KURLASH for the clown in you

I think this company might have been stretching it a bit when they said that curling your eyelashes was "more fun than a circus." Really?

I had a friend in high school who used an eyelash curler that had lost the little rubber part that's on part of the crimping mechanism. Did she have more fun than a circus? No. She cut her eyelashes off her one eye. Up until that time I'd toyed with the idea of trying one of these thingies. After I saw what she looked like I avoided the fiendish thingies. I have no idea what brand she used so I'm not trying to disparage Kurlash. I have no idea if the company is still even in business.


(SOURCE: Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus Magazine and Daily Review, 1940)

So, creepy clown or uncreepy clown? How about if it were painted on black velevet? Would that be creepier or less creepy? For me he just doesn't add much to an ad for a "beauty" product.

CLOWNS...not creepy or creepy?

I’d like to think that clowns don’t frighten me. As a child I don’t think they did. I liked clowns and never thought of them as being creepy men in makeup hiding their true identity. They were just clowns. I guess it was John Wayne Gacey who made me start looking at them with a skeptical eye. I sort of hate that clowns are forever tarnished in my imagination. I still adore Clarabell and Emmett Kelly and nobody will convince me otherwise. That said…

Over the next several posts you’ll meet clowns, some real, some just drawings, from the 1940 Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus Magazine and Daily Review. I’ll let you be the judge on the creepiness quotient.


Click on image to see it larger.
(SOURCE: Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus Magazine and Daily Review, 1940) 

To see another vintage Camel cigarette post with a very interesting outcome click here. It's one of the most interesting posts I've ever done.

A FIGHTER PILOT and Coca-Cola in 1940

This vintage Coca-Cola magazine ad is from a 1940 Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus Magazine and Daily Review. I find it fascinating that it uses a military theme before the war.


Click on image to see it larger. 
(SOURCE: Ringling Bros and Barnum and Bailey Circus Magazine and Daily Review, 1940) 

To see other vintage Coca-Cola ads click on "Coca-Cola ads" or "Coca-Cola" below in the labels.

And you thought the POOL WAS BLUE BECAUSE OF THE SKY

When I saw this ad I snickered. Yeah, pour bluing into a pool to make it blue. Sure thing buddy.


(SOURCE: Sunset, November 1967)

I remember the term "bluing" from long ago, but never hear it anymore. Well, surprise surprise, this company, Mrs. Stewart's Bluing is still in business. The company dates back to the 1880s. The following is an excerpt from their website:

Mrs. Stewart's Bluing was born in the early 1880s. "MSB" owes its existence to a peddler and his mother-in-law, a marginally successful Five and Ten Cent store, and a fireworks explosion. From the beginning, Mrs. Stewart's journey has been an interesting one!

In the late 1870s, Al Stewart, a traveling salesman for a Chicago wholesale grocer, was a familiar figure in Iowa and southern Minnesota. In his market basket full of samples, he always carried a bottle of Mrs. Stewart's Bluing, which he made in his home with his family assisting him according to a formula he had acquired.

Meanwhile, Luther Ford, a young silk salesman, moved to Minneapolis where he started the first "Five and Ten Cent Bazaar" west of Pittsburgh. Business was not highly successful and so he began a wholesale business, carrying notions, toys, and fireworks.

Al Stewart and Luther Ford crossed paths when Mr. Stewart began searching for someone to manufacture his bluing for him. Following a spectacular (but accidental) eruption of fireworks in the Five and Ten Cent store, Mr. Ford realized the potential of a (safer) future in the bluing business! Al Stewart sold Luther Ford the rights to Mrs. Stewart's Bluing, and the first documented sale of Mrs. Stewart's Bluing was logged on  July 30, 1883. Mr. Ford quickly made plans to extend distribution across the region.

Facilities and equipment used in manufacturing in the late 1800s were primitive. The ceiling in the first basement factory was so low, holes had to be made in the floor so the employees had a place for their feet to hang down. Filling was done from wooden barrels with a rubber hose. Corks were pounded in with a small mallet, and each bottle was dipped in hot sealing wax as the corks didn't always fit into the slightly irregularly shaped hand-blown bottles. Labeling was done by hand using paste. Bottles were packed in sawdust in wooden cases or in barrels. Stock was stored and production stopped during the winter, until a later date when a heated manufacturing building was obtained.

Visit their site to read more about their history and the various uses for their product. Truthfully I thought bluing was a thing of the past, but now I'm curious to see if I can find a bottle of this stuff. According to them:

The versatility of MSB seems infinite. While we manufacture MSB as a laundry whitener, many have found other uses for bluing as well. Make a Salt Crystal Garden, whiten dingy hair on a pet, reduce algae growth in bird baths, fish ponds and fountains, ease the pain of an ant bite or bee sting, and much more with this unique, versatile and economical product that has been a staple in many homes for over 125 years - since 1883!

All these years I've been trying to figure out what to use for marking my annual ski racecourse around the orchard. Stupid me! I guess I won't have to use the dog anymore. Blue looks so much better on white than yellow.

Remember girls, ALWAYS WEAR KRENE FABRIC when chasing boys

This is just so wrong! Wrong on so many levels!


Click on image to see it larger. (SOURCE: Sunset, October 1968)