Thursday, August 08, 2024

More From the Big Bag o' Pins

The public has grown tired of Taylor Swift. But they still love the Big Bag o' Pins! And you'll see why.

First up - a pin celebrating the AMC Pacer. That might be a red heart, or a baboon's behind. You be the judge. 


Here is a 1975 hatchback coupe - I have to confess that I kind of like the way it looks - it has style! Wikipedia says Reviews upon its introduction used descriptions like "futuristic, bold, and unique." The Pacer featured an aerodynamic "jellybean" styling, numerous innovations such as different door lengths, and was noted "as a space-efficient car, seemingly from the future.". The Pacer stood out at a time when "Detroit was still rolling out boat-sized gas guzzlers."


I have never wanted to brag that I graduated from Fink University, but it's time you knew the truth. As you can see, I graduated with honors. Some people have spread the vicious rumor that these pins were given out with packs of bubble gum by the Leaf company, but I won't even dignify such ugliness.


I love the bold graphic design of this pinback button for Schoenling Beer. It has a very "Captain America" vibe for reasons unknown to me. The Schoenling Brewing Company opened its doors in 1934 in Cincinnati – a city that thrived on local beer and the industry that built this city. It was family-owned, and it quickly grew as folks around town found a staple spot for it as ‘their beer’ in a city with several competing local brands.

In the ’70s and ’80s the story of regional breweries like Schoenling quickly became that of consolidations and mergers. Cincinnati tried its hardest to remain insulated from this. The city’s breweries put up a fight, but one by one they were forced into submission until finally with their merger with Hudepohl in December of 1986 – Schoenling was the last remaining Cincinnati brewery.


I particularly like this next pin, celebrating 1959's SAUERKRAUT DAYS in Henderson, Minnesota. How about a bratwurst with a cold Schoenling Beer? Sausages and sauerkraut were certainly a staple when I would visit my grandparents in Minnesota, and I always liked it when we had that for dinner. With little red potatoes (with plenty of butter)! And a bowl of radishes, which they liked to dunk in little bowls of salt. I've seen other appealing Sauerkraut Days pinback buttons, but this is the only one I have.


A LATE ADDITION! I just bought this 1967 Sauerkraut Days pin - I like the nod to the kind of psychedelic lettering you might find on a Fillmore Auditorium rock poster!


Have you ever heard of a place called "Disneyland"? They have this koo-koo crazy ride called "Star Tours". A tour of the stars? Heavens to Betsy! The pin has a 1986 copyright, though I assume it was sold for years. Remember how excited the public was to be able to fly in a spaceship through part of the Star Wars galaxy?


The pin glows in the dark, by the way.


I remember seeing billboards with Little Miss Sunbeam when I was a kid, and it always made me want bread and butter so much. Squishy white bread! In 1942, illustrator Ellen Barbara Segner was commissioned by the Quality Bakers of America to create a marketing symbol of a young child. Over six months she submitted hundreds of sketches before coming across the girl who would become the first Miss Sunbeam in Southern Indiana. 


I hope you have enjoyed today's pinback buttons.

11 comments:

  1. What could be better than Henderson Sauerkraut Days-!

    Thanks, Major.

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  2. I choose to think that your pin is a baboon's behind. If it had been a rainbow-colored mandrill's behind, I would have made it my favorite for today, but alas.

    I've always thought the Pacer, with its distinctive hatchback was cool looking. Haven't seen one for decades though (aside from today's photo).

    I rather like the Fink University pins. And you should be proud that you graduated with honors, Major. Now... if it had been Rat Fink University... well, that would've been insanely cool, and I would have made IT my favorite for today, but alas.

    I think the Schoenling Beer pin reminds you of Captain America because it looks similar to his shield. I too, like the pin.

    I mean... "Sauerkraut Days"? That's so odd and weird that I have to make this (1959) pin my favorite today! Plus, I like the graphics. I even like the brown color; which is odd because I usually go for things that are brightly colored. (I'm easily dazzled.) I love wieners 'n' sauerkraut; served with sliced potatoes sautéed in butter. I'll pass on the radishes though.

    The '67 Sauerkraut Days pin is groovy and all, but it doesn't speak to me the way the '59 pin does. But I'm glad you found another SD pin to keep your other one company.

    The glow-in-the-dark Star Tours pin is also very cool, and it was almost my favorite today. ("Missed it by that much!") Never heard of that "Disneyland" place though. Is it still around?

    Little Miss Sunbeam is very recognizable to me. As a kid, I remember seeing her gobbling down that buttery slice of fluffy bread every time we went to the store, although we usually bought some other (cheaper) brand. I also like that this pin is oval-shaped.

    Fun bunch of pins today, Major. Thanks.

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  3. I was still a long ways away from being able to drive, but I remember when the Pacer came out, I really wanted one. With all of that glass in the back, and the curves in that glass, I thought it looked a little bit like something from the Jetsons....at least from behind!

    I like those Fink University buttons! I remember Leaf bubble gum. So were those included in the packs of gum, or were they a mail-away premium?

    I bought that same Star Tours button at Disneyland, back in 1987, when the attraction was brand new. There was a second button with R2-D2 and C-3PO, that was also "glow-in-the-dark."

    Thanks for another peek into the Big Bag o' Pins, Major!

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  4. The Pacer photo does it for me. My grandmother had a 1976 Pacer in mint green. I loved that car. She really liked the all-around visibility. I have a die cast replica in HO scale I bought because it reminds me of her.

    Major, did you change a setting in Blogger? The Comments section has a different format. It looks kind of like the Comments section on Stu’s Attic now.

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  5. Psychedelic Sauerkraut sounds like a garage band. That is definitely my favorite pin of all that you have posted, I’d wear it with the beer pin.

