The RISQUE Exhibit Supply Company

This started out to just be a quick post to wish Jim Linderman, of Dull Tool Dim Bulb, good luck tonight at the Grammys. I found what I thought the appropriate card and then as usual got sidetracked by googling information.

Click on image to see it larger.

I bought this card at an estate sale for 2 bucks. It was published by the Exhibit Supply Company out of Chicago (EX. SUP. CO.) in 1941. There are a lot of silly military cards from that time period. What's especially funny about this one is the sweet little message on the back. This high school boy wrote this to married friends in California, he was in Nebraska. I especially like the "Love Kenneth" signature. Somehow doesn't work with what's on the front.

Click on image to see it larger.

The Exhibit Supply Company, from what I briefly found, was in business from 1921 until 1966. Mostly they manufactured arcade games and vending machines where you could purchase their cards of sports figures, movie stars, etc. Most of those cards I believe were blank on the back. Obviously this one is a postcard. Did it come out of a vending machine? Have no idea. I found another in the same basic style for sale here.

And I found this information with an interesting photo of an arcade game here:

Exhibit Supply started in business around 1900 by J Frank Meyer. At the time the company sold printed tickets and paper items useful to the carnival trade. In the 1920's, realizing that arcade games were becoming very popular, Meyer began making large floor model arcade games. Exhibit Supply soon became one of the leaders in producing this style of game.

To see more about this company and examples of their cards click any of the links below:

Collector's Quest

Adam Warshaw at Image Event

Exhibit Supply Company baseball cards

Erotomane.org a series of "risque" cards

Game Room Antiques bulk cards for sale

Things and Other Stuff

Skytamer

And Jim, good luck tonight. Your book is already a winner.

THE DRUNK, THE TRINITY, the moon, and a postcard

Sometimes I set out to just post an image, really don't have time to do research. Then the blasted thing pulls me in and I find myself wasting valuable time researching a piece of old paper. Thus is the case today.

Click on image to see it larger.

I just wanted to post this fun old postcard and get back to the jobs on tight deadlines. But then the little poem in the lower left corner called out and I just had to google it. Now I'm not saying I spent much time searching about either the poem or card publisher. But here goes...

First off the poem. The following comes from Project Guttenberg, specifically The International Magazine of Literature, Art, and Science, Vol. V., New-York, February 1, 1852. No. II

Of tipsy drollery, a correspondent of the Evening Post (Mr. Bryant himself, we have no doubt), writes: "It is esteemed a mark of a vulgar mind, to divert one's self at the expense of a drunken man; yet we allow ourselves to be amused with representations of drunkenness on the stage and in comic narratives. Nobody is ashamed to laugh at Cassio in the play of Othello, when he has put an enemy into his mouth to steal away his brains. The personation which the elder Wallack used to give us some years ago, of Dick Dashall, very drunk, but very gentlemanly, was one of the most irresistibly comic things ever known. I have a mind to give you a translation of a German ballad on a tipsy man, which has been set to music, and is often sung in Germany; it is rather droll in the original, and perhaps it has not lost all of its humor in being overset, as they call it, into English. Here it is:"

OUT OF THE TAVERN, ETC.

Out of the tavern I've just stepped to-night
Street! you are caught in a very bad plight.
Right hand and left hand are both out of place;
Street, you are drunk, 'tis a very clear case.

Moon, 'tis a very queer figure you cut;
One eye is staring while t'other is shut.
Tipsy, I see; and you're greatly to blame;
Old as you are 'tis a terrible shame.

Then the street lamps, what a scandalous sight!
None of them soberly standing upright.
Rocking and staggering; why, on my word,
Each of the lamps is drunk as a lord.

All is confusion; now isn't it odd?
I am the only thing sober abroad.
Sure it were rash with this crew to remain,
Better go into the tavern again.

This is parodied or stolen by the clever author of the Bon Gaultier Ballads, in one of his best pieces.

Now, why this poem was placed in reference to the Trinity Building in New York City...haven't a clue. The original Trinity Building was built in 1853 from designs by Richard Upjohn who also was the architect of Trinity Church (completed in 1845). Apparently it was only a five story building. When this one was built I'm just not sure. To read an interesting article from the November 23, 1902 New York Times click here. The more "modern" skyscraper was constructed on:

...the very place where New York City's first office building once stood.

This was a speculative venture of the Trinity Church.

