Stuff From the Box
We haven't explored the contents of THE BOX for six weeks or so - let's get back into it!
First up is this small enameled pin for Bosch Radios - presumably worn by a salesperson. Bosch is a German conglomerate. From Germany! I don't know when this pin was used, or anything else about it, to be honest. I think the device below "Bosch Radio" is supposed to be an old-fashioned microphone. Anyway, I like it because it harkens back to the days when radio was such an important part of people's lives.
Next is this tiny pin from Capitol Records. As a kid I have memories of watching my older brother's Beatles albums spinning around on the turntable, with the purple Capitol Records label; that combined with seeing the famous Capitol building in Hollywood made me fond of the company! Weird, I know. This pin is not much more than .5" in diameter; and like the Bosch pin, I don't really know too much about it.
I hope this photo didn't frighten you too much! There's nothing to be afraid of, Casper is a friendly ghost, after all. I never really loved Casper's cartoons, but I find his design to be very appealing.This plastic ring (dispensed from gum ball machines, I believe) is the cat's meow!
Another tchotchke that I enjoy is the humble tin-litho badge with the fold-over tab. This Foremost Tastemark Dairy example is particularly nice; it has a Pacific Northwest look, with the stylized totem pole, though I don't know why. Perhaps they had a factory in the Seattle area?
Howsabout this swell Special Counterspy Junior Agent badge? It's from 1949, from a radio program sponsored by Pepsi Cola. The portrait shows Agent David Harding, and apparently it once glowed in the dark, though it no longer does so. Notice that you could access a sliding panel in the back and add your own picture if you wanted.
Like so!
And finally, here's another plastic ring, this time from Wonder Bread. The squishiest bread of all! So soft, so pillowy, so apt to stick to the roof of your mouth. It was fortified with vitamins and minerals, too. I believe that the cartoon loaf of bread was known as Freddy the Fresh Loaf, but he might have changed his name to avoid The Mob.
STAY TUNED for more STUFF FROM THE BOX!
13 comments:
Major-
According to a couple of listings on eBay, that Capitol Records pin is sterling silver. Did you check the back for an ID-? (They also had one in 10K gold-!)
I love the Wonder Bread ring, as it appears 'Freddy' is drunk on all that over-proofed dough-!
Nice homage to Lurch-! Thanks, Major.
I always like enameled tchotchkes, especially if they have a metallic gold component mixed with brightly colored bits, like the Bosch pin. I think the strange disk thingy at the bottom is part of the Antikythera mechanism.
I like how the "Capital" name is in bas-relief... or is it embossed?
I have to agree with you, Major. Casper was never a favorite of mine either. He was too much of a goody- two-shoes (whatever that means!) for my tastes. I prefer rascally characters like Donald Duck or Yosemite Sam. Warner Bros. have a LOT of rascally characters! Plus, Casper cartoons were all pretty much the same. I liked his buddies, the Ghostly Trio, better. I wonder if they chose the name "Casper" because it's reminiscent of "casket"? I do like the shape of Casper on this ring though; lots of depth and detail.
An excellent photo of you, Major. I hope you didn't get thorns in your teeth.
Wonder Bread ring: Kind of a weird thing to wear as a ring. But that's probably why you like it. :-)
Hard to pick a favorite from this group of Stuff. If the Wonder Bread ring had red, yellow, and blue balloons I probably would've picked that. But I guess I'll go with the enamel Bosch pin, for the reasons I stated above. Thanks for the Stuff, Major.
Who was Casper in his mortal life, and why did he die so young? Some things to contemplate.
I think Lurch was getting ready to perform "The Lurch," in that photo. Just as he had done on Shindig!
Thanks for sharing more Box Stuff, Major! (My favorite is the Counter Spy badge with Lurch's picture.)
Remember in "A Christmas Story", when Ralphie went to see Santa at the department store and there was that annoying kid in front of him ("I love Santa.")? I'd bet that kid watched old Casper cartoons on television, and always got sniffly when that same sad music played and Casper cried because everybody was afraid of him.
In ancient days, old Caspers and other Harveytoons were what a kid watched when everything else was soap operas and talk shows and stuff, but he wouldn't want other kids his age to know. They were cloyingly, insultingly juvenile while Loony Tunes, MGMs, and even post-Fleischer Popeyes treated you like a grownup. But at the same time, many of the violent gags landed as queasy rather than funny. Herman and Katnip are the true source of Itchy and Scratchy.
Just saying, when old boomers get nostalgic over cartoons don't try to talk up Casper, except ironically.
I have somewhat of a soft spot for Casper since I remember my Dad teaching me to read using a Casper comic book, among other things, but I agree, DBenson, they weren’t first rank cartoons. Tokyo, yes, who was this little drip before he assumed room temperature? Probably a Dickens character who died of consumption or something.
Being a CounterSpy Junior Agent sounds appealing at first, but I need to inquire on the benefits package. Can I work from home or is this an in-person position? Is there a 401k plan? Dental and Vision?
