ephemera

Wacky Packages Halloween Postcards 2010 - Smokin' Joe

This rare Smokin' Joe Color Sketch was just pulled from a 2010 Wacky Packages Halloween Postcards pack and now it is up for bid on eBay. 

According to the seller, only 500 total packs were created by Topps and they sold out in less than an hour.  Of the 500 total sketches, only a few were done in color by each artist, making them extremely scarce.  This Smokin' Joe Sketch Card is numbered on the back 359 of 500. 

"Smokin' Joe is an exceptionally talented & highly collected Wacky Packages artist," says the seller, "and this sketch is pure Smokin' Joe!  It features Incredible colors (even more vivid in person), great dimension and details.  It's a fantastic take on the BOOZOOKA name with a beautiful close up of the eyeball and a large goose bump in the background."

When last I checked, this card had been bid up to $800.

I hope you've enjoyed my month long tribute to Halloween. Have a wacky, happy Halloween.

Walking Dead AMC Halloween Debut

Walking Dead #1 is up for bid on eBay.

The seller says, "This is it folks. It just doesn't get any better than this. The highly anticipated AMC Halloween debut is closing in. I have decided to give all of you a chance at this comic and auction it off at .99 cents."

"Let me give you some facts," the seller adds. "Based on the latest CGC Census that was updated 10/13/2010, there are only a total of six Walking Dead # 1 CGC graded 9.9 on the entire planet!"

1774 Cellarius Map - Gallia Cisalpina

Up for bid on ebay, you'll find this 1774 Cellarius Map - Gallia Cisalpina.

According to the listing, Christoph Keller (Cellarius) was an early believer in the power of maps to help sell books. His 'Geographia Antiqua' was so popular that its publication spanned three centuries from 1686 to 1812 and different maps were used for many editions.

"This map comes from a 1774 edition of that work. It shows Italy from just north of Rome and stretches to the Swiss and Austrian borders to the north, Nice and Provence to the west and Trieste and Istria to the east," says the seller. "Prominent features are the Arno river with Pisa and Florence, Perugia, Ravenna, Cremona, Parma, Genoa and the Italian lakes. However there is no Venice because of its post Roman creation. The map is guaranteed to be over 225 years old."

Avett Brother Signed Concert Poster Koka Booth

This poster from the Avett Brothers Koka Booth Show on 7/26/08 in Cary, NC, is up for bid on eBay.

According to the seller, the poster is signed by the entire band: Scott Avett, Seth Avett, Bob Crawford, and Joe Kwon.

I recently encountered one of the Avett Brothers--either Scott or Seth--in downtown Asheville. I was standing on a corner when a women next to me went wild at the sight of a man standing across the street. She was screaming like she'd just seen Bruce Springsteen. It turned out to be one of the Avett Brothers, who came across the street and gave the girl a hug and a warm hello. I asked her who it was when he walked away, and she said that it was one of the Avett Brothers (either Scott or Seth, I can't recall which). Since they play Asheville regularly, I knew of the band, but I couldn't pick out any of the individual members in a crowd (obviously).

The Avett Brothers will be playing in Asheville this New Years Eve.

Marion Davies 1933 Portrait Photograph

An original 1933 wonderfully composed photograph of Marion Davies is up for bid on eBay. This double-weight gallery photograph with blind stamp and verso ink stamp was made by photographer Clarence Sinclair Bull.

The seller says, "This is a wonderful Hollywood memorabilia treasure featuring the lovely Marion Davies in ingénue view. Bull was the photographer who best captured Davies' zest for life, and this was printed by hand by Bull, and this was created as a gallery publicity view, not for public distribution, but as an exclusive view for the Examiner, with great notations on verso including, 'This art okayed by Miss Davies.' (She was one of very few stars to be afforded this privilege.) Incredibly rare. A great custom gallery portrait still that measures 10" x 13" This photograph is just an incredible document, and very rare Hollywood treasure."

Aircraft Workers for Ike Button

This scarce aircraft workers for Eisenhower campaign button is up for bid on eBay.

 

Case Amazing 1st Edition Halloween Toenail Casper

"This is our first attempt at a holiday knife and the holiday is of course Halloween," says the eBay seller of this amazing item.

"We think as you will that we hit this one out of the ball park," the seller continues. "This was a brand new Crandall Toenail that we took the handles off of and then got busy. On either end we did a spider and his web design on the bolsters and if you look closely you can see the hairs on the spider. Then on the opposite ends we did Casper as he is flying around his haunted house with that big smile on his face.

