Prehistoric Road Trip

These slides were among a lot I picked up last year. They bring to mind the road trips of yesteryear when those odd roadside attractions could stop you in your tracks on your way to your destination -- and you didn't mind.

I'm not sure where this is, but it reminds me of Dinosaur Gardens in Michigan.

Take Off to the Great Black & Orange North

Call me dumb, but I didn't know Canadians celebrated Halloween. Hey, you didn't have to call me dumb that quick. It's just that it seems Halloween isn't as widely (or as wildly) celebrated outside the U.S.

When I found this arch-backed black cat emblazoned with the Canadian Maple Leaf (not to mention the word "Canada" for those symbolically challenged), I wondered why our neighbors to the North would create what appears to be a tourist item using such a traditional American Halloween icon.

Leftovers Day 31 -- Did I Measure Up?

When I decided to begin this purge of unblogged items a month ago, I had no idea it would last the entire month. And believe it or not, I still have leftovers. But I'll be taking a break from these posts for a while (collective sigh heard across the world). I hope there was something of interest or amusement among them for you. I guess what I'm saying is, I hope I measured up.  HEY! That leads me into my final leftover.  There is so much wrong about this item.

Corky

I've been a little lax in posting lately, so I thought I'd pull out all stops and offer this postcard of a stunt-boating clown named "Corky".

Cowboys and Indians



Given the distractions offered kids on long car trips these days in the form of phones and tablets (*editors not: updated for 2020 from "flip down tvs, dvd players and handheld game systems" in original 2013 post), it's hard to imagine how they would have tolerated the cross-country drives my siblings and I took during the 1960's and 70's.  Back then, the trip was part of the experience and it wasn't the interstate race to your destination that it's become today.

In fact, one of my favorite aspects of a classic roadtrip was the stop at various tourist trap gift shops where one could pick up a rubber tomahawk, faux leather-covered tom-toms or a dyed chicken feather headdress.  These were common items you could find in any gift shops in the far western states such as Tennessee or North Carolina (sarcasm implied; I live in Missouri).  While all 50 states can certainly lay claim to occupation by Native Americans, one normally associates such accoutrements with the plains states tribes.  I grew up watching cowboy and indian movies and televison shows and had more than a little fear of meeting an actual "indian", although I knew some were friendly like Tonto.  I have a vivid memory of being in Cherokee, North Carolina and spying a  Native American sporting what in my memory looked more like a Hollywood interpretation of native dress than traditional Cherokee.  I imagine he was offering  to have your picture taken with him for a donation, but I thought he might attack at any moment.  Noticing my apprehension, he looked down at me and smiled and I gathered the courage to ask, "Are you a good indian or a bad indian?"  He laughed and assured me he was good.

Sorry for the rambling story, but this really does lead to nice little find I acquired at an estate sale a couple weekends back.  I recall seeing figures like these at tourist gift shops on these trips.  I never bought any though, always opting for the more action-oriented items mentioned above.

East St. Louis Elf

I had to work a 30 hour shift this weekend starting Friday morning and lasting until noon on Saturday.  I was pretty tired driving home, but not tired enough to not stop at an estate sale in Oakville.  The saling force is strong in this one.

Being afternoon, I was a little late for the sale, but still found a few interesting items.  This elf I picked up for $2 was one.

His label is pretty worn, but you can still read what it says: "Souvenir of East St. Louis, Ill."

These days the only souvenir you might pick up in East St. Louis is a case of the clap or a cap in your...er...well, you get the idea.

Dear Honey Loves...

Another batch of postcards from the previous post were sent by Gary's and Bob(bie)'s mom on a solo trip to Florida. Reading sequential letters or postcards always gives you a partial glimpse of who these people were and it's always fun to try to guess the rest. My best guess is these cards took place between approximately June 18th and 28th, 1966. A lot of postmarks are illegible, so I've tried to order the cards as best as I could based on content of both the message and the card itself.