What kind of stuff is in the box this time? Glad you asked!
How about a Lone Ranger Deputy badge, which is a 1949 Cheerios premium. Part of being a Lone Ranger Deputy mean that you promised always to tell the truth, to obey my parents or guardians, to study hard at school, always to play fair, to be kind to birds and animals, to be careful when crossing streets... and so on. Pretty solid rules to live by. Thank you, masked man.
Did I mention that the badge has a secret compartment on the back? There is nothing cooler than a secret compartment. You can always have a piece of Trident gum with you when you are wearing your badge.
Sears department stores were a big part of American life for nearly 130 years. It's sad that the company fell on such hard times, presumably through short-sighted management. They could have been as big as Target or Walmart, one would think. But the important thing is that I have these three employee pins! From the days when the Willis Tower was known as the Sears Tower.
Back in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, tobacco companies produced some of the best premiums, everything from humorous pinback buttons to baseball cards. Or maybe a stickpin with a celluloid flag of the world. Japan, in this case! I only have this example and have no idea how many other countries were represented. By the way, Sweet Caporal Cigarettes made the famous Honus Wagner baseball card, one of which sold for over 8 million dollars.
I love vintage cartoon character merchandise, and I love old World's Fair, so this "sweater pin" is the best of both worlds. Betty Boop was Max Fleischer's lovable flapper, with spit curls, short skirt, and a garter. Her heyday was from 1930 to the mid-30s, when they toned her sexy image down, lengthened her dresses, and made her boring. Booooo! As you can see, she is accompanied by a beautiful enamel pin from the 1934 Chicago World's Fair.
Here's a fun coat check token ("chit"? "doohickey"?) from the Aragon Ballroom, located on Lick Pier (no jokes, I'm warning you!) in Santa Monica, California. The ballroom started out as the Bon Ton Ballroom, but it was renamed the Aragon Ballroom in 1942. It was a popular place for people to listen (and dance) to the latest swing, jazz, and big bands. From 1951 to 1955, Lawrence Welk performed there regularly, sometimes to crowds as large as 7,000 people.
And finally, here's a swell horseshoe-shaped brass pin advertising "Philco's Old Radio Roundup". From what I can gather, this is from 1938, and it was made to promote the new Double-X Philco Radio. Double-X? This is a family blog! Think of the children.
Please stay tuned for more STUFF FROM THE BOX!
Major-
ReplyDeleteBetty Boop and the 1934 Chicago World's Fair - that's a winning combination for me.
As for Sears... "They could have been as big as Target or Walmart, one would think". Try Amazon-! But that ship sailed long before their market share started to really slip.
The Double-X Philco Radio: "No Squat, No Stoop, No Squint". I think that about sums it up - family blog notwithstanding-!
Thanks, Major.
For me, it's a tie between the Sears employee pins and the "Philco's Old Radio Roundup" horseshoe shaped pin. Sears really was a big part of American life growing up. Thanks, Major.
ReplyDeleteNormally, I am drawn to glittering golden things, like the Lone Ranger badge and the other shiny objects here. And today is no exception.
ReplyDeleteBut, like Nanook, I'm gonna say that my favorite Box Thing® today is the Betty Boop clasp/pin. Ms. Boop has always been a favorite of mine. Sexy, but with a heart of gold. Odd-shaped head, though. If she were a real person, her head would be downright grotesque. But as a cartoon character, she looks cute.
And that's a pretty darn huge Scottie dog she's got; about 4 feet tall! And it must be a Devil Dog, with that glowing red eye. Or maybe it's a robot; robots were new, and all the rage during this era.
Maybe that Aragon Ballroom doohickey was meant to say, "Lick Pierre"... which brings up even more non-family-friendly jokes. Just sayin'.
I miss Sears. We got most of our appliances there, like, forever.
Thanks for the Stuff, Major.
It’s not terribly exciting, but the Lone Ranger Deputy badge is my personal favorite because Lone Ranger. Glad I didn’t have to choose between Mr. Reid and Smokey Bear.
ReplyDeleteI know I’m in the minority here, but I’m glad they renamed that building the Willis Tower. “Wha'choo talkin' 'bout, Sears?” just doesn’t have the same ring to it.
The Japanese flag makes me smile. On a trip to WDW during the Park’s 25th anniversary weekend, we took in a show at the Diamond Horseshoe (we actually got to sit in the stage left box seats). It wasn’t the original show, but it featured a likable fellow with a guitar singing songs and getting the audience involved. One number had him singing about where people in the audience were from, and when he pointed at you you were supposed to call out your home state or country. He pointed to one young fellow in a cowboy hat who overenthusiastically yelled out “JAPAN!!!!” at the top of his lungs, almost in tears with excitement. His obvious joy and abandonment of reserve in pursuit of sucking the marrow out of the moment at The Other Happiest Place On Earth have always stuck with me. Oh, that we could all live life that way…
JB, “Lick Pierre” is a reference to the long-standing rivalry between the Santa Monica High School Vikings and the Governors of T.F. Riggs High School in Pierre, South Dakota. GO VIKINGS!!!
