ephemera

Boy-O Boy Popcorn Box

This 1950s Boy-O Boy popcorn box reminds me of all the yummy popcorn I've eaten at the movies during my life. While ginning up  this post, I tried to do a quick calculation of how many boxes of movie popcorn I've consumed. My back-of-the-envelope calculations lead me to believe the number must be north of 250. That equates to dozens and dozens of pounds of popped corn covered with quarts of squirty, creamery butter.

While enjoying one of those boxes, eaten at the Golf Mill Theater in Niles, I swallowed a popcorn-sized cube of salt. In the dark, the cube felt like just another tempting, plump piece of delicious nosh, but when I popped it in my mouth...boy-o boy! Yuck.

That was more than 20 years ago, but I still remember running for the exit and searching desperately for a water fountain.

I didn't report the incident to the theater manager. I was just a kid. It didn't even occur to me to complain. If this happened to someone today, it'd be on CNN and the victim would own the theater. Me, I went back to my seat and finished eating (more carefully) my box of hot, buttery popcorn.

For a story about accidental salt ingestion of another kind, click here.

Food Glorious Food Ephemera

Gillian Pollack at Foodpast recently wrote an interesting post about food ephemera, which kindly mentioned my blog. I've covered food ephemera in previous posts, but it's been a while.

Gillian's post whet my appetite for more food ephemera, and since she mentioned Dr Morse’s Indian Root Pills in her post, today I'm featuring this 19th century Dr. Morse's trade card in her honor.

Poster Collecting from Magic to Movies

When I interviewed Charles Green III, he said his greatest challenge was finding poster to add to his collection. As those who read the interview will recall, Charles collects magic posters. As Charles can attest, when it comes to collecting vintage posters, the competition is fierce for rare items with strong graphics like this Nelson Downs "King of Koins" poster from Green's collection.

In recent years, the price of vintage posters has increased dramatically, and people with posters are reluctant to sell them. “At auctions, posters which are uncommon seem to go for outlandish sums,” says Greene. “My guiding principle is to be patient and try not to overspend on a poster. Recently, I told a major poster collector that I was thinking about spending too much for a poster. I told him that I might not have the opportunity to buy it again. He inquired about my age. He is 30 years my senior. He assured me that I'd see the poster image in the future, and at a better price. His council was to simply wait. I'm working on applying that lesson.”

For another perspective on poster collecting, read my interview with Bruce Hershenson, a collector of movie posters.

If you're interested in vintage posters, check out these great books:

Scientist's Guide to Poster Presentations by Peter Gosling.

A Century of Movie Posters: From Silent to Art House by Emily King.

Up Against the Wall: International Poster Design by Ian Noble.

Power of the Poster by Margaret Timmers.

Stewardess Pez Dispensor - Candy Ephemera

For collectors of the Austrian-based candy company's pocket mechanical dispensers, this rare, footless stewardess Pez dispenser is a coveted find.

Pez dispensers are ephemeral. They were only meant to last as long as it took the owner to eat 12 pieces of tiny candy. Today, Pez collecting has grown into an international hobby with conventions held annually throughout the world.

As all knowledgeable Pez collectors know, the name Pez is derived from the German word peppermint, Pfefferminz, which was also the first Pez flavor. The candy was originally introduced in Austria, and later exported to the United States and elsewhere.

For collectors, old Pez dispensers are the most prized. One of the easiest ways to determine the age of a Pez dispenser is to look at the base of the dispenser’s stem. If it is square, then it is what collectors call non-footed, like this stewardess Pez . Which means it was produced prior to 1987.

If you’re going to start a PEZ collection, it pays to learn about the brand and the dispensers. A good reference is Collector's Guide To Pez: Identification and Price Guide (Collector's Guide to Pez) by Shawn Peterson.