An addition to the north was constructed in 1906-1907, designed by Francis Hatch Kimball.

Featured in the motion picture Spider-Man 2 as the Westside Tower, with its green lantern top providing the setting for a fight scene. (Source: Emporis.com)

Click on image to see it larger.

The card was published by Max Ettlinger & Co. The following is from the metropostcard.com site where you'll also see a variation of this card:

Max Ettlinger & Co. Ltd. 1901-1916
6 East 17th Street, New York, NY and London, England

Published a variety of card types, many of them real photo cards. Some of the real photos were hand colored and carried trade names of Lamanet, Photolet, and Photocolour. While most of the color work was printed in Germany and Prussia, a set of hand colored brown toned art cards were made in France. Their cards were generally issued under the Royal Series name.

I actually prefer my version of the card than the one at the site above. I do like that mine is tattered, of no value to any other collector. I like the scratches and bends that look like lightening. Turns it from just a drunk out for a walk on a moonlit night to a drunk walking through a storm.

If you like this card you might also enjoy one in a similar vein that I posted last year called "Hold Onto the Lamppost", a San Francisco earthquake card.

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Christine, from the always interesting The Daily Postcard, has made a very observant comment about the artwork on this card. She compares it to that done by Winsor McCoy of Nemo in Slumberland fame. I agree. There is a strong similarity. I wish this card had an artist's signature hidden somewhere on the front, but alas there is nothing. But for those not acquainted with Winsor McCoy I'd recommend you take a look at the sites listed below. All I have of Nemo is one wonderful little book that my best friend gave me. It's a book of postcards that is now out-of-print. I notice other books of McCoy's Nemo work go for hundreds of dollars on Amazon. Note that there are two links below to Wikipedia where you'll find additional links to Winsor McCoy information.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winsor_McCay

http://www.bpib.com/illustrat/mccay.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Nemo_in_Slumberland

http://tinyurl.com/ya2nela

HANDPAINTED CHINESE postcard

This interesting card has no real history for me. Found at an estate sale a few years ago, I was taken by the image and the fact that it was handmade. It's a one of a kind, even if the maker sat and made dozens of these. Each one will be unique. The background is painted on the card. The pieces that comprise the image of the fellow, with his clothes made from stamps, are glued onto the card. I have no idea of the age, though "1921" is written on the back.

Update: Christine, from The Daily Postcard, has informed me that a card such as this would be called a "macerated stamp postcard". Thanks Christine! Once I figure out how to pronounce this I'm going to slip it into a conversation.

OOPS! That's embarrassing.

"The 'Best Story' Series No. 12. There are others. Ask your dealer."

I really don't think I need to add anything.

Got MILK?

Click on image to see it larger...then explain to me why you would.

Card was originally mailed from Yuma to San Diego April 15, 1977.

I'm sorry, but "Got Milk?" was the first thing that crossed my mind. Actually, that's not true. The first thing was "Oh geez. Why?" It's one of those old postcards that used to be popular at tourist stops. You'd buy it to send home as a joke instead of a nice colorful shot of nature. The joke postcard that would get passed around. A few guffaws would be heard.

This card was published by the Petley Studios which was located in Phoenix, Arizona. The company was owned by Bob Petley, often credited as the creator of the infamous jackalope, a card that can still be found in various forms being sold around the country.

The following is Bob Petley's obituary in 2006:

Obituary: Bob Petley created Arizona jackalope

Postcard photographer's works still sold

Bob Petley's life was postcards.

Millions of people around the world saw Arizona for the first time across Petley's cards: Monument Valley, the red rocks of Sedona and fiery desert sunsets.

That is why so many people moved to Arizona, joked one of his admirers at Petley's funeral last week. After falling and breaking his hip, Petley's health declined and he died at 93 in Scottsdale.

Armchair travelers during the mid-20th century and beyond witnessed Southwestern beauty through Petley's eyes.

Petley began snapping his picture-perfect cards by trolling the state with his camera and a station wagon in 1945, eventually favoring a Lincoln Continental.

For decades, his office was the road. He was a one-man tourism office, snapping the state and hawking his Petley Postcards to souvenir shops along the way.

He chronicled Arizona's landscape for decades. Even after he sold his postcard business, he couldn't let go of the camera and his sense of humor.

Arizona wasn't all sunsets for Petley.

He seemed to have a knack for an innocent kitschy sort of creativity.

