Puddin' Head Twins - Separated at Birth, Together at Last

When I was a kid, my mom had one of these, the orange one. I used to play with it, but never knew what it's intended purpose was. Years later looking through an antique store with a friend, I came across it. I knew I wanted it, but the price was a little high. On the way home, we stopped at a thrift store. Low and behold, there was one on the shelf for 50 cents.

Doing a little research, I found that his (their?) name was Puddin' Head and it was a shaker mixer for a dry pudding powder made by Colgate (perhaps to boost their toothpaste sales?).
Skip to a couple years ago at a garage sale and I come across his Bizarro-world (think Superman) brother ("Me am Puddin'head"). When I saw it, a younger couple was looking it over, debating its value. They were clearly scoping the sale for eBayable items. Now, don't call me a hypocrite. Yes, I too sell some of my garage sale finds on eBay. But that's not why I garage sale. If I didn't have a love for it, I'd never do it just for the small monetary gains I've made over the years. After deciding it wasn't worth anything, they put it down and I promptly grabbed it. They were one step ahead of me the entire sale, and passed on some good items including a couple Ben Cooper masks I snagged.

Anyway, back to Puddin'head. I couldn't find too much on the internet about them other than a few shots of the original packaging courtesy The Imaginary World:

Country Camping with Barbie and Friends

When I was young, the only vacations my family ever took involved camping. We never stayed in a motel or even a cabin. My sister and I (and occasionally my next-oldest brother) would pile into the '70 Impala and we'd be off dragging the Apache Pop-up camper behind us. Upon arriving at a campground, my dad would sequentially throw us kids out of the car to guard a site while he drove on to see if there wasn't something just a bit better. Utilizing my mom, he could "reserve" up to 4 sites while he decided. Upon deciding, the call would go out and all other outposts would convene on the chosen site whereupon my father would swear the camper into submission.

As crazy and as simple as that sounds, those were days we looked forward to all year round.

So when Christmas of 1972 arrived and along with it my sister's Barbie Country Camper, I was probably as excited as her. Finally, my G.I. Joe (with the Kung Fu grip) had a recreational vehicle to...well, to *recreate* in! Sure, it was no man van, but if it meant he could go camping, Barbie's psychedelic, flower-power wussy wagon would have to do. So, when my sister wasn't around, Joe was off on an adventure, arm resting on the window, eyes fixed on the horizon.

Last week, that all flashed back to me when I found one in very nice condition at a garage sale off of Becker Road in South St. Louis County. My first thought was of course my sister, but I was pretty sure she still had hers (she does, I later found out) and of course secondly eBay. It was $5 so I felt pretty comfortable I'd get my investment back. As it turns out, maybe not. That's about what they're worth. Who'd have thought.

So here I am stuck with Barbie's Country Camper. But there could be worse things. The kids enjoy playing with it and maybe when they're not looking, Joe just might head out on the road again, adventure just beyond the horizon.

Split Second Lives!

The house is once again stocked with AA batteries, so I pulled out Split Second. I must have bee seeing double (or at least 2/3's) when I looked at the battery compartment initially. This game calls for 6, not 9 batteries.

So after loading it up, I turned it on and voila, we have LED. You select a game 1 through 8 as detailed on the back:

Here's How -- Dewey's Triangle Liquor

Is it me, or does it seem like people don't throw parties like they used to? Sure, there's birthday parties, but none of those "Hey, let's get together, have some drinks and eat some dip and chips" parties TV lead me to believe adults partook in. You know, the ones where the kids would hover in the shadows watching undetected. Maybe they do and I'm just not invited.

Anyway, here's a relic of those days courtesy of Dewey's Triangle Liquor in El Dorado, Arkansas. "Here's How, The How-To Book of Home Entertainment". Dewey's is no longer at that address -- it's now Tony's Fashions:


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The only Dewey's Liquor I could find was in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Maybe they moved:

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I don't imbibe, other than a little wine during the holidays, so let me know if you try any of the recipes in the book. And if there are any other sections you'd like to see scanned (see index), let me know.



