Hey hey! It's time for more STUFF FROM THE BOX!
Here are three tokens (medals?) from 1955's "Motorama". What was that? The General Motors Motorama was an auto show staged by GM from 1949 to 1961. These automobile extravaganzas were designed to whet public appetite and boost automobile sales with displays of fancy prototypes, concept vehicles and other special or halo models. From photos that I have seen, they were spectacular events.
I like the unusual "lozenge" shape. On the reverse is a stylized, streamlined vehicle, perhaps on a turntable, or is that a stylized highway? Notice the bump in the middle of the reverse, you can put these on a table and spin them. For some reason.
Children's shoe stores gave away fun toys and prizes for decades. Tin clickers were popular, as were whistles. Here's a neat tin whistle from Peters Weatherbird Shoes. Best for boys, best for girls! I feel sorry for the poor parents who had to listen to this shrill whistle in the car as they drove home.
Here's a pair of pins from Commonwealth Edison, featuring their mascot, "Little Bill" a cross between a chicken and a lightbulb. Electricity is your best energy value! The one on the left is a nice enamel example, while the one on the right appears to have been given to somebody who'd reached their four year anniversary with ComEd. Little Bill was in use from the 1950s into the 1960s.
At some point I realized that I've already shared a photo of this charm (or watch fob?) from Knott's Berry Farm, featuring Sad Eye Joe. But I like it so much that I figured it was worth sharing again. There's no date on it, but I my spidey-senses tell me that it is pretty old. I wish I had more Knott's items like this.
This next badge is fairly impressive - a premium for "Dick Steel: Boy Reporter". If I hear ONE SNICKER from any of you, I'm going to turn this blog around IMMEDIATELY! I mean it! K. Martinez, I'm watching you! Dick Steel was a radio serial sponsored by Educator Biscuit Co. in 1934. I can't find many details about the show itself, other than obvious references to newspaper reporting and police investigating.
And finally, here's an odd little item - a toy wristwatch (the band has been missing for as long as I've had this) with a cowboy on the face. Is he waving "howdy"? Or is he about to draw? The crown makes it look like it was a genuine timepiece, but it is merely a toy. I still love it, though.
There's LOTS MORE stuff from the box!
My favorite is that Sad Eye Joe charm. Is it made of metal? I hope there were also charms made for Goldie, Nell (Marilyn), Belle (Cecilia), Whiskey Bill, and Handsome Brady.
ReplyDeletePerhaps on the way home from the shoe store, most parents just snatched those whistles out of their children's mouths, and then tossed them out the window (the whistles, not the children).
Gee, I would have been a swell parent.
I believe Token Spinning was an Olympic sport in the '40s and '50s. That explains the bump. (Officially, it was called a "nub" by the International Olympic Committee.)
ReplyDeleteSad Eye Joe is sad because the end of his nose fell off. (I'm kinda surprised his ears are intact!)
As long as you're keeping your eye on J. Nartubez-
Dick Steel Dick Steel Dick Steel!!!
I've never heard of [that name]: Boy Reporter, or Educator Biscuit Co. before. All the snickering about [that name] probably did the company in.
Flashy, shiny, badge though. (Shiny Boy is jealous.)
I think the cowboy is giving us the middle-finger salute. Dick Steel Dick Steel Dick Steel!!!
The watch does look pretty neat. I think it's my favorite today.
Tokyo, I would've thrown the kids out, too. I guess that would make me an even better parent than you!
Thanks for sharing more of your treasures, Major.
Dick Steel Dick Steel Dick Steel!!!
I remember getting Andy Panda and Little LuLu comic books at the kids shoe departments at Sears in the early 70’s..... Sears also gave out Winnie The Pooh comic books in another department ... but I was too embarrassed to go and get them since mistake if the department was very little kids clothes. They also had a giant fake forest with a treehouse and POOH characters up in the tree. Incidentally as a kid I was not into comic books or super hero’s at all .... I did like ‘ 77 King Kong though lol.
ReplyDeleteI have a friend who has that Sad Eye Joe charm : he has a pretty impressive KNOTT’s Sad Eye Joe collection even though he’s only been to Knott’s Berry Farm twice!!
Major : just how deep is this box??
I love the watch cowboy and his enigmatic little half-smile. “Little Bill” - what a great pun!