    That meal sounds really good, we make that in cold weather. New potatoes, sausages, sauerkraut or rotkohl, radishes with butter on black bread, and cold beer!

    My Dad used to say the Pacer looked like it wore overalls, the back view had the door pillars look like straps. I guess you had to be there.

    Thanks for the pin journey!

    JG

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  6. Nanook, “what could be better than Henderson Sauerkraut Days” - maybe “Creamed Spinach Days”?

    JB, mandrill baboon butts, a wonder of nature. Yeah, how many Pacers survive today? Maybe they are rare and valuable! Fink University became known as Rat Fink University *after* I matriculated. Sauerkraut Days, that food IS a big deal in Minnesota, and maybe it was one that hadn’t already been taken by some other city. It’s a great excuse to have a lot of bratwursts and beer! I like the ’67 pin, but it doesn’t have the charm of the older one, admittedly. I bought that Star Tours pin back when the ride was new, and I’m not sure I knew that it glowed until I’d had it for a long time. Getting that picture was a challenge. I don’t know if we ever bought Sunbeam Bread, but we did get Wonder Bread, which was just as good.

    TokyoMagic!, yes, I’m surprised at how much I like the Pacer’s styling. It really does have personality, sort of “Italian” style, unlike all of the Japanese style cars today. Wow, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the R2-D2/C-3PO glow pin, I’ll need to look for one so that I have the set!

    Chuck, hey, that Pacer photo isn’t even an official part of today’s post! It was merely a visual aid. No, I did not change any settings, Blogger has “improved” things for all of us. They’ve changed the way I upload photos too, I hate it.

    JG, “Vanilla Fudge”, “The Strawberry Alarm Clock”, why NOT “Psychedelic Sauerkraut”? Thinking about the meal of sausage, sauerkraut, potatoes, a stack of bread with a tub of margarine nearby, and the radishes (not my favorite part, I admit) makes me miss visits to my grandma and grandpa’s house very much.

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  7. I too like the look of the PACER. As a kid I would get these great TRW automotive calendars from my grandpa. They usually had a theme like 1930’s ELEGANCE , AUTOMOBILE PIONEERS … AMERICAN INNOVATION ETC.. all featured beautiful artists illustrations. The 1975 or 1976 calendar feature a then very new AMC PACER for December .. it showed a contemporary illustration of a shopping center with a PACER and an equally futuristic looking PINTO pulling into the center …. At the time I had never seen a PACER (yet) and the colorful scene looked like a future scene to me.

    In college at San Diego State , a friend of mine held a big 70’s Disco party every year … he had a rare LEE JEANS interior GREMLIN edition car he’d pull out of the garage and placed it in the driveway for the theme . The driveway was reserved for myself - I drove a 1977 MONTE CARLO ( the SS White Whale) and another friend who had a yellow and brown PACER similar to todays image . At the time I wasn’t too happy driving a 1977 Monte Carlo - but now I miss that car!

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  8. Memories of going into a drug store with multitudes of bubble gums with cards. James Bond in B&W stills (it was the Connery years), Batman in odd painted images resembling neither the TV show nor the comics, Disneyland postcard views (including the yet-to-open Haunted Mansion), and old horror movie pics with dopey gag captions ("This is one crazy HiFi setup!") and dopier jokes on the back ("What do ghosts eat for breakfast? Ghost Toasties!"). This was before Wacky Packages, so the pins were a huge novelty. Had one with a guy snarling "SAME TO YOU, BUSTER!" Only had a couple, so I guess they cost more that the standard bubble gum card packs.

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  9. Mike Cozart, it’s odd, I had an older brother who was REALLY into cars of all kinds, even as a kid he could tell you all about them. But even though it was fun to hear what he knew, the passion never caught on with me. I appreciate beautiful old cars, but don’t feel the need to know all about them. Even my girlfriend makes fun of me for my lack of knowledge. We briefly owned a Mercury Capri, and it was sort of rinky dink, but you know what? I also kind of liked it. A Lee Jeans car interior? I’ve never heard of such a thing. I inherited my grandpa’s old Buick Electra 225, and that thing was a true boat. Horrible gas mileage, but I did love it. It finally gave up the ghost one night driving home on the 405, and it would have been too expensive to fix.

    DBenson, I sure loved all of those old bubblegum cards - the non-sports cards like Batman, the Monkees, James Bond, Wacky Packages, and so on. I have one whole set of Batman cards, there is the “black bat” set, the “blue bat” set, and the “red bat” set. It’s been so long since I’ve looked at them that I forget which set I have! Probably the “black bat” set. Stay tuned for a set of Leaf pinback buttons, one of my favorites!

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  10. I used to be a member of an antique auto car club and someone in the club had a Pacer "wagon." Not sure what the model name was, but it had an elongated body and faux wood paneling. I didn't even know those existed, because I had never seen one on the road, back in the day. It wasn't quite as futuristic looking as the smaller version.

    Major, here is what the other glow-in-the-dark Star Tours button looked like:

    https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIt8u8UhgwCn9BtUubnfQTbVnc0s9KEeGF0ST2YVQWzhoAeoWJRIVYC-hQnacYQjl57Q4Q6d1ALUFwz3hgoK7J5T5Sv6yjvnhiP4paQbQgICvxFcXOAEMcC4te62y-L-kTLut_sMdtGeE/s1600/DL+-+New+Attractions.jpg

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  11. "baboon's behind" hahaha! My #1 choice, today.

    The Pacer always reminded me of a goldfish bowl. With kids, like little sea monkeys, swimming around in the back.

    The Pacer, Gremlin, Pinto and Vega all bring back fun memories of the 'good ol' days.'

    Thanks, Major.

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