We did a scene on the front of a haunted house. Check out the witch. You can see her two feet under her broom stick that flies and we used two different pearls so that she actually looks like she has two hands on her broomstick. The pumpkins are a great addition and if you look at the large bat on this side you will see not only his main body and the skeleton bones but how they are attached to his wings.

The reverse side has a haunted castle and if you turn the knife just right you would swear that the lights are on in the keep.  Both the castle and the house are made of genuine and fiery black lip pearl and the fact that we used only the finest materials goes to the fact that this knife is going to be a family heirloom someday and that it is a true one of a kind and one that you will be proud of and that is a good thing."

A good thing, indeed.

Tales from the Crypt Signed by Al Feldstein

Up for auction on eBay is a CGC Signature Series Tales from the Crypt (EC, 1950) signed by comic book LEGEND Al Feldstein.  According to the seller, the comic was signed at the 2008 Comic-Con. Mr. Feldstein signed the front cover with a silver sharpie!

The listing continues, Tales from the Crypt hit newsstands with its October/November 1950 issue (#20) and ceased publication with its February/March 1955 issue (#46), producing a total of 27 issues (excluding the initial three issues, #17-19, published under the title The Crypt of Terror). The title was very popular, but in the late 1940s and early 1950s comic books came under attack from parents, clergymen, schoolteachers and others who believed the books contributed to illiteracy and juvenile delinquency. In April and June 1954, highly publicized Congressional subcommittee hearings on the effects of comic books upon children left the industry shaken. With the subsequent imposition of a highly restrictive Comics Code, EC Comics publisher William Gaines canceled Tales from the Crypt and its two companion horror titles (Haunt of Fear and Vault of Horror), along with the company's remaining crime and science fiction series in September 1954.  All EC titles have been reprinted at various times since their demise.  The enormous influence from this comic series reaches well beyond comics.  Tales from the Crypt  has inspired a successful anthology television series and a 1972 film.  Even George Romero admits to modeling his zombies after those that appeared in EC comic books.  In 2007, Papercutz, an independent comics publisher, resurrected the series.   The new series of original Tales from the Crypt comics features stories and art from some of the best horror talents in the industry.

Arriving in 1948 at Bill Gaines' Entertaining comics, Feldstein began as an artist but soon combined art with writing and became the editor on most of the EC titles. Although he originally wrote and illustrated approximately one story per comic, in addition to doing many covers, Feldstein eventually focused on editing and writing, reserving his artwork primarily for covers. From late 1950 through 1953, Feldstein edited and wrote stories for seven EC titles.  Feldstein then moved to Mad, succeeding Harvey Kurtzman in 1956, spending the next 29 years at the helm of what became one of the nation's leading and most venerable satirical magazines.  In 2003, Mr. Feldstein was inducted into the Will Eisner Award Hall of Fame.  He is considered one of the greatest living contributors to the comic book industry.

Mr. Feldstein contributed the clever cover art to this issue of Tales from the Crypt and illustrated one of the stories, "A Shocking Way To Die!".  This issue also features art from EC legends Wally Wood, GHASTLY Graham Ingels, and Harvey Kurtzman!

Day of the Dead Halloween Clay Witch

A unique piece, original, and unrepeatable Halloween witch is up for bid on eBay.

The witch is made out of clay and fired in earth kilns, following the process and crafting of ancient Mexicans.

The seller says, "Ramon Lopez Velarde made a poem out of all the magic that derived from the hands of indigenous artisans, when he said that the clay was turned into a resounding coin bank, emulating the strength and richness captured by these pieces of art that have transcended these days. My skeletal figure is paradoxically a symbol of arrogance, affluence, vanity, and subtle elegance; thus, the name Catrina. I represent the lucid images of death, and I actually laugh at it. I have been represented by Posada and many anonymous artists, and one of the famous Plaque measures was named after me."

Great Northern Railroad Galveston Bathing Beach Menu

A menu for supper on the I. & G. N. (International – Great Northern Railroad) is up for bid on eBay.

According to the seller, a hand-penned note on inside page reads, "Year 1907 Austin, Texas to St. Louis MO." The cover illustration depicts a stylized door with an inset of an image from a photograph depicting a Bathing Beach at Galveston. Inside pages includes menu with food and dining related food vignettes. Fare includes Spanish Mackerel, Peeled Asparagus on Toast, Luncheon Tongue, Chipped Beef in Cream, Rice Pudding Philadelphia Style, and much more.

I wonder if you could've ordered the "Rice Pudding Philadelphia Style" wit or witout.