FILM NOIR mouthwash

The use of fear to sell things has always been around. Sellers are always toying with the psyche of their buyers. This ad, from 1933, just seems to ramp it up. Maybe it's just me, but this looks like a photo you'd expect to see on an old film noir movie poster. This fellow has more than a sore throat to worry about. This fellow is about to die. I don't know who killed him, but it wasn't germs.

Click on the image to see it larger.

BLACK INK on the fingers

It's just a little match box, nothing more. I was given this box over 38 years ago by a childhood friend's step-father. I was in art college at the time and he thought I'd enjoy the content of the box. No, it wasn't full of matches that I could have used to burn holes in my art which could have turned into some really interesting performance piece. It was full of Speedball pen points. Lots of old pen points. For four years I was close friends with pen points. I did some seriously bad calligraphy during my college years. I think back on it and cringe, but...that's not the point of the box. 

I like the box. I like the handlettering and think it appropriate that the box once held the tools for handlettering. Who knows when the last match was used. I have no idea how old the box is. It's pretty shabby and has ink stains, but it went beyond its original use. Someday somebody will throw it out. To them it will just be a little old match box, but I know it's more than that. I know that at some point a person kept all their special little pen points in there. Their index finger most likely had a stain of black. More than once they probably worked on some lettering for hours only to accidently put their hand down on the wet ink requiring them to start all over again and possibly releasing a torrent of profanity. Yup, been there, done that.

Haven't touched a pen point in years. They're here somewhere in my desk, I think. I sort of miss them...along with that black stain on my index finger.

As to the matches. What can one say about matches except that these had the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval which must have meant they were very very special matches. A match guarantee. Don't see that anymore. Matches made in the USA with a guarantee. How exactly did they work that? If a match didn't strike did you put it in an envelope and mail it to Good Housekeeping? What sort of proof did they require? And if they believed you did you get a refund? For the entire box? or just those that didn't burn? Gives a person pause...but not for too long. Don't think you'll find too many guarantees on matches these days. About all you get is the surgeon general's warning to "close cover before striking" which has always struck me as a little funny.  Who was the first person at the match company to realize they needed this warning? Was it an attorney? Did match companies have attorneys way back when? Yeah, I'm spending far too much time thinking about this little box.

One other thought...if they're national matches why are they made by a universal company? Seems like somebody was thinking world domination one match at a time. 

And if you're still reading this and you'd like to see a little bit about Speedball pen points take a look at this link. It brings back a lot of memories for some of us.

WHEN BUILDINGS were fun

When I first moved to Los Angeles The Brown Derby was still standing. I'm glad I got to see it before it was demolished. I do recall a lot of discussion going on about how to at least save the hat, but alas, like most things in LA, it no longer served a purpose so was disposable. I never got to eat there so I can't give you a restaurant review. And the current location of the dome of the hat is just better forgotten. If you want history about the Derby check out this link at Wikipedia.

I can say that it was fun to drive by and see a giant hat alongside the road just as seeing Tail o' the Pup hot dog stand was, and fortunately still is, fun to see. 

Which brings me to a book. A really fine book by Jim Heimann called California Crazy & Beyond: Roadside Vernacular Architecture. I've put a link to it in the Amazon column on the left. It's a fun book full of photos and information about the eccentric architecture that used to dot the highways and byways of this country. A few still exist and I'm happy to be old enough to remember seeing some of them. 

I'd take a giant hat or donut, a building in the shape of a pig or airplane, or a motel in the shape of a wigwam any day over what passes for what we currently see along the freeways all over the country. Things were fun before corporations got involved and put their generic stamp of boredom on everything. Ahhhh for a drive along the coast and a stop at a Big Orange for a freshly squeezed glass of orange juice. Anyway, do check out the book. Highly enjoyable. 

And one more thing about this postcard of the Derby. I just googled the photographer, Hubert A. Lowman and see that he was quite prolific in the field of 4 color work in the 40s through 60s. I can't find out anything about him personally other than he won a prize of $15.00 for a shot he took and submitted to Desert Magazine in 1942. Other than that his name seems to show up for all sorts of shots of California and the Southwest. I'll have to pay closer attention to some of the other cards in my collection. It's not that the photo is stunning, it's just that it does the job and hopefully paid the rent. Fewer and fewer businesses offer postcards so this is a job that is becoming as lost as these fun buildings. 

FROM THE LAND OF SKY BLUE WATERS...waters

I'll admit that I know very little about this beer. I don't drink beer. Never have. Okay, well there were those few times as a kid on picnics in Aiea with small cans of Lucky Lager....

What I do know about Hamm's is that I loved the bear in the commercials. That and the song are all I remember. I don't even know if this beer is still made. But it was fun to find this old coaster in the back of a drawer. In very decent shape considering its age. It has to be close to 50 years old. Not something expected to survive. It was supposed to be used then tossed. Classic vintage ephemera.

Here's a link to Wikipedia's information about the bear. I have to wonder why they chose a bear. Maybe it's just me, but the idea of a bear up stream in my refreshing drinking water...ummmm...and then there's the color of the beer. Oh, never mind.

The words from the Hamm's Beer Theme "From The Land of Skye-Blue Water" were from a 1909 poem by Charles Wakefield Cadma (c) 1937 by Edwin H. Morris & Company. The theme music was by Nelle Richmond Eberhart.

From the Land of Sky Blue Waters (Waters),
From the land of pines, lofty balsam,
Comes the beer refreshing,
Hamm's the Beer Refreshing.

And for the best part, an actual Hamm's Beer commercial starring the Hamm's Beer Bear. It's almost classic Mad Men silly.

The artist who created the bear was Ray Tollefson. More information about him can be found here. Mr. Tollefson died in 2002.

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UPDATE: Received an email from Mr. Tollefson's grandson which I'm printing below. Thank you Alan for contacting me. The Hamm's bear will always be one of my favorite animated characters. How lucky for you to still have so much of your grandfather's work!

I did a search for my Grandfather and stumbled across your site. Fun stuff to see the Hamm's Bear. We have many of my Grandfather, Ray Tollefson's, original ink drawings of the Hamm's bear. He also created a book so that all future artists would draw the bear the same. And if you ever start drinking beer, you can still buy Hamm's. - Alan Tollefson

The DOLE PINEAPPLE

Was it with the Brownie Troop? Is that how we went to the Dole plant? Or did I go with my parents? I'm betting it was with the Brownie Troop. What I do remember were women in hair nets busily moving those pineapples along the assembly line. But what they put in the can could never compare with what we bought out of the field on one of those trips around the island in the '56 Chevy BelAir convertible. But then either way pineapple was not your friend. But ohhhhh when the juice ran down your arm and you were left all sticky for hours. Good times. Good times.

Alas the tower is gone. Read here to find out about it. Really is a shame.