Uncanny Finds -- Christmas Edition

I've previously blogged this can, but it's been nearly 10 years, so it deserves another look.

This can of powdered A&P Egg Nog was still about 3/4 full when I found it, hinting at its potability.  "A Sterilized Product".  Thank God it can't reproduce.

 

Magik Revisited

When I was a kid, I wanted to be a magician.  I asked for, and received, the Presto Magic kits with standard illusions and tricks such as the Multiplying Spots, Penetrating Vision, the Endless Water Vase, the Bullet trick and the Ball and Vase trick.  I learned to do the tricks, and learned others pouring over the included Adams' 101 Magic Tricks booklet and other magic books I bought from the Scholastic flyer, but they were all simple and most people knew how they worked.  I could never afford the professional magic tricks sold in dedicated magic shops.  I continued to pick up magic sets at sales over the years, but of course, I never became a magician.

This summer, my family vacationed in the Smoky Mountains in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  As a surprise, my wife booked a visit to Evanswood Magic Mansion.  I had seen a Youtube video by Jacob the Carpetbagger doing a tour of The Magic Mansion and had mentioned to her it would be cool to see in person. The day before we left, my wife presented me with the tickets (well, at least an email with digital tickets).

The night of the tour, we pulled up to the house silouetted in darkness.  Well, actually, the tour started at 7:00 p.m. and it was still light out, but "silouetted in darkness" sounds better.  Below is a photo I took when we left.

Uncanny Finds -- Red Devil Lighter Fluid

I came across this little can of Red Devil lighter fluid in the garage of a recent sale.  Looks like old Scratch is a bit of a fire bug. 

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.

Washing History

One of my binge-watching guilty pleasures in the last couple months has been "Eating History".  On the show, the hosts, "Old Smokey" and Josh Macuga ingest or drink products well past their expiration date, if not century.  Results vary.  Some things hold up, others, as they frequently explain, have gone rancid and numbed their mouths.

Given my own fascination with old cans and packaging, the show appeals to me.  While I would never eat anything I found at sales, I was tempted last week to try some old soap. Not on me, mind you.

My daughter complained my car was dirty.  I've never been too concerned with the appearance of my cars.  They get me from point A to point B.  But I will wash them a couple times a year on a hot day when I don't mind getting wet.  Looking in the car wash supply cabinet, there was no car wash soap to be found.  Then I spied this bottle I picked up a few years ago. And yes, I previously blogged about it.

Garage Sales Finds Unbottled

"Unbottled" is an extension of my "Uncanny Finds" series, but since it's a bottle--well, you get it.

With temperatures dipping into the teens and the first snowfall of the season, it's far from an "Indian Summer" here in St. Louis, but at least the imagery on this bottle brings that to mind.

I'm not sure why they felt the need to make grape flavored apple cider.  I might allow a grape juice and apple cider mix, but adding artificial grape flavoring (not to mention artificial color) seems a little unnecessary.

Despite the olde-tymey look of the bottle (I would have guessed '60's), the UPC code gives it up for probably the mid to late 1970's.

At $1.89, this jug of cider would run anywhere from $6 to $8.50 in today's dollar.

Uncanny Finds -- Peanuts Edition

No, not a can of peanuts, but a can that launched a thousand (well, 2) Peanuts strips.

When I saw this old can of Neatsfoot oil, my mind jumped back to reading a paperback collection of Peanuts comic strips when I was a kid.

Holiday

I know it's not like you would notice it, given the infrequency of my posts lately, but my family and I are going on vacation this week. In the meantime, enjoy this vintage 1960's Johnson's Holiday Car Washing Cream bottle.  I don't know why those cars don't have windshields. That'll really mess up your hair.  See you when I get back!

Noisy Benders

As I predicted, this wasn't the last straw. I picked up another vintage package of Carnival straws this past weekend.

The clown is smiling because  he remembers the last time he went on a noisy bender. The screams... Oh, God, the screams...

