

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So for the people who are going to be going to the multiplex for Tron I'm here to remind you what you see was here before. Yes, I'm sure the special effects will be eye popping as per today's technology, but let's see...just imagine what it will look like 28 years from now when they make Tron 3.

28 years is a really long time between sequels! I mean, you could go to this one with your parents and they could tell you all about the first one. Then when the third one comes along you can take your kids, and maybe even your grandkids, and bore them with how you were there the day Tron 2 opened and so on and so forth and on and on....

Oh, and I see where this same issue of Rolling Stone is for sale online for $45.00. Uh huh. Sure. Good luck with that.

Tron? What's Tron? Check out IMDB.