I’ll go with the Bosch pin today, it’s a classic look and would feel right at home on the lapel of a tweed jacket. Capitol Records is second due to their excellent taste in modern architecture.
Thanks Major, The Box never disappoints.
JG
Nanook, I didn’t check to see if my Capitol Records pin is sterling silver, and I’d have to dump everything out of the box to find it and see. Maybe another day! Freddy is drunk, but at least he is a friendly drunk.
JB, I also like enameled items - real glass enamel, not that plastic stuff that passes for “cloisonné” these days. I think “embossing” implies a process involving a press, but I could be wrong. It’s funny that you’d think a kid watches cartoons mindlessly, but there were definitely examples that I knew were better than others. I always admired the beautiful craft of Disney cartoons, but many of them are pretty dull. It’s hard to beat the hilarity of Warner Bros., especially when they were at their peak! I love simple things like the Wonder Bread ring, a little item that a kid would get some much joy from.
TokyoMagic!, my buddy always says that Casper is the ghost of Richie Rich! And who am I to argue? And I can happily say that “The Lurch” is in my iTunes.
DBenson, ha ha, that kid: “I love the Cowardly Lion”. His impact lives on. Harveytoons and Terrytoons - I watched them, but under protest! I especially remember the music in Terrytoons, that same chase music in every cartoon. I definitely watched Harveytoons, but none of them really stick in my memory. I read that Paul Terry sold Terrytoons to CBS for five million dollars. Five million 1955 dollars! That like $59 million dollars today, so he did OK. I was a snob about Popeye cartoons, loving the old Fleischers, and not the Famous Studios cartoons, though I think there were a few good ones.
JB, like you, I have a nostalgia for Casper cartoons, I do remember being aware of the earlier ones with slightly better production values. I was a real animation nerd, even early on! When I was REALLY young, I would buy “Little Hot Stuff” comics. Instead of cool stuff like Marvel. I even bought Archie comics. At least my Mad Magazines were not embarrassing. I an imagine a Bosch salesperson trying to convince a person of the superiority of their radios. “It’s like Paul Whiteman and his orchestra are in your living room!”. I assume that being a counterspy gets you good benefits, but maybe not?
I never really saw many CASPER cartoons or anything else related , but my grandma - who never had things like magnets on her refrigerator - except for a tiny magnetic CASPER . Apparently sometime in the early 70’s it came in a cereal box but my uncles were not interested but my grandma thought he was so cute. That little refrigerator magnet is now on my mom’s refrigerator.
CASPER was born CASPER PENDLETON in Coldspring New York in 1884 to a family with 3 older children. Casper made the transition to “the other side” at age 8 after playing with some neighborhood children in the street and chased a rubber ( vulcanized ) ball right in front of the path of a heavy city coal wagon, the rig being pulled by a very strong horse team. Between the new brick street and the thunderous coal wagon wheels , Casper had very little chance … and despite his tragic situation he remains an amicable and friendly spirit despite being caught between this world and the next.
Mike Cozart, like I said, about the only thing I like about Casper is his appealing design, so your grandma and I have that in common! I like your Casper backstory, it almost sounds like something that would have been developed for a feature film (I know there was a feature film with Christina Ricci, but I have never seen it)!
Cartoon of little kids have been popular since day one … but a ghost child always seemed a tad too macabre. In the 50’s and 60’s … maybe even earlier there was a series of popular children’s books called “the little ghost” … it appears to be the ghost of a young child … and he has encounters with other ghosts in various abandoned old mansions and homes . One book he actually takes care of a baby ghost that is constantly heard crying and he rocks it in an old cradle … it’s done I think to be cute , but in actuality it’s disturbing…. I love real stories or actual hauntings but it’s sad when they involve a child.
If you ever get to see the tv show THE TRUTH IS OUT THERE … there has been some recent footage accidentally caught mostly on Cel phones during the day in a very old park in savannah Georgia … from different views while real humans go about their business in the park , you see a little boy running and skipping … a bit blurry but it’s there .. then it jumps up and ascends into a tree then drops down and the apparition sprinkles down into small pieces totally disappearing. No living people actually saw it “live” but it appeared in Cel phone videos … and experts cannot explain the anomaly… it’s exciting but then sobering that it’s obviously a child.
I was gonna mention that WED imagineers like Marc Davis did some concepts featuring ghost children for the Haunted Mansion , but it was ultimately decided to leave such a subject out of Disneyland . In WDW the terribly horrific mansion redo and tacky - trash interactive que includes two bust gravestones of “passed” children …. Once a taboo Disney park subject.
Apparently there are several book series featuring a child ghost including GEORGIE and another series GUS: who was a friendly ghost … each has several books devoted two both characters .
Every December, I watch a lot of the 1970s and 1980s Christmas specials. There's a good reason so few of them are shown these days, and the Casper's First Christmas Special is among the worst. I love it.
I was recently in an antique mall and saw a number of those Wonder Bread rings, in different colors. I wonder if they were given out - IN the bag of bread??
Thanks, Major, for sharing more treasures from your Stuff Box.
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