Stuff From the Box
As I mentioned in my last "Stuff From the Box" blog post, the only items left in the current box are rings. But today's ring is a beaut!
First of all, let's take a look at this great cover to The Shadow Magazine, from 1936. The Shadow debuted on July 31, 1930, as the mysterious narrator of the radio program Detective Story Hour, which was developed to boost sales of Street & Smith's monthly pulp Detective Story Magazine, while the first issue of the pulp series The Shadow Magazine went on sale April 1, 1931.
On September 26, 1937, The Shadow, a new radio drama based on the character as created by Gibson for the pulp magazine, premiered with the story "The Death House Rescue", in which The Shadow was characterized as having "the hypnotic power to cloud men's minds so they cannot see him". In the magazine stories, The Shadow did not become literally invisible. The introductory line from the radio adaptation of The Shadow – "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!"
In 1941, Blue Coal Dealers of America offered a neat premium ring, this plastic beauty with a piece of simulated blue coal where one might expect a cursed emerald or ruby.
You need to see it from every angle, right? Notice that The Shadow himself appears in high-relief on the sides of the ring - due to the cream-colored plastic, the details are hard to discern, but the brim of his hat is obvious.
In the print adventures, The Shadow is Kent Allard. The Shadow's best known alter ego is Lamont Cranston, a "wealthy young man-about-town" - there are definite parallels to Batman.
The Shadow is more than happy to use a pistol, as you saw in that magazine cover. Get those bad guys!
And oh yeah, the ring glows in the dark. My favorite thing! These rings are not common, but you can probably find one if you are willing to put in a little time. They can run up to (and over) $200, believe it or not.
Here's a neat blotter advertisement for The Shadow's radio adventures, brought to you by Blue Coal Dealers of America.
The next ring is much less fancy, but still fun - a plastic Tastykake ring, featuring the likeness (highlighted in gold!) of the Tastykake Baker. Tastykake was founded in 1914 in Philadelphia - I remember having their snack cakes when I lived in Pennsylvania - though in my memory is that some of them tasted weird to me. I was probably just used to Hostess and Dolly Madison products.
11 comments:
Major-
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men-? The Shadow knows-!
I should say so. That's a mighty fine example of a plastic ring - including its glow-in-the-dark properties. The Tastykake ring has nothing on it.
Thanks, Major.
That's a really nice magazine cover. Is that part of your collection or an online image? Either way, it's pristine. And the art style looks like it could've been created today, not 90+ years ago.
OK, what the heck is "blue coal"? I've always lived on the west coast and we don't use coal here, so I'm not knowledgeable in things 'coal'. Does it get its name from the blue iridescence that coal has?
At first glance, the Shadow ring just looks like a blobby piece of plastic with a Chiclet on top (probably blueberry flavored). Maybe the extrusion machine malfunctioned. But it GLOWS! And that makes all the difference!
Sorry to say I've never heard of (or tasted) Tastykake products before. If the ring had been made of metal I would have had more appreciation for it. Plus, they spelled 'cake' wrong. :-p I'm left wondering what the weird taste was that you experienced. (Did you remember to remove it from the cellophane wrapper first?) ;-)
I guess my favorite today is the Shadow ring, in all its glorious blobbiness, because it GLOWS! Thanks, Major.
The original print Shadow was basically a cross between Sherlock Holmes and Dirty Harry, with a scary secret identity plus a dash of mysticism he picked up in Tibet. He was highly adroit at disguises and concealment, and he also had a network of "agents" who kept him informed and enhanced the illusion he knew all. But no supernatural powers as such -- those, along with Margot Lane, came from the radio show writers.
Archive.org has plentiful episodes of The Shadow and other radio shows.
"Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?
AIDEE DO!!!
Sorry for the very local So.Cal. 1970s/80s reference! Those commercials are stuck in my head just as much as, "Hey kids, it's Fudgie 'da Whale and his ol' pal Cookie Puss!"
I wonder if that Tastykake ring could be used with an ink pad, to stamp the image on paper, etc. Or maybe it could be used to press into dough, before baking?
Thanks for sharing, Major!
Love that Portland NY phone number: Only four digits!
Wow, what a ring. $200.00? Major, I hope your collection is insured! The glow in the dark feature is pretty exciting. As JB says, what is blue coal?
Well, here it is… a branded coal with blue dye to set it apart from less healthful not-blue everyday coal. Fascinating.
https://www.beyondthebreaker.com/the-shadow-of-blue-coal/
I’ve seen a few Shadow movies on Amazon, they are pretty good stories. I remember my parents talking about them, with that tagline “who knows… etc.” they must have listened to the radio show. Thank you DBenson for the archive tip.