Petley invented the Arizona jackalope.

Even though the jackalope was fairly common to humorous postcards, Petley engineered his version with an Arizona twist.

After spotting a stuffed rabbit that had been topped with antlers in a souvenir shop, the postcard man put together his own jackalope. He bought a jackrabbit from a taxidermist, topped the rabbit with a pair of antlers and plopped it on top of one of the Papago Buttes.

Voila! With Petley's darkroom magic, the hare with horns looked as if the beast was ready to swallow the desert whole.

Petley sold his postcard business in 1984 to Bruce Finchum.

Finchum, owner of Smith-Southwestern Inc., sells souvenirs and postcards. At least a half dozen of his cards are Petley's.

With e-mail, postcards are a harder sell, Finchum says.

"There's still reason to buy jackalopes," he said. "It's the uniqueness, the novelty of it."

Finchum sells more of Petley's jackalope postcards than any other card; last year he sold 38,000 jackalope cards.

"It just looks real. There's people that swear it's real," he said. "But it's not."

TRIVIA

Even though Bob Petley did not invent the rabbit with antlers, he created one that was decidedly Arizona.

There's a reason the card is still a bestseller.

The card's staying power is its kitsch.

So it doesn't hurt to know a little jackalope trivia.

Douglas, Wyo., claims to be the "jackalope capital of America" because two brothers, both taxidermists, went hunting in the 1930s and pitched a rabbit into their taxidermy shop. The rabbit landed next to a pair of antlers.

The brothers mounted the rabbit-antler combination. Over the years, the two sold tens of thousands of mounted jackalopes.

Other names for the jackalope are an Aunt Benny, horny bunny and anteabbit.

Jackalopes showed up on postcards beginning in the 1930s.

Still, European naturalists illustrated horned hares in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. These works were most likely inspired by papillomavirus-infected rabbits: rabbits with antlerlike tumors on their heads.

Former President Reagan hung a rabbit head with antlers on a wall at his California ranch.

In the animated TV series "Jackie Chan Adventures," a football team's mascot was a rabbit with fake horns. (Source: Tucson Citizen)

If you're a postcard collector there's a good chance you've got one or two jackalopes packed away. You ultimately can't get away from them. It's to the point where I imagine there are a lot of people who are convinced the fabled animal exists. Well, it does, doesn't it? I've seen pictures!

THREE CAKES A DAY, that's all we ask

You know by now that I'm always looking for medical miracles. What can I possibly take to relieve me of today's medical scourges? What's available on the store shelf that I can use for something else?

Well, it's due to the game from yesterday. The first answer in the game, and the reminder by Christine who swears by this, though she's not sure why.

I give you Fleischmann's yeast. Multi-purpose. Multi-tasking. And answer to the first question. Take it in the morning while you have breakfast and then use it again to make bread. I'm trying to figure out why it doesn't do to you what it does to the dough. Yes, yes...I know, there's yeast in a lot of foods including yogurt. It's good for us. But three concentrated cakes I would think would have you blowing a gasket. But I have no proof. This woman swears by it:

Click on image to see it larger and easily read the testimonial, just in case you're still on the fence on this one.

Dig the crazy x-ray with the European docs. It's all so authentic, isn't it. Men in white coats threatening you with a sanatorium if you don't get regular. Basically they're trying to scare the you know what out of you. "Eat this or we come and get you!"

Click on image to see it larger. (Source: Feb. 1932 Delineator)

It's time to be the LIFE OF THE PARTY!

"Hey kids, what do you want to do this Friday?"

"Gee, I don't know. What do you want to do?"

"I was thinking we could have a party in my folks rumpus room!"

"Oh, that sounds swell. Can I bring anything?"

"Maybe some pop and pretzels. I've already got some games."

"Gee this is going to be the best Friday night ever!"

A complete party in a book! Who could ask for more? Cost less than a buck. Where else could you find such great entertainment at that price? Just get some swell friends to play with and your evening is set.

Okay, this is actually a book my mother bought in the 1950s. I also have one for children's games. Apparently none of the pages have ever been torn out of either book. I don't know that they were actually used, and my folks did have parties. Boy did they have parties! A group of naval aviators and their wives partying. Yeah, we're talking limbo at 2 am.

