Sprint Magazine

I thought I'd make an appearance before the upcoming "Countdown to Halloween" begins (if it still begins this year).  I assure you, despite my absence, the garage saling force is still strong in this one.  I'm still out there every weekend, rain, shine or snow, attending garage and estate sales, though the volume of product I'm buying has decreased significantly. I quit selling on eBay over a year ago, so I don't have a good outlet to offload excess product or a reason to buy something simply to flip it.  But I still pick up things that interest me, including this Scholastic Magazine from September of 1977, Sprint. I found it among the rubble of a basement at an estate sale home which I can only describe as an explosion of the 1970's.

Halloween Dynamite

This issue of Dynamite is a find from a while back. Amazingly, it's one I didn't have from my childhood days of reading Dynamite.

Jack and Jill October 1961

I'm going to take it easy today and just post this October 1961 issue of Jack and Jill with little commentary. I hope you don't mind.  I'm posting mainly the Halloween related pages of the magazine, although I did include the interview with Jerry Mathers since it's on the cover and because "Leave it to Beaver" is one of my favorite shows.  Answers to the puzzles at the end.

Happy 50th Disney's Haunted Mansion

This 1970 promotional item published by Disney and Gulf Oil celebrates the opening on August 9th, 1969 of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion attraction which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year.  I've been fascinated with Haunted Mansion since I was a kid, checking out books like this from my elementary school library.  I've never been to Disneyland, but I finally got to visit the Haunted Mansion when I was in the 5th grade.  I've been back with my own kids numerous times in the past 20 years and it's still my favorite attraction there.

Dracula Mobile

This Dracula mobile was another bonus piece in the previous find that held the witch die cut and child's Halloween drawing.

The Fonz has Gone Bananas

I've written before that I was a "Dynamite" kid.  No, I don't mean a great kid.  I mean I read "Dynamite" magazine from Scholastic Publications.  Initially, I would order them out of the monthly flyer we received in grade school. Later I would subscribe to it, long beyond it's intended age range I might add. There was another Scholastic Magazine teens were supposed to migrate to after Dynamite: "Bananas".

April Fools...uh...on me?

One of the reasons my posts are sporadic is my rigidity in wanting to publish something during the appropriate season, or even on an exact day.  I stage posts in folders to be blogged later in the year, then completely forget about them. Case in point, April Fools Day.  I had this page from the Holiday Fun book scanned and ready to go since this past summer.  I know I can schedule posts ahead of time, but I always think I'll remember when it gets closer to the actual day.

So enough with the excuses. I'm not waiting another year.  Enjoy this April Fool's joke on me.

p.s. I don't know if there was an answer key to this picture. You decide what's right and what's wrong. Personally, I could see all of this totally happening.

Weird Worlds 1980

You may have noticed a lack of posts the last 2 months. I'd lost that bloggin' feeling. That combined with Christmas and other extenuating circumstances resulted in no content.  But with the New Year, I'm back.

I was at an estate sale this morning and came across this issue of Weird Worlds.

Another Dynamite Poster

As a follow up to my previous Dynamite poster, I present this one done by fantasy artist Walter Velez. I don't think there's anything hidden in this poster, but if you're looking for some kind of challenge, count the number of eyes you see. Okay, that's not much of a challenge. Maybe try counting them in the dark.

Dynamite Count Morbida Poster

This poster was included in an issue I picked up of Scholastic Books' "Dynamite Magazine", the "People" magazine for the 1970's and 80's prepubescent crowd.  Each month brought a celebrity spotlight along with jokes, cartoons, magic tricks, child psychology advice (I'm not kidding) and puzzles.  One of the featured puzzles was hosted by an insult-spewing vampire called "Count Morbida".  This poster features Morbida's girlfriend, "Horibella", his dog "Transylvester" and many of the Count's friends.  What may not be immediately evident is it also features Count Morbida himself among a host of bats, mummies and other critters hiding throughout the trees and sky.  I counted 9 bats, 2 mummies, and 2 witches and the Count.  Have fun finding them.

Count Morbida was drawn by Arthur Friedman, a Hasidic Jewish illustrator from Brooklyn. There's not much about him on the internet (except that he was a Hasidic Jewish illustrator from Brooklyn). He drew for a few children's educational books as well as illustrated the children's book "Hershel of Ostropol" about a Jewish folk hero.

Halloween Highlight

If yesterday's "Hallowe'en Party Fun" courtesy of "Hospitality Homes" wasn't enough to plan your party, perhaps this Holiday Handbook published by Highlights Children's magazine can fill the gap.

Children's Play Mate Magazine, October 1950

Unlike the Halloween edition of other children's magazines I've seen over the years which might offer a few pages of Halloween, a poem and a craft or two, this October 1950 is chock full of treats and goodies.  Almost every page features some form of Halloween enjoyment along with some great art.

Jack and Jill October, 1951

This October 1951 issue of "Jack and Jill" was another in the same lot I bought that was featured in last month's post.

Have a Dynamite Halloween!

I've spoken before about my love for Scholastic Publications when I was a kid.  The day that flyer arrived along with the day the books I ordered came in made school that much more tolerable. 

Dynamite magazine was published by Scholastic and sold through those flyers.  It was aimed at elementary school students through 6th grade, but I read it (somewhat ashamedly) long after that.  It was edited by Jane Stine, wife of R. L. Stine who also occasionally worked on the magazine (known simply as Bob Stine at the time), so it should come as no surprise that it frequently highlighted monsters.

Jack and Jill September 1954

I picked up a small library of "Jack and Jill" magazines at an estate sale this past year. I've been meaning to scan some of them and just came across them again. So here's September with some of the pages I liked.

Dynamite Monster Bash

Dynamite was one of my staple orders from Scholastic Books when I was a kid.  And one of my favorite parts of the magazine was always Count Morbida.  This issue from 1975 dates a little prior to when I started reading it, but I was fortunate to come across it along with several other issues at an estate sale this summer.  It's issue number twelve and it devotes a large section to planning a Monster Bash.  Maybe you can use some of these for your Halloween party this year.

Jack and Jill, February 1979

I don't recall when I picked up this issue of "Jack and Jill", but I do recall it was bundled with others which I'll come across eventually and blog about.  It's the February 1979 edition with a cover by artist Jared Lee who I've known since I was a kid from reading his "Bummers" in Dynamite magazine.  My kids (and I) love the "Black Lagoon" series of books he illustrates.

Jack and Jill, October 1978

Yet another children's magazine (are you getting tired of these?)  From October 1978, another Halloween issue of Jack and Jill.

Happy Times, October 1972

Another children's magazine from the same lot as before.  Happy Times from October of 1972 has little actual Halloween content.

Oh, the fun you can have with a carrot and a cherry tomato.  Remember, kids, vegetables don't have to be boring.  Eat up! (but don't forget to remove the pin holding the tomato in place).

The sole Halloween related picture in the magazine.  They're really pushing the boundaries of Connect the Dots. "Connect the dots and you will see a Halloween ghost with a monstrous appetite."  Um, I can kind of already see it.

Wee Wisdom October 1962

I found this issue of "Wee Wisdom" among the same lot of children's magazines where I found the Jack and Jill issue.  I believe I paid $1 for the entire lot.