How's About a Nice Hawaiian Blog?

Aloha!

I found this Hawaiian cutey at a recent sale.  She's plastic and tin and a wind-up.  She was made in Japan and probably dates to the 1960's.

 

Tea for Totem

I jumped the gun  this past weekend expecting the annual Canterbury Place subdivision garage sale in Affton, Missouri to be in full swing.  Normally, it's the first weekend after Labor Day, but as it turns out, this year it's this coming weekend.

But fortunately, there were a number of garage sales in the area anyway and at one I picked up this Totem Tea set.

Mystic Weather Forecaster

I found this "Mystic Weather Forecaster" in the basement of an estate sale recently, passed over by everyone else.  I thought it was cute and kitschy.  The pink screams 1950's, but it could be later.

Leftovers Part 4 -- O Solo Mio

I'm not sure if this lighted, plastic gondola was a decorator piece or tourist item or both. The gondolier detaches from the boat. It's marked Hong Kong.

Santa's Village

I previously blogged a "Santa's Village" brochure among the others I found last Spring.  Recently, I came across yet another one with different pictures.  "Santa's Village" was a North Pole-themed amusement park that opened in the 1950's.  They had 3 locations; 2 in California and 1 in Chicago. In addition to Santa Claus, the park featured other fairy tale buildings, rides and characters.

Santas on Parade

Tis the season, so I thought I'd share some of my Christmas finds this past year.  Specifically Santa figures.  I'll admit it, I'm a sucker for the fat, bearded, jolly one, and I don't mean Orson Welles.  Most of these figures are plastic from Japan or Hong Kong dating from the late 1960's to 1970's.  These were all bought for $1 or less.

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.

Keeping the Faux Fires Burning

The home I grew up in had a wood burning fireplace and we took advantage of it on many Winter nights, adding glow and warmth to the holiday season and the long cold months that follow in St. Louis.  It also provided a place to hang our stockings in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there.  I always wondered what kids without fireplaces or chimneys did about Santa.  While looking through some of my wife's childhood photos, I found how some people resolved that dilemma.

My wife never had a fireplace and for Christmas, her family would assemble a cardboard replica.  It can be seen in the background in this picture from approximately 1972.  She's in the middle between her older brother and their dog.  Her younger sister is on the left.

Merry Kitschmas

I found this load of Christmas kitsch in the same bag at the same estate sale where I bought the Motorola television.  In fact they're assembed on that same television in my living room now.  I find comfort in supposing they're being displayed on the same piece of furniture they originally were.