Stuff From the Box
It's time for more STUFF FROM THE BOX! While I have shared photos of other stuff, my last SFTB post was around six months ago. I'm delving into a "new" box, though I've actually shared some of the items inside it before (some rejiggering was done) and there's only about 15 items that were not photographed. So we won't spend much time with the Richmond Club Mixture (pipe tobacco?) collection.
Most (but not all) of those 15 items are souvenir rings - a popular premium from around the 1930s up to the 1950s or 60s. This first ring seems to be a generic (but nice) cowboy item, with a fellow on a rearing bronc. The design is very similar to a ring given away in conjunction with the Billy West Club - Billy West was a 1940s comic character. However, that ring, while almost identical, has the words "Billy West Club" under the horse's front hooves. So this one remains something of a mystery.
Not a ring! Instead, this tiny pin advertising the Sealtest Safety Club. Sealtest was a producer of dairy products. Cheese! Cottage cheese! Cream cheese! Other cheeses! Sorry, I'm choking under pressure. I'm sure I bought this on a whim at some collector show, I found myself picking up oddball items like this for a while.
Next is this little stamped-tin badge from Gorton's Seafoods. I tend to like these little badges, though I have to wonder who wore these. Little boys who loved fish sticks, I guess. Maybe Mickey Mantle wore one. You can't prove that he didn't!
Back to rings! Ranger Rick's Nature Club. No, it's not a "clothing optional" resort, Ranger Rick was a character made popular by the National Wildlife Federation in a magazine started in 1967 called Ranger Rick's Nature Magazine. Ranger Rick is a raccoon that serves as the park ranger and leader of Deep Green Wood. He was first portrayed extinguishing a forest fire in the first issue. He and his friends have many adventures together... and always look for new ways to help preserve the environment. We love you, Ranger Rick!
And finally, here's a Tom Mix Sterling Silver signature ring, given out by Ralston in 1942. Famous for their pet chows, Ralston also manufactured breakfast cereals, especially of the whole-grain variety. It's hard to tell here, but the panel with the signature is in fact a shiny silver color, supposedly plated in the precious metal (call me skeptical). Of course, Tom Hezekiah (really!) Mix was one of the biggest cowboy stars of early cinema.
Stay tuned for more STUFF FROM THE BOX! I'll try not to wait another six months.
14 comments:
Major-
It's Tom Mix for me - in spite of the signature appearing to be recorded for all time when Tom was about seven years old. (I'm certain the Palmer Method for cursive writing played a part).
Thanks, Major.
I strongly suspect that the Richmond tin originally contained hemorrhoid ointment. But OK, let's go with pipe tobacco. Now that I made fun of it, I feel guilty, because I like the tin box. Especially since it's showing its age... like me.
The shiny gold, mystery cowboy ring is calling to me, like Kaa, in The Jungle Book. This may be my favorite today... but I haven't looked at all the Stuff yet.
I like the fine quality of the Sealtest pin. Plus it has the gold, red, blue color combo that I like... but I'll keep looking at the other Stuff.
Hmmm, while I DO like Gorton frozen fish, this badge isn't doing much for me. Too plain?
The Ranger Rick ring, even though it is gold, looks to be (originally) carved from wood; it has that look. And I do like the concept of a raccoon as the Ranger. But I'm still not sure which of these is my favorite.
The Tom Hezekiah Mix ring is shiny, and gold, like the mystery cowboy ring. And it looks like it has some heft to it. And It's signed by Tom himself!
This is a close one, but I'm going with the mystery cowboy ring today. IT'S SHINIER!
Nice Stuff, Major. Is the hemorr... er... pipe tobacco tin, the Box that these items are stored in?
Tom Mix died in 1940, but his radio show -- which always had other actors voicing "Tom Mix" -- stayed on the air for another decade.
As a kid I knew who Ranger Rick was, but he never really registered. He felt like who you booked if Smokey the Bear was unavailable
The box itself is worthy of note, very nice design.
The mystery cowboy ring looks like some ancient artifact in a museum. Did you find it in the Arabian desert? Do you acquire magic powers when putting it on?
While safety is assuredly important for dairy products, I had no idea it rose to club level. I’m trying to envision the proceedings of such a club. “Meeting will come to order (taps gavel), committee reports… cottage and soft cheeses, fluid milk… hard and smoked cheeses… spreads and flavored items..” seems weird.
Similarly, trying to envision wearing the Gorton’s badge. It doesn’t look formal, maybe the grocer hooked it over his apron, or the collar of his sou’wester.
DBenson, I’m with you. I remember Ranger Rick, but he felt redundant somehow. Maybe the ring helped his fans keep him in mind.