Their loss, your gain. I'm now providing you free of charge a way to impress your drop-in friends this weekend. Seriously, unless you show them the answers they can't win unless they have net access or are well over 70. It'll be like going on a snipe hunt. Tell them you've got a game, show the big prize you have for the winner, and then hand them the page below. Watch the expressions on their faces as they realize the swell prize you're providing is never going to belong to them.

Hey, it's winter and some of you are stuck in the house with only a basement to escape to. Make the best of it. And speaking of basements, take a look at the really nice one at my vernacular photography site.

Click on any of the images to see them larger. Especially if you want the answers to the game.

GO SUCK ON A SPUD for a really cool time

This image comes from the April 14, 1934 Saturday Evening Post which continues to be a veritable gold mine of kitsch. I could do a years worth of postings just from this issue...but I promise I won't.

Spud cigarettes. Catchy name, no? Who wouldn't want to suck on a Spud? Inhale a Spud? Would the Marlboro men have sucked on Spuds? I don't think so. But apparently some people did.

Click on image to see it larger.

Oh the romance of a Spud on a date. We look at this now and think "How stupid do they think we are?", but give it 50 years and we'll be looking at today's advertising (well, I won't because I'll be long gone) and thinking "How stupid do they think we are?"

Spuds were popular in the 193os and '40s. They no longer exist. What does exist is the idea of menthol in cigarettes. Ever wonder where they came from? Spud. Spud McKenzie. Oh wait, no...that was a dog that sold beer. No, this was Lloyd "Spud" Hughes of Mingo Junction, Ohio. I kid you not.

The first person to take advantage of the properties of menthol and formulate a mentholated cigarette was Lloyd "Spud" Hughes of Mingo Junction, Ohio back in the 1920's. Aa a young man, Hughes was afflicted with asthma and his mother had given him menthol crystals so that he might inhale the vapors. As the story goes, Spud preferred smoking cigarettes, he hid his cigarette supply overnight in a baking powder tin along with the menthol. In the morning he discovered that the cigarettes had taken up the menthol flavor. At first he just smoked the cigarettes himself. Later, he offered them to the railroad and mill workers who frequented his father's restaurant. Finally, Spud filed the patent on the process on July 31, 1924 (patent granted September 25, 1925)and began to contract the maufacturer of Spud mentholated cigarettes through Bloch Brothers Tobacco Company. He set out in his car and canvassed the Ohio Valley region selling them. In 1926, Hughes contacted the Axton Fisher Tobacco Company of Louisville, Kentucky to manufacture more of Spuds. Woodford Axton immediately recognized the potential for this unique cigarette and offered Spud Hughes \\$90,000. The deal was accepted and Mr. Hughes went on a two year spending spree. Axton Fisher hired a New York advertising firm to promote Spud's nationally and sold stock in the company for the first time to finance expansion. These decisions led to the establishment of Spud as the 5th largest selling cigarette in the U.S. by 1932.

In 1944 Philip Morris bought Axton Fisher Tobacco Company and the manufacture of Spud cigarettes fo domestic sales was discontinued in 1963 (Philip Morris Document 2012518595 - March 28, 1963). An article in the Lexington Herald-Leader (February 25, 1999) indicated that Philip Morris began phasing out production at its Louisville plant (the old Axton-Fisher facility) before July, laying off about 1400 union and non-union workers by December 2000. (SOURCE: Good Health)

You can go to the source link above to see a photo of Spud, the cigarette inventor, not Spud McKenzie who shares one similarity...also dead.

UPDATE: Reader CWLSAX has provided the following about Spuds. Thank you!

Spud had great ads in the 30s - not quite the everyman and woman touch but more of a soft sell. Even a little sophisticated. That changed once they started losing smokers to Kool.

About 1957 PM reformulated Spud to a "touch of menthol" filter cig which didn't do well. By '59 they brought out a full-menthol brand, Alpine, and Spud was on the way out.

Spud Hughes, btw, tried marketing another menthol smoke he called Julep after the buyout. It disappeared and so did he - an internal company memo from Lorillard says he was "never heard from again"...

Juleps were still advertised in the WW2 years, made by Penn Tobacco Co., Wilkes-Barre. Spud Hughes died in 1967 in Pennsylvania. So he just may have gone to work for Penn Tobacco at some point.  

_______________________

I just wanted to give an update link to a post I did last year called "When PIGS WERE BRAVE." The post was about some children's greeting cards from the 1950s published by Fravessi Lamont Inc. The grandson of the Lamont part of the company emailed me today with some nice information. Thank you John.