Ok, My fav is the Philco badge because anything with radio (or TV) is always better!
ReplyDeleteSecond place is a tie between Betty and the Lone Ranger. Why? Betty for overall design (you get two pins for one!) and Lone Ranger for the secret compartment. It didn't get first place because in my opinion it should have been a star. Just sayin'.
Liking piers was a national craze in the 30s and 40s, kind of like flag pole sitting or eating lightbulbs. Those guys were wacky, I tells ya! WACKY!!!
The box is always fun!
I'm a Betty Boop man too. The cigarette pins are cool and the Philco badge. They're all neat!
ReplyDeleteChuck, your story about the 25th anniversary trip is a pearl. It would be awesome (and I don't usually use that ubiquitous word) if we could all live life that way.
See ya in the funny papers.
Major, Thanks for sharing more of your seemingly bottomless pit of treasure, which I think is connected to Ali Baba's cave.
Dr Goat is right, Ali Baba’s Cave got nuthin’ on The Box.
ReplyDeleteFor no reason other than the tenuous connection with Lawrence Welk, I’m going with the hat check token. I’m sure the Lick Pier is connected somehow to the Lick Observatory where an eye (or two) was kept on such shenanigans.
The Sears Vertical Tasting is pretty cool too.
Thanks Major, pure gold today.
JG
I worked for Sears in the late '90's, and "short-sighted management" is putting it sooo mildly. Let's just say there are a lot of things those executives wouldn't have known from a hole in the ground. I actually ended up getting my COVID vaccines in the abandoned Sears store where I used to work, since the county health department needed a big, empty space. The office I worked in was closed off, but the sales floor was eerily familiar. Reminded me of Grandma's house all cleared out after she died. That said, the Sears pins really are a nice design with a cool logo font. I think the Betty Boop World's Fair pin is the winner, though. Two great tastes that taste great together.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if all the Lone Ranger badges had the same number?
I like anything from the Box with a secret compartment or function, so it’s the Lone Ranger deputy badge today for me. You must possess a lot of tiny important items that need concealing, Major. Betty Boop comes in second. Thanks for the Stuff, Major.
ReplyDeleteNanook, I’ve seen variations on that Betty Boop “sweater pin” combo, but this 1934 World’s Fair with Betty really is special. And yes, Amazon would be a better comparison… Sears sold EVERYTHING!
ReplyDeleteK. Martinez, I still remember one of the best things about Christmas was getting the Sears Wishbook, my brother and I spent hours poring over that thing. Of course we were lucky to get one or two toys out of it, but it was still fun to dream.
JB, I love stuff like that Lone Ranger pin because it belonged to a true fan who saved his box tops (or whatever). But I can’t fault anyone for like the Betty Boop pin. Her Scotty reminds me of the Irish Wolfhound that is at the park where I take my mom for evening strolls; its name is “Clementine” and is as gentle as can be. Please never say “Lick Pierre” again! I miss Sears too, although the last few times I went, I could see why it was failing.
Chuck, yes, the Lone Ranger, from the days when cowboys were king - and the badge has that secret compartment, what’s not to like? It’s funny, when I got older I realized that whoever came up with “Whatchoo talkin’ ‘bout, Willis” was probably a 60 year-old white guy. I love your story about your trip to WDW, and the enthusiastic guest from Japan. He probably still remembers that day with a smile! Santa Monica has always had a thing against Pierre, South Dakota. They think they’re so great!
Stu29573, I’m always happy to have any pins or badges from old radio shows; it’s fun to see the truly rare examples pop up on eBay or in auctions, where they can sometimes go for thousands of dollars. Those are not in my box! I think I do have a Lone Ranger star, it’s just in another box. You’ll have to stay tuned for that one. I never enjoyed licking piers, but eating goldfish was fun.
DrGoat, I just found a small ziplock bag with more of those celluloid flags, though I don’t know if any of them advertised cigarettes. When I have time I’ll have to photograph all of them. I’m glad you enjoyed this STUFF!
JG, I never thought about the connection between the Lick Pier and the Lick Observatory! Interesting. Larry Lick (the third) sure accomplished a lot. Sears? Vertical tasting? Wha?
Melissa, I remember reading that Sears’ real estate holdings were the most valuable asset the company had. I’m sure some executives couldn’t wait to sell those buildings for millions, most of which went into their bank accounts probably. Rant! Rave! It would be weird to be in one of those huge spaces with no products, no sales counters… it would be like a place with no history or memories.