Tom Mix, sponsored by Ralston. This guy sounds like a cereal… “Eat Tom Mix for strong bones and teeth…” sorry, that should have been the slogan of the Sealtest Dairy Club. For some reason I never cared for westerns, no idea why. Ralston merged with Purina, building offices in Checkerboard Square, and offered a wide range of cereals and pet foods styled as “chows”. I remember seeing a bag of Purina Monkey Chow once at the zoo, of course cat and dog chow were more common, always with a red and white checkered banner. Having Tom Mix as a serial seems too perfect. Purina Cowboy Chow. My neighbor could never say Purina, always pronounced it as “Pye-roona”. Again, no idea why.
Major, thanks for this tour of exciting incunabula!
JG
Ah, boxlings!
The stand outs for me are:
1. The Mystery Cowboy ring. I wonder if they just scrubbed the name and continued to use the ring as a premium when the contract ran out?
2. Gorton's Tin Fish! Elegant in it's simplicity! By the way, I always thought it was "Gordon's." I was wrong.
3. My favorite...Ranger Rick! I like the clunky looking ring, and racoons!
Racoons are better than possums for the comic because possums just fall over when trouble crops up, and how it THAT fun?
Good grabs today!
JG, there was a guy who tried to live on that money chow for a month. I guess he worked at a zoo and saw that it was safe for human consumption. He had a series of vlogs on youtube, and I think he gave up after about a week.
Ralston Purina was bad cereal with great boxes in the 1980s. They licensed a lot of cartoon characters and put a lot of identical cereals in boxes printed with those characters.
Nanook, as someone who has the worst cursive in history, I can’t criticize Tom Mix for having a nice legible signature!
JB, I never knew that hemorrhoid ointment came in “extra large” containers, but hey, if there’s a need…! I have since seen another version of the cowboy ring with Roy Roger’s name on it, so I guess these were kind of generic and could be customized. Sealtest… I see old ads for their ice cream sometimes, and I wish I could still buy some today, it looks tasty! I like that Gorton badge, it’s simple and fun. I guess I’m not as fancy as you! The Ranger Rick ring would probably look less wooden if mine was in better condition. And you can’t go wrong with a ring that is a vintage cereal premium - I used to really pursue those, but can’t remember the last time I bought one.
DBenson, I did not know that there was a Tom Mix radio show that continued 10 years after his death! Maybe GDB will continue for a decade after I am gone? It’s hard to compete with Smokey Bear, but I remember reading Ranger Rick’s magazine when I was a kid, so I have a fondness for him.
JG, I did acquire magical powers when I put on the cowboy ring - it made me the best blogger ever! The Safety Club was a good idea, but the dues were $1,000 a month. Seemed kind of steep. I’d love to know if those Gorton’s fish badges were included in boxes of fish sticks, or if they were given out at stores… I truly have no idea. Am I the only person who read Ranger Rick’s magazine back in the early 70s? I read it for the articles by people like Norman Mailer and Ray Bradbury, not for the pictures. I used to work with a guy who was such a big fan of Tom Mix that he wrote a book about him - when our office did a “Secret Santa” thing, I wound up with a copy of his book. Nothing against Tom Mix, but I wasn’t super thrilled with having the book, especially when I’d contributed a cool item (a hand-carved, jointed wooden monkey in a coffin-shaped box)! At some point I became aware of monkey chow and wanted a bag *just because*, but it’s probably just as well that I never got any.
Stu29573, see my comment to JB! I’ve now seen three different versions of the cowboy ring, which supports your hypothesis! Like you, I always thought the fish stick company was “Gordon’s”. I’m glad you like the Ranger Rick ring, he’s taken a beating here today. Possums kind of freak me out, those little needly teeth, etc!
Dean Finder, jeez, the things people will do. I am sure that monkey chow is not dangerous, per se, but you could say the same about dry dog food I guess. I’ll be here enjoying my turkey sandwich with pickled jalapeños, don’t mind me! I actually did not know that Ralston Purina made cereal up into the 1980s, I guess I was more aware of Post, Kellogg’s, and General Mills.
All this talk of Ralston Purina -- On the show "Futurama", they had a slovenly Fry pouring his breakfast from a huge sack labeled Bachelor Chow.
Major-
”I’d love to know if those Gorton’s fish badges were included in boxes of fish sticks, or if they were given out at stores…“
Actually, they were included inside the fish sticks-! Caution was the byword when chewing on those babies-!!
That was me.
DBenson, I remember this! Used to kid my son about eating it.
JG
Dean, I’m surprised he lasted that long. A lot of those cereals seemed identical to me, same stuff in different shapes.
JG
Re Monkey Chow, Major, after all this today, we should go in on a bag and send some to all the Junior Gorillas!
JG
https://www.sharpefarmsupplies.com/livestock/specialty-animal-feed/purina-hi-pro-monkey-chow
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