It's the SUNDAY FUNNIES meets the DOUBLE MINT TWINS of 1934!

For those who have been coming here for awhile you'll be familiar with the Double Mint Twins of 1934. Heck, there are people all over the net who are now familiar with the Twins judging by how often they show up in searches. But just in case you can go here to see the post.

Now why would I bring this up? Well, just take a look at today's Sunday Funny and see if you don't see a certain similarity. And dare I say it...do I mention its name again? LOG CABIN SYRUP. There, I've said it and readers are clicking off the page as fast as they arrived. NO, NO, NOT MORE LOG CABIN! Calm your

fears worried readers. There is no running can of syrup in this post. What we do have is competition for Log Cabin. Another sleep aid, but these folks are serious about it. I'm thinking a breakfast of pancakes with Log Cabin and a glass of Ovaltine and you're out like a light!

This add appeared in the December 1933 Delineator.

So what have we learned from all of this?

1. Double Mint Gum is good for your complexion.
2. Log Cabin Syrup will put you to sleep, disrupt your marriage, make children disappear.
3. Ovaltine, taking itself far too serious, "restores your tissues as you sleep."

Who said we didn't need the FDA? Leave it to advertisers to tell the truth.

Now, who out there amongst you is going to rewrite the speech bubbles? I'm thinking there's a Scot in Spain just itching to go for it.

And just for snark sake

Hey buddy...PUT THE PIPE DOWN AND PITCH IN!

I said yesterday that advertising that looked like the funny papers was popular in the 30s. I give you another example. But first, give me a moment or two while I get out a cast iron frying pan and beat some sense into this guy with the pipe. Seriously! He's telling her he doesn't like seeing his little woman work so hard but he says it while standing there in a suit smoking a pipe. Yeah, I'd have him seeing those little animated birdies flying around his head. But then hey, I'm the sort of person that doesn't iron. It is what it is. If something has some wrinkles I figure "okie dokie" because it was going to look wrinkled 5 seconds after I put it on anyway. I iron maybe twice a year. I barely even remember where I keep my iron. I have memories of my mother ironing and I think that's what cured me. It was so unpleasant. And I remember the damp laundry in a bag in the fridge which would then get put through one of those roller press dryers. My mother was especially unpleasant when doing linen table cloths. I vowed ironing would not be a friend to me. I've kept my vow.

Do click on the image to see it larger. It's a yuk fest!

Somewhere in this house I actually have an old empty Rinso box. I found it at the cabin when it was being cleaned out after being sold. The box dates back to at least the early 1960s, possibly the late 50s. I have no idea where I put it. Someday it'll show up and I'll ooohhh and aaahhh over it for a few moments then put it away and forget about it. I like when I stumble upon my own garbage and it surprises me.

What's become of the also ran...SPRY?

If I say Spry what do you think of? I'll give you a few moments to sort things out in your private filing cabinet.................I'm waiting...

If you're under 35 you might be thinking Spry is some sort of JavaScript software used for creating web pages. Uh huh, yeah...whatever.

Okay, most likely if you're under 40 something and literate you might be thinking:

spry |sprī|

adjective (spryer, spryest or sprier, spriest)

(esp. of an old person) active; lively: he continued to look spry and active well into his eighties.

If you're in your late 50s, or older, you might be thinking Crisco. Indeed that's what always crosses my mind. When I was growing up I thought Spry meant Crisco. It's the word both my mother and grandmother used. "Get the spry out, I'm making a pie." So of course I'd get out the can of Crisco. It wasn't until a short time ago that I found out they were two separate products.

Spry Vegetable Shortening

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Spry was a brand of vegetable shortening produced by Lever Brothers starting in 1936. It was a competitor for Proctor & Gamble's Crisco, and through aggressive marketing through its mascot Aunt Jenny had reached 75 percent of Crisco's market share. The marketing efforts were phased out in the 1950s, but Aunt Jenny and her quotes like With Spry, we can afford to have cake oftener! have been reprinted. Though the product is discontinued there are anecdotal reports of it being used through the 1970s.

Dave Dube, MrCachet at the wonderful Old Paper Art, gave me the cookbook shown below. Though I can't find a copyright date, I'm guessing it's from the late 30s to early 40s. The whole thing is just plain fun. There are a lot of good old recipes inside and the color reproductions of the food are actually palatable, which is so often NOT the case. But really what sparks my interest is the cover. The comic book style cover with the speech bubbles. As soon as I saw this I thought "Whoa, why was this style of advertising so popular way back when?" Over the next week I'll have examples to prove my point.

Click on images to see them larger.

Now think about it, there was no television for advertisers, but radio and newspapers were popular. The funnies, comics, were very popular. So why not combine radio with the funnies and you get...really bad comics selling stuff. Advertisers tried to be chatty with their customers, often times with really hysterical results. In this case...ummmm...do the men look like maybe they've just spread Spry all over their faces? Do they look a little too smiley? A little greasy? A little toooo friendly? "Wonderful Lemon Pie! Such flaky tender crust" Notice, no period following "crust". Me thinks this guy had more to say.

As to a color spread, this one isn't half bad. These cakes look edible, as do the brownies. Okay, sure everything looks a little too yellow, which considering the selling point of Spry was that it was "...so white. I just know it's purer." Side by side with Crisco, Spry was whiter, thus better. Who comes up with this stuff?