Kathy!, I do tend to have a lot of important documents on microfilm, so a secret compartment comes in handy. And those badges are so “visible” that my documents are “hidden in plain sight”.
Having been a Lone Ranger fan, I would assume that I too saved up my box tops, mailed them in and received a badge. But that's all gone from my memory these days....other than watching it on TV with my best friend down the street. At least I remember Chuckie.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Sears WAS the Amazon of the time. Each year when the annual catalog was mailed out, it would be reported on the national news. I would spend hours looking it over. Just think of those poor mail carriers having to lug them around in their daily delivery pouches. I think OSHA wouldn't allow it these days. KS
Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs were a well worn commodity around our house. Like KS said, hours of entertainment within their shiny pages.
ReplyDeleteThe Lone Ranger show is still on TV on the weekends. Right after 3 or 4 episodes of Rawhide. I must say, The Lone Ranger show is pretty good, but didn't hold up as well as Rawhide. Poor Tonto always got the short end in every episode.
Major, Eddie Lampert, who controlled Sears/KMart at the end, was pretty clear that he considered the purchase a real-estate deal. The business was dead to him when he bought it.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad that they had all of the pieces to dominate the online sales business. With their warehouses and local stores, they had the ability to do 2-3 day deliveries and in-store pickup for most of the country. They even had an online service (Prodigy) that could have done online shopping first. It's much like Kodak and the digital cameras they developed.
You could even get your coffin and gravestone from the Sears catalog!
ReplyDeleteThe last Sears catalog kit house left in our town was torn down just a couple of years ago, to make way for another luxury apartment building. I read somewhere that Walt and Roy built kit houses next to each other before they made it big.
I always looked forward to the Christmas catalogs from Sears and Montgomery Ward when I was a child. I could dream of all the cool toys I might get for that year's Christmas. What an era!
ReplyDeleteHa Major, I threw in some "wine country" terminology to describe your Sears Employee service pins.
ReplyDeleteHere in Wine Country, a tasting comparison of two or more of the same wine of different vintage years is called a "vertical tasting". These are intended to highlight the different weather or seasonal conditions affecting grapes grown on the same ground year-to-year.
This is as opposed to a tasting of wines of the same variety from different producers, or wines of similar flavor profiles of different varieties, etc.
Typically a vertical of non-fortified wines might be 2022, 2021, 2019, or something like that, usually highlighting years with odd or unusual weather, or fires, which we have had a lot of lately.
So the 10, 15, 20 years of your pins might be more like a port wine vertical than a cabernet because ports have long aging, but that's the idea.
It's the first thing I thought of when I saw that row of pins.
Put me down as another lover of the old Christmas catalogs, we favored Montgomery Wards, but same idea. Leafing through those monsters admiring all the goodies.
JG
Some of our producers, especially the smaller ones, will not have a 2020 vintage due to pandemic shutdowns and the fire.
ReplyDeleteThe ones I have spoken with are planning to release 2021 wines early with less bottle age, or marking down inventory from 2018 and 2019, if they have any, in order to have "something" to release in 2023 (wines are usually barrel-aged for a while before bottling, and then bottle-aged for a time, so a 3 year lag between vintage and sale is pretty common).
Very little wine is cellared by the consumers anymore. Recent statistics report that an overwhelming percentage of wine is opened within 45 minutes of purchase, so most producers plan and develop their wines around those habits, and the wines you buy today are ready to drink today, although there are some of the higher-end ones that benefit from further bottle aging.
JG
Chuck, so glad you sorted out the "Lick Pierre" reference. Things coulda got sticky, otherwise.
ReplyDeleteMajor, rest assured that "Lick Pierre" will never leave my lips again. Nor will I ever type "Lick Pierre" again. And of course, I will never even think "Lick Pierre" again... How about "Lick Pierce"?
They will sell no wine before its time!
ReplyDeleteMelissa, Sorry they tore down your last kit house. They didn't build many in the southwest, but a friend said there was one or two here in Tucson still standing.
ReplyDeleteSeems like the east and midwest got the most built. There's even an online group that track of them, of course.
