My Bonny

I found this autographed photo postcard of "Bonny Maid" mixed among some other papers at an estate sale this past Friday.

 Bonny Maid was the brand name of and the mascot for a vinyl floor tile made by Bonfide Mills, Inc.

Image courtesy of eBay

 The company was also the sponsor of a TV show called "Versatile Varieties" which aired on CBS from 1949 to 1950.  Several actresses portrayed "Bonny Maid" on the show including Eva Marie Sainte, Anne Francis, Edie Adams and Janis Page.  Looking through pictures of these actresses, I've determined this particular photo features Anne Francis.

Although her trademark beauty mark is covered up, there's no mistaking the eyes, nose and chin.

Anne Francis photo courtesy of waytofamous.com

Anne Francis was best known for her role as Altaira in the classic Sci Fi film Forbidden Planet, where she co-starred alongside Leslie Nielson, as well as for her Golden-Globe-award-winning and Emmy-nominated role as "Honey West" in the TV series of the same name which ran from 1965 to 1966.

She passed away in 2011 from pancreatic cancer.

Curbside TVs

A few weeks back on my morning drive to work on Laclede Station Road in Webster Groves, I spotted these sitting at the curb ready for the trash man.  Of course I had to stop and save them.

Riddle Me This

I found this 45 in a box of records at a local garage sale (in fact, just down the street from me) last Saturday.  I was surprised no one had grabbed it yet, especially when the seller told me someone had already bought a bunch of them.  She was charging 25 cents each.  This was the only one I was interested in.  I wonder what sold before I got there.

The "A" side is actually "Never Let Her Go", an easy listening song written by David Gates best known as a member of the band Bread and for his single "The Goodbye Girl".  It's actually not that bad and typical of the era.  The hole drilled through the label indicates this 45 was discontinued and discounted by the time it was purchased.

Click title to listen

Never Let Her Go

The "B" side, or the reason anyone bought this 45, is "The Riddler".  Written by Mel Torme, it features Frank Gorshin in his Riddler persona shouting out riddles set to bouncy music.

The Riddler

Lucy's a Real @#$%&!, Charlie Brown

For several years, I’ve followed Chris Sims and his Funkywatch blog which details the endless cycle of misery endured by the cast of Tom Batiuk’s “Funky Winkerbean” comic strip.  What began as a lighthearted strip featuring high school students in humorous and sometimes improbable fantasy situations devolved into a spectacle of death, misfortune and schadenfreude firmly grounded in hell on earth.  While many believe Batiuk invented this comic form, Charles Schulz mastered the art of morale-crushing criticism and shaming with Lucy Van Pelt.  Existing solely for the purpose of antagonism, Lucy’s constant berating and belittling left an indelible and incurable swath of emotional duress, angst and disempowerment.

Let’s take a look at the atmosphere of menace and hostility imposed by Lucy and its effects on the well-being of her family and “friends” through the pages of these coloring books from the 1970's I recently purchased. And I swear I didn't modify the captions on any of these.

Lucy begins her devious mission.  Who will she choose to pick on?

What was on TV September 16th through 22nd, 1978

Following up last week's Big Fall Preview, we now enter the brand new 1978 television season.  Remember when all television shows premiered the same week?   Let's see what's on.

Tom's Book

I found this among a bunch of other papers at an estate sale a couple weeks ago.  It literally had my name on it.

Games People Play

At a time when social media seems to be taking over many people's lives, I can't help but feel Americans are at a social low point in their history.  Time was when married couples would get together for a game of Bridge or just have drinks and conversation in the basement bar.  Now "friends" are more likely to just "like" that picture you shared from one of your Facebook groups or send you an invite to play "Farm Heroes" with them.

"Adult Games" (not a guide to the swinger crowd) is geared toward those bygone days.  It's a Dell "Purse Book" meaning it was meant to be carried around, presumably by the wife.  The scans below are actual size.  It dates from 1963.

Frozen

In the same lot where I found the "Doing Your Share" booklet, was this book on the benefits and cost savings of frozen foods from 1947 published by General Electric who just by coincidence sold freezers.

