STUNG by a dog...HUH?

Okay, I'm clearly not getting this one.

These old "romance" cards from the first part of the 20th century can be purely odd when looking at them over 100 years later. Some are suggestive. Some are coy. Some make no sense at all. I give you the following example.

The guy looks like he's about to thumb his nose to the dog with a "Naa naa, you can't reach me!"

I'm betting if this dog wanted to it could be over the fence and on that guy lickity split.

As to this message, I think it's safe to say it will never be decoded. It reminds me of one of those spy phrases you're supposed to say when you meet another spy. "Psssst. In the shade of the old walnut tree. Hurrah." Of course then the microdot is exchanged and everything goes along fine and dandy.

It's Spring and A YOUNG MAN'S FANCY TURNS TO...

...apparently blackmail.

Yes, love is in the air and so are geeks with cameras taking photos of your every move. This is a warning to all of those people having out of marriage trysts through online dating. Someone is bound to be watching...and scheming.

This card, with the creepy brother in the bushes, was published by Bamforth & Co. in 1910. To see other cards by them and read a bit of history see my other post Dear Auntie /Dear Cousin...FROM YOUR BAWDY NIECE / COUSIN.

I thought in honor of the royal takeover of the tv this week, and the finale today, that a card of a young couple being watched by paparazzi seemed apropos.

And it might just be me, but I feel like the whole thing looks a bit Monty Python. Surely the woman is actually Graham Chapman.

WHAT WERE THESE PEOPLE THINKING?

Here's something I've never done before on any of my blogs...a post about digital ephemera, recent digital ephemera.

This image comes from a newsletter published in 2008 that is available online. I don't know if the group responsible for it ever printed any hardcopies. The digital file, which you can find HERE, might just be what ephemera collectors are faced with in the future. Will collectors be reduced to saving nothing but digital files because advertising will be only geared towards electronic devices?

I won't go into how I came upon this image, but knew it had to be shared.

I will keep my comments to myself other than to say "What were they thinking?!!!???"

It's always fun to see badly posed photos, but usually I can figure them out. This one, with the women's legs up on the railing...it's just so so SO ODD! Professional shot or vacation snap? You decide.

UPDATE worth reading about CAMEL CIGARETTE AD

On August 1, 2009 I did a post about an old ad for Camel cigarettes. Those who have been reading this blog for awhile may remember it. It involved the Palmer family, owners of the Palmer Hotel in Chicago. Specifically it involved one of the wives of Potter D'Orsay Palmer, a wealthy rather useless playboy who at one time was married to the exotic Maria Eugenia Martinez de Hoz who was featured in the ad. Well...

Today I heard from the granddaughter of Maria Eugenia Martinez de Hoz. Instead of reposting everything I'm just suggesting you click HERE to see for yourself.

This is when blogging gets really fascinating. I started this particular blog about ephemera to see where old pieces of paper would take me. It's a real adventure, especially when someone steps forward to provide personal information not available on the net.

So thank you Matilde for providing me with the information missing from the post. It's now nicely tied together.

Outsourcing EASTER

I'm sure there are people out there believing that the bunnies still do all the work for Easter. Laying the eggs, grading them, packaging, shipping, and of course their books. But I'm sorry to burst your bubble, because everything, including my job, have been outsourced. Yes, it's true. The Bun works with small businesses to provided the bulk of his eggs. He was spending too much time behind a desk and not enough time out in the field.

On one of his recent trips to visit an egg layer he got a little impatient and chewed off part of their business card.