Entertainment Book Coupons and Memories

In 1970s, when I was a kid, my mom would buy the annual Entertainment Book for the Chicago area. That book was our lifeline to doing stuff we might not have otherwise been able to afford. We always did the cool stuff first. Then, as the year wore on, and the book grew thin, we half-heartedly went to The Brookfield Zoo or a Cubs game.

The best thing about the book was the food coupons. I can't recall all of the places in town that participated, but the book was always good for a half-off at a favorite pizza place or hot dog joint.

I'd be fun to have a look at the remnants of one those books from the 1970s. It'd be a trip down memory lane, and a great bit of fun to see what stores and restaurants participated, especially the ones we left untouched in the book. I wonder if anyone collects old editions? They are available in dozens of cities. If that's something you're doing, leave a comment. I'd enjoy profiling your Entertainment Book collection in an upcoming post.

Great Beer Posts

I don't have a category dedicated to beer, but maybe I should. Over the long history of this blog, I've featured a large number of posts dedicated to beer, include a recent post on Asheville's emergence as a beer drinker's paradise. If you enjoyed that post, check out a few of these other posts related to beer and brewerania:

• International Waters - Brew On Premise
• Interview: Australian Beer Label Collector
• Three Stooges Beer Coaster
• Interview: Beer Coaster Collector
• Brewery Uniform Patch

Be sure to subscribe to my feed, so you'll be able to enjoy next round of beer-related blather.

Swarm of Bees Poster

Malcolm Warrington, a UK-based Victorian greeting card collector, who I interviewed last month, entered his "Swarm of Bees" poster in this year's coolest ephemera contest. Although it wasn't declared the winner of the 2008 Coolest Ephemera Contest, it does merit an honorable mention. According to Malcolm, the poster was used to promote Mason's Extracts of Herbs.

Malcolm says, "This is presented by Mason's Extracts of Herbs, and when put in a suitable frame will form an acquisition to the Bedroom or Nursery. One of these beautiful Chromos will be sent post free to any address in the United Kingdom on receipt of six penny stamps. Address: Newhall & Mason, Nottingham."

Bank Pin-Up Girl - The Subprime of Our Lives

With all the talk about Fed funds, recession, sub-prime mortgages, and banks, I thought it'd be nice to take a break from all the financial tumult and visit a happier time for America's bankers. So, today, I'm featuring this 1951 bank calendar pin-up drawn by Gillette Elvgren.

This pin-up is vintage Elvgren--a lovely girl-next-door revealing her silky nylons in front of the night depository. And what's more uplifting than a flash from a pretty girl that includes good ol' American Greenbacks.

Now, isn't this a lot more fun than worrying about your evaporating 401k?

Rock Salt - Skitching in Chicago

This 1957 advertisement for road salt reminded me of an adventure I had one winter as a teenager. It had been snowing hard, as it often does in the middle of Chicago's satanic winters, and my friends decided to do a little skitching. For those unfamiliar, skitching (as defined by Wikipedia) is "the act of hitching a ride on the rear bumper of a car when there is ice or snow on the road." Even under ideal conditions, this is one of the stupidest things a human can do.

Chicago's friendly Department of Streets and Sanitation had just salted the road that we selected for our escapade--dumb luck that. As a result, I swallowed a tremendous amount of filthy, heavily salted road slush during my bumper ride. A few hours later, my chaffed and swollen mouth felt like Sonny Liston had been hitting it, and strange white bumps formed on my inflamed tongue.

For some reason, owing principally to my teenage stupidity, I didn't equate my oral discomforts with skitching, and for a brief time, I thought I was dying of a rather exotic venereal disease. That is, until my friends--nearly faint with laughter--explained the causal relationship between my bumper ride and my damaged pie hole.

I never did that again.

Alberto Vargas Christmas Calendar Girl Pin-Up

I believe in keeping my promises. And, as promised, here's another piece of Christmas-themed ephemera. This is a December 1945 calendar page drawn by the famous pin-up artist Alberto Vargas.

This Vargas Pin-Up is aptly titled, "I Believe in Santa Claus."

Ho, Ho, Ho!!!