ReplyDeleteDick Steel : man of action.
ReplyDeleteDick Steel : hard nosed reporter who always gets his story.
Dick Steel: “snicker…..snicker….guffaw… I can’t take it anymore.
HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa.
Sorry. major. Thanks for sharing your box stuff again
Major-
ReplyDeleteSome very interesting trinkets this go-round. 'Little Bill', huh-? What do you suppose was the idea behind crossing a chicken with a light bulb-? Was this an inspiration for Tom Edison-? I should hope not-!
The toy wristwatch seems to be playing fast and loose with the space-time continuum - there seems to be am odd 'slow-down/speed-up phase' between 30 and 40 minutes past the hour. (I wonder if a smart kid could figure out a way of getting out taking a test in school while wearing that thing-?)
Thanks, Major.
“Dick… …Steel.”
ReplyDelete“Heh, heh… you said D…”
“Shut up Beavis!”
Nanook, all the best chickens are electric.
Great stuff, Major. That box is like the Tardis, much bigger on the inside.
JG
Ok, the best item today is the badge. I'm not going to say the name of it, because I don't like the taste of Lifebuoy.
ReplyDeleteSad Eyed Joe is probably next. Of course, he's sad because he doesn't have a cool name like "Dick Steel." Oops!
Dick Steel? What a name! Snicker-snicker.
ReplyDeleteJ. Nartubez says "Stop your snickering K. Martinez or you'll be typed out of existence".
My favorite today is the cowboy toy watch.
Thanks, Major.
TokyoMagic!, yes, the Sad Eye Joe charm is made of metal, something fairly soft. My mom calls it “pot metal”. I’d love to find charms of other peek-in characters! It’s possible that the shoe store whistle is in good condition because it was taken away and put in a drawer for 50 years!
ReplyDeleteJB, oh yes, now I remember… Token Spinning was a demonstration sport when the Olympics were in Rome (1960) and Tokyo (1964). I’ll bet that Sad Eye Joe’s wear was mostly from sliding around in a junk drawer, he is otherwise in great shape. JB, I thought you would be more mature, like me, and above making fun of Mr. Steel’s name.
Mike Cozart, gosh, I don’t ever remember getting a freebie at a shoe store, though I admit that we often went to discount shoe stores. My mom had to get shoes for four kids on a Navy salary. The fake forest with Pooh characters is pretty amazing. Wow, how many Sad Eye Joe items are there? This box is bottomless!
Melissa, there’s just something about that simple cowboy watch, so charming. And yes, Little Bill is awesome.
Budblade, go stand in the corner!
Nanook, what came first, the chicken, or the lightbulb? The eternal question. As for the watch, it is proof that time is relative - in fact, the watch probably belonged to Albert Einstein, and it inspired him to write his famous theory.
JG, I’m shaking my head in shame. Trust me, I have enough little junk like this to last years!
Stu29573, as badges go, the Dick Steel example is pretty great, design-wise. Could it be that in the 1930s nobody blinked at Mr. Steel’s name?? I’m afraid that I’m all out of Lifebuoy, but I hope you like Irish Spring.
K. Martinez, so immature! Poor Richard Steel just wants to be a boy reporter, but people keep laughing.
Box stuff! Little Bill is very cute. Reminds me of a children's book about strange birds by Arnold Lobel. Sad Eye Joe is pretty great, you can share him as many times as you'd like. The Motorama medallions remind me of smashed pennies, though they're too uniform to have been squashed like that I suppose. Thanks for the foray into the Box, Major.
ReplyDeleteKathy!, I'm not familiar with Arnold Label (or I don't think I am, anyway), I'll have to look him up. I love those Motorama medals, as far as I know they only released medals for two of the 12 years that they ran that expo. If there are more, I'd love to find them!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is definitely Little Bill. Since both my folks worked for Com Ed, in their younger years, I have some cherished Little Bill items of theirs. But the Chicago Little Bill had better posture - he stood up straight, more like a robin, not a chicken. Major, maybe yours is from Mountain View, Arkansas. Absolutely nothing wrong with Mountain View. Even Hawaii has lots of "loose" chickens running around their parks and all over. That surprised me on my visit to Hawaii.
ReplyDelete