Uncanny Finds, Christmas Edition

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know I have a soft spot for vintage cans. Add vintage Christmas to that equation, and you've sold me.  Here are some Christmas-related cans I've picked up over the years. Some of these may be repeats.

Witch's Brew

I wrote previously about the beer can collection I had when I was a kid.  Even though I don't drink beer, I'm still fascinated by the multitude and variations of the cans.  This can caught my eye this past spring.

Uncanny Finds: Pringle's Extra Rippled Potato Chips

Last year, I wrote about this Pringle's can.  This past weekend, I found a companion piece in this Pringle's Extra Ripped Potato Chips can.

The Last Straw and Glad of It!

Ah, who am I kidding.  I can't resist vintage packaging, so I'm sure these aren't the last straws I'll end up bringing home.

First up is this Carnival King Size package of 100 straws from 1963.  Note to estate sale dealers: Don't write directly on the packaging.  Seriously, what is wrong with you?!

Uncanny Finds -- Dippy Canoes

Anyone who has followed this blog for a while knows I have a soft spot for vintage food containers, particularly those of bygone products.  I found this can in the basement of an estate sale home this morning.

From the aisle of misfit groceries comes this racially insensitive can of extruded corn in the shape of canoes, otherwise known as "Dippy Canoes".

Uncanny Finds: Pringle's Can(dle)

I've mentioned this before, but we were a thrifty household when I was growing up and my parents weren't much into anything newfangled. "Newfangled" typically meant more money and if the old reliable met the need, newfangled need not apply.

The Devil's Shortening and other Uncanny Finds

Another one of my odd fascinations (and there are many) is with vintage cans and containers.  I usually find these holding miscellaneous nuts and/or bolts in the garages of estate sales.  I previously wrote of a few finds here and here.  Here a few recent finds.

Crisco

Uncanny Finds -- Oh Ohhh It's Magik!

Friday morning, after having hit the sale where I found the previously-blogged clock and can opener, and after having stopped at the Southwest Diner for a little breakfast (actually, it was a huge breakfast), my friend and I headed over to another estate sale in Webster Groves on Catalpa.  We parked about a block away (as it turned out, unneccessarily since there was an open spot across the street).  As I was approaching the house, still on the sidewalk, I stepped on its edge not realizing how high above the ground it was.  I twisted my ankle, attempted futilely to catch myself, and then took what we like to call in our family "a dirty fall".  I hit the sidewalk and rolled.  Surpisingly, I only hurt my pride, as they say.

The sale was for the estate of a dentist who actually operated (no pun intended) out of his basement.  My friend managed to score a $20 box lot of artificial teeth which as it turns out also held a jar of....ACTUAL HUMAN TEETH!!! (Queue Psycho music).   A little too much on the creepy side for me, I focused on some old cans on a shelf.  I had to have this one for $2.

I'm not sure they choose the right stereotype when they picked their mascot.  His turban and robe don't really strike me as Japanese.   In fact, he kind of reminds me of the Marvel villain The Mandarin, particularly with the rings and electric bolts eminating from his hands.  They couldn't spell "Magic" either, so I'll give them a little slack.  Perhaps too many paint fumes.  St. Louis Paint Manufacturing is still in business today.

The Prodigal Tom-boy Returns Home

At the sale I went to a couple weeks back where I bought the Amana Radarange Popcorn Popper, I saw a sight that while common to estate sales has always puzzled me -- grocery items for sale.  I'm not sure who buys perishable and typically outdated items at estate sales, but they must sell.  This time, however, something caught my eye.

Uncanny

Why did I buy the topic of today's post?  I don't have to explain myself to you or anybody else!  I don't know what makes me buy empty vintage grocery cans.  Maybe their throwback design.  Maybe their reminder of the days of my youth.  Maybe their 25 cent price tag?

At any rate, when I saw these sitting in the basement of an estate sale home, I grabbed them.

When I saw this can, I thought the same thing a friend shouted when I showed it to him: "Don't open that can!"