The BOO HOO BRIDE and Belden cords

Well the past few days haven't been a total waste. To the left you'll see the Boo Hoo Bride, the latest gift item at my CafePress shop. Another will follow which is even stranger. I mean it's really ODD. But we'll discuss that one once I get the product design finished. Until then, if you know someone who is angst ridden or just has allergies, think of the Boo Hoo Bride as a gift that says it from the heart in the most sincere way.

And now, this is is a test. This is only a test...to see if you're still out there considering I've been absent.

Does the image below make you stop in your tracks? Think, "Oh NO! Log Cabin!" Relax good friends, it is not as it seems. It merely copies the Log Cabin ads and uses the same illustrator, Gluyas Williams. It is instead for Belden, a company that still exists.

Have a computer? Look at those wires running out of it connected to whatever it's connected to (unless you're one of those lucky people who has no pile of spaghetti wires hidden embarrassingly under a desk and have gone completely wireless...lucky people). Well Belden is one of the leading suppliers of cables and cords and what-nots for electrical equipment today. I myself have several hooked up to this computer. At one time they were apparently known for unbreakable plugs. Now, if you've ever seen some really really old appliances from the early 20th-Century you'd know how great these Belden plugs were. Don't take my word for it. They say it right there in the ad:

"...the dealer stepped on it--even hit it with a hammer and couldn't break it."

Next time you're in Best Buy hunting for computer cables ask one of their geek squad to hit it with a hammer to prove it's unbreakable. No hammer, no sale. You don't want to end up like this couple unable to toast anything.

And buy the way, this Belden ad...only a few pages away from an oh so similar Log Cabin. Were people confused? Did they put plugs on their pancakes and pour syrup in their toasters?

Vintage CAT VALENTINE

There's a storm coming, actually a series of storms. If they're as bad as they say...and really, I rarely trust weather reports...I will probably lose my internet connection via satellite most of the week. So I'm rushing around trying to get work done, uploads, downloads, whatever load I can bear. And one of my priorities is getting items into my CafePress shop. So that's why I haven't been posting fun new odd items the past few days. I've started speaking like Dick and Jane, "Hurry! Hurry! Fast! Fast!"

I introduce to you the most recent item for sale at Tattered and Lost Ephemera Gift Shop. This is my take on a vintage early 20th-Century mechanical Valentine, originally made in Germany. Those who've been around here before might have seen this same cat posted last year as an animated file. The little cat rolls its eyes and sticks out its tongue. This year I've put it on a piece of lace that belonged to my grandmother.

The next items for sale will be a lot less romantic and a lot more snarky. Stay tuned.

EDDIE ELEPHANT VALENTINES!

I know, we just got past Christmas, but I'm trying to keep on my toes and off the streets. I've designed a Valentine utilizing an image from Eddie Elephant by Johnny Gruelle.

Eddie's such a sweet happy little fellow that he lends himself quiet easily to Valentine's Day.

So take a look at my CafePress shop for all sorts of Eddie Elephant Valentine gift items.

Choose Eddie with hearts and candy or choose the design that includes "Be My Valentine!"

Wednesday's FUNNY or NOT

Rinso is just such an oh so helpful product for today's modern stressed out woman. No more struggling with the wash. Just drop it, slop it, air it, and wear it. What could be easier than that? And notice, in panel three, the husband is suffering from sympathy exhaustion with his dear dainty wife. Brings a lump to my throat!

Click on image to see it larger. (Source: May 1934 Delineator)

Tomorrow...Eddie Elephant update! Valentines Day Gifts!

Don't let B.O. RUIN YOUR LIFE..buoy

Just how chatty did advertisers get? Well they put a babe with B.O. in a bathtub...nekid. Seriously, I don't need to write anything for this one. It writes itself and I know all of you will enjoy the latest from the funny papers.

Click on image to see it larger. May 1934 Delineator

THE ANTIDOTE FOR TREMENDOUS HAIR GROWTH from Ovaltine is...

Yesterday Janice pointed out that the young lady drinking Ovaltine at bedtime seemed to have tremendous hair growth overnight. This could indeed be a problem. But no worries, I have the antidote right here. Seriously, why is she dating this cretin? I'll let the copy speak for itself. Oh those chatty helpful people at NEET are just marvelous.

Click on image to see it larger. May 1934 Delineator

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.

__________________

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.