Cheers!

Foods Men Hurry Home For

Yet another find from the great gumball/electronic games/Der Bingle estate sale. I found a box of miscellaneous papers (or ephemera, as we collectors like to call it). Mostly company-sponsored recipe pamphlets, the kind that would have been given away free when you bought flour, butter, etc. Most date from the 20's to 30's. Some are quite interesting with many pictures that would fit well in James Lileks' Gallery of Regrettable Food. I'm thinking about framing the montage above to hang in the kitchen. I'll profile some of the more interesting pamphlets, including one on how to throw a party and and another on mixing drinks in a later post. Bon appetit!

Der Bingle

How could I pass this up?

Columbia Records from 1955. It's 33 1/3, although it's only called an LP, no mention of the RPM. I picked this up for 10 cents from the same estate sale as the Toy 'n Joy vending machines. It has the original Woolworth's price tag of 95 cents, so I saved 85 cents over 1955 prices!

I'm particularly fond of the couple in the upper left corner.

I can hear the photographer, "Okay, get close like you're gonna kiss, but not *too* close!"
The songs on this album are:
"Learn to Croon"
"Blue Prelude"
"Ridin' Around in the Rain"
"Tempation"
"Just an Echo"
"The Last Round-Up"
None are Bing's signature songs and from listening, actually sound from very early in his career.

Apparently, this was just 1 of a number of House Party Series albums which are detailed here.

Toy n Joy

When I was little, the trip to the local grocery store or K-Mart wasn't complete without a stop at the bank of vending machines near the front door. It was a rare occasion that my mother gave me a dime or quarter for the encapsulated treasures or gigantic gumballs, but that never stopped me from staring slack-jawed at the possibilities. Later, when I had an allowance, I collected gumball machine prizes. Trolls (similar to the Dammit trolls, but smaller) and superballs are a couple I recall getting weekly.

Those memories came flooding back to me this morning. On my usual garage sale route, I found that the house I had bought the electronic games from was having another sale. I figured I'd stop in and see if there was anything I had missed or if the prices had been slashed.

Stepping inside, I immediately saw this to my right:


and this:



and this:


They were all labeled $10. As I was looking them over for the one in best condition, contemplating the price, one of the hosts of the garage sale came by and said I could have them all for $15. I was pretty sure I could sell at least one of them on eBay and get my money back, so I told him I'd take them.
At home, I was surprised how well they cleaned up; they had been extremely dusty. I noticed one of the machines still had some prizes inside, so after positioning them into the drop slots, I put in a dime and claimed my prize -- 2 $1000 bills! Alas, instead of Grover Cleveland, they sported a deer head. A clear tip-off they weren't legal tender. The vending machine in the first picture is in very good shape and I would imagine it was in the middle of the bank. The second one is a little rougher and has some paint wear. I couldn't find any manufacturer's marks on the last one. It also appears to have been repainted.

Only the red and blue unmarked vending machine had a key, so I opened it up. Inside was a 1965 penny which is probably about right for the era. I thought it was a mistake that there was a penny inside, but after trying, I found it was indeed a penny vending machine. From the inner workings, it appears to have vended loose peanuts or candy -- the kind you'd get a handful of.

The seller had told me the other two didn't have keys, but he thought the locks could be opened with a screw driver. I tried one and sure enough, the lock turned and I was able to remove the front plate. I was happy to find a bunch of vending prizes in a bag inside the machine:


I also noticed on the inside of the coin mechanism:

I wonder if I could still take them up on their offer?

The other vending machine's lock is functional, so the screw driver failed to open it. I wonder how much it would cost to have a key cut for it...

The two Toy n Joy vending machines are both dime vend and made for toy capsules. As you can see, they are made by the L. M. Becker & Co in Appleton, Wisconsin. They are still in business and they are still selling the Toy n Joy vendors and stock. Looking over their inventory there's not much I could buy to make a profit from a dime a piece. I may order some capsules though and fill them with the prizes that came with the machines and whatever else I can find -- I think I still have some of those trolls...