I think I will issue a series of gold rings with my likeness to promote the line of baked goods I’m thinking of creating. Seems like a smart marketing move. I’m not surprised that Tastykakes taste odd. If they can’t spell, they probably can’t read a recipe either.
Fun stuff, Major! Thank you!
JG
You had me at CAKE I don't care how you spell it. I think you can press the kake ring into dough. That's what I would do.
Thanks, Major
Zach
Nanook, I agree that the Tastykake ring is kind of lame compared to the magnificent glow in the dark “The Shadow” ring, and yet I still love it.
JB, nah, I had to look for a good magazine image online. The Shadow had a lot of great covers though, I wonder who their main artist was? Probably somebody who toiled away in obscurity for years. I actually used to see old pulp magazines for sale when I first started going to collector’s shows, and they were pretty reasonable, but it wasn’t my thing. I kind of wish I had some, but on the other hand, that’s all I need it more junk. I think hard anthracite does have a blue sheen to it sometimes, sort of like iridescence. Or it was just a clever marketing term. If I hadn’t lived on the east koast, I’m not sure I would have ever heard of Tastykake either. If you leave the cellophane wrapper on your snack cakes, your shirts will never have crumbs.
DBenson, I admit that I have never read a story about The Shadow, but I did go through an Old Time Radio phase many years ago. Before you could download them easily! I actually bought CD collections and put them on my iPod. It was like the caveman days! I listened to a ton of shows, Jack Benny, “The Whistler”, X minus one, Gunsmoke, Lux Radio Theatre, and more.
TokyoMagic!, are you like me? Did you lose your mind when you saw the same guy doing “Stephan! JACK Stephan!” commercials? The Tastykake ring was used like the Pope’s signet ring, and was pressed into sealing wax on important documents.
Steve DeGaetano, four digits, much easier to remember!
JG, happily I did not pay $200 for my example, but I have seen them go for that much. Thank you for looking up blue coal, I never imagined that they actually added blue dye to coal. The only Shadow movie I have seen is the one with Alec Baldwin. It has some good aspects, but is disappointed overall. I wonder if my memory of Tastykakes having a strange flavor is accurate? It’s been so long. But I remember wishing I had a Dolly Madison Zinger instead.
zach, funny, one of my friends will recommend a restaurant if it has good cake for dessert. If you pressed your ring into dough, it would read “EKAKYTSAT”, which is evil!
Major: I still have a few file boxes of radio shows on CD, mostly acquired used and cheap from retailers of physical media. Archive.org has rendered my visions of putting them all on my iPod moot.
Favorites include:
"The Shadow", of course. Over the course of twenty years the scripts were all over the map, from straight simple crime stories to gothic horror. Listen in the dark.
"The Halls of Ivy", a civilized sitcom starring Ronald Colman and real-life wife Benita Hume as the president of a small town college and his spouse, a musical comedy star he met on sabbatical in England. More charming than laugh out loud, although the Schlitz Beer ads are amusingly hoity-toity.
"The Aventures of Sherlock Holmes", the seasons with Basil Rathbone and Nigel Bruce. They begin with the announcer and Petri Wine pitchman taking us to Dr. Watson's bungalow in Southern California. The good doctor narrates the adventure, banters with the announcer, and helps plug Petri Wine.
"Duffy's Tavern", a long-running ancestor of "Cheers". Snappy patter, malaprops, and big name guest stars improbably wandering in. All by the numbers, but usually funny.
"The Railroad Hour", actually a half hour. Each week a Broadway musical or operetta condensed to 30 minutes, which amounts to the big songs with a trace of comedy plot connecting them.
Also, something for the Disneyites:
https://archive.org/details/mickey-mouse-theater-of-the-air-1938-05-15-20-old-macdonald/Mickey+Mouse+Theater+of+the+Air+1938-01-02+(1)+Robin+Hood.mp3
JG, thanks for the research and link. Coal painted blue for marketing reasons... how very 'American'. (I meant that as both, good and bad.)
Major, yeahbut, if you leave the cellophane on, the contents will never get digested. Sorta like those people who ingest drug-filled condoms and try to enter the country... I've seen a lot of "Contraband- Caught at the Airport" shows lately. :-\
Yup, blue coal was anthracite sprayed with a blue dye to trademark it.
The Shadow was most famously played by Orson Welles, but he could not do the distinctive laugh in the "Who knows..." catchphrase.
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