What was on TV September 9th through 15th, 1978

Welcome to this week in television.  Hold on to your hats, this time it's the big Fall Preview issue from 1977.  Back when the Big 3, and the Only 3, premiered all of their new and returning shows in one crazy week, one of the highlights of the year when I was a kid.

1950's Cupboard

I spotted this cupboard at the same estate sale where I found the Hartland horses.  On the first day of the sale it was marked $35.  I held out for the last day of the sale and went back for it.  It was still there and now 75% off, so I bought it for $8.75.

Twin Kongs

I put the King Kong glass I found here along with another I found at another sale recently up for sale on eBay this past weekend.

I was contacted Sunday by a potential buyer who said he wanted to purchase the glasses as a door-prize at a 9/11 movie memorial service today.  I was a little hesitant and thought it was more than a little disrespectful, so I asked him for more details.  He responded fairly quickly:

I host/program a monthly film series at a theater in Brooklyn that is based around the history of Times Square movie houses - each month we feature a different theater from the old 42nd St - we do a presentation on the theater's history and then show a movie that premiered in that particular theater.. our Sept date happened to fall on the 11th and some of the people who I do the shows with felt like they might want to skip it - take the month off - because it is still a hard thing for many to deal with and think about - I know so many people who are still reticent to even visit the memorial..But I thought it would be better to do it - to celebrate the buildings with something appropriate instead of focusing on a theater this time and do a presentation on the buildings as seen through film - they were so iconic to me even as a child before I had moved here - and King Kong was one of the movies that made them so - I had the poster on my bedroom door all through growing up. And it was very nice that we got a lot of positive reaction from people when we announced we were doing it - I felt it was the right choice - something I knew I'd like to see myself on this occasion - and we've put together a 30 minute presentation on the history of the buildings as seen through the movies that featured them...    

We're putting together some good prizes for the raffle drawing we do after every screening - including some nice books on the the towers - and the glasses I think will be the most coveted of them - I remember having all of them when I was young - somehow the one Twin Towers one was the only one that made it through the years that I still have.

As horrible as that event was, we all heal in different ways and I decided it would be an honor to contribute to this event.  I did check today and the glasses were delivered in time.

On the off-chance anyone is in New York today, maybe you can attend.  You can read about the event here.

Noah's Ark

My parents didn't go out to dinner too often when I was a kid, but one of their usual places to go when they did was Noah's Ark in St. Charles, Missouri.  I was always asleep by the time they got home, but I was always assured of finding swizzle stick giraffes to play with when I woke up in the morning.

I found this brochure for Noah's Ark at an estate sale last week.  I love the Noah's Ark mobile.  I also never knew it was a Motor Inn as well.

American Home, September 1966

The September issue of American Home has arrived and this time it's 1966 and a look at the exciting future of home living not to mention *lots* of ads.

Old Friends

Growing up in the early 1970's, I was a Sesame Street kid.  Those were Pre-Elmo years back when the humans played a bigger role.  We're talking Gordon, Susan, Bob and Mr. Hooper.  It was also back when you're were a little afraid of Oscar because he looked a little psycho and frankly he knew it and didn't care. And don't even mention Cookie Monster.

My favorite skits were Bert & Ernie.  They were a comedy team in the classic antagonist/protagonist style, much like Abbott & Costello or Laurel & Hardy.

I found this Bert & Ernie place mat for a dime at the same sale I already blogged about here.  It just made me smile and I had to have it.

Thinking back, they were probably the first example of friendship I was exposed to.  Though harmless in intent, Ernie always managed to aggravate Bert to manic heights.  Even so, they always remained friends. Come to think of it, it was a good example or what friendship in the real world is, or for that matter, marriage.

Can you imagine us years from today, sharing a parkbench quietly
How terribly strange to be seventy
Old friends, Memory brushes the same years, Silently sharing the same fear... 

Time it was  And what a time it was, it was
A time of innocence  A time of confidences

-From Simon & Garfunkel's "Old Friends/Bookends"