Cat on the Moon

I'm posting this midday to make up for the missed posting yesterday.

The cat on this diecut is perched upon the nose of the moon who doesn't seem to mind.

It's made by Beistle and given it's heavy embossing, guess that it dates no later than the 1940's.

It's actually a swipe of a German design from the 1930's:

Image courtesy of eBay

Make Some More Noise

Actually, you can't make any noise with this horn.  The mouthpiece is missing. I guess you could make your own toots through it if you really wanted to. It has those classic Halloween graphics I love.

Stirring the Pot

We're not done with die cuts yet, not by a long shot.

Here's another witch die cut made by Beistle.  It's another unusual one I've not seen before and was bought at the same sale as yesterday's witch.  I believe it's a bit older and probably dates to the 1940's or before.

Perched on her stool, she stirs the post of her ghoulish goo with a dead branch.  When's dinner?

 

The Shadow Man

I found this original pen and ink drawing at a garage sale over the summer.  No context other than I believe it's an illustration for a newspaper, specifically, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. I have no idea what's going on here. I probably don't want to know.  The stains add a level of disturbance.

Bewitching Goodness

I collect vintage newspapers and estate sales are a good source of them.  People tended to save the newspapers from important historical events, typically the Kennedy assassination and following weeks or the Apollo 11 moon mission and landing.  Every once in a while, I'll find some from Pearl Harbor or even earlier.

I found this ad in the October 30th, 1940 edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

A Girl and her Mule(?)

I recently acquired a large collection of vintage photographs from an estate sale.  The photos date from the 1920's and 30's, so I'm assuming they were not taken by the person whose estate sale it was, but perhaps a parent or other relative.  From reading through them, it appears this person may have been a nurse and the photos are of many different people, perhaps friends and work acquaintances. Most were taken either in Cape Girardeau or St. Louis, Missouri.  The nice thing is, many are labeled with the name of the person in the photo and the date the photo was taken, a very uncommon practice from my own experience with vintage photos.  I plan on posting some of the more interesting ones over the upcoming weeks.  I also plan on attempting to locate relatives of the individuals in the photos to return the pictures or at least provide a scan for them.

Of course, having said that about the labeling of the photos, the first image I offer up has nothing on the back.  Just a girl and her mule(?).  I question that, because honestly, I'm not sure if it's a mule or a horse.  Initially, it looks like a horse, but then the ears look a little large and the mane seems a little tight.  Maybe someone with more horse/mule familiarity can clarify.

The shadowed line in the photo isn't a crease or a shadow on the scan, but rather appears to be a defect in the film.

I'd place this photo in the 1940's given the pants the girl is wearing. I believe these were called "Sailor's Pants".

Sunday Morning Coffee

Okay, it's really Sunday afternoon, but I worked all night and went to bed at 8 a.m. this morning.

This Farberware model 206 was a recent find, although I have several in this identical or near identical design.

Flower Power

There's something poetic about this slide.  Something about the beauty of peacetime after the horrors of war.  Anyway, we've gone from squatting in the latrine to squatting in some flowers.

Occupied

This slide was simply titled "Latrine".  Talk about closeness.  I'm not sure that canvas wrap is really providing much privacy.  I have nightmares about this (not this particular slide, mind you, just this situation).  This is from the same set of slides as the previous post.  Talk about occupied in Japan. I presume our subject is taking the photo, which is a whole other level of weird.  I guess he wanted to let someone at home know about the arrangements.

Bounty

I acquired a collection of family slides at an estate sale this past weekend.  Many are "red border" Kodachrome 35mm slides which puts them at pre-1960.  As it turns out, many were from the late 1940's when the original owner was stationed in Occupied Japan at Camp McNair around 1947.  I'll be posting some select picks (and pics) in the following weeks.

First up is this photo of a bountiful feast.  The color and composition of this was striking to me. The original owner of the slides, Milton Gast,  is center.

The Heyer Cartoon and Idea Book - Halloween

I'm going to try squeezing in a few last minute items these last couple days.  First up is the Heyer Cartoon and Idea Book. A little like the advertising slick's I found a few years ago, this book gives ideas and images you can borrow to festoon your flyers, ads, school announcements, etc.  I found these at a garage sale for $1.  I'm not sure of the exact date, but I don't think they're any later than the 1940's given the fashions shown.

Hats Off to Halloween

These 2 hats came from the Halloween collector estate sale.  This first hat is large, standing 15" tall with an 8" diameter at the base (12" with fringe).  It dates from around 1950. Manufacturer is unknown.

Bowl Me Over

I was surprised to find this Halloween candy dish still available at one of the last estate sales for the day as it was closing in on noon. It was in the basement and only priced at $3.

Manning Bowman Bonanza

Yes, it's another toaster and percolator post. What can I say?  These things almost seem to find me rather than the other way around.

A few weeks ago, I spotted a Manning Bowman percolator in all it's glorious Art Deco roundness.

Black Cat Face Die Cut

 I picked up this cat face diecut in a lot last summer.  It was included in the same lot as the Eureka Trick or Treaters and the Eureka Owl.  This particular die cut dates to the 1940's and is unmarked.

This is a fairly large die cut measuring 11" x 11".  It kind of reminds me of the old Black Cat Fireworks packages.

A Lost Art

Today's post touches on a subject I raise here rather often: "they don't make them like they used to."

Case in point, this paper Halloween plate I picked up a couple months ago.  It probably dates to the 1940s or 50s. As a side observation, I always wonder how a single plate or napkin survives all these years.

Percolating Finds

 Okay, Summer is over and the Countdown to Halloween begins next week.  I need to clear out some cobwebs and when I say "cobwebs" I mean coffee pots.

For some reason, this past year produced a bumper crop of them.  I can't resist picking up percolators and other coffee makers, particularly when they're under $5.  I've kept some (okay quite a few), but I've also sold quite a few of them too; all to fund future purchases and to subsidize what I decide to keep.  These are in addition to the Jet O Matic coffee maker I bought last December.  And yes, many of these need a good polishing.

First up is this Mirro copper-colored aluminum coffee pot.  I've seen these attributed to the "Colorama" line, but I haven't found evidence of that.  Colorama was made by Weller Hostess-ware.  I'm not aware of a connection to Mirro.

You'll Never Get Rich (You Son of a Smif) You're in the Army Now

 It's been a while since I've had a vintage postcard find.  Here are a few from a recent find.

These WWII-era postcards feature the popular (at the time) comic strip character Snuffy Smith, or "Smif" as he's known back home.  They were all sent by Private Louis F. Cimo of Rome, New York.  

Stairway to the Halloween Stars

I found this in the basement of an estate sale quite a few years ago.  I've always called it a "moon shelf".  It looked homemade from plywood, and as it turns out, it was.  My daughter hung it in her room and put knick-knacks on it.  She's recently (and quickly) grown up.  A whole 13 years old and wants to distance herself from the things of her childhood. Sigh.

Uncanny Finds - Hall-Owl-een Edition

 As I mentioned in a previous post, it's been a lean year for sales, so I have to stretch the definition of "Halloween" a little.  But I've always associated owls with Halloween, so hopefully I'm not stretching too much.

I picked up this can of Red Owl Ground Cloves at a garage sale a few weeks ago.  They had an odd assortment for a private sale, mostly tools and utilitarian items, and the last thing I expected to find was a vintage can.  This one dates from 1948.