The Sears Wish Book was awesome. We did much wishing! We didn’t have a “real” Sears store, it was a catalog store, so you would order your things, and then pick them up a week later. The catalog store distributed the books, and you had to go there to pick it up. VERY exciting. Eddie Lampert was also after a few other companies. Sears was a real estate company not because of the buildings, but because of the LAND. Old Sears stores often predated malls, and not only did Sears own their buildings and land…they also owned former parking lots and other land that was now covered with Malls leasing the land, pumping Sears full of cash. Sears was in decline for years and long before Eddie got his claws on it. I’m glad I wasn’t wrangled into that world. It was painfully close. I suppose this is just how things work. Like Disneyland being purchased by American Express or Coke or the others who were just like the Sears guy…before Eisner and Wells gave the boot to Walt’s son in law. It was much more complex than that..but that’s what basically happened…kind of sort of. Many more people were involved. I was on the sidelines trying to connect dots. I read some ridiculous today that the price of Disneyland admission is kept high and unaffordable to control crowds…huh? Right out of the CEO’s mouth. Ok…you have a reservation system now, you can put a limit on attendance. So…this story does not hold too much water. The story is profits equal profits equal happy and enriched stockholders. I get it, but I do miss the Wishbook! What a great memory … I wonder what the wish book is now? The wish book was to Christmas what the parking lot was to Disneyland. Anticipation and excitement.
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing that most of the Junior Gorillas are already aware of wishbookweb.com, a treasure trove of scans of vintage mail order catalogs.
ReplyDeleteMom used to reminisce about how when she was a little girl, most of her clothes were homemade or made-over hand-me-downs from cousins. But every Christmas, her aunt would order brand-new matching dresses for her and her twin sister from the Spiegel catalog.They'd watch every day for the box to be delivered, even though they knew they couldn't open it until Christmas Day.
ReplyDeleteKS, back in the 90’s, I suddenly decided that i should be mailing away for the prizes that were being offered on my cereal boxes. My favorite item is a giant pair of Ren and Stimpy underpants! I also got some Disney things, like a Darkwing Duck bubble gun. I’ve sort of forgotten the other things, but it was fun. As for the Sears wishbook, I feel sorry for my mom and dad, having to look at our mile-long lists of “wants”, knowing that they could only do a few. It’s OK, we were spoiled rotten anyway!
ReplyDeleteDrGoat, those old catalogs fetch a surprising premium on eBay now, so clearly folks our age are trying to relive those wonderful times. I admit that I’ve been tempted to buy a few wishbooks, but so far I’ve resisted. BTW, I liked “Have Gun, Will Travel”!
Dean Finder, so strange, I thought I responded to your comment, but… I guess I just dreamed about it. I really hate that the jerks who were in charge decided that Sears was more valuable as pieces to sell off. Just imagine how huge they could have been, and with a long-valued name attached. It’s really sad.
Melissa, I always liked the idea of ordering dentures from Sears. Take ‘em out of the package and pop them in. Don’t bother to rinse them first, that ruins the taste.
K. Martinez, I especially remember seeing toys from my favorite TV shows, like “Batman” and “Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea”. MAN I wanted that stuff so bad!
JG, well well, you sure got fancy with your wine terminology! There are lots of vineyards near Los Osos, and I know it can be a “thing” to go do tastings, but I couldn’t be less interested. I like wine OK, but it’s not something I am passionate about, unlike some. My sister and her husband used to subscribe to “Wine Aficionado” magazine, so they were the real deal. In fact, I mostly drink wine when I go up and visit them! I guess that makes me a barbarian.
JG, I do wonder if there are some small productions of 2020 vintages from notable vineyards that might be considered extra valuable? Maybe not, but people find a way to make a buck any way they can. I don’t know how many people even have the equivalent of a cellar, since so many folks can’t afford a house. They’re lucky to have a few bottles in the pantry.
JB, NOW STOP THAT!
Melissa, I can’t help thinking of Johnny Carson doing his Orson Welles impression when I see that slogan!
DrGoat, I have of course heard of the Sears kit houses, but have no idea if they were quality homes, but I’ll bet they were OK. That’s from the days when places had pride in their workmanship! I think the styles that they offered did not really fit as well in sunny warm southwest states.
Bu, I just don’t understand how Sears could let their quality go down, it feels like it was purposeful. As I said to somebody else, my last couple of visits to our local Sears were not inspiring, and my best friend was shocked to find that they did not sell ordinary white t-shirts. I mean, what could be more basic! As for Disneyland being purchased, I remember several rumors back in the 1980s, I was distressed about it, and a friend who worked on Main Street said, “It will still be Disneyland!”. I was pretty sure she was wrong. Thankfully we never had to find out. It’s obvious that the high prices are “to control crowds”, though it doesn’t hurt that they are making a lot more money per guest too. I can’t help thinking of Walt’s story about eating peanuts while his daughters rode the Griffith Park merry-go-round, and wishing there was a place where parents and kids could have fun together. Now we have to specify RICH parents and their kids, or else it’s people who have to scrimp and save. I don’t know what other solution there could be to the huge crowds, but I’m sure somebody much smarter than me could come up with something.
Melissa, I have indeed visited that website!
Melissa, aw, that must have been a special event for your mom and your aunt!
Major, you are NOT a Barbarian. Those people live up the coast always, beyond Oxnard.
ReplyDelete