Click on image to see it larger.

Now here's something I've never heard of. Making up a pie crust mix ahead of time. Does anybody do this? I would think if it worked with Spry way back when it would work now with Crisco. But 4 pounds of flour? Who makes that many pies? What's the shelf life of this stuff?

Click on image to see it larger.

Well, Spry is long gone and soon those of us who think of Crisco when we hear Spry will be gone. Okay, not that soon. I should be around, if I'm lucky, for a few more decades. But, Crisco won. Spry is dead. Alas Spry I hardly knew ye.

Thanks Dave for adding such a wonderfully odd piece of ephemera to my collection!

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New book available on Amazon.
Tattered and Lost: Forgotten Dolls

This one is for those who love dolls!

Snapshots from the last 100+ years of children and adults with dolls. Okay, there are a couple of dogs too.

Perfect stocking stuffer!

A new year with A NEW CHALLENGE

Okay ephemera people out there, specifically paperdoll people. I'm giving you a challenge. Actually what I'm doing is begging for help.

Below you will see the subject of my quandary. This little paperdoll is old and brittle. It came in a box I purchased on ebay years ago. The seller bought it from a fellow who bought it from an estate sale. It had once belonged to a librarian who paid $10 for it. Since it was just one of many paperdolls in the box it cost me about $4. The problem is I have never seen anything about these G.E.M. cut out dolls. Obviously the box/doll goes with only two of the outfits, the other two being for a boy. So this means there must have been a series of these dolls, both boys and girls, but I've found zip/nada/nothin'! Not one of the reference books shows this. I've found nothing online referencing these dolls.

So I'm throwing it out there onto the net in hopes I'll be able to pull back some sort of catch. Any ideas? Anyone?

Click on image to see it larger.

UPDATE: If you look at the comments section you'll find one from Lauren Sodano at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY. She has provided the information that this doll was most likely published by the George E. Mousley Company that was located in Philadelphia. I did a little googling and can't find much about the company other than a few games that were produced in the late 1950s. I did however find a couple postcards that were published by a "George E. Mousley"in 1910 so perhaps that is how this company started. I also found a listing at Ancestory.com for a George E. Mousley in Philadelphia, but I'm not a member of the site so I can't dig any further.

So keep your eyes open for "G.E.M. BRAND", "Geo. E. Mousley" or "George E. Mousley" because sooner or later there must be something about this company and its origins.

And special thanks to Lauren Sodano of the Strong National Museum of Play for sending me this information.

UPDATE 2: This is really getting interesting because it looks like what we have here is some, shall we say, "cross pollination" in the paper toy world. Linda from The Paper Collector has put out a call about this doll and received the following from Peggy Ell:

Hi Linda,

The doll's body is Janet from American Colortype, but her head is different, can't place it. The clothing is from Universal - see pgs 311 & 312 in Mary's 20th Century book.

Peg

Indeed Peg is right on the mark. The clothing on pgs. 311 & 312 in Mary Young's 20th Century Paper Dolls guide do match these clothes attributed to the Universal Toy and Novelty Mfg. Co. And the doll body on the back of the box above does match the American Colortype doll Janet which is on pg. 12, but not the head.

So was there outright theft by one company using images from another company? It's pretty common to find dolls used over and over again by one particular company. There were several dolls on the market that were simply Shirley Temple without Shirley. Same clothing, but the dolls were changed. But, as I recall, this was generally done within in one company that owned the original art work. I've never seen parts of a set coming from so many directions.

The Universal Toy and Novelty Mfg. Co. was based in Chicago and one of the things they produced were baseball cards as can be seen here and here and pull-toys as shown here. And of course the paper dolls shown on pgs. 311-312 in Mary Young's guide.

So, how did all of these bits-and-pieces end up together in the hands of George E. Mousley in Philadelphia at G.E.M. Brand? The mystery gets more complex.

Let's see if any other information surfaces.

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A special thanks to Linda at The Paper Collector for choosing to honor me today with a mention of my blog. Her blog is a special place for those who especially love paperdolls and she has been very helpful to me in discovering the name of one set I purchased at an estate sale.

I would in kind like to pass along this honor to Janice at Janice Pattie who is constantly testing her creative juices, always entertaining, and makes me smile when I think of Scotland.

And I'd like to acknowledge Pieces of the Past, the funoldhag, for sharing her personal vernacular photography collection with all of us. Her families story in photographs is something rare to find online.

And frankly, Spotty Dog is a gem I wouldn't want to be without. The drawings always bring a smile. Another Scot with a sense of humor.

1910 CALENDAR wishes

If you haven't already purchased a calendar for this year here's one from 1910 that will almost work. All you need to do is go back a day. In 1910 January 1st was a Saturday, 2010 it's Friday. Apparently whomever owned this card didn't buy it for functionality because all 12 months are intact. Just as well for me. I might not have paid 4 bucks for the card if the calendar had only December left. And yes, it's one of those cards with the glitter. I really dislike the glitter. I have to wonder if it ever looked pretty. It always looks heavy and dark which I'm assuming is due to its age. Then again it might have looked just as funky when new.

Click on image to see it larger.