Saturday, April 01, 2017

Saturday Stuff

I feel terrible that I did not produce anything silly for this April 1st post; as I explained yesterday, it was a case of lack of inspiration, and my few attempts not really working out. SO, that means that this will be just another "Anything Goes" Saturday. Looking through a folder of already-scanned stuff, I decided that I should share a variety of random ephemera. I mean really random. No Disneyland stuff! Just items that are in one of several boxes of junk.

I'll start out with this "Honorary Engineer" pass for Freedomland U.S.A.'s Santa Fe Railway - presumably given out by Santa Fe, though I suppose guests could have received these at Freedomland. The front looks like a typical souvenir pass, while the back is a tiny advertisement for dining on the Super Chief (Whoo-whoo! Anyone? Anyone?). I love this type of souvenir... the kind that mostly wound up in the landfill.


This next piece is a pin made of die cut card stock (with a safety pin on the back), from the 1964 New York World's Fair. The pointing blue finger is similar to signs seen around the Chrysler pavilion - "fingerboards", literally - indicating which way to go to see particular features. 

I don't know if these were given out to anyone who wanted one (the cheap nature of their manufacture makes me think that that's the case) or if they truly were given to people deemed to be Very Important.  Like Pinky Lee.


I love this striking bumper sticker from the early 1960's, advertising Weeki Wachee Springs. What a striking design! I really think it's pretty spectacular, and the sticker itself is larger than your typical bumper decor. Of course Weeki Wachee was famous for its underwater performances by "mermaids", as well as thrilling water skiing demonstrations.


There's something about humble felt pennants that I like, though I generally don't collect them; I have a few, but it's almost like they materialized accidentally. Except for the tiny 6-inch pennant below, from the last day of the original New York World's Fair, which ran from April to October in both 1939 and 1940. So sad that it had to end.


And now for something completely different... how about a paper hat for employees of Kentucky Friend Chicken restaurants, circa 1954? Despite being made of paper, it is fairly sturdy, almost cloth-like; it was probably made from a space age material developed for NACA (the predecessor of NASA), and likely could withstand the heat of reentry. This elegant hat is suitable for many occasions; the opera, town hall meetings, standing behind an "on the scene" newscaster and waving, and so on. Everyone loves the Colonel!


And finally, I have a scan of a scarce-ish flyer from Knott's Berry Farm from the odd, short-lived "Bewitched Village". This feature was located roughly where folks now wait in line for the Calico Mine Train. lasted from about 1956 to 1959; the conceit was that some Ghost Town residents  drank from a magic well and turned into animals. But they still acted like people! Oooooh-Kay. They wore clothes, walked on their hind legs, microwaved some pizza rolls... all the things that you and I do.


You've seen them on Jack Parr, Gary Moore, Johnny Carson, etcetera! Maybe you've even read about them in Colliers. That Raccoon shooting hoops was with the Baltimore Bullets for three seasons! 

I miss the days when a place like Knott's could have such a weird little attraction.


Well, that's all for today. Have a happy April 1st, everyone! I hope you've enjoyed all of this random stuff.

6 comments:

  1. Major-

    What a fun collection of 'stuff'. Those folks at Santa Fe really know how to layout a fine spread. There're enough spoons on the table for many courses. I have a post card, or two, from the Weeki Wachee Springs, complete with bubbles emanating from somewhere on the mermaids. I've always said - one can't get too much Colonel Sanders. Just LOOK HERE to see a wonderful album cover, I'm happy to claim as part of my record collection. I notice the animals at Bewitched Village were trained by "the incentive method". My third grade teacher used that very technique on me, but as I'm certain everyone who follows my commentary on these pages knows all too well: She failed miserably.

    Thanks, Major, for an Unofficial April Fool's Day post.

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  2. Anonymous12:39 AM

    Kentucky Friend Chicken? I couldn't eat a Friend Chicken.

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  3. Major, what a nice selection of items today! As for Bewitched Village, let me guess...the pig's name was Darrin and the Raccoon's name was Samantha?

    Nanook, I think that's the Colonel on the xylophone. And "Anonymous" that is why the food was "finger licking good." When the Colonel said that, he wasn't talking about the customer's fingers.

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  4. Major, I like the blue proctologist die cut, but I think my favorite here is the Weeki Wachee bumper sticker.

    Anonymous, Kentucky Friend Chicken is supposed to be much better for you than "fried". Only thing is, it doesn't taste like chicken.

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  5. Nanook, I need at least 20 spoons when I eat a formal dinner - in my house it is verboten to use a spoon for more than one mouthful. The Colonel was kind of the Keith Richards of his day when you think about it.

    Anonymous, now you know why they REALLY changed it to “KFC”.

    TokyoMagic!, I’d like the name “Endora” mixed in there somewhere. Thank you for not using a “Lucy” reference!

    K. Martinez, now I will never be able to look at that pin (or the signs) without thinking of proctologists. And I don’t want to think of proctologists.

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  6. I about passed out laughing when I read this...a few days after the 1st. Is the Enchanted Village a real thing? It's so bad I suspected that you made it up...but then what a fake! Good job.

    If it's real, then I hope whoever thought of that (one of the Knott kids?) was punished severely as befits the crime. How did that pass through the review committee?

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